Another Folk Club Event

The Foxrock Local History Club is presenting a talk entitled:

"Foxrock Folk Club - 1969 to 1973
The story of a unique musical and social phenomenon"
by
Jeremy Kearney & Una Balfe
on
Monday 15th June at 8.00pm

Venue: Kill o' the Grange, Parish Community Hall, Deansgrange

See the web site for more details: www.foxrocklocalhistory.ie

Latest News on Ticket Sales

The tickets for the 40th anniversary concert on 14th June are nearly sold out, so book now if you want to see one of the musical events of the year!

We were so much older then......part 2

Born in Dublin, Alison O'Donnell made her first record for Simon Napier Bell and David Hemmings at the age of 15 with the cult folk-rock band, Mellow Candle. The band played concerts with Genesis, Thin Lizzy, Donovan, The Chieftains and Steeleye Span amongst others. They signed to Decca's Deram label in the early 1970s and gigged in Ireland and the U.K. Their only album, 'Swaddling Songs, has since been acclaimed as a progressive folk rock masterpiece.
Alison then moved to Johannesburg and together with the guitarist from Mellow Candle they formed traditional group Flibbertigibbet. In the mid 80s Alison joined a contemporary jazz group called Earthlings, co-writing the band's repertoire. During 1998 she set up the traditional-style band Éishtlinn with guitarist Philip Masure, incorporating some of her own compositions.
Alison moved back to Dublin in 2001. She sings and plays occasional bodhrán in sessions, festivals, gigs and charity events, mostly collaborating with other artistes. She is a member of the traditional singers' clubs, The Goilín and The Howth Singing Circle. Together with Isabel Ní Chuireáin, she released an album of original songs and tunes in 2006 entitled 'Mise agus Ise'.

2007/8 brought collaborations with Dave Colohan of Agitated Radio Pilot ('World Winding Down' double album) and Steven Collins of The Owl Service (EP entitled 'The Fabric of Folk' on the Static Caravan label). An album of songs is written and being arranged by Greg Weeks of Espers for recording sometime ‘09 in Philadelphia. Collaborations for her forthcoming solo album include Michael Tyack of Circulus, Kevin Scott of the Canadian band, Mr Pine, Graeme Lockett of Head South By Weaving, Gavin Prior of United Bible Studies and others.


FOXROCK FOLK CLUB – FLASHBACKS.

"A bubbling crucible of its times, larger than the norm with room enough for all – it provided a stage for the young, the upcoming, the established and the old hands and many, many magic moments of music, poetry and stand-up before stand-up came into its own.

It was there I saw my first Ovation Guitar, played by. Brian Fry - his tour-de-force "Cocaine" commanded standing ovations.
Roger McGough had us in stitches and in the palm of his Liverpudlian hand for a solid two hours with wickedly humorous poetic tales of amongst others, P.C. Plod and the Hippie. I recall him being evil to a heckler and then apologizing for losing his rag - a lesson in professionalism.
Another evening, a beautiful, elfin Sheila Roche of the wild raven hair enthralled with a powerful and clear-voiced rendition of Joni Mitchell’s open-tuned “Both Sides Now”.
I recall Peter Fallon reading a poem about an old couple sharing silence".

MCWRECK - A BRIEF HISTORY.
Ray Magee, a mate of mine, who lived in Foxrock and knew Lar, called and asked if Diarmaid and I would like to play at the club. It was our first gig together.

Most of our material was written by me ‘though as you so rightly recall, Diarmaid had a penchant for James Taylor songs, notably “Fire And Rain” and James Taylor’s version of Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend”. Diarmaid began writing at this time. One of his originals was “Hey, Mister Sunshine”.
We called ourselves “McWreck” and the ultimate line-up was Diarmaid and yours truly, (6-string, clarinet and vocals and 12-string & vocals respectively) with Diarmaid's Danish fiancée, Anja Dybris on vocals and recorder and Maurice Czerniak on Bass and vocals. We left Dublin, bound for London in May 1972 – busked, played at The Troubadour and in the crypt of St. Martin-in-the-fields. Visited Denmark in August 1972 where we dissolved the band. I returned to London alone and moved to Denmark in January 1973, when Ireland and Denmark became members of the European Union.
The following songs : “Dancing With Yourself”, “This Is Your Life!”, “Looking For A Child” and “Lines From London”, were all inspired by those Dublin days.
They may be heard at: http://www.myspace.com/jbmband:
(Thanks to John Buckley McQuaid for the photo and these memories, sadly Diarmaid died in 1987).

We were so much older then.........

One of Europe's finest jazz guitarists for over 40 years, Louis played the folk club regularly and anyone who was there will remember the storming sessions that he played with his band.
Louis Stewart began his musical career in the sixties as a member of the Dublin jazz scene. In 1968 he received an invitation to the Montreux Jazz Festival, together with the Jim Doherty Quartet, and came away with the press award for Outstanding European Soloist of the Festival. The following year in Montreux he won the Grand Prix de la Radio Suisse Romande. He declined the offer of a scholarship from the Berklee School of Music, Boston, as at the time he was with Tubby Hayes' Quartet and Big Band and had been engaged by Benny Goodman for three European tours. In the ‘70s Louis Stewart was a member of the Ronnie Scott Quartet in London. During this period he also cut albums with Sam Jones and Billy Higgins as well as other musicians from the London scene. His excellent guitar playing with Scott’s quartet, on his solo and duo albums in the 1970s and 1980s, and on recordings with George Shearing, Clark Terry, Martin Taylor, Heiner Franz and others in recent years has earned him a well-deserved reputation and widespread consideration as “one of the instruments’ world class players" (Downbeat Magazine). In July 1998 Louis Stewart became the second musician to be conferred with a doctorate in music from Trinity College Dublin. In May 2009, he was elected as a member of Aosdana.

Tir na nOg, the duo formed by Leo O'Kelly and Sonny Condell in 1970, are recognized as one of the most influential songwriting and performing groups to have emerged from Ireland. They started their recording career with three highly acclaimed albums on the Chrysalis label. The legendary John Peel was one of their early champions, and recently an album has been released which includes some of their many performances on John Peel and Bob Harris BBC radio shows.
Tir na nOg toured the world in the '70s with Jethro Tull, Procol Harum and Roxy Music, among other major bands, as well as headlining their own magical concerts. With the recent upsurge of interest in psychedelic or acid folk, as their music is often categorised, they have once again become the mentors of many young bands and fans worldwide, as can be witnessed on their thriving MySpace site, www.myspace.com/tirnanogduo.

THE BIG GIG - JUNE 14

Here's the great line-up for the Foxrock Folk Club anniversary session. It looks like it's going to be a fantastic combination of Woodstock (but no rain), Isle of Wight 1970 (but no Tiny Tim or riots), Glastonbury (but no mud) and Lisdoonvarna (with plenty of choc ices).
It will be like a year's folk club sessions rolled into one night with musicians and artists not only recalling their legendary groups of 40 years ago but also illustrating examples of their work from more recent times. All the artists featured are still playing regularly, many of them around Dublin.
Even though I am now an exile in Newcastle, in the last few years I have heard Louis Stewart, Myles Drennan, Rock Fox, Leo O'Kelly, Ed Deane and Alison O'Donnell play at venues in Dublin city and environs. For many of the artists examples of their music, and often live performances, can be seen and heard on MySpace, YouTube and their own web sites.

As always the Folk Club (despite its name) will present a wide diversity of music and performance.

Jazz
Louis Stewart, Myles Drennan, Rock Fox (Butler Fox Jazz Band), Melanie O'Reilly

Traditional & Folk (in all its guises)
Tir na nOg (Leo O'Kelly & Sonny Condell), Al O'Donnell, Alison O'Donnell (Mellow Candle)

Blues
Ed Deane & Dermot Stokes (Blueshouse), Johnny Norris & Jerry Doyle (Dirty Dozens)

Poetry
Peter Fallon (Tara Telephone)

There will of course be the usual minerals for sale - club orange, club lemon and cidona.

Don't miss it - Tickets selling fast!

Publicity Poster with Concert Line-Up

This is the publicity poster for the 40th Anniversary Concert that is now being distributed. Feel free to print off copies to display in suitable locations.
(If anyone knows why it appears as two shades of blue on the blog, rather than the original orange and yellow, please explain.....)

More Additions to the Artists Playing on the 14th June

Rock Fox has been playing, arranging and composing jazz since the 1960s and for many years he was joint leader of one of the finest traditional jazz bands in Ireland, The Butler Fox Jazz Band.
The bands' sessions at the club were always very well received by audience and were appreciated as much for Rock's laconic and informative introductions to the tunes, as well as the very fine music played by the band.

Jerry Doyle, like Johnny Norris a guitarist with the blues band Dirty Dozens, will be playing with Johnny at the concert.