Wonderful article by Anne Marie Hourihane in the Independent about Liam Óg’s funeral ‘He had magic and understood simplicity, silence and Space. With a lovely compliment to your good self. Now listening to the Cliffs of Dooneen as a result. Big day for the Shannons – son playing in the county final Rossa v Dunloy. Colours ready and recording set for TG4. Lucky Naas! Go well.
Christy's reply
Winning a County Final creates memories that last a lifetime….brings pride to a parish
Hello Christy and All,
Flitted over to Manchester this morning to have some work done on Steve’s pipes. David Lim made the set he’s playing. It was great to meet him and see how he works. His kitchen is full of bits of pipes. We’ve now got two reeds, one mellow, one very not mellow and all the bits are working. David played Steve’s chanter on his own pipes.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
Flitting “over the top” to Suffragette City with Husband’s chanter in handbag sounds like a Saturday well spent…
Hi Christy, Good luck in Naas. Like you, I often travelled across but I played in the Moat before you (table tennis). I journeyed with advice from my mother, “don’t come back here with a Naas wan”. So I had to mosey on to Kill and the “voyage” ended in Johnstown.
PS. Plenty of Bogmen and Hondas in Naas.
Christy's reply
Good man Frankie….I think you served an ace in Johnstown…. game / set / match
RIP Tony… and superb verse from Niall Toibin – that could be your opening tomorrow!
It would have been a hot ticket to see you in the percussion section of ‘the Mothers’… the humour in Zappa’s music is often overlooked, sadly. His kids are very good at expressing it in the docs. ‘Moon Unit’ – now there’s a moniker.
SKY Arts tv… Friday night viewing – doc on Frank Zappa followed by The Mamas and the Papas… brilliant – D
Christy's reply
The Zapp…theres a man that knew what he wanted to hear …stellar, acerbic, genius and lotsa fun and good humour….his legacy will take generations to unfold…..I offered to play bodhrán with him once
PS. Tony McMahon RIP……Accordeon player, Radio & TV Producer, Raconteur, Hell Raiser, Top Banner Man, gone to his maker
I’m glad that Atkins and capos are working hard…great to have gigs in sight, especially after all the uncertainties of the last year+
Hughte O’Donoghue’s art is captivating. Great that he has a wide audience.
Enjoy Naas. I hope that you bump into some people with familiar surnames, if not the folk you remember.
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
“They say say that Naas is a terrible place
that Navan is just as bad
Ballinasloe is no place to go
but, (fuck me ! )…….Kinnegad ?”…
A verse once employed by the late Niall Toibín in his beautiful one-man-show.
I’ve always loved Naas….going way back….only 5 miles from Newbridge…cycled there frequently in the early years…GAA games, Dances, Tennis “Hops”,Pubs, Race Meetings,the “next”town to us going east
Hello dear Christy,
Hope all is well with you and yours. It was lovely to be reminded by Hilary of these glorious autumn days a decade ago!
Unbelievable … but pure reality – 10 years ago today the final gig of your EU-Tour took place in Niedernhausen … I can still see the splendid rainbow rising over the venue when we arrived. And what a gig it was!!! Absolutely outstanding, so soulful, unreal …
Unfortunately due to work we couldn’t attend the shows in Holland and Belgium but we enjoyed enormously the two weekends in different parts of Germany with you, Declan and the 4711ers gaggle. It was a magical time full of sweet music and marvellous friendship!
Wishing such beautiful experiences may coming again …
All the best,
Traudel
Christy's reply
Well remembered Traudel….thanks to Hilary, many of us are reflecting upon that happy time….
it seems as if we may be emerging from our global set back….millions of unfortunate victims have died around the world …deniers and liars still rant and rave….let us hope for better times ahead….
Good to hear from you
“Please tell them that I am young and beautiful” (Paula Meehan)
Occasionally, there’s been mention of visual artists here. I’ve just come across some interesting pieces by Hughie O’Donoghue – -a fellow Manc who has lots of Irish links and produces very absorbing work.
Thanks Dave…been aware of this artist for a few years..his work appears regularly over here..always worthwhile and provoking…
Naas prep going well… the neighbouring town of my childhood and teenage year.It will be my first time to gig in the town itself..have played Killashee which is a large venue in Piper’s Hill on the outskirts of Nás na Rí…I’m looking forward to Sundays gig in The Moate Theatre..I doubt if any of my old Naas companions will be present but I will sing to their memory…
quite a lot of activity in the work room these days as the release of “Flying Into Mystery” approaches….I’m re arranging the songs for Solo performance..finding the right keys for live gigs… always requires a different energy from studio performance…
such an exciting time …I reflect upon where we were 12 months ago, not knowing what lay ahead…. we owe a great debt of gratitude to all those who cleared the way, who have halted the spread, who ( hopefully) have given us reason to hope for some return to work, life, connection, …maybe the world will have learned some lessons…some of us have..others not so ,I’m afraid…
greetings to Suffragette City from The Black Lagoon
Hello Christy,
I don’t know, maybe I’m just good with Google. If it’s online somewhere I can usually make a fair stab at finding it.
I like natives in G, I also like it in D.
Lower key here https://youtu.be/MVs3dBaN0n4
In g the high bits really bite. In d its more solid and seated.
I like the guitar in the lower key.
Its been a revelation to me talking to someone who can move a song half an octave. A few months ago I moved Ride On down from E into D. It made a big difference to how it felt to me. A single tone.
You once said something about moving Missing You down half an octave. I was gobsmacked that it could be done.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I’m doing quite a bit of “key changing” at the moment…in my case, this usually entails moving the capo..
Talking about chippers. Here in remote Connemara we dont have such a thing within at least 10 kilometers.
We don’t have street lights so it’s very dark at night time.
A few years back It was midnight and just up the road a heavily lit chipper van appeared out of nowhere as if it fell out of the sky.
Mom warned dad ..he paid no heed.Lord have mercy on his soul he high tailed it to the anonymous chipper.
He came home with a burger and chips looking like a cat that got the cream.
He sat down and took one bite into the burger and it was pure raw inside.!!!
He looked out the door for the van …it was gone just as quickly as it appeared never to be seen again . CS 17
Christy's reply
In 1963 I was stationed in Clonmel..there was a chipper there at the Westgate that served Crubeens and Chips…after a feed of porter in Donie Ryan’s at “The Bridge” some of us would make for the Westgate… Crubeens after porter finished off the night in style….next morning fingers would have to be prised apart
Thank You…its a mystery to me ..how such distant performances can be accessed…I’m sorry too..sorry that I’m trying to sing it in the key of G….for many years it was firmly on the set list ..in recent years it seldom appears..and sounds more reasonable in the key of D…..
Hi all. It seems that chippers and gigs go hand in hand !! I remember tearing up the road to Belfast for the benefit gig for the Tar Isteach advice centre on 15th March 2017..no time to eat and finding a chipper after the gig…I can see it very clearly…its the image that always comes to my mind during Rosalita and Jack Cambell… Of course Christy leads the way… as usual.. Burdocks is regularly mentioned at Vicar St…Life on the road is only mighty ! Beir bua agus beannacht.. H
Christy's reply
the first chipper in Newbridge was Mrs Dunnes down the “Back” Street….she commenced frying circa 1958…the choice was straight forward…sixpenny bags and fourpenny bags..that was it…then Mrs Dunne got a Juke Box in…we were moving slowly into a faster lane..Maisie Behan took our trousars in to 10 inches…the Brylcream was laid on heavy… Hound Dog Jailhouse Rock and a fourpenny bag of chips….
ps thanks to Adam for the tip off about Tom Pacheco. Hadn’t heard him before, but now enjoying his work… http://www.tompacheco.com is well worth a visit/ good info on the EPK. Youtube as well… D
When Adam’s designing the programme for the chipper tour, there has to be merch as well… T shirts can have the motto beloved by chippers everywhere – ‘give peas a chance’…
Adam
there’s a book in there,’ Christy Moore the Chipper Tour’ (it even rymes). the best chippers on the road. You just have to read The Van by Roddy Doyle or ‘Round Ireland with a fridge’ by Tom Hawks for insperation, but dont forget the golden rule ‘what happens in the chipper stays in the chipper’. If you get around to it put me down for a signed copy..
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for telling me about the writing of Yellow Furze Woman. It’s one of my favourite songs. The gigs I’ve done I’ve opened with it. The opening is very exposed, but when it’s just you and a harp, so is everything else.
I’ve learnt so much watching you, listening to you and asking questions. Thankyou for taking the time to answer.
No work today, so I’m going to either finalise a set list or decide not to have one. That would have been completely outside of my universe before I listened to you. I’ve a list of 2 hours worth of songs. It might not need pinning down beyond that.
There used to be loads of fish and chip shops round here. Three within 100 yards of each other near where I grew up. Now it’s mainly pizzas and curry, sometimes both in the same shop.
Hi christy hope all is well with you.. Great to see some gigs starting to happen. . Was nice reading H post about eu gigs. I do remember a cold night in Belgium after the gig we found a chipper and a place to have them and somehow we the staff in the shop came out with blankets for us all. For me traveling to the gig is a hudge part love the lead up to a gig the early morning rise the anticipation ahead nothing better. Always have to have the late night chipper found well in advance of a gig. It will be good yo be on the road again at the weekend lookforward . We found a lovely chip shop in kildare Town can’t remeber the name but a grand spot I think a visit is due
. Came across a good album by Tom pacheco bare bones v 1. Done I think around the 10 years he spent in Ireland in the 1980s. Very good album and worth a listen. All the best Adam
My dad (Owen Murphy), who brought me up with your tapes playing in the background and who brought me to countless of your gigs in London from the age of 16 (Kentish Town Forum, Electric Eallroom, Hammersmith, Nells Jazz&Blues, South Bank-it goes on and on!), is turning 60 on 8th Nov-I was wondering if you could give us just few words of wisdom for him for the big day.. Ride on.
Wonderful article by Anne Marie Hourihane in the Independent about Liam Óg’s funeral ‘He had magic and understood simplicity, silence and Space. With a lovely compliment to your good self. Now listening to the Cliffs of Dooneen as a result. Big day for the Shannons – son playing in the county final Rossa v Dunloy. Colours ready and recording set for TG4. Lucky Naas! Go well.
Winning a County Final creates memories that last a lifetime….brings pride to a parish
Hi Christy,
Can’t wait to see you tonight! Hope to hear My Little Honda 50! Best of luck xx
Ran out of juice between Rathcoole and Johnstown….
Hello Christy,
Niall Tolbin
https://youtu.be/MS-tcF-aXrw
I’ve not heard him before. Love it!
I hope you have a great time at the gig tonight.
Rebecca
Thank You
Hello Christy and All,
Flitted over to Manchester this morning to have some work done on Steve’s pipes. David Lim made the set he’s playing. It was great to meet him and see how he works. His kitchen is full of bits of pipes. We’ve now got two reeds, one mellow, one very not mellow and all the bits are working. David played Steve’s chanter on his own pipes.
Rebecca
Flitting “over the top” to Suffragette City with Husband’s chanter in handbag sounds like a Saturday well spent…
Hi Christy, Good luck in Naas. Like you, I often travelled across but I played in the Moat before you (table tennis). I journeyed with advice from my mother, “don’t come back here with a Naas wan”. So I had to mosey on to Kill and the “voyage” ended in Johnstown.
PS. Plenty of Bogmen and Hondas in Naas.
Good man Frankie….I think you served an ace in Johnstown…. game / set / match
Mornn’ Christy
RIP Tony… and superb verse from Niall Toibin – that could be your opening tomorrow!
It would have been a hot ticket to see you in the percussion section of ‘the Mothers’… the humour in Zappa’s music is often overlooked, sadly. His kids are very good at expressing it in the docs. ‘Moon Unit’ – now there’s a moniker.
Have a great weekend
Dave
SKY Arts tv… Friday night viewing – doc on Frank Zappa followed by The Mamas and the Papas… brilliant – D
The Zapp…theres a man that knew what he wanted to hear …stellar, acerbic, genius and lotsa fun and good humour….his legacy will take generations to unfold…..I offered to play bodhrán with him once
PS. Tony McMahon RIP……Accordeon player, Radio & TV Producer, Raconteur, Hell Raiser, Top Banner Man, gone to his maker
Hi Christy
I’m glad that Atkins and capos are working hard…great to have gigs in sight, especially after all the uncertainties of the last year+
Hughte O’Donoghue’s art is captivating. Great that he has a wide audience.
Enjoy Naas. I hope that you bump into some people with familiar surnames, if not the folk you remember.
All the best
Dave
“They say say that Naas is a terrible place
that Navan is just as bad
Ballinasloe is no place to go
but, (fuck me ! )…….Kinnegad ?”…
A verse once employed by the late Niall Toibín in his beautiful one-man-show.
I’ve always loved Naas….going way back….only 5 miles from Newbridge…cycled there frequently in the early years…GAA games, Dances, Tennis “Hops”,Pubs, Race Meetings,the “next”town to us going east
Hello dear Christy,
Hope all is well with you and yours. It was lovely to be reminded by Hilary of these glorious autumn days a decade ago!
Unbelievable … but pure reality – 10 years ago today the final gig of your EU-Tour took place in Niedernhausen … I can still see the splendid rainbow rising over the venue when we arrived. And what a gig it was!!! Absolutely outstanding, so soulful, unreal …
Unfortunately due to work we couldn’t attend the shows in Holland and Belgium but we enjoyed enormously the two weekends in different parts of Germany with you, Declan and the 4711ers gaggle. It was a magical time full of sweet music and marvellous friendship!
Wishing such beautiful experiences may coming again …
All the best,
Traudel
Well remembered Traudel….thanks to Hilary, many of us are reflecting upon that happy time….
it seems as if we may be emerging from our global set back….millions of unfortunate victims have died around the world …deniers and liars still rant and rave….let us hope for better times ahead….
Good to hear from you
“Please tell them that I am young and beautiful” (Paula Meehan)
Hi Christy
Occasionally, there’s been mention of visual artists here. I’ve just come across some interesting pieces by Hughie O’Donoghue – -a fellow Manc who has lots of Irish links and produces very absorbing work.
I hope you have time to visit http://www.hughieodonoghue.com the videos are great.
Good luck with Naas prep – enjoy the gig.
Dave
Thanks Dave…been aware of this artist for a few years..his work appears regularly over here..always worthwhile and provoking…
Naas prep going well… the neighbouring town of my childhood and teenage year.It will be my first time to gig in the town itself..have played Killashee which is a large venue in Piper’s Hill on the outskirts of Nás na Rí…I’m looking forward to Sundays gig in The Moate Theatre..I doubt if any of my old Naas companions will be present but I will sing to their memory…
quite a lot of activity in the work room these days as the release of “Flying Into Mystery” approaches….I’m re arranging the songs for Solo performance..finding the right keys for live gigs… always requires a different energy from studio performance…
such an exciting time …I reflect upon where we were 12 months ago, not knowing what lay ahead…. we owe a great debt of gratitude to all those who cleared the way, who have halted the spread, who ( hopefully) have given us reason to hope for some return to work, life, connection, …maybe the world will have learned some lessons…some of us have..others not so ,I’m afraid…
greetings to Suffragette City from The Black Lagoon
Hello Christy,
I don’t know, maybe I’m just good with Google. If it’s online somewhere I can usually make a fair stab at finding it.
I like natives in G, I also like it in D.
Lower key here
https://youtu.be/MVs3dBaN0n4
In g the high bits really bite. In d its more solid and seated.
I like the guitar in the lower key.
Its been a revelation to me talking to someone who can move a song half an octave. A few months ago I moved Ride On down from E into D. It made a big difference to how it felt to me. A single tone.
You once said something about moving Missing You down half an octave. I was gobsmacked that it could be done.
Rebecca
I’m doing quite a bit of “key changing” at the moment…in my case, this usually entails moving the capo..
Talking about chippers. Here in remote Connemara we dont have such a thing within at least 10 kilometers.
We don’t have street lights so it’s very dark at night time.
A few years back It was midnight and just up the road a heavily lit chipper van appeared out of nowhere as if it fell out of the sky.
Mom warned dad ..he paid no heed.Lord have mercy on his soul he high tailed it to the anonymous chipper.
He came home with a burger and chips looking like a cat that got the cream.
He sat down and took one bite into the burger and it was pure raw inside.!!!
He looked out the door for the van …it was gone just as quickly as it appeared never to be seen again . CS 17
In 1963 I was stationed in Clonmel..there was a chipper there at the Westgate that served Crubeens and Chips…after a feed of porter in Donie Ryan’s at “The Bridge” some of us would make for the Westgate… Crubeens after porter finished off the night in style….next morning fingers would have to be prised apart
This might work.
Natives into the Enniskillen dragoon.
There is a recording online
https://www.facebook.com/847680135/posts/10165286760495136/
If you manage to get to it then the website is in Spanish.
Sorry, its the best I could do.
Thank You…its a mystery to me ..how such distant performances can be accessed…I’m sorry too..sorry that I’m trying to sing it in the key of G….for many years it was firmly on the set list ..in recent years it seldom appears..and sounds more reasonable in the key of D…..
Hi all. It seems that chippers and gigs go hand in hand !! I remember tearing up the road to Belfast for the benefit gig for the Tar Isteach advice centre on 15th March 2017..no time to eat and finding a chipper after the gig…I can see it very clearly…its the image that always comes to my mind during Rosalita and Jack Cambell… Of course Christy leads the way… as usual.. Burdocks is regularly mentioned at Vicar St…Life on the road is only mighty ! Beir bua agus beannacht.. H
the first chipper in Newbridge was Mrs Dunnes down the “Back” Street….she commenced frying circa 1958…the choice was straight forward…sixpenny bags and fourpenny bags..that was it…then Mrs Dunne got a Juke Box in…we were moving slowly into a faster lane..Maisie Behan took our trousars in to 10 inches…the Brylcream was laid on heavy… Hound Dog Jailhouse Rock and a fourpenny bag of chips….
ps thanks to Adam for the tip off about Tom Pacheco. Hadn’t heard him before, but now enjoying his work… http://www.tompacheco.com is well worth a visit/ good info on the EPK. Youtube as well… D
Hi Christy/ all
When Adam’s designing the programme for the chipper tour, there has to be merch as well… T shirts can have the motto beloved by chippers everywhere – ‘give peas a chance’…
enjoy the day
Dave
Adam
there’s a book in there,’ Christy Moore the Chipper Tour’ (it even rymes). the best chippers on the road. You just have to read The Van by Roddy Doyle or ‘Round Ireland with a fridge’ by Tom Hawks for insperation, but dont forget the golden rule ‘what happens in the chipper stays in the chipper’. If you get around to it put me down for a signed copy..
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for telling me about the writing of Yellow Furze Woman. It’s one of my favourite songs. The gigs I’ve done I’ve opened with it. The opening is very exposed, but when it’s just you and a harp, so is everything else.
I’ve learnt so much watching you, listening to you and asking questions. Thankyou for taking the time to answer.
No work today, so I’m going to either finalise a set list or decide not to have one. That would have been completely outside of my universe before I listened to you. I’ve a list of 2 hours worth of songs. It might not need pinning down beyond that.
There used to be loads of fish and chip shops round here. Three within 100 yards of each other near where I grew up. Now it’s mainly pizzas and curry, sometimes both in the same shop.
Rebecca
Hi christy hope all is well with you.. Great to see some gigs starting to happen. . Was nice reading H post about eu gigs. I do remember a cold night in Belgium after the gig we found a chipper and a place to have them and somehow we the staff in the shop came out with blankets for us all. For me traveling to the gig is a hudge part love the lead up to a gig the early morning rise the anticipation ahead nothing better. Always have to have the late night chipper found well in advance of a gig. It will be good yo be on the road again at the weekend lookforward . We found a lovely chip shop in kildare Town can’t remeber the name but a grand spot I think a visit is due
. Came across a good album by Tom pacheco bare bones v 1. Done I think around the 10 years he spent in Ireland in the 1980s. Very good album and worth a listen. All the best Adam
Hi Christy,
I hope you’re keeping safe and well.
My dad (Owen Murphy), who brought me up with your tapes playing in the background and who brought me to countless of your gigs in London from the age of 16 (Kentish Town Forum, Electric Eallroom, Hammersmith, Nells Jazz&Blues, South Bank-it goes on and on!), is turning 60 on 8th Nov-I was wondering if you could give us just few words of wisdom for him for the big day.. Ride on.