by Sylvia Benavidez
Keeping Irish American traditions alive on St. Patrick’s Day, Albion Malleable Brewing Company located on S. Superior St. served corned beef and cabbage, Baileys Irish Crème Brule for dessert, and from 6-8:00 p.m. traditional Irish and Welch tunes by the energetic band Railcar Graffiti.
The music was a mix of old traditional music and pieces found in more modern memories concerning the politics of Ireland. The music was mostly jovial, but a few pieces were slower and showed off the band’s ability to harmonize. Some of the song titles off of their extensive playlist included: “Paddy Murphy,” “Banshee,” “Frosty Morn,” and “I’ll Tell Me Ma.”
Many of the songs are personal to one of the band’s founders Mike Evans, Brooklyn, MI. He wants to keep his Irish and Welch history alive in language and song.
“…I was raised by my grandfather and he sung a lot of these old songs. That’s why I picked up a lot of this stuff. I didn’t realize how special it was until I was much older. When that finally hit me, it literally became my whole life,” said Evans.
Evans shared he and his family are doing everything they can to keep Irish culture alive for themselves and the next generation. He said, “I think it’s important to know where you come from and to realize the culture you come from, the traditions they have, and things like that. We still speak Welch in our house. We have three little kids and they are learning Welch and speaking along with us.”
When asked if he knew whether or not St. Patrick was from Ireland, Evans laughed and said, “No, he was not.” Even though he and his family are Pagans, he stands by his decision to learning more of all of Irish history and culture. Living his heritage also includes making a habit of cooking and baking Irish food.
Evans explained, “We have an Irish Pub cookbook that we make food from all the time. We are die-hard Irish.”
Members of the 10-year-old Railcar Graffiti group enjoy playing a variety of music and Evans shared, “We also do Appalachian string band music and we also do Punk rock and Rock ‘N’ Roll tunes but with like a folky twist, and folk feel to it.”
A couple of the band members said they love playing the Irish and Welch tunes especially on St. Patrick’s Day. Carly Pampuch is married to the other founding band member Tom Pampuch and has sung with the band about 8 years. She sang some solos during the night and her smile was wide with each tune.
Pampuch explained what brings the joy and attracts her to Irish music. “It’s traditional. It’s punk. It’s new. There’s new musicians there are always doing cool, amazing things with this music. There’s the old musicians that we can turn to. This music has always been a battle cry and a way to challenge the status quo and it’s kind of from the wrong side of the tracks and I just love how community driven it is and how accessible it is to everyone. It’s a really fun time.”
Captain Karnooba aka Gordon Kwiatkowski, Jackson, the newest member of the band, agreed with Pampuch’s summation and emphasized the joy he finds in the music. He shared, “It’s so fun. Irish music, it’s a great tradition. It’s great stuff and I’m fascinated by all kinds of genres of music. I have enjoyed Irish music for a long time and it’s super fun to play.”
As for people packing Albion Malleable Monday night, whether Irish or not, they were there to have a rousing good time and weren’t disappointed. Jacob Geiger, Atlanta, visiting Albion for a job partnership found the food delicious and said, “We did dinner. It was jammed and it was a very lively place. It was very nice.”
Denise Cunningham, Concord, is of Irish ancestry explained why she comes to Albion Malleable for St. Patrick’s Day. (For) Celebrating the Irish tradition in a great place that always has great food and great beer. And we met new friends today while we were here.”
While enjoying the music, she shared what she valued about her heritage. “My grandmother in what she brought over with her cooking and some language and she spoke some of the language.”
Although Andy Myers, Head of Public Services for Albion District Library is Polish that doesn’t stop him from appreciating everything Irish. He knows the members of the band and said, “I am Irish today. Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.”
All photos taken by Sylvia Benavidez
