Miotal Trom / Heavy Metal is an uilleann piping journey across six different instruments from the 1840s to the 1990s, exploring their unique voices, characteristics, and the tunes that they want to play. I like to think of each recording as a duet with the instrument itself; they all need their own idiosyncratic approach and have quirky ways in which they like to be treated.
Each track was completed in a short number of takes to capture the immediate and raw joy of a private recording or live performance. I also found great delight in pushing the sounds of the instrument to their musical extremes, veering into atonality before tumbling back to the melodies again.
I hope you enjoy it too.
Irish Traditional Music on Solo Uilleann Pipes.
with instruments by:
Taylor Brothers, Philadelphia, 1880, D
Leo Rowsome, Dublin, 1940, D
Michael Egan, Liverpool, 1840, C
George Glen, Edinburgh, 1910, C#
Geoff Wooff, Perth, 1986, C/B
Ronan Browne, Bray, 1995, D
All tracks Traditional, arranged Jason Rouse.
Recorded in Cardiff, Wales & Sion Mills, Northern Ireland, 2025.
Mastering by Sam Lawrence.
Photography by Emily Norton, Russell Bradley, Shane Kennedy, Leeanne Rouse & Jason Rouse.
Cover Artwork ‘Lugh the Il-Dána’ by Jim Fitzpatrick.
With thanks to the Rouse family, Emily Norton, Noel Devine, Rick Lines, Sam Lawrence, Geoff Wooff, Ronan Browne, Martin Gallen, Christopher Bayley, Benedict Koehler, Will Woodson, William & Charley Taylor, Nick Whitmer, Russell Bradley, Christopher McMullan, Gavin Callaghan, Shane Kennedy, The Liam O’Flynn Fan Club, Liam Winnett, Autumn Rhodes, Brian Crehan, Jim Fitzpatrick, Sheila Friel, Eddie Brophy, Ceri Rhys Matthews, AriZona Tea, Na Píobairí Uilleann & Pibyddion Uilleann Cymru.
