An Interview with Irish Whistle Player Brian Hughes // Rune Barslund's Podcast (Episode 1)

Welcome to the first episode in a little series of interviews I will be doing with traditional musicians. Towards the end of our Danish tour, I sat down for a chat with whistle player and uilleann piper Brian Hughes from Ireland. In this interview we discuss topics such as the importance of listening, how to learn tunes, session culture, how to approach Irish music as a non-Irish person, playing by ear, Brian’s new album, the access to Irish music online, Brian’s upbringing and musical heroes, what to look for when buying a tin whistle, uilleann piping, and Brian’s collaboration with McNeela Instruments. Music by Brian Hughes Link to the documentary about Brian’s new album: 👉    • Brian Hughes: Wild Whistle Album   Brian’s YouTube Channel: 👉    / @brianhughesofficial4087   Listen to Brian on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/artist/00U17... Content 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Brian's musical upbringing and choice of instruments 03:20 Brian's musical heroes 08:26 Brian's new album and his collaboration with McNeela Instruments 12:22 How Brian chooses tunes for a new album 14:40 The making of Brian's 5 part documentary 17:42 Selecting musicians for an album 18:25 How Brian learns tunes and his view on playing by ear vs using sheet music 24:45 How to learn to play Irish music if you are not Irish 30:04 The importance of the Irish session culture 32:45 What to be aware of as a non-Irish person playing Irish music 35:14 What to be aware of when buying a whistle 40:05 Uilleann Piping