Great to hear that Luka enjoyed his visit to Bundoran- and the reception of his amazing song. Not for the first time, I looked at the clock in my car yesterday to see it reading 18.47. Always brings ” the year it all began ” to my mind. Thursday’s version of Magdalene Laundries was definitely a powerful highlight and The Time Has Come never fails to move me. Thanks again to you and all of the crew for a wonderful night.
Christy Moore, what a legend! Fantastic gig at Bundoran. Your voice is so full of soul and clarity, I’d probably be happy listening to you singing the telephone directory (showing my age there, who uses phone directories any more 😂).
So many great songs at the Northern, and a lot of laughing too. Magdalen Laundries moved me especially. I am adopted and have some understanding of the torment endured by many, but the lyrics and your beautiful voice made it even clearer. You have an incredible gift for wrapping serious situations in beauty and humour to deliver them so strongly. A voice standing up for the downtrodden and the wronged.
Hub Damian has listened to your music for decades and we will definitely be back. Don’t you dare retire!
A big go raibh mile math agat for the brilliant Bundoran concert. We loved the wonderful songs and stories about the music. You can add psychic powers to your list of abilities. You said before singling the song Barrowland that it just came in your head on the day of the concert. We are claiming credit for a song request by a psychic connection. My mum and I went to the concert with mum’s cousin and his wife who grew up in Glasgow and now live in Ireland. Before the concert as we were having lunch and the last two choc ices in the hotel, mum’s cousin was telling us all about going to events at Barrowland, the markets in that area, and a nearby pub called the Sarry Heid (Saracen’s Head) where, back in the day, if you paid with a note (when a fiver had more purchasing power) you could end up with an X mark on your back and your money stolen before you left. So hearing the song Barrowland made the concert extra special for us all. We hope it won’t be too long until we go to another one of your gigs.
Hello Christy,
I really get what you said about not listening to the source once the song is in you. Got to give the thing a chance to live in its new soil.
There are some I don’t listen to at all. Others, it’s inevitable that I do. Some of them have grown into distinct versions, say your version, then mine. When I sing along with you, I sing your phrasing and tune and learn from it. When I sing mine I sing my phrasingand tune. And it can change depending on how I’m accompanying it. Some have surprised me when I’ve happened to hear them months later, and hadn’t realised they’ve changed so much with me. Sang along to your 2004 Musgrave this morning. All the characters with their own way of speaking. I think it’s the song that I love best. Now working on the guitar with finger picking for it. One of my guitars is now tuned to dadgad but all strings down a full tone with C on the lowest. The guitar seems to be coping with it ok. Took me weeks to tidy the chords on the harp. This is the same.
I’ll stop waffling now. Coffee and scones in Settle. They’re good here. Nearly as good as the ones to be had in your neck of the woods.
“Peg O’Connell died today,
she was a cheeky girl, they stuffed her in a hole,
surely to God you’d think at least some bells might ring.”
Christy's reply
Some nights, as I sing Joni Mitchell’s most powerful of songs, I wonder how Joni might respond to slight alterations that have occurred, on the hoof, along the way.
Alongside a small number of songs, Joni’s “Magdalen Laundry” stands on the top shelf of my life’s acquired repertoire….
It always stills the night, brings discernible ripples of discomfort through the room,it is beautiful, ugly,powerful and gentle, it is almost like no other….
when I began covering it, circa 20 years ago, I’d hear occasional titters at the line:
“Bridget got her belly from the Parish Priest”…those titters silenced by never ending revealations
I could not have covered Joni’s song without the involvement of Declan Sinnott, he guided me on to the chord structure required….Joni weaves lyric and music with consummate artistry…a Joni Mitchell song can not be covered casually..
Decades on, I’m not aware of what alterations have occurred… I purposely avoid listening to the source…it is a most powerful song to sing
Thanks for a belter of a night Christy, and much appreciate ya doing “Smoke and Strong Whiskey”
I never heard that tune “Pink Triangle” before, such an important message, I’ll be 100% learning it myself and spreading the message. Who wrote that one?
We’ll be seeing you again closer to home in Mullingar in January!
Tóg go bog é
Christy's reply
its based on the writings of Pastor Niemoeller..I put it together myself…Yellow Triangle is on a couple of my earlier recordings..not sure at the minute which ones
Magic night in the Great Northern last night , Great mix of songs and the bodhran fits well on Lemon Sevens.
Young and old in the audience…. its some testament to your work to hear a young lad ask for Beeswing and beside us was an even younger listener who went home with a prized plectrum too.
Connolly Abu !!!
Christy's reply
That was a leppin gig last night in The Great Northern…the McEniff family have a created a great venue….myself and the crew love rolling up the avenue, always great welcome and co-operation from the house team and the best of Donegal Hospitality..solid gaggle in attendance…kids, teenagers, young adults, middle agers, seniors, elders, even a few as old as myself…
Great to meet Seán Meade after the gig…Father of David and Johnny from our crew, Seán also holds 3 All Ireland medals won with the legendary Galway 3 in a row team in the 1960’s…read recently in Mick O’Dwyer’s biography that Seán Meade was not ” an easy man to mark…hes 89 now and still fit and bright as a button…
My Brother Luka Bloom was also there last night..he was enthralled by the audience and delighted the way ye sang “City of Chicago” hard to believe he wrote that song when he was very young….Luka has made a full recovery from last years surgery, is singing and playing better then ever…he continues to write beautiful songs and develop his guitar playing….
last nights set
Chicago
Quinte Brigada
Voyage
Smoke & Whiskey
Black & Amber
Allende
Giuseppe Conlon
Away You Broken heart
Delerium
Bright Blue Rose
Duffy’s Cut
Nancy Spain
Lingo
Lemon 7s
North and South
Lyra McKee
Cumann na Mná
Barrowland
Black is The Colour
Lisdoonvarna
Magdalen laundries
McIlhatton
Beeswing
Ordinary man
Palestine
Yellow Triangle
Ride On
Joxer
No Time For Love
The Time has Come
Hello Christy,
Sounds like a fab gig in Bundoran. Missing them.
Ok, so I’m confused about the Murder in Mirfield thing. Can’t find it. Does it have another name? Mirfield is just up the road. There’s good clay to be found there. John Hudson dug it up from his garden to make his lovely pots.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I watch a series called “24 hours in Police Custody”..I think on Channel 4
last week it covered the case of an horrific family tragedy in Mirfield
which I know is not too far from your home place..
I recall a good Sunday Night Folk club in Mirfield in the last 1960s
Thank you for another wonderful gig tonight. Such great energy in the room and young Dylan was buzzing that you sang Beeswing for him. I always love to hear Allende, and Duffys Cut brings back many memories. Hope you and the crew are safely home and hope to see you again before too long. Keep well.
Christy's reply
I was still buzzing as I got home at 3 this morning…young Dylan from Tyrone asked for “Beeswing”…aged 10 he gave me the thumbs up at the end…what a buzz for an auld ballad singer
good man John..very best wishes to all you Derry Songsters
Great to hear that Luka enjoyed his visit to Bundoran- and the reception of his amazing song. Not for the first time, I looked at the clock in my car yesterday to see it reading 18.47. Always brings ” the year it all began ” to my mind. Thursday’s version of Magdalene Laundries was definitely a powerful highlight and The Time Has Come never fails to move me. Thanks again to you and all of the crew for a wonderful night.
Christy Moore, what a legend! Fantastic gig at Bundoran. Your voice is so full of soul and clarity, I’d probably be happy listening to you singing the telephone directory (showing my age there, who uses phone directories any more 😂).
So many great songs at the Northern, and a lot of laughing too. Magdalen Laundries moved me especially. I am adopted and have some understanding of the torment endured by many, but the lyrics and your beautiful voice made it even clearer. You have an incredible gift for wrapping serious situations in beauty and humour to deliver them so strongly. A voice standing up for the downtrodden and the wronged.
Hub Damian has listened to your music for decades and we will definitely be back. Don’t you dare retire!
A big go raibh mile math agat for the brilliant Bundoran concert. We loved the wonderful songs and stories about the music. You can add psychic powers to your list of abilities. You said before singling the song Barrowland that it just came in your head on the day of the concert. We are claiming credit for a song request by a psychic connection. My mum and I went to the concert with mum’s cousin and his wife who grew up in Glasgow and now live in Ireland. Before the concert as we were having lunch and the last two choc ices in the hotel, mum’s cousin was telling us all about going to events at Barrowland, the markets in that area, and a nearby pub called the Sarry Heid (Saracen’s Head) where, back in the day, if you paid with a note (when a fiver had more purchasing power) you could end up with an X mark on your back and your money stolen before you left. So hearing the song Barrowland made the concert extra special for us all. We hope it won’t be too long until we go to another one of your gigs.
Hello Christy,
I really get what you said about not listening to the source once the song is in you. Got to give the thing a chance to live in its new soil.
There are some I don’t listen to at all. Others, it’s inevitable that I do. Some of them have grown into distinct versions, say your version, then mine. When I sing along with you, I sing your phrasing and tune and learn from it. When I sing mine I sing my phrasingand tune. And it can change depending on how I’m accompanying it. Some have surprised me when I’ve happened to hear them months later, and hadn’t realised they’ve changed so much with me. Sang along to your 2004 Musgrave this morning. All the characters with their own way of speaking. I think it’s the song that I love best. Now working on the guitar with finger picking for it. One of my guitars is now tuned to dadgad but all strings down a full tone with C on the lowest. The guitar seems to be coping with it ok. Took me weeks to tidy the chords on the harp. This is the same.
I’ll stop waffling now. Coffee and scones in Settle. They’re good here. Nearly as good as the ones to be had in your neck of the woods.
Rebecca
“Peg O’Connell died today,
she was a cheeky girl, they stuffed her in a hole,
surely to God you’d think at least some bells might ring.”
Some nights, as I sing Joni Mitchell’s most powerful of songs, I wonder how Joni might respond to slight alterations that have occurred, on the hoof, along the way.
Alongside a small number of songs, Joni’s “Magdalen Laundry” stands on the top shelf of my life’s acquired repertoire….
It always stills the night, brings discernible ripples of discomfort through the room,it is beautiful, ugly,powerful and gentle, it is almost like no other….
when I began covering it, circa 20 years ago, I’d hear occasional titters at the line:
“Bridget got her belly from the Parish Priest”…those titters silenced by never ending revealations
I could not have covered Joni’s song without the involvement of Declan Sinnott, he guided me on to the chord structure required….Joni weaves lyric and music with consummate artistry…a Joni Mitchell song can not be covered casually..
Decades on, I’m not aware of what alterations have occurred… I purposely avoid listening to the source…it is a most powerful song to sing
Thanks for a belter of a night Christy, and much appreciate ya doing “Smoke and Strong Whiskey”
I never heard that tune “Pink Triangle” before, such an important message, I’ll be 100% learning it myself and spreading the message. Who wrote that one?
We’ll be seeing you again closer to home in Mullingar in January!
Tóg go bog é
its based on the writings of Pastor Niemoeller..I put it together myself…Yellow Triangle is on a couple of my earlier recordings..not sure at the minute which ones
Magic night in the Great Northern last night , Great mix of songs and the bodhran fits well on Lemon Sevens.
Young and old in the audience…. its some testament to your work to hear a young lad ask for Beeswing and beside us was an even younger listener who went home with a prized plectrum too.
Connolly Abu !!!
That was a leppin gig last night in The Great Northern…the McEniff family have a created a great venue….myself and the crew love rolling up the avenue, always great welcome and co-operation from the house team and the best of Donegal Hospitality..solid gaggle in attendance…kids, teenagers, young adults, middle agers, seniors, elders, even a few as old as myself…
Great to meet Seán Meade after the gig…Father of David and Johnny from our crew, Seán also holds 3 All Ireland medals won with the legendary Galway 3 in a row team in the 1960’s…read recently in Mick O’Dwyer’s biography that Seán Meade was not ” an easy man to mark…hes 89 now and still fit and bright as a button…
My Brother Luka Bloom was also there last night..he was enthralled by the audience and delighted the way ye sang “City of Chicago” hard to believe he wrote that song when he was very young….Luka has made a full recovery from last years surgery, is singing and playing better then ever…he continues to write beautiful songs and develop his guitar playing….
last nights set
Chicago
Quinte Brigada
Voyage
Smoke & Whiskey
Black & Amber
Allende
Giuseppe Conlon
Away You Broken heart
Delerium
Bright Blue Rose
Duffy’s Cut
Nancy Spain
Lingo
Lemon 7s
North and South
Lyra McKee
Cumann na Mná
Barrowland
Black is The Colour
Lisdoonvarna
Magdalen laundries
McIlhatton
Beeswing
Ordinary man
Palestine
Yellow Triangle
Ride On
Joxer
No Time For Love
The Time has Come
Hello Christy,
Sounds like a fab gig in Bundoran. Missing them.
Ok, so I’m confused about the Murder in Mirfield thing. Can’t find it. Does it have another name? Mirfield is just up the road. There’s good clay to be found there. John Hudson dug it up from his garden to make his lovely pots.
Rebecca
I watch a series called “24 hours in Police Custody”..I think on Channel 4
last week it covered the case of an horrific family tragedy in Mirfield
which I know is not too far from your home place..
I recall a good Sunday Night Folk club in Mirfield in the last 1960s
Thank you for another wonderful gig tonight. Such great energy in the room and young Dylan was buzzing that you sang Beeswing for him. I always love to hear Allende, and Duffys Cut brings back many memories. Hope you and the crew are safely home and hope to see you again before too long. Keep well.
I was still buzzing as I got home at 3 this morning…young Dylan from Tyrone asked for “Beeswing”…aged 10 he gave me the thumbs up at the end…what a buzz for an auld ballad singer
good man John..very best wishes to all you Derry Songsters