The purpose of this page (initially, at least) is to host a collection of my tunes, video from performances with various bands, and videos that people have come to expect I’ll will keep on this website.
Multi-instrumentalist Graham Lindsey regularly plays traditional sessions across the country and in a number of Celtic, folk and roots bands – often backing up fine soloists and singer/songwriters.
If you’ve been on the grounds of Parliament Hill in Ottawa this summer, you may have heard Graham’s tunes ringing from the carillon (the bells that chime on the hour, and are played for daily concerts) inside the Peace Tower. His compositions were included in the summer recital series, being played on a dozen different days – and with more to come! His work has also brought him to Sweden in January of 2017, where he was the Featured Guest Artist at the Folk at Heart festival. There he played with two local bands, one of which has recorded his tunes for Graham’s upcoming CD (expected in 2018).
On-stage you’ll often see him with mandolins and banjo, percussion (bodhran and cajon, shakers and more), and flutes and whistles – and he’s comfortable finding a place in almost any musical setting.
Graham is also on the board of the Canadian Folk Music Awards and is involved in other Celtic festivals and Canada’s wider folk-music community.
His tune book (of his own original compositions) was released in July of 2016 to wide acclaim.
“Trad” Tunes You Probably Don’t Know Yet
Click here to order your copy of “the yellow book”!This book is a collection of 17 original “trad”-style Celtic tunes by Graham Lindsey. The tunes were written between October 2014 and June 2016. He loves writing in the third person about himself, and 10 hours after releasing a screenshot on Facebook is beside himself as a result of the interest in the book!
Thanks in advance for buying this book – and if you play them anywhere I’d love to hear about it.
Jigs: Ellen’s / The Empty Chair / For A Nickel / Grit’s / Trent Severn (F & D) / The Write-Off
Reels: From Away (F & G) / There Were Mountains / Whiskey Soup (F & G)
Polkas: Dougal’s Favourite / The First
Hornpipes: Don Kavanagh’s Latest / The Wire Cutter
Waltzes/Mazurkas: Three Quarters Swung / The Valentine’s Waltz / The Spring Post
Novelty: Stephen Harper’s Jig (in 5/8)…but to buy the book, you can click here.
Thanks to everyone who has already expressed interest, even before the book was released!
Continue reading →Whiskey Soup
Recorded 15 May 2016
Written by Graham LindseyI wrote this to pair with my other tune “From Away” and people have said it’s more straightforward and has a decent groove. I’ll let you decide!
Written in the fall of 2015, it was nameless until Ottawa singer/songwriter Jill Zmud suggested I should name a tune Whiskey Soup – and it was born!
Download Whiskey Soup – key of F (PDF) | Download Whiskey Soup – key of G (PDF)
Continue reading →Trent Severn
Recorded 21 Apr 2016
Written by Graham LindseyThis is a tune I wrote in mid-2015, played it locally and one player said it was interesting – I was hanging with my friends in Trent Severn and asked if they’d mind my naming it after them… and the rest is history!
I’ve been trying to figure out when to release the tune, and since Trent Severn is playing a house concert at my place next week, so I figured this is as good a time as any!
Download Trent Severn Jig (PDF)
Continue reading →The Write-Off
Recorded 1 Apr 2016
Written by Graham LindseySo it’s tax season. I’ve finished tiling my front hall and bathroom, replaced a toilet and played all the music I possibly could. Yet I haven’t finished my taxes. A tune came to mind, of course – otherwise I’d have to get things ready for my accountant… and here’s what came of it!
Continue reading →Don Kavanagh’s Latest
Recorded 15 Mar 2016
Written by Graham LindseyHere’s a hornpipe written in the week leading up to St. Paddy’s Day – I named it after Don Kavanagh, Ottawa’s king of the hornpipe (always at the correct tempo, of course), an exceptional harmonica player, and the kindest person you’ll meet.
As I was finishing the tune, I saw a picture on Facebook that NL musician Jean Hewson posted for her friend Frank Maher’s birthday – a picture of Frank and Don. It was around that time that I tried changing the rhythm to make the tune a hornpipe, and that’s where it was meant to be – and another reason the name fit.
Download Don Kavanagh’s Latest (PDF)
Continue reading →There Were Mountains
Recorded 15 Nov 2015 with David Morrissey
Written by Graham LindseyI was in Calgary after the 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards (held in Edmonton this year), and decided to take a trip to Canmore to see the mountains. Unfortunately it was very cloudy, so I didn’t really see anything – so I sat in my rental car and wrote this tune.
Download There Were Mountains (PDF)
Continue reading →Stephen Harper’s Jig
I wrote a tune for Stephen Harper! (No, it’s most definitely not a commission.) It’s a lively “jig”, in 5/8 with a couple of bars of 6/8, but usually not where you’ll hear it.
Newfoundland players would call “Stephen Harper’s Jig” a crooked tune.
As I said to a friend, adding a beat or two to throw a little bump in would make a mildly crooked tune, but I went for “the full Harper”.
Download Stephen Harper’s Jig (PDF)
Continue reading →From Away
Recorded 21 Aug 2015 with Shane Cook
Written by Graham LindseyWritten for a friend living on the East Coast – from away.
Download From Away – key of F (PDF) | Download From Away – key of D (PDF)
Continue reading →Ellen’s Jig
Recorded 11 Feb 2015 with Ellen Gibling
Written by Graham LindseyThis one proves that all you need to do to have a tune named for you is to compliment the guy who wrote it! It’s a nice little jig that people have seemed to latch onto.
Harp accompaniment by Ellen Gibling, a harpist working in Halifax.
Continue reading →Grit’s Jig
Recorded 11 Feb 2015 with Ellen Gibling
Written by Graham LindseyThis is the first tune of mine that I’d played in public – now named for Grit Laskin, maker of fine stringed instruments, and without which I wouldn’t have written any tunes at all. Thanks, Grit!
Harp accompaniment by Ellen Gibling, a harpist working in Halifax.
Continue reading →