caseydriessen

For the second stop on our Otherlands journey, we spent five weeks in a country known for its green landscape and traditional music sessions—Ireland. Many tunes were played. Many sights were seen. Have a look & listen.

Back in 2013, I was headed down the west coast of Ireland and landed in Dingle for a day. As I order a drink at the Courthouse Pub, the man behind the bar asks, "Do you play the fiddle?" Yes. "Is your name Casey?" Yes. This man is Tommy O'Sullivan and he runs the pub with his wife Saundra. It turns out we had met in Texas. When planning to return to Ireland with my family, a stopover in Dingle was a must.

Six years ago, I randomly met uilleann piper Blackie O’Connell and bouzouki player Cyril O’Donoghue while traveling through Doolin, Ireland. We had a memorable pub session night and reconnected on my Otherlands travels…at the very same pub! It was a wild night of tune energy.

My collaboration with Irish accordionist Alan Kelly marks the first "on location" session of my travels. We shared sessions on three different occasions and spent one lovely day playing tunes at his home in Galway.

On December 1, 2020, we took off from Dublin and touched down in Glasgow, Scotland. For two weeks we would call the western peninsula of Knoydart home before returning to Glasgow/Edinburgh for the Christmas and New Year's holiday.

Michael and I met at my first few jam session down in Glasgow. His rhythm, harmony, and left hand bass saved the day for me, and we planned to get together after the holidays. Luckily, my AirBnB came with an upright piano that was relatively in tune—5 stars for amenities.

What do an Irishman and an American play for a collaboration in Scotland? The answer is simple, a Swedish tune. Just before the Christmas holiday, on our one overlapping day, I reunited with an old friend in Edinburgh.

When I mentioned to friends I was heading up to the western Highlands of Scotland, I kept hearing that I should meet fiddler Eilidh Shaw and guitarist Ross Martin. They were right. We met on many different occasions and were able to record in an amazing location.

Conversation flows and stories begin. It's gold. After about 20min, I ask Aonghas if he minds me recording our time together and he graciously agrees. So we continue chatting while I set up my gear. For the next 3-4 hours we talk and play.

Our fourth stop on this year of Otherlands travels brought us to India. Our first time in this amazing country, we would spend eight weeks visiting Kolkata (and surrounding), Bengaluru, Mysuru, Goa, and Chennai. I hope you enjoy the collaborations, music, photos, and reflections.

A couple days before leaving Kolkata, I took a very special trip to the village of Paruldanga, just outside Shantiniketan, to spend a day and a night at the lovely home of revered Baul musicians Rina & Dibakar Das Baul. They invited family and friends to share an evening of music with me.

Amrit Khanjira, master of the khanjira, an Indian percussion instrument from the Carnatic (South Indian Classical) tradition gave me a lot to think about, and practice. I came away with great new rhythmic concepts, and we put the American old-time tune “Garfield’s Blackberry” through the paces…reinterpreting in 5 different time signatures.

We kicked off the day with my first live Indian TV experience playing Baul and West Bengali folk songs, and finished in a flower garden, our time cut short by mosquitoes.

I met and immediately locked with the amazingly powerful and soulful singer Raghu Dixit in Bengaluru, India. We played a piece of poetry by Dr. Da. Ra. Bendre that he had set to music — a traveling song of of leaving your home to search for what may be better, only to return to your home and find that it has been the true place for you all along.

Introduced by a friend of a friend, Arko Mukhaerjee and I would hang and make music together multiple times during my days in Kolkata, India. This video is an original song of his, speaking about how respect for life can get you to life’s next levels.

Less than 12hours after arriving to India, my family and I were heading north out of Kolkata towards Natungram, a small village known for their wooden doll carving tradition. It was our first time in the country and just about everything would be new — including two of the three people I was to be playing with.

After leaving India, my family and I headed to Japan, towards the hotbed of the current, not-yet-named Covid-19 pandemic. We would spend 3 amazing tourist-sparse weeks here, with lovely musical collaborations before departing to Finland.

By trains, by bus, and by foot, I arrived to the small village of Miyama in the countryside near Kyoto, Japan. I spent the day wandering through streets of traditional thatch-roofed homes and the evening making music with Yukky (voice) and Taro (mandolin).

In the back room of a small cafe, down a side street in Kamakura, I met with master biwa musician and vocalist Reisui Ban to experience a moment of deep oral musical tradition.

Three instruments. Three “movements.” Before arriving to Japan, I made plans to join shamisen musician Yutaka Oyama for a gig and recording session. Covid-19 canceled our gig, but thankfully we were still able to record. Akihito Obama joined us on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and we made some magical moments.

After eight years apart, I reconnected with Japanese mandolinist Taro Inoue. He had since moved from Tokyo out to a little cabin in the countryside of Kyoto. By train, by bus, and by foot, I paid him a visit and we spent the day playing Bluegrass.

As Covid-19 started to change the world, Finland became the final stop on our 10-month Otherlands world tour. We locked down at a cabin in Kaustinen and got to know the area via friends in the local music community.

Here’s a Finnish/American musical mashup of traditional tunes from my final Otherlands collaboration of this first year. Lockdowns hit hard around the world while I was in Finland and the gigging landscape changed in a big way. Testing the waters with Antti Järvelä (guitar), Esko Järvelä (fiddle), and Maija Pokela (kantele, voice).

After a couple weeks in Kaustinen, I hit the country roads and headed southwest to Härmä. There I spent the afternoon with a great vocalist and kantele player, Maija Pokela, and guitarist Antti Järvelä on a rare happy love song from the region.

Winter turned to spring as coronavirus took over and we hunkered down in cabin in the small town of Kaustinen, Finland. It’s a place known for its strong fiddling tradition, and Esko Järvelä helped show me the ways.

My first trip to Italy kicked off on the island of Sardinia where I met Elena Ledda and Mauro Palmas, two of the most respected musicians in traditional Sardinian music.