Tag Archives: music

WARM tributes have been paid to Darren Richmond, who died after falling from a cliff in Kilkee last week. Darren, who had lived in Barefield and was originally from the UK, was well known in local music circles. His funeral was at Shannon Crematorium on Monday and paying tribute to Darren, his friend Dave Harper said he had been an immensely likeable character. “Our journey as friends started almost 20 years ago. He had moved into the old Station House in Crusheen where I was living, both of us invited by Moya who had originally rented the house,” he said. “I immediately took to this big gentle lad, and we became great friends. We established a regular music session in the local pub in Crusheen and Darren started learning the bodhrán so he could join in and he wowed us with his great singing voice and his vast repertoire of songs. “The Station House became a go-to place for sessions …

I’ve been a TV star in the past and of course, I’m a media personality through these columns but it’s hard to believe at my age, I haven’t been on stage. A few weeks ago I spotted the chance to rectify that when browsing the world wide woof I spotted a story on the ’Champion’s website. Ellen Kent Opera were looking for a dog to appear onstage for La Bohème. As it’s a Poochini opera, I thought I’d be perfect for the part so I dusted off my resumé and sent it on. After all, La Bohème features my favourite aria, ‘Your tiny Paw is Frozen’. Lo and behold, a few weeks later I got an email telling me that from all the dogs in Munster who had applied, I got the call. I howled with excitement, but I was really only practising my high C in readiness for my début. So, last Thursday afternoon, I hopped into the car …

ENNIS is set to host the 28th Annual Ennis Tradfest this November with a line up of top international, national and local traditional music stars. Amongst the stars will be Anxo Lorenzo, a virtuoso award-winning Galician piper renowned for his energetic and inspiring performances.  Over 1,000 are expected to travel from the US, Canada, Spain and the UK for Ennis Tradfest 2022.  From its early years, Ennis Tradfest has established itself as one of the most vibrant and dynamic traditional music festivals in Ireland with fans and visitors returning year after year. Michael ‘Blackie’ O’Connell, widely recognised as one of the best pipers in the world, has been tirelessly building this festival over the years into an extravaganza of traditional music.  Tradfest 2022 is no exception, boasting a stellar line-up of musicians including the Galician Anxo Lorenzo Band, legends Sean Keane (formerly of The Chieftains) and Gay Mc Keon, John Carty and Mike McGoldrick, Damien and Conor Connolly and popular concert band Jiggy.   …

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 …

TRADITIONAL music frequently reverberates through Scoil Chríost Rí in Cloughleigh, with instruments that the school has received through an instrument appeal run by Councillor Mary Howard. The latest haul was brought to the school last Friday morning and music teacher Karen Vaughan said that the instruments received over the years have made a huge difference, giving children access to music that they wouldn’t otherwise have had. “It’s fantastic. Mary Howard set up an instrument donation scheme for us many years ago, on the back of a wonderful visit we had from the Phoenix Twinning Committee Band. “They came from America on a visit, we had a band here and when the two came together something magic happened. “Mary was here that day and she said will we set up an instrument donation scheme because there must be loads of instruments around the county not being used. “Over the years I’ve been championing traditional music here in the school and I …

THE Shannon Summer Music Festival will take place on this Saturday, June 11, in the Town Park.  It is being organised by Chris Walshe and he said there will be something for all age groups on the day. “It starts at 2pm and from 2-6pm we’ll have children’s entertainment. We’ll have face painting, balloon modellers, kiddies disco and we’ll have a DJ. From 6pm on it’ll be live music on the main stage in the Park.” All of the acts during the evening are local. “First up we have the Kirby brothers, then we have Adam Moloney, then we have a band called North of Fortitude, then we’ve a band called the Mangled Badgers. “The last band then, the headliners, is a band called Sticky September. You might know the bands One September and Sticky Fingers. The two of those are joining forces for the evening.” It is the first major outdoor event in the town for several years and …

MOUNTSHANNON Arts will to present an evening of music and poetry at St Caimin’s Church of Ireland, on Friday, December 17 at 8pm.
The night will begin with a recital from Bríd O’Gorman, Cyril O’Donoghue and Clí Donnellan presenting a mix of music, song and familiar melodies. Each of these artists have independently produced their own CDs and have performed together with other musicians over the years. They are very excited to perform as a trio for this recital.
This performance is followed by a poetry reading from Michael Durack, a Ballina poet with East Clare roots. He will include poems from his most recent book ‘Flipsides’. The final performance will be from John Canny, Pat O’Connor and Terence O’Reilly. This trio have performed the best of East Clare traditional music for many years both at home and abroad, having produced CDs independently and together. Mountshannon Arts are delighted to be able to have them perform live on the night.
This is a free Christmas event …

LISCANNOR songwriter Aoife Doyle will release Strength To Be Strong, the first single from her upcoming album, this Friday. The song is a groovy, soulful mix of gospel, jazz and roots, with stomping brass arrangements. “Strength To Be Strong is about having to dig deep to find the strength to stay strong in the face of ongoing adversity. To release this song as the first single off the album felt like an appropriate choice, given the world events of the last 18 months, she explains. Aoife, originally from Bray, County Wicklow, has been living in Liscannor since 2014. She grew up in a house steeped in traditional and folk music, and completed a BA in jazz performance at the prestigious Newpark Music Centre, and an MA in Songwriting at the World Academy of Music and Dance in UL in 2018/2019. 
 
She cites a wide and varied range of musical influences including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Alison Krauss …