Music club festive concerts

THE Island Music Club will be holding two gigs over the festive period, with the Johnny Fean Band playing in Crusheen and Frankie Lane & Paul Kelly performing in Tulla.
The Johnny Fean Band will be playing in the Highway in Crusheen on December 27.
The group is led by Johnny Fean, who is fresh from two Horslips reunion shows at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena and Dublin’s O2. He plays guitar and mandolin besides providing vocals, while Steve Travers will be on bass guitar with Kosovan musician Blendi Krasniqi on drums.
The band delivers an exciting guitar-oriented rock experience. As the set unfolds, audiences are given a mixture of material, which includes furious-paced rock, grass roots blues and trad/rock. The band also throws in occasional classics from their earlier careers.
Two days later, Frankie Lane and Paul Kelly will play in Minogue’s of Tulla. The last time they were in the village they gave an outstanding performance and their shows offer a wide range of material.
On the night, people can enjoy Irish traditional, American folk, western swing, jazz, classical, bluegrass and an occasional gypsy number.
Frankie Lane is the original frontman of the famed Fleadh Cowboys. During the ’80s, his showmanship was famous and the group gathered a huge fan base.
They went on to support legendary performers such as Bob Dylan, the Pogues, Emmylou Harris and BB King.
Paul Kelly has been at the heart of the Irish music scene for almost 30 years. He first came to prominence as the fiddler with the Sackville String Band, a five-piece bluegrass outfit who brought American traditional music to a wide audience in Ireland. He now plays with the David Munnelly band, with whom he regularly tours America.
The Island Music Club has been going for the past six years and has brought many of the country’s top folk artists to the villages of Crusheen and Tulla.
Frank Hayes, who was involved in its establishment, said he is confident there will be two quality gigs in December.
“This is the first time we’ve had more than one at this time of year but Christmas is a very good time for gigs. Johnny Fean loves playing at the Highway and he’d normally play there at least once a year, so it’s kind of a homecoming. Frankie Lane and Paul Kelly have played in Tulla before and they’ve always gone down very well there.
“It’s usually a great night and they give great entertainment.”