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Celtic sounds
Keeping time with his bandmates, Joe Ross plays the bajo while practicing with Jackson Street, a folk and Celtic music group. At right is vocalist Bonie Eichman. Fiddler at left is Dan Clifford.
For Joe Ross, Irish culture and music is like a good pint of Guinness beer -- dark, satisfying and a little bit heady.
An early love of bluegrass and folk music turned Ross on to Irish culture and music as he began to realize much of traditional American music has roots in Irish jigs and carols.
Ross, 48, of Roseburg, has spent the last decade performing shows and programs on Irish music and heritage.
But it really all began with The Happy Hippopotamus.
A Japanese bluegrass band with this quirky name was playing a show near the U.S. Navy base Ross' father was stationed at in Japan and young Joe went to investigate.
"It was real interesting," he said with a grin.
The music connected with something in Ross. His ancestors hail from Scotland and Ireland, he said. The older Ross got, the more he found himself gravitating toward acoustic music. It was while digging deeper into bluegrass that Ross learned of its Irish roots.
These days, the musician, a Bureau of Land Management employee during the day, is still carving out a market for himself in Douglas County by performing and giving presentations on the Irish and Celts, their music and origins.
"It's been fun to research the music," Ross said. "It comes from 30 years of just delving into it."
In January Ross and a few local residents organized an Irish music jam at Little Brothers Pub in Roseburg and turned out a large audience.
"He always brings a crowd," said Little Brothers owner Sharon Shearer. "We always have a lot of fun when he's here."
Even before the pub opened that night, there were around 30 people on the street waiting to get in for the show. Ross used to play at Little Brothers on a regular basis but hasn't been in for a while as he's gotten more busy with engagements around the county.
He calls himself a "jack of many trades and a master of none." Ross plays just about any string instrument, writes and reviews music for a national bluegrass magazine and plays in Irish, bluegrass and Latin jazz bands.
Last weekend he gave a presentation on Irish culture to children at the Douglas County Museum of History and Natural History. Packed into the room with about 30 children and adults, Ross stood in front of the group dressed in a puffy white lace-up shirt and an English-style cap, surrounded by both common and unusual instruments.
"Hi boys and girls," Joe said. "Can you say 'Hi Joe'?"
"Hi Joe," the group shouted.
As Ross moved into his presentation, he began to demonstrate the different items he had brought with him. He called for two volunteers and handed them small wooden figurines limp at the joints called Limber Jacks.
Ross explained that the Appalachian toys are used with jigs, both having their roots in Irish music. As the music is played, the person holding the Limber Jack shakes a small board underneath it, making the toy dance to the music.
Ross pulled out his mandolin and played a fast-moving jig while the boys sat and bounced the Limber Jacks. The crowd started clapping, and after quite a few minutes the song ended and the boys went and found their seats.
"That was hard," one of the boys said as he returned to his parents.
Ross appears at the museum regularly to do a variety of programs. Stacey McLaughlin, the museum's executive director, said she tries to get him there at least once a year.
"We've had him several times," McLaughlin said. "The kids just really respond to him."
Ross knows at first blush people may wonder just how much there might be to present on Irish culture, but he explained that once people do a little history, they'll find Irish influence everywhere.
He rattled off a list of American folk songs: "Leather Breeches," "Devil's Dream," "Pretty Polly" and even "Streets of Laredo" all come from Irish folk melodies brought to the New World during the great Irish immigration of 1845, he said.
The popular Irish group The Chieftains has released a new album called "Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions," which explores the relationship between Irish folk music and American country.
"The Irish brought their jigs, reels, hornpipes, ballads and dance steps" when they came to America, Ross said.
Ross explained that much of bluegrass and early country music is to some extent reinvented Irish and Celtic music. For the music and tradition to survive in the New World, it needed to take on a new form, Ross said.
"One thing's never changed," he said, "the Celtic spirit."
Bluegrass, apart from growing out of Irish imports, also includes influences from African rhythms and harmonies to old English stories, legends and melodies.
One of the groups Ross plays with, Jackson Street, started out as a bluegrass band and moved toward Irish folk and Celtic tunes the more the group rehearsed.
"Joe's definitely an Irish guy," Bonnie Eichman said.
Eichman, the group's vocalist, said Ross joined the group after it had been formed and the band migrated to an Irish folk sound the more Ross and band member and fellow Irish enthusiast Dan Clifford played with them.
"The rest of us loved it and just fell right into it," she said.
She said Ross is an important part of Jackson Street.
"He's just so versatile," she said. "He fills in the cracks."
Ross has lived in Roseburg since 1988. He was raised in Japan and went to school in Eugene where he began playing bluegrass at different venues across the city.
Having only planned to live in Roseburg for a few years, Ross said he's content where he's at.
"It's not that dissimilar to the Emerald Isle," he said.
He and his wife, Kathleen, who is also a musician and plays the harp, have visited Ireland a few times. He admits the castles and ruins are fun, but it's the small groups playing music in the local Irish pubs that Ross really looks forward to visiting.
"It's just become such a big part of their social life," he said of the pub music and storytelling. "I think Americans have really lost something by not being like that."
He's trying to bring some of it back. Ross sponsors a local jam session every month at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center spotlighting bluegrass and traditional Irish music.
His presentations on Irish music and culture help residents understand the importance of traditional music and storytelling.
"Celtic culture can reconnect us because its roots go right back to the beginnings of western civilization," Ross said.
* You can reach reporter Rob Rogers at 957-4202 or by e-mail at rrogers@newsreview.info
An early love of bluegrass and folk music turned Ross on to Irish culture and music as he began to realize much of traditional American music has roots in Irish jigs and carols.
Ross, 48, of Roseburg, has spent the last decade performing shows and programs on Irish music and heritage.
But it really all began with The Happy Hippopotamus.
A Japanese bluegrass band with this quirky name was playing a show near the U.S. Navy base Ross' father was stationed at in Japan and young Joe went to investigate.
"It was real interesting," he said with a grin.
The music connected with something in Ross. His ancestors hail from Scotland and Ireland, he said. The older Ross got, the more he found himself gravitating toward acoustic music. It was while digging deeper into bluegrass that Ross learned of its Irish roots.
These days, the musician, a Bureau of Land Management employee during the day, is still carving out a market for himself in Douglas County by performing and giving presentations on the Irish and Celts, their music and origins.
"It's been fun to research the music," Ross said. "It comes from 30 years of just delving into it."
In January Ross and a few local residents organized an Irish music jam at Little Brothers Pub in Roseburg and turned out a large audience.
"He always brings a crowd," said Little Brothers owner Sharon Shearer. "We always have a lot of fun when he's here."
Even before the pub opened that night, there were around 30 people on the street waiting to get in for the show. Ross used to play at Little Brothers on a regular basis but hasn't been in for a while as he's gotten more busy with engagements around the county.
He calls himself a "jack of many trades and a master of none." Ross plays just about any string instrument, writes and reviews music for a national bluegrass magazine and plays in Irish, bluegrass and Latin jazz bands.
Last weekend he gave a presentation on Irish culture to children at the Douglas County Museum of History and Natural History. Packed into the room with about 30 children and adults, Ross stood in front of the group dressed in a puffy white lace-up shirt and an English-style cap, surrounded by both common and unusual instruments.
"Hi boys and girls," Joe said. "Can you say 'Hi Joe'?"
"Hi Joe," the group shouted.
As Ross moved into his presentation, he began to demonstrate the different items he had brought with him. He called for two volunteers and handed them small wooden figurines limp at the joints called Limber Jacks.
Ross explained that the Appalachian toys are used with jigs, both having their roots in Irish music. As the music is played, the person holding the Limber Jack shakes a small board underneath it, making the toy dance to the music.
Ross pulled out his mandolin and played a fast-moving jig while the boys sat and bounced the Limber Jacks. The crowd started clapping, and after quite a few minutes the song ended and the boys went and found their seats.
"That was hard," one of the boys said as he returned to his parents.
Ross appears at the museum regularly to do a variety of programs. Stacey McLaughlin, the museum's executive director, said she tries to get him there at least once a year.
"We've had him several times," McLaughlin said. "The kids just really respond to him."
Ross knows at first blush people may wonder just how much there might be to present on Irish culture, but he explained that once people do a little history, they'll find Irish influence everywhere.
He rattled off a list of American folk songs: "Leather Breeches," "Devil's Dream," "Pretty Polly" and even "Streets of Laredo" all come from Irish folk melodies brought to the New World during the great Irish immigration of 1845, he said.
The popular Irish group The Chieftains has released a new album called "Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions," which explores the relationship between Irish folk music and American country.
"The Irish brought their jigs, reels, hornpipes, ballads and dance steps" when they came to America, Ross said.
Ross explained that much of bluegrass and early country music is to some extent reinvented Irish and Celtic music. For the music and tradition to survive in the New World, it needed to take on a new form, Ross said.
"One thing's never changed," he said, "the Celtic spirit."
Bluegrass, apart from growing out of Irish imports, also includes influences from African rhythms and harmonies to old English stories, legends and melodies.
One of the groups Ross plays with, Jackson Street, started out as a bluegrass band and moved toward Irish folk and Celtic tunes the more the group rehearsed.
"Joe's definitely an Irish guy," Bonnie Eichman said.
Eichman, the group's vocalist, said Ross joined the group after it had been formed and the band migrated to an Irish folk sound the more Ross and band member and fellow Irish enthusiast Dan Clifford played with them.
"The rest of us loved it and just fell right into it," she said.
She said Ross is an important part of Jackson Street.
"He's just so versatile," she said. "He fills in the cracks."
Ross has lived in Roseburg since 1988. He was raised in Japan and went to school in Eugene where he began playing bluegrass at different venues across the city.
Having only planned to live in Roseburg for a few years, Ross said he's content where he's at.
"It's not that dissimilar to the Emerald Isle," he said.
He and his wife, Kathleen, who is also a musician and plays the harp, have visited Ireland a few times. He admits the castles and ruins are fun, but it's the small groups playing music in the local Irish pubs that Ross really looks forward to visiting.
"It's just become such a big part of their social life," he said of the pub music and storytelling. "I think Americans have really lost something by not being like that."
He's trying to bring some of it back. Ross sponsors a local jam session every month at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center spotlighting bluegrass and traditional Irish music.
His presentations on Irish music and culture help residents understand the importance of traditional music and storytelling.
"Celtic culture can reconnect us because its roots go right back to the beginnings of western civilization," Ross said.
* You can reach reporter Rob Rogers at 957-4202 or by e-mail at rrogers@newsreview.info
