There are some people who are single-taskers and others whose natural inclination is to multi task; veritable Pentium chips (with a musical ear). Michael McGoldrick most definitely inhabits the latter camp. Swapping between flutes, low whistles, bodhran, uileann pipes and electric guitar, he pirouettes effortlessly between his current day job with Scotland s stalwarts, Capercaille, and numerous high profile guest spots with the Afro Celt Sound System, Lznasa and on occasion, the RTE Concert Orchestra. I guess you could say that Goldie isn t a man to let the grass grow under his feet.

With Fused, his second solo album now on release, and garnering critical and (more importantly) punter plaudits aplenty, McGoldrick s solo flight promises to soar high. With no less than 6 original tunes sidled alongside 7 trad pieces on Fused, he s not shy of shouting his intentions from the rooftops. And although you re guaranteed to find his CD s filed under trad in your local music emporium, you ll discover that acid or contemporary trad might more prove a more useful description. Because McGoldrick takes chances and pushes boundaries that lesser musicians more usually hide behind. Which means that tablas, electric bass, trumpets and sax keep the best of company with the more traditional fiddle, pipes and flutes.
It s just the kind of thing I ve been listening too, he offers, with the nonchalance of a master craftsman, and the music that I ve absorbed over the years. I mean, I ve been influenced by everything from Stockton s Wing to The Bothys and Planxty and all that.
In the early nineties, a spell with an outfit by the name of Inner Space, based in McGoldrick s home town of Manchester, also helped shape his eclectic range of interests.
That was a band who were playing in the underground drug scene in Manchester, he explains, and that was completely mad, heavy grooves, samples and loops, with everything from a Mongolian singer going backwards to a tune on top of it. Then after that, listening to Indian music, and playing with all the people I have, since then, all fed naturally into the sound of the album.
Not surprisingly, he s had encounters with purists unimpressed with his, eh, less than predictable approach.
The majority are older, rather than young people, who ve reacted against it. But most younger players just feel you ve got to move with the times and go with your instincts. I ve had some great reactions from people all over the place since the album came out.
With a father from Galway and a mother from Mayo, Michael McGoldrick s gene pool was well primed for a life of traditional music. Aided and abetted by childhood summers spent in the west, either playing or listening to sessions, it came as no surprise when he opted for a living in music even if he did make his debut as a drummer with a ciilm band!
I started on the bodhran and then tried the tin whistle, he recalls. Me dad was a whistle player and all me sisters and brothers played too. Then I got on to the wooden flute later on and the pipes were the last instrument I learned to play. And I ve got a long way to go with them.
Having toured all over Canada, Australia and most every corner of Europe, McGoldrick knows his audiences well. The difference in reaction is as palpable to him as a player as it is to the punter, and he relishes the home gigs for this very reason.
There s a fuckin huge difference! he avers. When I ve come over to do gigs in Ireland, on my own or with Lznasa, it s brilliant. The atmosphere is just fantastic. And just the response you get from people, just in the change of a tune, is great. Then when you play that kind of gig in England, it s just not as vibey.
McGoldrick s ear was constantly cast westward when it came to a role call of his heroes of traditional music.
The one and only Matt Molloy, he offers, and anyone who came after him, really. The only piper I knew before I took up a chanter was Paddy Keenan of The Bothys, and he was just amazing. Then I heard John McSherry on pipes, and I just thought: right, that s for me .
His appetite for solo work is far from sated though.
Well, if somebody rings for a gig, I ll do the gig! I quite like doing other peoples music, but if somebody wants to book Michael McGoldrick, I ll jump at it.