Cornelscourt Parish Hall

Cornelscourt Parish Hall
The Location of Foxrock Folk Club

THE FOXROCK FOLK CLUB

As Luke Kelly remarked when he played the club in December 1972, a folk club in the suburb of Foxrock was a somewhat unlikely combination. Probably even more unlikely was the fact it was organised and run by teenagers and managed to attract to Foxrock some of the biggest names on the Irish music scene (see Folk Club History & "Local and Visiting Artists").

The aim of the Foxrock Folk Club Project is to (1) research the history of the club (2) develop a club archive and (3) create a space in which people who played at the club or attended some of the sessions can share their memories of what was an unique musical and cultural experience.

Contact: jeremy.kearney40@gmail.com


Thursday 9 April 2009

LATEST NEWS ON 40TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT


THE FOLLOWING ACTS ARE ALREADY CONFIRMED FOR 40TH SPECIAL SESSION AT THE PAVILION ON 14TH JUNE

Al O'Donnell has been a folk singer since the mid 1960's and been described as 'one of the great voices in our singing tradition' (Irish Independent). His two solo studio albums produced two top ten hits in Ireland, 'Spanish Lady', and 'Sammy's Bar'. He has toured with Tommy Makem, the Chieftains, the Dubliners and many others. He was (and is) a great supporter of the club and appeared there on many occasions. He released a new album, 'Ramble Away', last year.

Tir na nOg, the duo formed in 1970 by Leo O'Kelly & Sonny Condell, are recognised as one of the most influential songwriting and performing groups to have emerged from Ireland. Their early albums were highly acclaimed and the legendary John Peel was one of their early champions. Recently an album has been released which includes some of their many performances on the John Peel and Bob Harris BBC Radio shows. In the 70's they toured the world with a number of major bands - Jethro Tull, Procul Harem and Roxy Music, among others. With the recent upsurge of interest in psychedelic or acid folk, as their music is often characterised, they have once again become highly influential with many young bands and fans worldwide - see their MySpace site, www.myspace.com/tirnanogduo.
Leo & Sonny appeared regularly at the club.

Ed Deane & Dermot Stokes - Ed Deane has been one of Ireland's premier blues guitarists for many years. He formed the band, Blueshouse, while only 16, with Dermot Stokes, and has played with such famed Irish bands as Granny's Intentions, the Woods Band, Skid Row and Bees Make Honey and has worked with an extensive range of leading musicians, both here and abroad. He recently released an album called 'Slideshow' - (www.eddeane.com).
Dermot Stokes was a member of Blueshouse with Ed Deane – the band is recalled by many as one of Ireland’s great ‘lost’ bands. He subsequently formed Eyeless, and later The Brothers, releasing the album 'Torch', with his brother Niall – members over the years included Garry O’Briain, now regarded as one of the great arrangers and accompanists in Irish traditional music, and film-maker Neil Jordan. Dermot was also a member of the Mary Stokes Band and toured in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA. Offstage, he was closely involved in the early years of Hot Press. In other circles he is well-known for his work in education and particularly in disadvantaged areas.
Ed & Dermot played the inaugural session of the folk club in 1969.

Peter Fallon is a leading Irish poet and publisher who for over 40 years has been writing and publishing both his own and other writers work through his company, Gallery Press. He co-founded the experimental music and poetry group, Tara Telephone, in the late 60's and appeared at the club, both with the group and as a solo performer, many times. He published his latest collection of poems, The Company of Horses, in 2007.

Melanie O'Reilly sat in the audience of the club as a young teenager listening to the Chieftains and Louis Stewart jam together and was inspired to take up a career in music. Now as an established jazz singer/song-writer and pioneer of celtic-jazz, her exhilarating and unique blend of Irish traditional music and jazz creates a powerful and haunting landscape. Her latest album, 'Dust and Blood', was released last year and is available on Claddagh Records. She is the award winning presenter of the RTE Radio 1 programme 'Jazz on the Bay' and is presenting three programmes on the Folk Club over the next three weeks, also on RTE Radio 1, drawing on interviews with performers, those involved in running the club and live tapes of the sessions (see Latest News for dates and times).

Watch this blog and the press for confirmation of other special guests ......more to follow soon......

Tickets available from the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire.
Box Office - 01 2312929 Website - www.paviliontheatre.ie


2 comments:

  1. Just tell anyone who you know attended the Club
    about the concert on in the Pavilion 14.06.2009
    to get their tickets soon as sales are brisk with well over 40% sold already. Also get people to leave a blog note,so other old friends can make
    contact them,and arrange to meet them at the Concert.

    ReplyDelete
  2. People need to leave their memories and related stories about the Folk Club on these Blog spaces,
    you only have to have attended to join in the BLOGS, all in the best possible taste. We want to
    build up as information as possible, about the trials and tribulations of the late '60s and early
    '70s.

    ReplyDelete