Fintan McManus
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Many consider Fintan to be one of the most outstanding Irish bouzouki players, whether playing tunes or accompaniment and equally at home with either contemporary or traditional music. He has amassed a huge collection of newly written material and is regarded amongst the most innovative of Irish Composers,
Born in the North of Ireland near Lisnaskea Co. Fermanagh, Fintan McManus grew up in an entirely musical household by the banks of the River Erne. His mother Rose Gunn from Derrylin carries a huge collection of old songs though she maintains it is only a small portion of those known and sung by her own father John.
In those days she says "He only had to hear a song once and he remembered both words and melody ....changed times...now even with sophisticated recorders that type of talent seems to be a thing of the past"
Fintan was no stranger to music when he was growing up. "I suppose it was in my bones" he says casually, "with music all around you it’s just so natural ... and with the Gunn strain in the family, love for and ability to play were inevitable. My uncle Thomas was a great fiddle player and aunt Molly a carrier of many great songs and a fine singer. My brother Terence is also a fine musician and singer.
Many consider Fintan to be one of the most outstanding string players in Ireland, whether playing tunes or accompaniment and equally at home with either contemporary or traditional music. Totally a spontaneous player he rarely rehearses for either jigs or session work. "Playing or recording a piece of music is merely to immortalize a moment in time. It can never be repeated. I’d like to think that if I play the same piece twice within a five minute period it would be different each time" He is a virtuoso player on guitar mandolin and bouzouki and has a unique style on whistle. "The bouzouki is my favourite" he smiles "I never had to learn it I just fell in love with it the first time I took it in my hands. When I was playing sessions there were no bouzouki or mandolin players in Fermanagh. That gave me the space to be innovative on the instrument"
And what about your own compositions?...."Well it will take me a little while to explain all that. I suppose when I realized I had talent for writing music I was not aware how small the world really was...my music is now covered on some forty albums worldwide. I have a huge collection of newly written material I’d say in the region of five hundred original pieces altogether. I never purposely sit down to write music it’s just in my head all the time. All the music is different, just like "The Guns of the Magnificent Seven". Not many really understood that tune. It was meant to be provocative letting players interpret the third part. The Bumblebees do a great version of it ..my favourite...and they look much better than I do!! Someone once said it must have been written as I tumbled down the stairs!....Thankfully it was not as painful as all that!! Variations in timing came from the days of playing with some traditional singers who used little rhythmic format in their songs. Playing with them was a actually more painful than falling down the stairs" he laughs. "I learned from the experience though. That’s the only time he mentions the word musical ability ... "I suppose I had to have a little of that in me to play with them in the first place...not many others ever made a good fist of it".
And what about the future. "Well there are several volumes of my music to be printed...and I'm working on a CD at the moment of my own material. I'll be doing the engineering and production on that myself....it will be all my own work really....and played on my own handmade instruments.
"My music will be available for download at a later stage from the website and I'll also have some notated pieces for printing". So keep watching!
Fintan is a master craftsman and makes all his own stringed instruments. Here is a photo of one of his own favourite bouzoukis
Some useful links to friends and musicians.
A mandolin, mandola and bouzouki all handcrafted by Fintan.
