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Modesto Highland Games – Paul Espinoza
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The Modesto Highland Games was the first event that I saw and heard Paul Espinoza performing solo. He did three sets during this beautiful temperate June day. His performance without his fellow Golden Bough musicians Margie and Kathy was not lacking in any regard. Paul has a marvelous tenor voice that you might call as Irish as you can get without coming from Ireland. His voice resonated even over the loud piper bands that marched through his performances on occasion. His repertoire included Irish and Scottish folk songs. These reaffirmed his prowess with this style of music. What I was pleased to hear was his digression into other styles. He sang Norwegian Wood, a song he attributed to Liverpool Irish song writers. He delivered this song with mastery that would make Lennon and McCartney most pleased. He also performed the Donovan song, Hurdy Gurdy Man. Of course this fit right into the theme of Scotland but added a contemporary element to his act. Herb Albert was also presented to his audience. Then he moved into some blues songs references. This mixed bag demonstrated his ability to delve into many genres of music. He utilized his guitar, mandolin, and harmonica to add musical color to his sets. What he demonstrated was his versatility and talent as a musician and this pleased all that took the time to stop and listen to him. Bravo Paul!
Prior to his first set I managed to have him tell me a little bit of his background. The group, Golden Bough, goes back 30 years now. This devotion shows in the highly polished performances this group presents at every concert. They had done tours in Europe in the 80s and they were very well received wherever they went. They also have requests to travel to the Eastern United States to perform, but their schedule here on the West Coast hinders traveling. If they did travel, Californians would have to share them and that would be less of them for us. I would like to covet Golden Bough as ours. Those of you that have not or may not hear their performances must go to their Web site and purchase their CDs. You will be very pleased.
I have included photographs of Paul. And, as this was a Scottish Games event, I have included a few pictures of the athletes and the piper bands. My next article will be about the group Avalon Rising which also performed on Saturday. After that I will present to you a third group that was also there called Cooking with Turf. These groups also added to the pageantry and sounds of the day. It was a great day for music and for our Scottish Heritage
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