Wednesday 27 March 2013

JOHN SMITH

CD Review

Great Lakes

Whether you have heard John Smith a few times or never before, when you do put his music on you feel there is something eminently well-bedded and mature about his style and voice which gives you a sense of having been listening to him for many years. 

Smith's rich and mellow tones blend with his guitar playing on his new album, Great Lakes, in such a way that it can calm the most restless of souls.
This Devon troubadour, who has already garnered many accolades,  has rubbed shoulders with some of the best folk artists on the scene and deserves his place alongside them.
John Smith's new album Great Lakes
His latest offering, which is on release now, is a real treat for anyone who likes good music folk or otherwise.
Smith's liquid style of guitar and slide guitar playing is used wonderfully and from the first track There Is A Stone with its gloriously illustrative lyrics such as "There is a stone that sits on the tip of my tongue, when I need to say something to you." you know this is an album you want to listen to over and over again.
His guitar playing steps up a gear for the title track and his plaintive voice is so evocative and backed by a wonderfully mellow orchestral sound which adds to the rich colours of the song.
There is a more sinister undertone to his raspy chords for England Rolls Away and it's echoed in the harder throbbing sound of his picking.
Just over half the tracks are all Smith's own work, on others he has collaborated with Joe Henry who has produced albums for Lisa Hannigan (who provides vocals on the album), Hugh Laurie and Loudon Wainwright III to name but a few of his many impressive projects; Sam Genders - who is at the experimental edge of folk music and Dennis Ellsworth who is making big ripples on the Canadian music scene.
Genders is credited on one of Smith's more emotional tracks Town to Town which shows the depth of feeling Smith can produce with his voice as well as weaving in the sound of his slide guitar and occasionally dipping a musical toe in to the country side of the lake.
Without doubt one of the best tracks on his fourth album is She Is My Escape, it has the feel of Simon & Garfunkel but the ballad has such an intensity of feeling which just stops you in your tracks and makes you say "Who is this?"
Lisa Hannigan and John Smith
There is something akin to a mixture of Donovan and Labi Siffre in Perfect Storm and it has the great refrain "What is love if not the perfect storm?" although it's more upbeat in terms of tempo it still carries a melancholy edge.
It can honestly be said there is not a bad track on this album and it's one of those that when you hear any song from it you will want to hear the rest of the album.
Great Lakes is out now and for more information visit www.johnsmithjohnsmith.com.
If you want to hear him live then he will be playing the Glee Club, Birmingham on April 5.

Sunday 24 March 2013

THE DUBLIN LEGENDS

Live Review

Town Hall, Birmingham

The Dublin Legends, made up of the members of the legendary Dubliners who decided they weren’t ready to call it a day, kicked off the St Patrick’s Day weekend celebrations in the Second City. 

Sean Cannon, Patsy Watchorn, Eamonn Campbell and newest recruit Gerry O’Connor are carrying on the mantel of the folk group after the death of the last founder member “Banjo” Barney McKenna last year and the self-imposed retirement of John Sheahan.
While the songs may be familiar there was a visibly new energy about the group and even Eamonn was looking in good form considering he had recently undergone serious surgery on his lungs.
Patsy kicked off proceedings with The Ferryman a song lamenting the loss of the ferry trades along the Liffey then moved into old favourite Dicey Riley.
The newest recruit O’Connor, who in the past has played with The Dubliners many times, showed why he was the right choice to take on the unenviable task of filling in for Barney and John on banjo and fiddle respectively.
Cannon drew the audience in on the act with familiar anthems Rare Ol’ Mountain Dew and one of the firm favourites Black Velvet Band.
There was a medley which included the wonderful Belfast Hornpipe with Gerry on banjo showing his precise and clear picking. 
This was followed by a Phil Coulter rendition A Town I Love So Well with Patsy on vocals, Gerry providing harmony on fiddle and accentuated by some gorgeous guitar picking by Eamonn.
The audience were determined to be the extra member of the band getting in on the act with favourites All For Me Grog, Kelly the boy from Killane and Courtin’ in the Kitchen with Sean looking extremely spritely for a 73-year-old as he pranced about the stage.
Without a doubt one of the highlights was Gerry’s own composition, a beautiful and evocative fiddle piece Song for PJ, inspired by his father-in-law’s life. 
The Dubliners may be no more but the legacy of the band is more than alive in this Legends line up.

THE FUREYS & DAVEY ARTHUR

Live Review

Concert Hall, Dudley

Even after more than 30 years of being on the road and recording numerous albums The Fureys & Davey Arthur have lost none of their enthusiasm for playing and indulging in the Irish tradition of telling tall tales.

The audience were never going to be passive spectators and clearly enjoyed the old favourites, the first of which was the upbeat Clare to Here which was followed by the heartfelt The Old Man which was dedicated to Finbar and Eddie Furey’s dad.
In between the jigs and reels they pulled out some of their favourites including Eddie singing the Gerry Rafferty-penned apocryphal tale of Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway.
Drawing this time on Scottish culture rather their native Irish, they sang a version of Leezie Lindsay with lyrics supplied by Robbie Burns. This was followed by Davey introducing The Mad Lady and Me, the extraordinary tale of a woman who ended up face down in the riverbed after being the worse for drink in Cork. The story behind the song had all the hallmarks of the tall tales the Irish are famous for and while everything about it was Irish it somehow had a continental tinge to it.
Eddie brought a raw quality to the lyrics of Steal Away a poignant ballad about emigration which was followed by Finbar on a similar theme with Leaving London, a tune which had a lighter, Nashville-style tone. They then whipped up the crowd with another medley of jigs.
They changed the tempo again with the soft ballad, This One Is For You which they dedicated to their late brother Paul.
They finished the first half of the set with, undoubtedly, their biggest hit When You Were Sweet 16.
One of the highlights of the evening came after the break with Finbar’s own instrumental The Lonesome Boatman with the fantastic sound of Camillus Hiney on tin whistle, Eddie on guitar and Davey on bouzouki mimicking the sound of the sea.
The band then moved into an upbeat version of the much-covered Goodnight Irene which was followed by a little more frivolity with The Chicken Song which is one of those you can keep adding your own verses to ad infinitum.
And then just to keep the audience on their toes they changed the tempo again with Finbar bringing out another soft ballad, Leaving Nancy. He continued the softer theme, this time pretty much solo, with Time Heals Wounds They Say and then grabbed the audience once more with Dermott O’Brien’s Dublin Town in 1962.
They finished the night with some of their signature tunes, Red Rose Café, I Will Love you, The Green Fields of France and Go Lassie Go, alongside Paddy In Paris with Camillus using his squeezebox to give an authentic Gallic feel.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

BECKY MILLS

CD Review

Dandelion

It's always a treat when an album grabs your attention with the opening bars of the first track. Such is the case with Becky Mills' Dandelion and Amy Sharpe. 

Dandelion, Becky Mills' first album
If the rockabilly-style sound doesn't set your toes tapping and your fingers clicking within the blink of an eye then perhaps you shouldn't be listening to this.
The tracks do slow down from this though and you get the richness of Mills' voice, the creamy and deep sounds on I Saw the Sun Today and Pretty Young Things which has more than a touch of Kate Rusby about it, but is distinctive enough not to be confusing.
The soft unblemished tones of her voice are almost contradictory to the content of some of her songs most notably Pretty Young Things with lines such as: "So I found a job dancing that required tits and teeth, I took a room in a bed sitting house, All my friends made their money from walking the streets, 'cos they hadn't a tooth in their mouths"
Mills has the perfect voice for folk, it fits in beautifully with her acoustic guitar skills and yet is distinctive enough not to be lost in the milieu of all the other female voices on the circuit.
For a first album Dandelion exudes maturity in terms of the songwriting and confidence in the singing where tracks such as Leeds Lullaby and  Let It Go show her versatility and her willingness to put a toe into the water of country sounding tunes.
Princess and the Pea is a gorgeous song rich and lyrical and with a great chorus "Please throw a stone at my window, and climb into my room, and I'll pretend that I was sleeping in makeup and perfume."
There are some really evocative tracks on this album such as Family, which will illicit a wide range of emotions from most listeners as Mills' silky tones sink into the psyche.
Singer/songwriter Becky Mills. Picture courtesy of www.beckymills.co.uk
The toe tapping comes back with The North Wind Will with Mills' singing complemented by the banjo picking of Frank Mizen.
Perhaps the most traditional song on the album is Dandelions and Foxgloves which is a gentle ballad where Mills' voice is at its most pure and washes over you like a gentle sea breeze on a warm beach.
With the final track Monkey there is again the contradiction with Mills' light and almost playful voice singing about dark themes of the rocky path of love. There is also a secret bonus track Smelly Joe which is a light song to end on and evokes the sound of the great Joni Mitchell.
Overall this is a really thoughtful and endearing album that deserves its place in any folk collection.
For copies of the album and more information visit www.beckymills.co.uk or www.facebook.com/beckymillsdandelion

To read my interview with Becky visit http://folkall.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/interview.html

Monday 18 March 2013

COMING YOUR WAY

The wonderfully harmonious singing sisters who are The Staves will be kicking off a UK tour in April.

The Staves
Unfortunately the nearest they are coming to the Midlands is the O2 Academy in Oxford on Friday April 19 but sadly it's sold out.  
Their singing is so good they are forgiven but it's hoped they will be playing nearer the heart of the region soon. If you get a chance go and see them they sound amazing. Check out their website where you can see the latest video Facing West from their debut album Dead & Born & Grown.

It may well be thinking ahead but Kate Rusby is making a welcome return to Wolverhampton with her Kate Rusby at Christmas show which will be at the Civic Hall on December 7. If it's anything like the one she played at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham last year then fans are in for a real treat. Doors will open at 6.45pm with the show starting at 7.30. Tickets are £22, £20 and £14 and available from Midland Box Office 0870 320 7000 or you can go online at www.wolvescivic.co.uk
Kate Rusby
The Yorkshire lass is also a special guest at the Moseley Folk Festival, Birmingham from August 30 to September 1. Kate will be on stage on the Sunday.

Lisbee Stainton has embarked on her Spring tour and will be coming to Marrs Bar, Worcester on March 21. For ticket information contact 01905 613336. 

The Bromsgrove Folk Club will be hosting Gren Bartley who has a new album out. He and Julia Disney will be performing songs from it among other music on March 28. They will also be playing the Newhampton Folk Club in Wolverhampton on April 6. Tickets are £8.

Tickets are selling fast for the next outing of Wolverhampton's Dan Whitehouse at the Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham. Don't say you don't get value for money, Dan will be doing two sets with support from Sunderland singer Paul Liddell. Tickets are £6 in advance and £8 on the night and available from www.wegottickets.com.
Dan Whitehouse

The incredibly talented and versatile Seth Lakeman is also on tour and will be playing Oxford Town Hall on May 17. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, tickets are £19 and available from the venue or online .

Folk legend Tom Paxton is performing a short run tour but fortunately he is coming to Birmingham Town Hall   on April 27. 

Self-taught blues singer/songwriter Valerie June is coming to the Glee Club, Birmingham on May 13. She has recently guested on the Jake Bugg tour and is about to release her debut album Pushin' Against A Stone. Tickets are £10.50 and doors open at 7pm. Please note there is an age restriction and you must be over 16 to get in. Call the box office on 0781 472 0400.

Chris Smith
Also folk singer and raconteur Chris Smith is bringing his deadpan style to make his debut at the Glee Club on May 22. Tickets are £10 in advance. Also coming to the same venue are Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn better known as the Paper Aeroplanes on their Little Letters tour. They will be playing in Brum on May 19 and at the Nottingham Glee on May 23.

Wolverhampton singer/songwriter Scott Matthews has sold out his gig at the Brum Glee on April 7 but he is at Tudor House, Shrewsbury on April 9, Jericho, Oxford on April 25 and Nottingham Glee on April 28.

Another Glee Club arrival who is due in May is Adrian Crowley who will be performing there on the 9th. Tickets are £8 and doors open at 8pm. Please note no one under 18 will be allowed in. Crowley has just released his sixth album I See Three Birds Flying. 

The Newcastle fiddler Tom McConville and David Newie are coming to the Newhampton Folk Club, Wolverhampton. Tickets are £9 in advance or £10 on the door.
David Newie and Tom McConville

Stourbridge Folk Club in Dudley has lined up some fine acts with legendary folk artist Martin Simpson playing there on May 21. Tickets are £12 and £14 and early booking is recommended. Also appearing at the club are singer and storyteller Jess Morgan who will be playing there on April 16, tickets are £3 and the Kevin O'Regan band on April 9.

The John Richards Band is booked into the Shirley Red Lion Folk Club for April 19. John, a great champion of the Folk21 movement, will be playing from his latest album The Lifeboat. For more information call Paul on 07853 419241. The band will also be performing on May 23 at Common Folk Club, held at Pelsall Cricket Club, Walsall.

Thursday 14 March 2013

RODDY WOOMBLE

Live Review

Glee Club, Birmingham

It's certainly flying in the face of general opinion but it's hard to see, certainly based on his performance in Birmingham, whether Roddy Woomble deserves the accolades which have been heaped on him.

Roddy Woomble
He is as Scottish as tartan, single malts and underachieving at international football so it's a mystery why he sings in a generic American accent.
Woomble's voice is good and has a solid range but nothing exceptional or distinctive and because it's hidden behind this countryfied US accent it's hard to tell how good it is and he is fortunate he surrounds himself with talented musicians who make up for his lack of stage presence.
The MOR/country fayre he indulges in is OK to start with but tends to become a little tedious after a while and there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm both from him and his gathered audience.Perhaps his fans are always this muted, but even Woomble commented on how quiet they were. Many of Woomble's songs have a mediocre quality although a New Day Has Begun was more upbeat and had a road song feel about it with a tempo change mid-stream. The harmonies with singer and fiddle player Seonaid Aitken didn't quite blend properly and their voices seemed to be competing rather than complementing.
There was more of a blue grass sound to Don't Trouble Your Door which was a good track with some excellent guitar picking from Sorren MacLean and fiddle playing from Aitken.
Every Line of the Moment, a song about looking across into the Atlantic Ocean was a softer ballad but as MOR as you can get.
It seems they had warmed up better in the two part set by the time he reached US folk song, Green Rocky Road as the harmonising was much better for the upbeat ballad.
Seonaid Aitken
Almost as a deviation Secret Silence had a 1960s feel about it with hints of Simon & Garfunkel and smatterings of the Mamas and Papas. This contrasted with The Universe is on my Side which showed Woomble does have a strong voice as he sang this Leonard Cohen-style offering.
It may seem strange to say but the highlight of the night was the opening instrumental of the second half of the set with Aitken and MacLean indulging in a Celtic/jazz medley.
Most of the second half of the set was pretty much the same MOR sound with Make Something Out of What It's Worth which, sadly, was a fairly dull almost rant-style song which again had that downbeat Cohen feel to it.
Last One of My Kind from the new album Listen To Keep started off promising with a Cajun sound but then moved into a fairly ordinary country sound.
I Came in from the Mountain was again a downbeat song which was quite bland.
Over all the set was quite flat and it can never be good for a singer when the instrumentalists are the real highlights of the night.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

EWAN MCLENNAN

Live Review

Newhampton Folk Club, Wolverhampton 

Scottish artist Ewan McLennan has been the subject of rave reviews from some of the most respected commentators on the folk circuit and deservedly so. 

His wonderfully mellow, yet broad Scottish, singing voice, and the incredible harp-like sound he produces is just a pleasure to the ear and which seems to slow down time.

Ewan McLennan at the Newhampton Folk Club, Wolverhampton
The Radio2 Folk Awards nominee brought his soft warbling voice to the upper room of the Newhampton Pub in Wolverhampton and opened with the instrumental Jer the Rigger and Flowers of Edinburgh.
As soon as his instrument vibrated to the mellow sound of his strumming, the audience knew they were in the presence of someone with a special talent.
With Jute Mill Song, the single malt mellowness of his voice seemed to contradict the tale of the harshness of life of which he was singing but, combined with his beautifully precise fingerwork he still managed to convey sadness and empathy.He moved into an instrumental of the old classic Auld Lang Syne and the almost medieval sound he created was so restful and easy on the ear that it lost all connotations of New Year and revelry, it was like listening to the familiar tune for the first time.
There have been many versions of Tramps and Hawkers but once again his strong accent, warbling soft tones and pinpoint finger picking gave it a fresh lease of life. The strange thing about McLennan is he has this eerie ability, with everything he sings, to give a sense of storytelling; of history; of an entire world attached to every note and word.
McLennan has such a pure voice he is almost Siren-like but instead of lulling ships on to rocks he lulls his audience into the world he disappears into once he is playing and singing and his version of Les Rice's 1940s song about the exploitation of workers although soft and gentle still conveyed the pathos it deserved.
He mixed up his own renditions with traditional songs which have been done many times and in many ways but still he managed to make it seem as though it was the first time they had been played even with such familiarities as Arthur McBride and I'm A Rover.
The late, great Ronnie Drew did a fantastic version of Old Man's Tale but McLennan's version was more than a match for it. He put down his guitar and sang A Capella with such passion and his rich and laser-like tones telling the story to a hushed room.

Scottish musician Ewan McLennan,
 picture courtesy of  Ewan McLennan.co.uk
He picked up his guitar again to give a Scottish folk interpretation of Bob Dylan's Blues song and his guitar seemed to develop a sitar-like quality which is all down to his ability to manipulate the strings and the sound with a skill worthy of a craftsman.
It wouldn't have seemed right had he not pulled out at least one Burns offering and A Man's A Man was another of Ewan's soft ballads and one of the first songs he learned.
When he sang, the ultra-traditional Scottish song Jock Stewart it was like it was being composed as the words came out of his mouth such is his ability to add a whole new dimension to whatever he sings.With more storytelling in Joe Glenton, and an almost ethereal instrumental inspired by the West coast of Ireland and a more modern rendition, Whistling the Esperanza - inspired by the plight of the Chilean miners trapped underground, McLennan could have kept his audience there all night, hanging on every chord and word.
He finished with the Coorie Doon (Miner's Lullaby) written by Glasgow artist Matt McGinn.

McLennan has been nominated in two categories in the Spiral Earth Awards, Best Songwriter and Best Male Singer.

Other Links:
http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2013/03/live-review-ewan-mclennan-newhampton-folk-club/

Saturday 9 March 2013

SEAN CANNON

Interview

The Dublin Legends

When the last founder member of the legendary Irish folk Group The Dubliners, "Banjo" Barney McKenna, died in April 2012 he was mourned not only by his fellow band members but throughout the folk and wider music fraternity. 

His passing away on April 5 at his home in Howth, North Dublin also brought about the end of an era and left the remaining members with a tough decision.
One of his colleagues and close friends, Sean Cannon remembers the colourful character he had worked with for more than 30 years but had known for much longer.

"Banjo" Barney McKenna, the last founder
member of The Dubliners who died in April 2012
“I knew Barney from the 60s. I live in Coventry and when the Dubliners were over this way, mainly in the Town Hall Birmingham, a gang of us would go over, mainly to the Shakespeare at the back of the Town Hall and the sessions would last until the daylight hours.
“I was quite close to him. We would drive all around Britain and then I used to drive my own car and Barney would come with me and we would often take a more scenic route than the others. There was many a time we stopped at a shipyard, as Barney had a great interest in boats and he had couple himself, he kept them at Howth in North Dublin where he lived. So he was very keen to go to these places and whenever we were in Dublin he would invite me to stay at his.
“Barney was a great character he mimed very well and he could take off accents. He would tell stories and anecdotes and he was a great player, I was going to say musician but am not sure what musician means, whether it’s someone who can read music or compose pieces or someone who could play the banjo like Barney. He couldn’t read music, he didn’t have that kind of training, he was a natural as it were.
“Barney’s passing away was a very sad moment. He passed away in the April and we had just received the Radio 2 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement and we had a big evening at the Lowry. Don McLean was there and June Tabor and her band.”
The death of Barney forced the band members to do some serious thinking about carrying on.
“We toured Britain last March and it was Barney’s last tour with us. We played the Albert Hall among other places which was a great experience and only a few weeks later Barney passed away and all the organisers from the continent came over to pay their respects.

John Sheahan who will pursue his other
 interests of composing and poetry
“Then the morning after the funeral John Sheahan asked us collectively and individually what we were going to do because it was a shock for him as the last of his erstwhile colleagues had gone. We said all the promoters are here and so we should honour the agreements we had made with them at least until the end of the year and then see what happens and that’s what we did.
“We saw out all of our commitments and actually played our last concert in Vicars Street in Dublin. And John in the meantime decided he would bow out. He’d done 48 years with the band, Barney had done 49 and was into his 50th when he passed on. So that’s it, John has retired from being a member of The Dubliners after all these years. But the rest of us thought we might take it a bit further because we weren’t ready to quit and that’s what happening now.
Strangely enough John never thought of himself as an original member even though he joined the band two years after they were formed.
“He was there from 1964 and the band was there in 1962. I think he knew them when they were schoolboys, he knew Barney before the Dubliners were formed so it’s going back a long way.
“John composes a lot and he used to play them on the concerts. He’s also a prolific poet, he has written nearly 200 poems of one kind or another. He wants to dedicate more time to that and publish them. He’s been pretty busy. It occurred to John this was a natural point to call it a day, he was after all the last one, his original colleagues had all passed on.”
While John has decided to move away to pursue other avenues Sean along with fellow former Dubliners Eamonn Campbell, Patsy Watchorn and newer addition Gerry O’Connor felt they would carry on in some form.

Sean Cannon will continue touring and playing
under the banner of  The Dublin Legends
“We thought we would carry on but John had other ideas and decided that was the cut-off point at the end of last year. So The Dubliners are kind of a protected name so that’s why we now go as the Dublin Legends.
Sean, the only Dubliner from Galway, is pretty confident the loyal army of Dubliners’ fans will continue to support them as they embark on this new phase of their careers.
“By all accounts ticket sales are going well and we will give it our best shot. We will hopefully satisfy people’s expectations in that we will sing all the old hits where people can join in and have a drink and fun night out. That’s not say we won’t do one or two fresh numbers as well. We can at least try to please everybody.
“There was a certain set format with the Dubliners which was a tried and tested formula that worked very well, and why interfere with it, you knew what you were getting. We were playing in Germany once and we went into an Irish pub after the concert, and why wouldn’t you, and people were coming up to me and saying you only played the old songs and then others were saying all I heard was the new stuff but by and large there is a good reaction.
“Our loyal following is in the nature of the music, mostly we play a repertoire of upbeat happier tunes, the jigs, reels, the hornpipes and lively drinking songs etc most of the time. We do some reflective songs, you have to pepper it up with that, it’s what appeals to people, it’s quite remarkable really.
“Our music transcends cultures and languages. One thing The Dubliners were often asked though is what have we got against women, we have never had a woman in the band? I said well we couldn’t get one with a beard and when we did find one she couldn’t sing.”
Although Sean’s association with The Dubliners spans more than three decades he has also done one man shows and even played with his sons James and Robert who have followed him on to the music circuit
“I don’t have any plans to play any more one man shows, however my two sons have gravitated towards music. At times we have done duos and different combinations.
"Recently we were at the Town Hall in Birmingham as a tribute to Mick Hipkiss who lived in the city for many years and he led a band called Drowsy Maggie. It was a sell-out. I was asked if I would do a short turn there and I did and I brought Robert with me and he sang too.”
Sean’s other interests lie outside the world of folk music they are mostly cooking, languages, classical music and opera and although he is 73 he keeps a track of his passions with the latest communications and technologies. His interests in being a polyglot started when he was a young man.
“When I was 21 I went off to Germany and got a job a painter and I spent nine months in Germany, learned to speak German and then I moved to Switzerland with a view to learning French but when I got there, there were only other foreigners in Geneva. I was working on a block of flats and I liken it to the Tower of Babel there was every language Turkish, Italian but I didn’t hear much French.
“I spent nine months there and then moved to Spain and got away with teaching English and I spent a year there and picked up Spanish and now I am learning Latin.
"You can get it on your iPhone and get dictionaries and instructions it’s a whole new world. I even have an ancient Greek dictionary which I refer to from time to time. I write a bit of Latin now and if I give an autograph I write songs will never die in Latin.
“I do sing the odd Spanish song, I even recorded one with The Dubliners, myself and Ronnie (Drew) did a duet we sang Clavelitos. Ronnie was over in Spain too and from time to time we would speak to one another in Spanish.
“I am also interested in classical singing and listening to opera. I was brought up on it really, my mother had an old wind up gramophone and the 78rpm recordings in shellac of John McCormack, Gigli and Caruso from the 40s and 50s and that’s always stuck with me. Maybe somewhere along the line I should have taken a few classical lessons.

The Dublin Legends from left, Gerry O'Connor, Sean Cannon,
Patsy Watchorn and Eamonn Campbell
“I would like to able to sing those classical things and record them, but I don’t have the voice. I don’t have a strong tenor’s voice but I would like to do it. Perhaps religious pieces such as Panis Angelicus which was done superbly by Andrea Bocelli or the other famous arias such Il Donna Mobile or something like that.
“I listen to a lot of folk music as well. I have a lot of records and LPs of folk artists. And using YouTube I can see people such as Kate Rusby who I have known since she was only a school kid.”
The Dublin Legends’ tour should have started early last month, a 15 concert schedule, mainly in Scotland, but unfortunately due to Eamonn needing to undergo some serious surgery that all had to be postponed until May or June.

“I think Eamonn expects to be back on the first date which is March 12 in Dunstable. I hope he makes a good recovery.”

The full itinerary for March is:

March: 12 The Grove, Dunstable; 13 Forum Theatre Malvern; 14 Regent Centre, Christchurch; 15 Town Hall, Birmingham; 16 Royal & Derngate, Northampton; 17 The Lowry, Salford; 18 The Assembly Hall, Tunbridge Wells; 19 Hall for Cornwall, Truro; 20 New Theatre, Oxford; 21 The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon; 22 The Anvil, Basingstoke; 23 Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage; 24 Cliffs Pavilion, Southend; 25 Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury; 26 The Orchard Theatre, Dartford

For more information about the Dublin Legends’ tour visit, www.facebook.com/TheDublinLegends

Other links:
http://www.diba.nl/?THE_DUBLIN_LEGENDS

Saturday 2 March 2013

FAIRPORT CONVENTION

CONFESSION TIME


Dave Pegg in the Daily Mail from Friday Mar 1

I couldn't resist posting this, think it's a great story. Any others want to cleanse their folky souls by confessing then let me know.

Copyright Daily Mail Friday Mar 1