The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
HAVING run the Wings festival in Shannon this summer, Damian O’Rourke has endeavoured to keep live music happening regularly in Shannon, and is now behind a couple of ongoing events around the town.
One of these is a monthly Wings session in the Shannon Springs hotel.
“It’s the last Sunday of every month, it has come out of the Wings festival in June,” Damian explained.
“We had the wind down session for that, it was an immense day, and we just wanted to keep it going. We had something the following month and I was thinking of having it every second Sunday, but a friend of mine recommended doing the last Sunday of the month because it’s easy for people to remember.
“We’ve been doing it since June and it’s going well, it starts at 1pm on the Sunday and it keeps going until whenever.”
It is open to everyone, whether they want to play or just listen.
“It’s a lovely thing to have on a Sunday afternoon. People can come in and listen to music, or they can join in as well, that’s key to it too, anyone who comes in is welcome to sing a song or play a song, it’s very inclusive too. It doesn’t matter what age or level, it’s all about getting people together and having the craic with it.”
In addition there have been Shannon Live gigs, on every second Wednesday night in the Town Centre.
“We got funding to run four Wednesdays, which is every second one. It’s on in the Swive stage in the Town Centre. It’s just about getting Clare-based musicians in to perform in front of a crowd.
“Because it has been funded by the Council and the Clare Arts Office, its free entry, people can just come in and have a listen. We had Clodagh Lawlor there last week, she had a blinder, she brought a country feel to it.
“The next one is on October 26, that’s the last one funded by the Council, we’ll have Oliver O’Connell, the Kirbys, Dave Sanders and Feilim Ó Coileáin.
“After that we’ll try to find a way to keep it going, it’s starting to pick up a bit of momentum so it’d be a shame for it to stop now.”
He felt it was important to build on the momentum generated in the summer.
“The festival was great when it happened, but with the monthly session and the Shannon live gigs that are on every second Wednesday, each one connects to the next one and it kind of builds a community that’s in the know of what’s going on with live music.”
Damian feels there is real value in having regular live music in the town.
“It’s not just a big name coming in once a year, it’s on regularly around the place, so it’s accessible to everyone and if they want to go they can.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
