Hello Christy,
I’d like to hear Kevin’s new guitar too and hear about the making process. Brilliant thing to do!
Thankyou for the quote from the Circle Game. One to spend time with.
Here is something beautiful https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17RHrs2Jj2/
Rebecca
Christy's reply
The Boy from Ballaghaderreen….spent some happy hours along the highways and byeways with the maestro
Hi Christy,
Reading a book about John Prine. Came across this bit,
Jack Clement’s ten tips for songwriters …
1. Remember that experts are often wrong.
2. Experts tend to be narrow and overly opinionated.
3. Experts don’t buy records.
4. There’s nothing wrong with waltzes if they’re played right
5. A good song gets better with age.
6. Reveal something of yourself with most of your songs.
7. Don’t get stuck on one song too long. Work on other songs as you go
8. Learn to grow from setbacks, delays and getting your feelings hurt
9. Write the worst song you can think of.
10. Write the best song you can think of.
He had a house out in Kinvara and visited from time to time.
Described it as a drinking village with a fishing problem …
Wrote and sang some great tunes. The Covid got him in the end.
April 2020. RIP John Collardo.
Bourkey
Christy's reply
Met John twice…very briefly, passing by, once at an airport, once at BBC London….each time memorable for me…a gentle man..
I’m gonna print out Jack Clements 10 step programme
Well great to see Luka is on the road again, and the Cologne gig in the beautiful Kulturkirche is still on, on 21..05.2026.
The great people at KJ tell me my tickets from the postponed gig are still valid. Great service!
Some lovely reading on here of late.. between the chats and the songs.. it’s a grand place to hang out.. whilst on the subject of your album Lily, I always get great energy from ‘Lightning Bird, Wind River Man’.. regularly blasted out in the Volkswagen.. Visited Ciarán McNally, the Armagh based luthier’s workshop some months back to talk all things guitars.. he makes beautiful instruments.. this week he will start building a guitar for me from scratch, what a buzz..
Christy's reply
I Hope I get to hear that Guitar Kevin….Its a big step…I would not know where to start…what are you looking for in your new guitar ?….what are your personal requirements ?
I love singing Declan O’Rourkes L B W R Man….some great poetic lines and images….
” Rush The Rapids Down Below ”
” The Melody Mesmerising”
“Make a Sculpture on The Breeze”
Hi C. I like to pick a CD for the car and play it on repeat, maybe for days. My CD last weekend was Lily, it’s got it all really, a complete album. Tuam Beat initially sounds like a real happy clappy song and it is but it also mentions more serious stuff, The Gardener always brings up a memory of Traudel. Sometimes I have to skip Green Grows the Laurel it’s just too sad. Then there are the fine ballads by yourself, Tony Small, John Spillane, Mick Blake and Declan O Rourke. Mention of Amnesty International brings me to my favourite track perhaps, Wallflower such a powerful Anthem I do n’t think you gigged it much, I guess its a bit heavy. The spoken word piece Lost Tribe of Wicklow then rounds it off. All roads lead to Carrickdale on Thurs, safe travelling all. Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
I gigged “Wallflower” twice or thrice…it sucked the air outa the room…in England & Wales…its a great song but I never nailed it…must go back to it again…
“The Gardener” another gem, been trying to gender neutralise a bit of late but it knocks some of the petals off it…Paul Doran is a great songwriter and tunesmith..e did Self Aid together..he wrote” Natives” and “Greenland” ….and the tune to “Derby Day”
Carrickdale …a great venue for me…dressing room in occupied territory, stage in the republic….I walks to freedom
Great post from Rory and your response…strange how some songs go under the radar. It must be a puzzle to you,mostly…as for a failure to acknowledge by an interested party. That’s a disgrace…
Last week,I was looking at art,made by Picasso in 1937…full on anti Franco in my head,I had a soundtrack,including the song just referenced…after the art,Isat in a cafe,reading about Victor Jara.
Music and history are good companeros here…long may it continue.
No pasaran
Dave
Christy's reply
Pablo had an awful horn on him but,in fairness, it never effected his output
In El Salvador that’s the way that it is
Say what you feel you run all the risks
Of ending up on the casualty list
Lost but never forgotten
Christy's reply
Hi Rory,
our late Companero ,Wally Page, wrote “Los Desaperacidos”…..it is powerful, beautiful, heartbreaking…..
unfortunately it never gained traction…
there is a back story….
I was contacted by someone ( name recalled) from Amnesty asking might I write something about the “disappeared”in El Salvador
I tried for a while but failed to deliver…I contacted Wally..he agreed to take it on….sometime later he came with this beautiful song…
we sent it on to the person who made the initial contact….zero response…not even an acknowledgement of Wally’s work…
rather than let it disappear I recorded it on subsequent album “Listen” circa 2007.
that gained little or no traction either…
I did try to gig it for a while but it did not transfer to live set…I still sing it here in the work room…
thanks again Rory..it was heartwarming to see Wally’s great song
“Los Desaperacidos” referenced here this morning…
I’m gonna sing it to myself here today…..
“Mamma’s still waiting for someone to say
Sara Christina was found yesterday
the ghost of not knowing still eats her away
Sara Christina ‘s still missing”
While talk of ‘phone directory’ going on here, am pleased to say, just a few days ago, after a brief search, my phone directory got put into use. Happily, a lost mobile phone was reunited with its owner. Bundoran sounded like a great gig. Do they still play slot machines in Bundoran? Speedy recovery to Luka!
Christy's reply
indeed and they do……did’nt Mary herself drop in for a few spins….
Luka is back gigging..great reports… playing a number of warm up gigs as he prepares for some European Tours…next one up is Belgium..
his surgery was a great success..Thanks Be
gigs
Luka Bloom
Date City Venue Country
16/10/25 Clonmel, Co. Tipperary Raheen House Hotel Ireland
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €26.50. Buy Tickets More information
19/10/25 Cork Coughlan’s Live Ireland
Time: 3:30pm. Admission: €22.50. Address: 7 Douglas Street. Buy Tickets More information
30/10/25 Sligo Hawk’s Well Theatre, Ireland
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €28.50 + BF. Address: 2 Temple St, Abbeyquarter North,. Venue phone: (071) 916 1518. Sligo Live 2025 Buy Tickets More information
Tour: The Beloved Tour
13/11/25 9860 Oosterzele GC De Kluize Belgium
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €35.00. Address: Theatre Hall, Sportstraat 3. Buy Tickets More information
15/11/25 Antwerpen De Roma Belgium
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €33. Address: Turnhoutsebaan 286. Venue phone: +32 3 600 16 60. Buy Tickets More information
16/11/25 Nijmegen Stevenskerk Netherlands
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €38. Address: Sint Stevenskerkhof 62. Buy Tickets More information
19/11/25 Utrecht Tivoli Vredenburg Netherlands
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €34.75. Address: Vredenburgkade 11. Venue phone: +31 30 760 6777. Buy Tickets More information
20/11/25 Brusels Ancienne Belgique Belgium
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €33. Address: Anspachlaan 110. Buy Tickets More information
19/12/25 Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny The Seantai Bar Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €25. Address: Smartscastle. Buy Tickets More information
20/12/25 Newbridge, Co Kildare Riverbank Arts Centre Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €25. Address: Main Street. Buy Tickets More information
24/01/26 Dublin 2 Pepper Canister Church Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €24.99. Address: Mount Street Upper. Tradfest 2026 Buy Tickets More information
Tour: The Beloved Tour
15/05/26 81825 Munchen Kulturzentrum Trudering Germany
Time: 7:30pm. Address: Wasserburger Landstr. 32.
16/05/26 95482 Gefrees Konzertscheune Germany
Time: 7:30pm. Address: Bahnhofstrasse 1. Buy Tickets More information
17/05/26 90441 Nurnberg Der Hirsch Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €27.10. Address: Vogelweiherstr. 147. Buy Tickets More information
19/05/26 Hamburg Fabrik Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €32. Buy Tickets More information
20/05/26 38106 Braunschweig Kulturzentrum Brunsviga Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €29.90. Address: Karlstr. 35. Buy Tickets More information
21/05/26 Köln Kulturkirche Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €31.50. Buy Tickets More information
22/05/26 Worpswede Music Hall Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €26. Buy Tickets More information
A gloomy evening,brightened by Iggy Pop’s programme on radio…numerous genres covered and a fab surprise,late in the programme…two trad songs by Bridget Hayden and the Apparitions…’Lovely on the Water’ and ‘Factory Girl’ …even better,the way Iggy described the songs and emotions linked to them…masterful,from an unlikely source…but,maybe,not such a shock as I realise he’s a master communicator with genuine insights and huge life experience.
So,thanks,Iggy and here’s a link to lovely music.
Thanks Christy for sharing your memories of Glasgow. When you “drank Fidel Castro in Bairds with Hamish Imlach, Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty”, it sounds like a night when the craic was ninety-one!
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!
Christy's reply
thanks Stef..best to you and Damo…we’ll keep the flag flyin as long as we’re able
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.
Christy's reply
Thanks Mary,
Mags McIvor opened a canteen for the Barrowland Hawkers over 100 years ago..it became their community hall..gatherings and hooleys grew into Céilis…Mags then built a dancehall..the resident band was “The Gay Birds”…there is an atmosphere in that room like no other…this info is not imprecise, based on loose gossip and recall…please correct if anyone has the true story..
but I did dance with Jinky Johnson in Parkhead,
and drank Fidel Castro in Bairds with Hamish Imlach,Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty..( I was skint, but Hamish held up my corner)
or maybe it was The Scotia
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
Hello Christy,
I’d like to hear Kevin’s new guitar too and hear about the making process. Brilliant thing to do!
Thankyou for the quote from the Circle Game. One to spend time with.
Here is something beautiful
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17RHrs2Jj2/
Rebecca
The Boy from Ballaghaderreen….spent some happy hours along the highways and byeways with the maestro
Hi Christy,
Reading a book about John Prine. Came across this bit,
Jack Clement’s ten tips for songwriters …
1. Remember that experts are often wrong.
2. Experts tend to be narrow and overly opinionated.
3. Experts don’t buy records.
4. There’s nothing wrong with waltzes if they’re played right
5. A good song gets better with age.
6. Reveal something of yourself with most of your songs.
7. Don’t get stuck on one song too long. Work on other songs as you go
8. Learn to grow from setbacks, delays and getting your feelings hurt
9. Write the worst song you can think of.
10. Write the best song you can think of.
He had a house out in Kinvara and visited from time to time.
Described it as a drinking village with a fishing problem …
Wrote and sang some great tunes. The Covid got him in the end.
April 2020. RIP John Collardo.
Bourkey
Met John twice…very briefly, passing by, once at an airport, once at BBC London….each time memorable for me…a gentle man..
I’m gonna print out Jack Clements 10 step programme
Well great to see Luka is on the road again, and the Cologne gig in the beautiful Kulturkirche is still on, on 21..05.2026.
The great people at KJ tell me my tickets from the postponed gig are still valid. Great service!
Oh The Cologne
Some lovely reading on here of late.. between the chats and the songs.. it’s a grand place to hang out.. whilst on the subject of your album Lily, I always get great energy from ‘Lightning Bird, Wind River Man’.. regularly blasted out in the Volkswagen.. Visited Ciarán McNally, the Armagh based luthier’s workshop some months back to talk all things guitars.. he makes beautiful instruments.. this week he will start building a guitar for me from scratch, what a buzz..
I Hope I get to hear that Guitar Kevin….Its a big step…I would not know where to start…what are you looking for in your new guitar ?….what are your personal requirements ?
I love singing Declan O’Rourkes L B W R Man….some great poetic lines and images….
” Rush The Rapids Down Below ”
” The Melody Mesmerising”
“Make a Sculpture on The Breeze”
Hi C. I like to pick a CD for the car and play it on repeat, maybe for days. My CD last weekend was Lily, it’s got it all really, a complete album. Tuam Beat initially sounds like a real happy clappy song and it is but it also mentions more serious stuff, The Gardener always brings up a memory of Traudel. Sometimes I have to skip Green Grows the Laurel it’s just too sad. Then there are the fine ballads by yourself, Tony Small, John Spillane, Mick Blake and Declan O Rourke. Mention of Amnesty International brings me to my favourite track perhaps, Wallflower such a powerful Anthem I do n’t think you gigged it much, I guess its a bit heavy. The spoken word piece Lost Tribe of Wicklow then rounds it off. All roads lead to Carrickdale on Thurs, safe travelling all. Beir bua agus beannacht. H
I gigged “Wallflower” twice or thrice…it sucked the air outa the room…in England & Wales…its a great song but I never nailed it…must go back to it again…
“The Gardener” another gem, been trying to gender neutralise a bit of late but it knocks some of the petals off it…Paul Doran is a great songwriter and tunesmith..e did Self Aid together..he wrote” Natives” and “Greenland” ….and the tune to “Derby Day”
Carrickdale …a great venue for me…dressing room in occupied territory, stage in the republic….I walks to freedom
Hi Christy
Great post from Rory and your response…strange how some songs go under the radar. It must be a puzzle to you,mostly…as for a failure to acknowledge by an interested party. That’s a disgrace…
Last week,I was looking at art,made by Picasso in 1937…full on anti Franco in my head,I had a soundtrack,including the song just referenced…after the art,Isat in a cafe,reading about Victor Jara.
Music and history are good companeros here…long may it continue.
No pasaran
Dave
Pablo had an awful horn on him but,in fairness, it never effected his output
In El Salvador that’s the way that it is
Say what you feel you run all the risks
Of ending up on the casualty list
Lost but never forgotten
Hi Rory,
our late Companero ,Wally Page, wrote “Los Desaperacidos”…..it is powerful, beautiful, heartbreaking…..
unfortunately it never gained traction…
there is a back story….
I was contacted by someone ( name recalled) from Amnesty asking might I write something about the “disappeared”in El Salvador
I tried for a while but failed to deliver…I contacted Wally..he agreed to take it on….sometime later he came with this beautiful song…
we sent it on to the person who made the initial contact….zero response…not even an acknowledgement of Wally’s work…
rather than let it disappear I recorded it on subsequent album “Listen” circa 2007.
that gained little or no traction either…
I did try to gig it for a while but it did not transfer to live set…I still sing it here in the work room…
thanks again Rory..it was heartwarming to see Wally’s great song
“Los Desaperacidos” referenced here this morning…
I’m gonna sing it to myself here today…..
“Mamma’s still waiting for someone to say
Sara Christina was found yesterday
the ghost of not knowing still eats her away
Sara Christina ‘s still missing”
While talk of ‘phone directory’ going on here, am pleased to say, just a few days ago, after a brief search, my phone directory got put into use. Happily, a lost mobile phone was reunited with its owner. Bundoran sounded like a great gig. Do they still play slot machines in Bundoran? Speedy recovery to Luka!
indeed and they do……did’nt Mary herself drop in for a few spins….
Luka is back gigging..great reports… playing a number of warm up gigs as he prepares for some European Tours…next one up is Belgium..
his surgery was a great success..Thanks Be
gigs
Luka Bloom
Date City Venue Country
16/10/25 Clonmel, Co. Tipperary Raheen House Hotel Ireland
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €26.50. Buy Tickets More information
19/10/25 Cork Coughlan’s Live Ireland
Time: 3:30pm. Admission: €22.50. Address: 7 Douglas Street. Buy Tickets More information
30/10/25 Sligo Hawk’s Well Theatre, Ireland
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €28.50 + BF. Address: 2 Temple St, Abbeyquarter North,. Venue phone: (071) 916 1518. Sligo Live 2025 Buy Tickets More information
Tour: The Beloved Tour
13/11/25 9860 Oosterzele GC De Kluize Belgium
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €35.00. Address: Theatre Hall, Sportstraat 3. Buy Tickets More information
15/11/25 Antwerpen De Roma Belgium
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: €33. Address: Turnhoutsebaan 286. Venue phone: +32 3 600 16 60. Buy Tickets More information
16/11/25 Nijmegen Stevenskerk Netherlands
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €38. Address: Sint Stevenskerkhof 62. Buy Tickets More information
19/11/25 Utrecht Tivoli Vredenburg Netherlands
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €34.75. Address: Vredenburgkade 11. Venue phone: +31 30 760 6777. Buy Tickets More information
20/11/25 Brusels Ancienne Belgique Belgium
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €33. Address: Anspachlaan 110. Buy Tickets More information
19/12/25 Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny The Seantai Bar Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €25. Address: Smartscastle. Buy Tickets More information
20/12/25 Newbridge, Co Kildare Riverbank Arts Centre Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €25. Address: Main Street. Buy Tickets More information
24/01/26 Dublin 2 Pepper Canister Church Ireland
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: €24.99. Address: Mount Street Upper. Tradfest 2026 Buy Tickets More information
Tour: The Beloved Tour
15/05/26 81825 Munchen Kulturzentrum Trudering Germany
Time: 7:30pm. Address: Wasserburger Landstr. 32.
16/05/26 95482 Gefrees Konzertscheune Germany
Time: 7:30pm. Address: Bahnhofstrasse 1. Buy Tickets More information
17/05/26 90441 Nurnberg Der Hirsch Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €27.10. Address: Vogelweiherstr. 147. Buy Tickets More information
19/05/26 Hamburg Fabrik Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €32. Buy Tickets More information
20/05/26 38106 Braunschweig Kulturzentrum Brunsviga Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €29.90. Address: Karlstr. 35. Buy Tickets More information
21/05/26 Köln Kulturkirche Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €31.50. Buy Tickets More information
22/05/26 Worpswede Music Hall Germany
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: €26. Buy Tickets More information
Bandcamp
Hi Christy
A gloomy evening,brightened by Iggy Pop’s programme on radio…numerous genres covered and a fab surprise,late in the programme…two trad songs by Bridget Hayden and the Apparitions…’Lovely on the Water’ and ‘Factory Girl’ …even better,the way Iggy described the songs and emotions linked to them…masterful,from an unlikely source…but,maybe,not such a shock as I realise he’s a master communicator with genuine insights and huge life experience.
So,thanks,Iggy and here’s a link to lovely music.
http://www.bridgethayden.bandcamo.com
Dave
I always suspected that Iggy was a Folkie at heart…ever since that night he showed up at MacColl’s club in London with no shirt on….
Thanks Christy for sharing your memories of Glasgow. When you “drank Fidel Castro in Bairds with Hamish Imlach, Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty”, it sounds like a night when the craic was ninety-one!
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.
one of the rare auld stock
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!
thanks Stef..best to you and Damo…we’ll keep the flag flyin as long as we’re able
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.
Thanks Mary,
Mags McIvor opened a canteen for the Barrowland Hawkers over 100 years ago..it became their community hall..gatherings and hooleys grew into Céilis…Mags then built a dancehall..the resident band was “The Gay Birds”…there is an atmosphere in that room like no other…this info is not imprecise, based on loose gossip and recall…please correct if anyone has the true story..
but I did dance with Jinky Johnson in Parkhead,
and drank Fidel Castro in Bairds with Hamish Imlach,Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty..( I was skint, but Hamish held up my corner)
or maybe it was The Scotia
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
round and round in the circle game
“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