KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
The Kodiak Arts Council brought a Irish traditional music band, Socks in the Frying Pan, to Kodiak to perform this weekend.
KMXT stopped by the Gerald C. Wilson auditorium to talk with them after the show.
The band is made up of three musicians on fiddle, guitar, and accordion –and none of them will reveal the origin of their name, Socks in the Frying Pan.
“There’s one person who knew about it, but that person is dead.”
“We don’t talk about that person anymore.”
“Well, they’ve disappeared.”
They’re less shady about their own story.
Aodán Coyne, Fiachra Hayes, and Shane Hayes are from Country Clare on the west coast of Ireland.
Shane says he and his brother grew up playing music together, and they started their professional career near home.
“I suppose a lot of Irish music is based around the session. It’s like a friendly get together, a jam session in the pub, and I got a gig in a pub at home, and I just happened to call Aodán, who was a friend of mine – we’d never played together – and called my brother. Just sat down, just had a bit of a session and jammed together. It went pretty well, and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Their music caught on, the demand grew, and they’ve been touring America for a few years now.
They’re young. They’re in their 20s and early 30s. But Fiachra Hayes says that isn’t so unusual for Irish traditional music.
“We’re very lucky that a lot of our best friends – and our worst enemies – are playing Irish music that are our age, you know? There’s so much work being done in Ireland with the younger generations playing Irish music and especially in the west – I don’t want to say especially in the west, but Ennis, the town we come from, definitely has a very strong culture of Irish music and young people taking it up.”
Aodán Coyne is an example of that.
“My family is kind of steeped in Irish music, so I kind of rebelled for a while. I played some rock, which was great for a while. Grew the hair long. And then finally I just realized there’s a bit of fun in Irish music.”
Kodiak is one stop in their Alaska tour. They’re headed to Bethel and Cordova next.
