Fean returns to Crusheen for annual gig

HAVING achieved huge success in the 1970s, Shannon’s Johnny Fean is still making music and is set to have a busy Christmas.
On December 27, the Johnny Fean Band will be playing in the Highway in Crusheen, while the following night they will be in Nenagh.
Speaking about the gig in Crusheen, the Horslips member says, “It’s become kind of an annual Christmas event. We’ve played there for the last few years. It’s always good, there’s always a good turnout.”
After achieving huge success with Horslips he moved away but has been back in the Banner County for several years now. “I’ve been living here for the last few years. I was in London for 16 years, I moved back to Dublin in 2001 and in 2005, I came back to Shannon. I went full circle, all over the world and then back.
“I’ve always loved Clare, it’s a lovely county. When I was travelling, I’d always try and get home two or three times a year.”
There will be a fair amount of variety on offer for those who come to the show in Crusheen. “With my own band, it’s kind of a mixture. Obviously I do a certain amount of Horslips material, probably about 20% of the programme. I do a lot of blues stuff, mixed with ’60s stuff as well, stuff I grew up with. The bass player I play with, Stephen Travers, is around my age and he grew up with the same music. Also I play traditional mandolin as well and I include it in the set. I do a set of jigs and reels on the mandolin. It’s a mixture of all that.”
Horslips have been back in action over the last couple of years and currently have a new live CD out. He acknowledges that most of those who will go to see the Johnny Fean Band will be looking to hear some of the old favourites.
“The reason most people come to see the band is because we do play the hits from Horslips, the big songs like Dearg Doom and King of the Fairies. That’s what people remember me for.
“The band reformed after many years, around 2006, we got back together and it led to playing at the O2 in Dublin and the Odyssey in Belfast in 2009 and 2010. We did a lot of festivals abroad last summer. It was great to get back together, it really was and it reminded us all of how great it was back in the ’70s. We’re all proud of how successful the band was. For an awful lot of the fans, it’s a nostalgic thing.”
Johnny says he has retained a lot of his musical influences throughout his life. “I was influenced a lot by ’60s music and the blues. The blues never really changed since the ’50s and all the great blues artists are still relevant so that remains the same. Soul music of the ’50s and ’60s is also an influence and to an extent the kind of traditional music of Clare and other counties.”
While he has the Johnny Fean Band on the go and has been playing with Horslips at times this year, he is also involved in a group focusing on the blues. “I’m playing with a blues band and have been on and off for the past year. The band formed in Shannon and it’s a six-piece. It’s really a love of the blues that prompted us to form the band, even if we never got any money it’s something we’d love to do anyway. We started doing a few gigs in the Shannon Knights, they went well and it went from there. We’ll be doing gigs in Limerick in the run up to Christmas,” he concluded.