About a month ago i had the opportunity to play a house concert here in Portland, opening for Eric Skye and his jazz trio.  For those of you that don’t know what a house concert is, its basically where a person has a solo performer or small band give a concert at their house.  Sometimes they are amplified, depending on the place, but often times it can be all acoustic.  They are usually small and intimate, anywhere from 10-50 people, and its a good way to see a performer in a venue where everyone is there to listen.  Often times there will be a potluck dinner beforehand.  There is usually some sort of suggested donation for the performer.  

I recently got the video footage from the show, and will posting it to my Youtube account over the next few days. Here is the first one, a tune i like to open shows with, Inion Ni Scannlain, written by Donogh Hennesy.

Hi Everyone,

Came across yet some more great videos on Youtube recently.  Here is Joseph Sobol playing a jig and reel fingerstyle on his Sobell cittern.

Great stuff, i really like the drive and lilt he gets with his playing.  I remember several years ago when i was the Swannanoa Gathering Guitar Week Joseph Sobol stopped by.  Him, Robin Bullock, Steve Baughman, and Andrew Magill played some great irish tunes under one of the tents for a few hours.  It was amazing music, and i consider myself lucky to have been able to sit right there and watch it.

Anton

Hi Everyone,

Been working on recording a few videos to put up on Youtube and Vimeo.  I prefer Vimeo because the quality is better, but youtube is more popular.  I will just probably just end up throwing my videos on both.  I have just been recording using my Macbook as the camera and my Zoom H4 to capture the audio, all into iMovie 09.  Its pretty easy to use.  I am happy with the audio/video quality when i export the project to a .mov file, but when i upload to Youtube or Vimeo the audio always ends up degraded.  Maybe someone who knows more than me can chime in.  I hear some pretty good audio quality on youtube and vimeo, perhaps its because those folks have a better setup than me.  But if i am happy with the quality of the rendered .mov file, i just to find a way to preserve that as it gets put online.  Will have to do some research. 

So here is a video i recorded last night, the traditional reel called Father Kellys.  Its pretty standard on the irish session scene.  Its one of the two ways i arrange reels, this one being simpler.  I more or less try to play the melody in such a way that i can use hammer ons and pull offs, combined with melodic playing up the neck, to make it flow.  I then fit in bass notes where i can.

Celtic Guitar – Father Kellys from Anton Emery on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you all think.  I want to post some more videos in the future, its fun making them.

Anton