A lazy morning…coffee in The Royal Exchange Theatre…watching techies putting final touches to the set for ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’…
Also,checking out excellent content at http://www.maireandchris.com following a great newsletter from Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman.
Great people,top musos…Maire has had to battle back to playing harp after breaking a hand a few months ago…during the layoff,she designed a website! Time well spent…good luck to them.
Dave
Hi Christy. Hope you’re keeping well. I saw Daoiri Farrell on Friday night in The Seanti. Brilliant night, he’s an outstanding performer. Did you ever see him live?
I only first heard about him on Friday afternoon and went to see him Friday night thanks to my uncle who is a bouzouki player.
Looking forward to your gig on Nov 9th.
Christy's reply
I’ve known Daoirí since he was a young lad starting out….he has developed into a unique singer with a great repertoire…always faithful to his roots and the singers who’ve influenced him along the way
Before Mick built the (first) extension to his Embankment, he used to host Ballad Sessions in the bar of the original pub….Peggy Jordan ran one of the nights there and she asked me to sing a couple of songs one night in 1964 ( I was a junior clerk at The National Bank in The Rotunda)….I got the bus out from Aston Quay to Mick McCarthy’s Legendary Pub….
10 years later I returned by which time Mick had extended his premises into a fine venue…I played there regularly until the Mid 80s and enjoyed manys the night and early morning in the “green” room….Mick was a chameleon-like,very likable character…always up for craic and divvilment, simultaenously a communist, an astute capitalist, a Kerryman, a Dub, a culchie, a man of the world, a dacent man and a cute hoor…always a lock in after an Embankment gig….
one Summer’s morning,stumbling out into the car park after an all-nighter, Barney remarked
“is’nt there a great stretch in the evenings…
Mick was one of the rare auld stock
Can’t thank you enough for the brilliant gig in Trim last Thursday, Oct. 2! We had travelled 1200 km by car from Germany to France and spent a night on the ferry to Dublin to see you once again. It was my wife’s birthday the day before the gig and we had our golden wedding anniversy a few weeks back. Without knowing, you sang the right songs for us. The first time we saw you live at the Scariff Folk Festival in 1975. Exactly 50 years ago! Later we had the great pleasure seeing and hearing you in Erlangen (near our home town, where Barney had his pub!), Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Vicar Street (right after you went on stage again) and twice in Glasgow. The Royal Concert Hall was very different from the gig the day after in Barrowland! It was impressive how you controlled the high emotions in the audience there. All of them were a unique and unforgettable experience for us. Let the music roll on …
Christy's reply
Thank your listening down thru the decades and for your feedback…
50 years since that Scariff Festival…back then Scariff was an important hub for Irish Music and Song…Aiden and Síle O’Beirne ran the legendery Merriman Tavern there….
Glad to read that I played some of your chosen songs…..happy travels to you both
“That’s the stuff to give them!’ says the boys of Fair Hill”
RIP Don!
Christy's reply
“The Lonely Woods of Upton
The Boys of Fairhill
The Piper of Crossbarry,
I can hear him still
I see The Blood and Bandage
I hear The Rebel sing
I’m gonna kiss that Blarney Stone
’til The Bells of Shandon ring”
………….from The Big Marquee…which also references my good companero, the late Don O’Leary who died in the last couple of days
” and there goes Don O’Leary
on the road to Sunday’s Well
up to The Cork Life Centre
to ring The Morning Bell”
Don was one of the finest that I’ve ever met..Condolences to all his Family and friends
I regularly pass the James Connoly memorial opposite Liberty Hall and always remember how the auditorium there used to be a hive of activity for Folk and Traditional Music back in the day, not so much anymore!
Christy's reply
Crann and Óir..Ceart go Leor
I recall wild ballad nights in Liberty Hall back in the day of the 2 shilling pint, B/W TV and rampant church driven misogynism
Christy says:” he did a sleeve for me way back”
And a grand likeness it is too…..but he wasn’t related to Simey (Simon)was he?
Christy's reply
no Pat…Eamon did a a portrait of Donegal Fiddle player Simey Doherty..brother of legendary Fiddle master Johnny Doherty…I’ve heard it said that some preferred Simey’s playing…Eamon was a Derry O’Doherty
We were sitting in my cousin’s house in Queens NYC chatting Irish history, as you do, and he said let’s go for a drive. He took us upstate New York to a wee park where I saw the most amazing famine memorial, done by Éamonn…..a family outside their wrecked hovel, and a basket of spuds spilling on the ground. But the spuds weren’t spuds, they were skulls…..frightening.
More fun was his ‘ Fluzie in the Jacuzzi ‘ in O’Connell street……many didn’t like it, I loved it, it reminded me of the long woman’s grave in the Cooley mountains!
Christy's reply
you remind me of his “Galway Hooker” on Eyre Square, his “Emigrant Family” on The Diamond in Derry, his “James Connolly” opp Liberty Hall,Dublin….he did a sleeve for me,way back and also did beautiful illustations for some publications….my sister has a beautiful portrait he did of Simey Doherty
Hi Christy. Will you come back to Cork opera house again soon. Saw you in Wexford opera house in August and what a great gig.
Christy's reply
since The Big Marquee commenced 20 years ago I’ve only had one occasion to play the CorkOpera House..
that was a Tribute Concert to Don O’Leary, ( for The Cork Life Centre) …a true champion and hero of Cork City..
Don passed on last Friday Morning.
I mourn the news, I give thanks for having known him
Thank you, Christy, for another great gig! Well organised, perfect sound, nice staff/team members and you in top form. Great selection of songs. The atmosphere felt different from last week, but just as good. It was fun to meet some people again after quite a while.
Thanks @Patsy for your recommendations: part one (Croker) done and really enjoyed today – and I tried the camán and the sliotar myself in the activity zone😉 – no major injuries or casualties, apart from the ball that is, it went missing behind a wall as the net in front of it had a hole…🫣.
Part two still on the to-do list.
Now it’s probably a while to go til I come back. But your gigs are really a source of energy. I take that energy home with me and it keeps the spirit high for quite a long time.
Go raibh míle maith agat!
Birgit
Christy's reply
welcome Birgit…thanks for feedback….two good nights in that Meath Theatre…
There were magic nights in the lobby bar when Brendan Ring played Madame Bonaparte
And every note that the piper would play would send me away send me away
Away through the window away in the rain over the city away on the air
To a field by a river where the trees are so green the deepest of green that you’ve ever seen
Where once you have been you can go back again you can go anytime you can go anytime
Because it’s only in your mind
Christy's reply
another ball in the back of the net for our John Spillane
What a night , What a Performance.
I have been coming back for nigh on fifty years now and last night as good or better than any.
I don’t know how to best describe it but maybe Storm in a T Shirt on Steriods come close? (Can I have the name of The Steroids? Please)
From City Of Chicago all the way through to Joxer, every song a highlight and audience lapped up every minute of it, there was three foreign ladies in front of me their English not great but could sing along to every song.
I will choose a few to mention that were of special significance too me.
A very special thank you for the mentions of Conor/Yellow Furze and The Honda Fifty , it certainly brought back fond memories. Also very fond memories of a Saturday afternoon spent in Newbridge after a Leinster championship match in St Conleths Park, I listened as Conor and Nancy reminisced about times long past , remember particularly a story about a German warplane coming down on Tramore beach and part of the fuselage being sent between Tramore and Ardmulchan (you ever hear mention of that ?)
Great to hear Sacco & Vanzetti live again after all these years , I first heard you sing it in Slane House it might not be 100 years ago but it certainly could be 50 and it sounded just as good and every bit as relevant now, I get the feeling there could be many more Sacco & Vanzetti’s on Trump’s watch it’s a pity Woody is gone.
But the one that stood head and shoulders above all others for me last night was “The Time Has Come” after losing Bobby’s Back Home In Derry something magical happened when you moved into Time Has Come, this has to be one of the most moving and poignant songs ever to come from your pen and great to hear it still being performed live least we ever forget the suffering of Patsy and Peggy and all the other families
Anyhow here is too many more nights like the the one just witnessed.
Let the music keep your spirits high and long may you run and maybe we get Sean on the ticket for next time by then we probably being ruled by The Right Wing Mussolini remembrance party !
Christy's reply
Your mention of German fuselage making it from Tramore to Ardmulchan is new to me..
Mammy worked in The Majestic Hotel in Tramore during the Second World War…she met Daddy there when he was on Army Training Manouvres , ( his Third Battalion had route marched from The Curragh Camp to Tramore ) a few years later they were to honeymoon back in Tramore where ,I suspect, my journey may have begun !!…
in the course of a gig ,many vivid pictures land in my auld head… last Thu night I had this clear vision of Conor’s Honda 50 parked outside the church in Newbridge at Mammy’s funeral…. they were great auld pals.
THank you for your great review…I recall that gig in Slane House all those years ago…yes, “The Time Has Come” was different because of the way it landed in the set….for whatever reason, some songs really landed well that night in Trim
Dear Christy,
I only can say THANK YOU so very much for this fascinating gig yesterday! You were so full of energy… charismatic…. And the listeners went with you from the very first minute… so many awesom songs… seldom ones… words are too poor to tell….
and you brought your wonderful special bodhran with her so very own magic sound…. and this great song….. it was sooo powerful and unbelievable mighty … it brought tears to my eyes… thank you sooo much for these moments I will never forget!! What an instrument with his master.
So I m leaving today full of terrific impressions with a big happiness in my heart. Thank you and your faithful crew so much for these extraordinary hours full of intensity and life! see you hopefully again soon.
Keep going …. God bless
Ursula
Christy's reply
It was our collective that created the magic of the night….foremost the fruits of all those who created the songs and tunes,
also the great gaggle of listeners who gathered from far and near to create that wonderful atmosphere,
then the labours of our team who carefully assembled that theatre of dreams and ran the machine unerringly,
also our Hosts in the Knighsbrook who did everything possible to assist our endeavours,
your beautiful confections thankfully recieved and distributed to our chadults and grandchildren….
Sorry that neither of your requsted songs landed in the set…I had prepared both Motherland and Contender….but twas the night itself that decided the set list and,unfortunately, neither made the cut…..
Hi Christy,
That was a hot room tonight. You tore into it from the get go, with a great audience too who joined in at all the right times. You looked like you were having a ball on that stage. “ Lemon Sevens” was class, and the addition of the Bodhran really added to it.
Thanks a million.
Ride on
Patsy
Christy's reply
and there Ye were….taking it all in….offering support and succour as we all sailed upon the sea of song and found solace in duende
Hi Christy, when I was younger I could vent my sorrows by playing really loud Bruce Springsteen. I have seen him and the E Street band in Parijs on the Amnesty tour 1985 together with Youssou N’Dour, Tracy Chapman, Michel Jonasz, Sting and Peter Gabriel. I have springsteen also seen in Antwerp.
Over the years I realized the power of silence. When we were in the Ardennen a few months ago the silence was clearly present. We listened to the sound of silence, and the streams seemed to tell us a story, the babbling turned into chattering…
Christy, I have discovered some beautiful poems and song lyrics lately. I can imagine that some of them could be sung by you…
As I write this, all sorts of things are going on in Gaza and along the sea there. I can only shout very loudly to stop,it all. The people on the boats are very brave.
Here follows a verse from a song by Bram Vermeulen, a dutch singer who died too young. Hé left us many beautiful songs.:
“…and if I don’ t scream anymore, when I see the images how violence strikes so easily, how the boredom of too much turns into indifference, when the stupidity of death strikes me dumb,
If I don’t scream then, do I still want to exist ? “
Chtisty, en route to Trim from Jersey..bit of fog knocking around London.so delayed! Anyway there will be no fog in the room tonight in Trim….if you get the chance would be great to hear Nancy Spain which of course has a great connection to Jersey. I have told my sister at Kinighsbrook to have the tea and sanwixhes ready for me if theRE are any left …i hope they are loolking afte ye! Looking forward to tonight.
Ah Joe McCann….massacred in the Markets..shot in the back unarmed running away, then shot again and again…the memories you bring back Christy….the ballad written by Éamonn Doherty, Derry. If memory serves me right Éamonn was with Andy and I think Donal for a while. Maybe you were in Mark’s after a Planxty gig in Dundalk? Maybe Éamonn was there? Maybe he wrote the ballad for you? A big part of our history is mingled into your life and your songs Christy.
Christy's reply
Eamon was a unique man…originally from Derry he came to Dublin to study Architecture. He remained in Donnybrook where he set up home with Barbara.While Architecture was his profession it was with his Sculpture that created a lasting legacy. His Public works still resonate in many parts of Ireland North & South. He also painted and sketched.Notably, he illustrated books and album sleeves…..Eamon also played Flute and ,for a wild and wonderful short period, travelled with and promoted the legendary band Sweeney’s Men. Eamon & Barbara & their Family kept house in Donnybrook where I often sought shelter and enjoyed wonderful hospitalty.
Anyone out there familiar with Eamon’s public works ?
They were brilliant on a gig I saw early ths year and I’m hoping to see them in a few weeks…absorbing music and a real treat.
Dave
Christy's reply
I’m very happy to recommend this gig to anyone reading this…..
Gerry Diver’s Album Speech Project is an outstanding achievement..unique and captivating to my ears…
Lisa is an outstanding voice in English Folksong.
together in life, music and song they are definitely worth a listen
Hi Christy
Credit to Manchester Central Library…for last night’s free, drop in gig…featuring ace ballads,broadsides and chat,expertly performed by Jennifer Reid from Rochdale and Dublin’s Macdara Yeates.
I’ve known Jennifer for almost 15 years and she’s not exaggerating when she says’my world is ballads’…a good touch that some of the library’s broadside collection were on display,with Jennifer’s written and recorded works.On stage,she’s captivating…great vocal range, expressive facial expressions and witty ad libs.. lots of context info as well…making history enjoyable!
The gig publicity for Macdara quotes you as saying he’s ‘a mighty chanter’…you’re spot on! Lots of information about Dublin street singers,slang and respect for Frank Harte’s work.i know Dublin pretty well and greatly enjoyed context info,as well as Macdara’s great singing…
I took some gig photos,but my favourite shot is from after the event…two grinning performers…songs brilliantly sung,a happy audience and more gigs to come…at weekend,Macdara is at the Hartlepool festival. In December,Jennifer Reid is in Dublin… I hope you and Val are at An Goilin when Jenn sings there…it’ll be mighty and roll back the years to when you played many times in these parts.
Thanks to all for an ace event
Enjoy Trim
Dave
Christy's reply
packin the bag, shavin the chin, charging the ear sets,pressin the keks,checkin the meds,listenin to Blindboy Podcast (highly recommended) waiting for the stagecoach,
back to Trim after a good gig there last Thu…
intrigued to read about your Folk feast yesterday..sounds like you had a “reet good do”…Macdara has a fine set of tubes on him and a good repertoire to deliver…I look forward to hearing Jenn..
Hi Christy
A lazy morning…coffee in The Royal Exchange Theatre…watching techies putting final touches to the set for ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’…
Also,checking out excellent content at http://www.maireandchris.com following a great newsletter from Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman.
Great people,top musos…Maire has had to battle back to playing harp after breaking a hand a few months ago…during the layoff,she designed a website! Time well spent…good luck to them.
Dave
“O Them Casey Girls can surely play The Polkas”
Hi Christy. Hope you’re keeping well. I saw Daoiri Farrell on Friday night in The Seanti. Brilliant night, he’s an outstanding performer. Did you ever see him live?
I only first heard about him on Friday afternoon and went to see him Friday night thanks to my uncle who is a bouzouki player.
Looking forward to your gig on Nov 9th.
I’ve known Daoirí since he was a young lad starting out….he has developed into a unique singer with a great repertoire…always faithful to his roots and the singers who’ve influenced him along the way
Another classic just released from the RTE Archive Christy!
Bibi and The Rogue!
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2025/0904/1531796-the-man-behind-the-embankment/
Before Mick built the (first) extension to his Embankment, he used to host Ballad Sessions in the bar of the original pub….Peggy Jordan ran one of the nights there and she asked me to sing a couple of songs one night in 1964 ( I was a junior clerk at The National Bank in The Rotunda)….I got the bus out from Aston Quay to Mick McCarthy’s Legendary Pub….
10 years later I returned by which time Mick had extended his premises into a fine venue…I played there regularly until the Mid 80s and enjoyed manys the night and early morning in the “green” room….Mick was a chameleon-like,very likable character…always up for craic and divvilment, simultaenously a communist, an astute capitalist, a Kerryman, a Dub, a culchie, a man of the world, a dacent man and a cute hoor…always a lock in after an Embankment gig….
one Summer’s morning,stumbling out into the car park after an all-nighter, Barney remarked
“is’nt there a great stretch in the evenings…
Mick was one of the rare auld stock
Can’t thank you enough for the brilliant gig in Trim last Thursday, Oct. 2! We had travelled 1200 km by car from Germany to France and spent a night on the ferry to Dublin to see you once again. It was my wife’s birthday the day before the gig and we had our golden wedding anniversy a few weeks back. Without knowing, you sang the right songs for us. The first time we saw you live at the Scariff Folk Festival in 1975. Exactly 50 years ago! Later we had the great pleasure seeing and hearing you in Erlangen (near our home town, where Barney had his pub!), Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Vicar Street (right after you went on stage again) and twice in Glasgow. The Royal Concert Hall was very different from the gig the day after in Barrowland! It was impressive how you controlled the high emotions in the audience there. All of them were a unique and unforgettable experience for us. Let the music roll on …
Thank your listening down thru the decades and for your feedback…
50 years since that Scariff Festival…back then Scariff was an important hub for Irish Music and Song…Aiden and Síle O’Beirne ran the legendery Merriman Tavern there….
Glad to read that I played some of your chosen songs…..happy travels to you both
“That’s the stuff to give them!’ says the boys of Fair Hill”
RIP Don!
“The Lonely Woods of Upton
The Boys of Fairhill
The Piper of Crossbarry,
I can hear him still
I see The Blood and Bandage
I hear The Rebel sing
I’m gonna kiss that Blarney Stone
’til The Bells of Shandon ring”
………….from The Big Marquee…which also references my good companero, the late Don O’Leary who died in the last couple of days
” and there goes Don O’Leary
on the road to Sunday’s Well
up to The Cork Life Centre
to ring The Morning Bell”
Don was one of the finest that I’ve ever met..Condolences to all his Family and friends
Not forgetting “Crann an Óir” on Dame Street.
I regularly pass the James Connoly memorial opposite Liberty Hall and always remember how the auditorium there used to be a hive of activity for Folk and Traditional Music back in the day, not so much anymore!
Crann and Óir..Ceart go Leor
I recall wild ballad nights in Liberty Hall back in the day of the 2 shilling pint, B/W TV and rampant church driven misogynism
Christy says:” he did a sleeve for me way back”
And a grand likeness it is too…..but he wasn’t related to Simey (Simon)was he?
no Pat…Eamon did a a portrait of Donegal Fiddle player Simey Doherty..brother of legendary Fiddle master Johnny Doherty…I’ve heard it said that some preferred Simey’s playing…Eamon was a Derry O’Doherty
We were sitting in my cousin’s house in Queens NYC chatting Irish history, as you do, and he said let’s go for a drive. He took us upstate New York to a wee park where I saw the most amazing famine memorial, done by Éamonn…..a family outside their wrecked hovel, and a basket of spuds spilling on the ground. But the spuds weren’t spuds, they were skulls…..frightening.
More fun was his ‘ Fluzie in the Jacuzzi ‘ in O’Connell street……many didn’t like it, I loved it, it reminded me of the long woman’s grave in the Cooley mountains!
you remind me of his “Galway Hooker” on Eyre Square, his “Emigrant Family” on The Diamond in Derry, his “James Connolly” opp Liberty Hall,Dublin….he did a sleeve for me,way back and also did beautiful illustations for some publications….my sister has a beautiful portrait he did of Simey Doherty
Hi Christy. Will you come back to Cork opera house again soon. Saw you in Wexford opera house in August and what a great gig.
since The Big Marquee commenced 20 years ago I’ve only had one occasion to play the CorkOpera House..
that was a Tribute Concert to Don O’Leary, ( for The Cork Life Centre) …a true champion and hero of Cork City..
Don passed on last Friday Morning.
I mourn the news, I give thanks for having known him
Thank you, Christy, for another great gig! Well organised, perfect sound, nice staff/team members and you in top form. Great selection of songs. The atmosphere felt different from last week, but just as good. It was fun to meet some people again after quite a while.
Thanks @Patsy for your recommendations: part one (Croker) done and really enjoyed today – and I tried the camán and the sliotar myself in the activity zone😉 – no major injuries or casualties, apart from the ball that is, it went missing behind a wall as the net in front of it had a hole…🫣.
Part two still on the to-do list.
Now it’s probably a while to go til I come back. But your gigs are really a source of energy. I take that energy home with me and it keeps the spirit high for quite a long time.
Go raibh míle maith agat!
Birgit
welcome Birgit…thanks for feedback….two good nights in that Meath Theatre…
There were magic nights in the lobby bar when Brendan Ring played Madame Bonaparte
And every note that the piper would play would send me away send me away
Away through the window away in the rain over the city away on the air
To a field by a river where the trees are so green the deepest of green that you’ve ever seen
Where once you have been you can go back again you can go anytime you can go anytime
Because it’s only in your mind
another ball in the back of the net for our John Spillane
Thinking of two of our finest tonight!
Liam Og’s memorial unveiling!
Manchán Magan’s passing!
An emotional day!
and good comrade Don O’Leary finally succumbed peacefully in Cork..
Manchán & Don…
Two heroic and beautiful men gone on ahead
What a night , What a Performance.
I have been coming back for nigh on fifty years now and last night as good or better than any.
I don’t know how to best describe it but maybe Storm in a T Shirt on Steriods come close? (Can I have the name of The Steroids? Please)
From City Of Chicago all the way through to Joxer, every song a highlight and audience lapped up every minute of it, there was three foreign ladies in front of me their English not great but could sing along to every song.
I will choose a few to mention that were of special significance too me.
A very special thank you for the mentions of Conor/Yellow Furze and The Honda Fifty , it certainly brought back fond memories. Also very fond memories of a Saturday afternoon spent in Newbridge after a Leinster championship match in St Conleths Park, I listened as Conor and Nancy reminisced about times long past , remember particularly a story about a German warplane coming down on Tramore beach and part of the fuselage being sent between Tramore and Ardmulchan (you ever hear mention of that ?)
Great to hear Sacco & Vanzetti live again after all these years , I first heard you sing it in Slane House it might not be 100 years ago but it certainly could be 50 and it sounded just as good and every bit as relevant now, I get the feeling there could be many more Sacco & Vanzetti’s on Trump’s watch it’s a pity Woody is gone.
But the one that stood head and shoulders above all others for me last night was “The Time Has Come” after losing Bobby’s Back Home In Derry something magical happened when you moved into Time Has Come, this has to be one of the most moving and poignant songs ever to come from your pen and great to hear it still being performed live least we ever forget the suffering of Patsy and Peggy and all the other families
Anyhow here is too many more nights like the the one just witnessed.
Let the music keep your spirits high and long may you run and maybe we get Sean on the ticket for next time by then we probably being ruled by The Right Wing Mussolini remembrance party !
Your mention of German fuselage making it from Tramore to Ardmulchan is new to me..
Mammy worked in The Majestic Hotel in Tramore during the Second World War…she met Daddy there when he was on Army Training Manouvres , ( his Third Battalion had route marched from The Curragh Camp to Tramore ) a few years later they were to honeymoon back in Tramore where ,I suspect, my journey may have begun !!…
in the course of a gig ,many vivid pictures land in my auld head… last Thu night I had this clear vision of Conor’s Honda 50 parked outside the church in Newbridge at Mammy’s funeral…. they were great auld pals.
THank you for your great review…I recall that gig in Slane House all those years ago…yes, “The Time Has Come” was different because of the way it landed in the set….for whatever reason, some songs really landed well that night in Trim
Dear Christy,
I only can say THANK YOU so very much for this fascinating gig yesterday! You were so full of energy… charismatic…. And the listeners went with you from the very first minute… so many awesom songs… seldom ones… words are too poor to tell….
and you brought your wonderful special bodhran with her so very own magic sound…. and this great song….. it was sooo powerful and unbelievable mighty … it brought tears to my eyes… thank you sooo much for these moments I will never forget!! What an instrument with his master.
So I m leaving today full of terrific impressions with a big happiness in my heart. Thank you and your faithful crew so much for these extraordinary hours full of intensity and life! see you hopefully again soon.
Keep going …. God bless
Ursula
It was our collective that created the magic of the night….foremost the fruits of all those who created the songs and tunes,
also the great gaggle of listeners who gathered from far and near to create that wonderful atmosphere,
then the labours of our team who carefully assembled that theatre of dreams and ran the machine unerringly,
also our Hosts in the Knighsbrook who did everything possible to assist our endeavours,
your beautiful confections thankfully recieved and distributed to our chadults and grandchildren….
Sorry that neither of your requsted songs landed in the set…I had prepared both Motherland and Contender….but twas the night itself that decided the set list and,unfortunately, neither made the cut…..
Hi Christy,
That was a hot room tonight. You tore into it from the get go, with a great audience too who joined in at all the right times. You looked like you were having a ball on that stage. “ Lemon Sevens” was class, and the addition of the Bodhran really added to it.
Thanks a million.
Ride on
Patsy
and there Ye were….taking it all in….offering support and succour as we all sailed upon the sea of song and found solace in duende
Hi Christy, when I was younger I could vent my sorrows by playing really loud Bruce Springsteen. I have seen him and the E Street band in Parijs on the Amnesty tour 1985 together with Youssou N’Dour, Tracy Chapman, Michel Jonasz, Sting and Peter Gabriel. I have springsteen also seen in Antwerp.
Over the years I realized the power of silence. When we were in the Ardennen a few months ago the silence was clearly present. We listened to the sound of silence, and the streams seemed to tell us a story, the babbling turned into chattering…
Christy, I have discovered some beautiful poems and song lyrics lately. I can imagine that some of them could be sung by you…
As I write this, all sorts of things are going on in Gaza and along the sea there. I can only shout very loudly to stop,it all. The people on the boats are very brave.
Here follows a verse from a song by Bram Vermeulen, a dutch singer who died too young. Hé left us many beautiful songs.:
“…and if I don’ t scream anymore, when I see the images how violence strikes so easily, how the boredom of too much turns into indifference, when the stupidity of death strikes me dumb,
If I don’t scream then, do I still want to exist ? “
Enjoy your gig tonight! Love
Moeke……Thank you for sharing……Christy
Chtisty, en route to Trim from Jersey..bit of fog knocking around London.so delayed! Anyway there will be no fog in the room tonight in Trim….if you get the chance would be great to hear Nancy Spain which of course has a great connection to Jersey. I have told my sister at Kinighsbrook to have the tea and sanwixhes ready for me if theRE are any left …i hope they are loolking afte ye! Looking forward to tonight.
Alan,I hope you enjoyed that gig as much as I did
Ah Joe McCann….massacred in the Markets..shot in the back unarmed running away, then shot again and again…the memories you bring back Christy….the ballad written by Éamonn Doherty, Derry. If memory serves me right Éamonn was with Andy and I think Donal for a while. Maybe you were in Mark’s after a Planxty gig in Dundalk? Maybe Éamonn was there? Maybe he wrote the ballad for you? A big part of our history is mingled into your life and your songs Christy.
Eamon was a unique man…originally from Derry he came to Dublin to study Architecture. He remained in Donnybrook where he set up home with Barbara.While Architecture was his profession it was with his Sculpture that created a lasting legacy. His Public works still resonate in many parts of Ireland North & South. He also painted and sketched.Notably, he illustrated books and album sleeves…..Eamon also played Flute and ,for a wild and wonderful short period, travelled with and promoted the legendary band Sweeney’s Men. Eamon & Barbara & their Family kept house in Donnybrook where I often sought shelter and enjoyed wonderful hospitalty.
Anyone out there familiar with Eamon’s public works ?
Talking of musical feasts,Christy…
http://www.knappdivermusic.com details of current gigs in Ireland by Gerry Diver and Lisa Knapp.
They were brilliant on a gig I saw early ths year and I’m hoping to see them in a few weeks…absorbing music and a real treat.
Dave
I’m very happy to recommend this gig to anyone reading this…..
Gerry Diver’s Album Speech Project is an outstanding achievement..unique and captivating to my ears…
Lisa is an outstanding voice in English Folksong.
together in life, music and song they are definitely worth a listen
Hi Christy
Credit to Manchester Central Library…for last night’s free, drop in gig…featuring ace ballads,broadsides and chat,expertly performed by Jennifer Reid from Rochdale and Dublin’s Macdara Yeates.
I’ve known Jennifer for almost 15 years and she’s not exaggerating when she says’my world is ballads’…a good touch that some of the library’s broadside collection were on display,with Jennifer’s written and recorded works.On stage,she’s captivating…great vocal range, expressive facial expressions and witty ad libs.. lots of context info as well…making history enjoyable!
The gig publicity for Macdara quotes you as saying he’s ‘a mighty chanter’…you’re spot on! Lots of information about Dublin street singers,slang and respect for Frank Harte’s work.i know Dublin pretty well and greatly enjoyed context info,as well as Macdara’s great singing…
I took some gig photos,but my favourite shot is from after the event…two grinning performers…songs brilliantly sung,a happy audience and more gigs to come…at weekend,Macdara is at the Hartlepool festival. In December,Jennifer Reid is in Dublin… I hope you and Val are at An Goilin when Jenn sings there…it’ll be mighty and roll back the years to when you played many times in these parts.
Thanks to all for an ace event
Enjoy Trim
Dave
packin the bag, shavin the chin, charging the ear sets,pressin the keks,checkin the meds,listenin to Blindboy Podcast (highly recommended) waiting for the stagecoach,
back to Trim after a good gig there last Thu…
intrigued to read about your Folk feast yesterday..sounds like you had a “reet good do”…Macdara has a fine set of tubes on him and a good repertoire to deliver…I look forward to hearing Jenn..