Ruby celebrations for Shaskeen

THE members of Shaskeen know that 2010 will be a year like no other as they celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary. Like other bands. Shaskeen has brought traditional Irish music to life for millions of people across the world through performances and recordings in the past four decades but the members did it the Shaskeen way.
The band was put together to play on Friday nights at the Oxford Tavern in Kentish Town in 1970. Since then, over 2,000 Friday nights have passed and the music of Shaskeen lives on, albeit with a slightly different line-up.  
The name Shaskeen comes from the Shaskeen Reel and the band has been heavily influenced by céilí music and in the past four decades has been true to the ethos that brought Tom Cussen, Benny O’Connor, Seán McDonagh, Johnny and Maureen Minogue together all those years ago. Today the band is still steered by Tom Cussen, who is joined by Eamon Cotter, Patsy McDonagh, Johnny Donnellan, Pat Costello, Pat Broderick, Tony Howley and Geraldine Cotter.
Shaskeen became a success as soon as the London leg of its career was complete. Following the move back home in 1972, Tom and Benny, through a series of coincidences and with the help of PJ Hernon and John Dooley put Shaskeen back together and almost immediately, the band took the traditional Irish music scene by storm. Having friends in Ireland and the UK allowed the band to develop and cultivate a fan base in both countries which in turn opened up the US and Europe as people with Irish roots started to travel more and settle in far-off places.
Tom Cussen commented, “Over the past 40 years, the band has met challenges from a number of quarters but we’ve managed to navigate our way through and we’re very proud that the Shaskeen name and our particular slant on traditional music is still very much in evidence. Some of the challenges we met go back to our own return to Ireland. We survived that and although it wasn’t planned, we managed to keep Shaskeen alive.
The economic downturns we met in 40 years have had an impact on audiences but the recordings kept us alive in people’s minds. There was the mass introduction of discos and night clubs which we steered around and in recent times, the development of online media and social networking presented a challenge but we embraced all of this very early on.”
The band has already blocked off many dates during the year for appearances at home and abroad but as the first gig played by them was in May 1970, the members have decided to mark that period with a series of special 40th anniversary performances in what’s become known as the Ruby Tour.
There are no immediate plans to return to the recording studio as the 15th album from the band was only released in early 2009 but the band has been tinkering with remastering some of the earlier albums that will be contained on a 40th anniversary compilation album to be released later in the year. This will evoke some memories but more importantly will pay tribute to those members of the band who played with Shaskeen over the years.
The Ruby Tour starts with a Monster Céilí in Cois na hAbhna in Ennis this Saturday. Tickets are available from Cois na hAbhna.