Horslips Siting on Blogger

"Horslips Exhibition" on donegalfriends.blogspot.com

Horslips sighting on Blogger

"Horslips Exhibition" on donegalfriends.blogspot.com

Eamon Carr interview on RTE's Drivetime with Dave

Drivetime with Dave - December 12

Band Managers

Tonight we take a look at the triumphs and traumas of being a band manager, the side of the music story not usually heard. Are they just waiting to exploit the next young talent or genuinely interested in the music? Thomas Black, Eamon Carr and Frank Murray join us to discuss being a band manager.

Fantastic view of the rock band mythos - from Ian Faith's point of view!

New Johnny Fean video on You Tube

Posted December 6 by AllGoodeThings

Rakish Paddy/Silver Spear

Horslips Siting on Blogger

itsapossibility: they brought the summer with them

New Horslypse Video

Horslypse performing Speed the Plough

Just posted on You Tube. From the summer concert with original members of Horslips.

Great photos of the night here.

Promoting the Next Project: Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Masterclasses

from Regional Film and Video:

Young filmmakers from across Northern Ireland will be sharing their talent with captive audiences at Cinemagic Young Filmmaker, in association with First Light which runs from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 November 2006.
Open to everyone, the weekend showcase of free screenings will take place at Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT), Belfast, and are divided into three separate age groups:
On Friday 24 November short listed films made by young people under the age of 15 will be shown between 5.30pm and 7.15pm. This will be followed by a question and answer session with First Light and Film Street.

Saturday 25th November is dedicated to 15 to 17 year olds. Short listed competition entrants and script writing enthusiasts will have the opportunity to participate in a ‘writing for film’ masterclass hosted by Barry Devlin (Not Afraid, Not Afraid, Ballykissangel, All Things Bright and Beautiful) from 10.00am to 4.00pm, before attending the QFT for the series of short film screenings at 5.00pm to 7.15pm.

More at the link and perhaps more at their site.

www.cinemagic.org.uk

And YES. It seems I'm back in the Blogging mode. I do owe TWO stories now. The Pogues concert of October and then my Night in Austin Texas at Kinky Friedman's political beer party. Long weekend ahead!

Happy Surfin' Santa rides again

'Could it be that this was in fact the defining moment for U2, the event or series of events that put the iron in their soul? And if so, how has a lifetime gone by with scarcely a mention of it?'

Here's an amazing story from the histories of the Dublin punk scene and the band that redefined pub-decor in the new millenia. As always, the unison.ie papers require registration, but it is a free service.


It was the summer of '79, when the Heat was felt by McGuinness
Sunday Independent, Declan Lynch

The other way of looking at this, was the old-time rock 'n' roll way: a fanzine is a fanzine is a fanzine. It is not the New York Times, it has a licence to screw up. Don't fight it.

And this was the prevailing view at the time, as the dispute escalated to the extent that a benefit gig was organised to finance the defence of Heat. It was held in the National Ballroom in July 1979, and as I recall, a great time was had by all.

A band was formed specially for the occasion, called The Defenders. It featured ex-Horslips Charles O'Connor and Eamonn Carr (Eamonn's brother Jude was one of the main men at Heat). Gary Eglinton played bass, Donal Broughan (now an RTE radio announcer) was on vocals along with iconic roadie the late Paul Verner, and Frankie Morgan of Sacre Bleu played keyboards. A selection of Dublin's finest rock 'n' roll characters completed the line-up, which delivered a storming set of classics such as Who do You Love? and It's Not Unusual, joined onstage by guests such as the great Steve Rapid, ex-Radiators and another of the founding fathers of Heat.

The Sinners and The Fabulous Fabrics weighed in, Rocky De Valera and the Gravediggers were also on the bill. The legendary Terri Hooley, majordomo of the Good Vibrations record label in Belfast, came down to lend his considerable moral and fraternal support.

In fact, it was such a vastly enjoyable night all round, it has settled in the memories of many as a coda to the whole punk and new wave era in Dublin, a sort of a goodbye-to-all-that gig which transcended all the unpleasantness which brought it about.

More at the link.

Horslips Siting on Blogger

Babs Babbles

Cocktail Shack: New Show Today

Carr's Cocktail Shack - Online Today

T'was online last week, but I wasn't sure until right at showtime.



There was a siting of Eamon Carr on the ChoiceFM webcam last week! I've been hoping to see him enjoying a Quickie myself, but not had much luck yet.

Barry McCabe's Beyond the Tears - with Johnny Fean

From Barry McCabe's newsletter:

OK, 48 hours to go - and then the pre-order period for "Beyond The
Tears" will be over!! So you STILL have 48 hours to avail of our special
2-for-1 offer!!

To remind you, here's what the deal contains.

* you get an extra CD for FREE with EVERY CD you buy.
you buy 1 CD you get 2 in the post. You buy 2 CDs you get 4 CDs in the
post. It will show as 1 item in the CD Baby basket but it's really 2 -
and you only have to pay postage on 1.

* The FREE CD is EXACTLY the same as the 'main' CD. It's not a slimmed down version, it isn't marked promo or anything like that, it has the full colour 12 page booklet, etc. It's EXACTLY the same.

* ALL CD's are AUTOGRAPHED - that includes the FREE CD.

* you WILL get the 2-for-1 deal if you order via CD Baby. Some people
seemed to think you'd only get that deal if you ordered via my site.
Not so.

* we will guarantee this offer for another 48 hours. After that we'll
have to see if we continue with it or not. Part of me certainly wants to but
we'll just have to review the complete situation and take everyone's
opinion on board.

OK, you can pre-order here

cdbaby.com/cd/bmcband4

or here

barrymccabe.com/music

Here's what U2's production manager had to say about the CD. Now if
THAT doesn't convince you then I don't know what will!! :)

Peace
Barry

"Now listening to the album for the third time. No doubt, this is your
most mature work to date. "Trouble" blew my mind. If I close my eyes I think this is what Horslips could have sounded like if they had kept going, but they didn't and you did, and have produced a cracker of a song.

"The Sunset Waltz" is a masterpiece. "Catch me if you can", "Rollin", "In the dead of Night", all excellent. If the Stones at this stage of their career produced songs of this quality, they would be hailed as geniuses.

There is a wonderful mood to the album, and you hear that in all the playing. Guitars, Hammond, harp, accordion throughout the album are beautifully blended and sit perfectly within the songs. It will sit right along side Mick Taylor's - Leather Jackets in my collection

Guess what McCabe, you've found what you're looking for. Good lad. It's been a road worth travelling."

Mein damen und herren, madames et monsieurs, Cats and Kitties!

Sunday, September 10:


The Shack is Back!


(Image is shaken not stirred over at the Three Button Deluxe Lounge)

Cue the conga drums:

Let us put man and woman together
And see which one is smarter
Some say man, but I say no
The woman got the man like a puppet show

It ain't me, it's the people that say
The men are leadin' the women astray
But I say that the women today
Are smarter than man in every way
Well that's right, the women are smarter
That's right, the women are smarter

Little boy sat down and cried
An old man passin' asking him why, he said
I can't do what the big boys do
Old man sat down and he cried too

Ain't me, it's the people that say
The men are leadin' the women astray
But I say, that the women today
Are smarter than man in every way

Classic Shack with Lola the Vamp

You'll be seeing much 'more' of Lola and her friends this season! So set your dial for 92.1 Choice FM in Dublin and get ready for Season Two of the show that 'bares' all!

Reviewing Tonite's Gig: Horslypse

From the Official Horslips Guestbook

Firstly, Barry came on to rapturous applause to sing GOTN backed by Horslypse. He also came back a little while later to do Furniture another track expertly handled by the lads in Horslypse. Jim & Johnny duly made their appearance and the hall which was already fairly hoppin' went wild. From here on in it was a case of 'rollback' the years as among others Trouble, KOTF and a house raising Dearg Doom to finish were performed to an audience gone wild. Everyone was on their feet. I swear I felt the hair raise on the back of my neck. It was almost like being transported back in time. Of course it had to come to an end and following Dearg Doom the 'bands' made their way off the stage only to be forced to return as the 'Horslips' chant reached a crescendo. So back they came to finish the night as one might expect with - Shakin' All Over. It felt right. A wonderful performance by Horslypse enhanced by the presence of Johnny, Jim & Barry and all for a good cause too...

Posted by Laobhan. There's more at the link. There's sure to be pictures and soundfiles and more to follow.

Promoting Tonite's Gig: Horslypse

Horslips find imitation flatters

The nine County Tyrone students, who reproduce the distinctive music of the 1970s Celtic rockers under the title 'Horslypse', have been invited to play with their heroes.

Horslips members, including veteran musician Barry Devlin, were so impressed after meeting the group at an exhibition in Drogheda that they offered to share a stage with them.

The lads leapt at the opportunity and the gig was scheduled for Omagh on Friday.

Another bit:

Speaking on BBC's Good Morning Ulster, Michael said: "It was an inheritance of several records from the garage.

"My father had all sorts of records. Horslips were one of many bands."

He said he and his friends were drawn to Horslips music because of its "link with Irish mythology".

"Although the albums were conventional studio albums, there was a story that ran through most of them and I just thought it was very interesting," he said.

"They were all albums you could listen to from cover to cover and not lose concentration at any point, very fascinating."

Michael, a pupil at Omagh Christian Brothers Grammar School, said they decided to "try a one-off gig of Horslips music".

"It just worked. That was a year and a half ago and we are still here and now we are to play with the Horslips," he said

"There are not many tribute bands that get to play with people they copy.

"As far as tribute bands go, we have gone as far as anyone would like to go."

A bit more from Barry Devlin:

Barry Devlin said he was "looking forward to jumping up on the stage and making a show of myself" at the Omagh performance.

Barry said he had been deeply impressed with Horslypse's version of Horslip's music played "by kids who were born long after we stopped".

"It's a bit scary for the original to find itself a pale imitation of a tribute band. We were kind of sitting in the audience going, 'so that's how it's done'." he joked.

"Discovering that, as they then were, a bunch of 16-year-olds, had actually blown the dust off the vinyl and done things we never done, for instance the album, the Book of Celtic Symphony, well, we have never actually played it in its entirety from start to finish.

The whole article and pictures at the link. Gig is less than two hours away. Myself, I'll be listening to the same band 'live' circa August 20th at the Errigle Inn, Belfast. And then I'll be looking forward to pictures on Ryan's site and all the news.

Promoting the Next Gig: St Joseph's Hall, Omagh

Just a day or so away!

From the Email Suggestion Bag: New Horslips Links

I thought I'd found everything on the web about Horslips, but this afternoon brought me a suggested new link:

Horslips Highlighted on Irish-Showbands.com

The site obviously expanding its range to "Irish Pop, Rock, Country, [and] Folk..."

There's an amazing picture of the Zen Alligators that I've never seen before!

And, inexplicably, over at The Best of British Rock, I found another Horslips discography. I like the use of the sidebar to hold singles and the main frame to hold albums.

It turns out, though, that the curator of this site is a kindred soul in his own discovery of music:

If I can remember, it was probably in the summer of '65 when two brothers, ages 6 and 7 took party to countless visits by their cousin - age 9 - and convened to the basement of a home in Pasadena Maryland. A brand new 45 - courtesy of our cousin - was placed on our portable record player. With tennis rackets in hands, not to mention a set up that consisted of shiny trash cans, we became The Beatles.

After our session of endless lipsynching to The Beatles' Please Mr. Postman, I Should Have Known Better and A Hard Day's Night, I myself would be hooked forever, specially after the night my grandmother sat with me as we watched a televised concert of the Fab Four playing The Shea Stadium - sadly, my grandmom would pass on that winter - but the seed was planted, the radio played endlessly. I Fought The Law by The Bobby Fuller Four and Devil With A Blue Dress by Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and scores of other great American classics were listened to, albums and singles were bought and I loved them all. But the sound of guitars being played through Leslie cabinets, the melodicisms, the blues, the progressions, the rockers from the U.K. is what snatched me up.

Ten years on, I'd been introduced to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple - courtesy of two more cousins. I had joined my first band two years prior (I can still see my step-father grimacing as he splurged to purchase my first drum kit). I saw my first of many concerts with my cousins in '75. Suzi Quatro's thunderous bass still echoes in my memories, as does Alice Cooper, Kiss and even Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band - Amercian bands will always be in my heart.

Twenty years on, children came - three son's God blessim'. I'd been in and out of the U.S. Army, been in countless bands and went to many concerts - I would purchase my third drum kit at my own expense. Musical success has pretty much eluded me, but the love and taste of the musical electricity is still there - it's in my soul, and there is where it shall stay.

And, hey! He likes Horslips!

Promoting the Next Gig: St. Joseph's Hall, Omagh

And Visit Horslypse Tribute Band on MySpace.

From the Email Suggestion Bag: Derry, March 2004

Eamon Carr on Regina Spektor

I've long hoped that the Evening Herald would go online in some format so I could keep up with Eamon Carr's music reviews. But, perhaps a good sign here, this article turned up in the Unison.ie world.

Musicbox with Eamon Carr

BORN in Moscow, raised in the Bronx, Regina Spektor’s domain is the landscape of dreams, shifting realities and the oddly normal.

Earlier adventures in sound such as Mary Ann Meets The Grave Diggers And Other Short Stories, a “greatest hits” package culled from her three hand-to-mouth indie albums, signalled the presence of a prodigious talent brimming with ideas, desire and fairytale ambition.

The question that album begged was, would The Strokes-endorsed queen of the New York anti-folk scene survive to develop her talent or would she spontaneously combust. More likely, it seemed, she might become one of the oddball characters that people her songs and disappear into the labyrinth that is Hell’s Kitchen.

But, despite her dizzying beauty and kookie image, 26-year-old Spektor is...

More at the link. Requires registration. And today is another blasted Spare the Air day!

"Horslips - One of my absolute favorite bands from the late 70's!!!!!"

A great 'find' of a six-year old discussion in the alt.music.byrds group. Although the topic is rock reference books, a casual mention of 'Nighttown Boy' spurs a number of posts on Horslips with information on several North American gigs.

Off topic: Rock music and recordings reference books. Your Opinions

I saw them in '78 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and again a few days later at William Paterson College in Wayne, N.J., and interviewed Carr backstage at that gig. A year or two later I interviewed him again at Mercury Records for the "Short Stories" album and saw the band at The Show Place in Dover,
N.J. Johnny Fean sang a great version of "Shakin' All Over" at that gig. -- Jim Bohen

Whole discussion thread at link.

Waterford News & Star on Johnny Fean and Steve Travers

An article from last June, but it was just sent to me via email.

Check out Horslips legend Johnny Fean at the Forum

Johnny Fean’s Celtic Rock history is a matter of record. To this very day he is still regarded as the definitive celtic rock guitarist. Raised in the Co. Limerick/Clare area of Ireland, his love affair with the guitar began at the tender age of 10.

---

For his appearance at Stage 2 acclaimed guitarist Johnny Fean will be joined by renowned Irish bass guitarist, Steve Travers well known for his work with The Miami and master of the Steinberger 5- string headless bass.

On the night, fans can look forward to a mix of Rock, Blues and Trad and of course some thunderous Horslips classics, including we are told, an electrifying 10 minute version of the anthemic ‘Dearg Doom’.

I'm feeling a little less grouchy about Chicago now.

Fean and Travers Official Site

Vintage Web: Horslips mentioned in alt.gothic.fashion

I really do love the old-fashioned alt discussion groups! The web's equivalent of the party line phone at the general store, they were almost strangled by spam a few years ago. Google got in there and cleaned house and now I find little treats in the archives like this thread on Riverdance and Celtic music.

Be advised that the opinions of just about everyone posting -- with the possible exception of Atalanta Pendragonne and Sparrowe -- are not my own. It's also cool that Atalanta was using a quote from Sword of Light as her sig back in '97.

"Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture;

they think the actors make it up as they go along."
Joe Gillis

May dates for Mid Ulster Film Festival

The third Mid Ulster Film Festival at An Creagan Centre, situated halfway between Omagh and Cookstown, Co Tyrone, will take place over the weekend of 5, 6 and 7 May.

---

A programme of workshops includes Post Production with Lawrence Fee, Scriptwriting with Barry Devlin, and Channel 4 IDEASFACTORY Northern Ireland will present a two-day workshop on the craft of documentary film making.

More at the link.

Horslips on RTÉ Two tonight

Horslips on RTÉ Two tonight

...The final programme is a special Viewers' Choice show of exclusive performances from the most popular artists featured on the current series, as voted on by the viewers.

Among those appearing on the show are Bell X1, Horslips and The Walls...

Details on the show at the link.

Horslips on TG4's 'Ardán'

Horslips to perform live on TG4 tribute show

The 'Ardán Horslips Special' will celebrate Horslips' contribution to Irish music with band members Barry Devlin, Jim Lockhart, Eamon Carr, Johnny Fean and Charles O'Connor live in studio.

The programme will feature live performances from Liam Ó Maonlaoi, world renowned piper Eoin Duignan, 70s Celtic rockers Mushroom plus a pre-recorded tribute from Irish fusion group Kíla.

The highlight of the show will be the tracks that Horslips themselves perform live on the night.

More at the link.

MUSHROOM!!!! I've like so-o-o-o wanted to hear this band of myth and legend! And Eoin Duignan! Awesome.

This is going to be totally cool.

Barry Devlin spotted in the New York Times

FILM REVIEW; A Dublin Dreamer Confronts Reality

No writer was ever more urbane and sophisticated than Oscar Wilde, so it comes as a shock that Albert Finney has discovered Wilde's warm and fuzzy side. In "A Man of No Importance," Mr. Finney plays Alfie Byrne, a bus conductor in Dublin in the early 1960's. He wears Wilde's trademark green carnation while riding an emerald-green double-decker bus. He reads Wilde's plays and poetry aloud to his rapt passengers every morning, and he directs local productions of Wilde's plays at the parish hall. Mr. Carney, the rough-hewn butcher (Michael Gambon), usually plays the lead.

Alfie is almost as enamored of Wilde as he is of Robbie (Rufus Sewell), the handsome young driver of his bus, though he will admit this passion only to his own bedroom mirror. A repressed homosexual masquerading as one more Dublin bachelor, Alfie doesn't see why his little drama group shouldn't put on Wilde's "Salome," complete with the dance of the seven veils. He is one of the last true innocents.

This is an older article, but was sent to me. More at the link, and it did not appear to need subscription (as sometimes is the case).

Horslips in alt.music.jethro.tull

Rebecca569 writes

What about Horslips?

I always forget about the alt.music world of discussion! Looking around just now it seems much less riddled with commercial postings than in days of yore.

Also intrigued by the promising thread Did any women like Tull?

They did if they were dating my husband!

Johnny Fean & Steve Travers on MySpace

An excellent site for the latest news on Fean and Travers as well as a link to their official site at www.feanandtravers.com.

So bookmark Johnny and Steve's MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/feantravers



Two new songs added yesterday. "King of the Fairies" and "Dingle Regatta;" both recorded live at Dolans, Limerick.

Found another Horslips Fan! And a great Folk Music Blog too

Came across this one last night:

FusiveBlog.co.uk

There's a reliance here on the Wikipedia entry, which I've been told could use some vetting, but I was mostly impressed with how the history is up to date. The "RTE Television Program" described in the last paragraph is Other Voices and it aired just last night.

Dick Cheney could not be reached for comment.

Horslips on RTE's Other Voices TONITE

Sharing vocal duties, Barry Devlin (bass), Seán Fean (lead guitar) Eamon Carr (drums), Charles O'Connor (violin, mandolin) and Jim Lockhart (flute, tin whistle, keyboards) performed their first electric set in OVER 25 YEARS last December. Tonight, on the current season of the critically acclaimed Other Voices, this fantastic moment in Irish rock history will be shown on RTE 2.

After that, the rest of the world -- and that includes me -- will be able to watch online at the Other Voices Archive Site.

And don't forget tomorrow's live web chat with Barry Devlin and Jim Lockhart. Submit your questions online now.

And Horslips Week is Off and Running with John Kelly's Mystery Train on RTE

John Kelly's Mystery Train has a feature called "The First Time:"

The First Time is just that - A Famous (or soon to be famous!) Person tells us about a piece of music that has stayed with them since that first time they heard it... Maybe they fell in or out of love, turned on to music, or just became besotted with a voice.

The Mystery Train carriage staff also hit the Other Voices festival in Dingle and we have a truck-load of First Times which we'll lash out on the next few months. "The First Time" on the Mystery Train Monday nights.

Now the astute web-surfer would note that it is a rather handsome picture of Horslips themselves that graces this feature!

The Mystery Train with John Kelly
8.30 - 10pm (Ireland Time, so 12:30 Pacific Time and 3:30 Eastern Time)
Monday - Thursday

Shows also archived on site above.

Tara Telephone Update & Horslips Week Begins

Back in October, I described my interest inTara Telephone, a music and poetry performance group important to the history of Horslips.

Work on the Tara Telephone site has continued, with a page devoted specifically to this up and running on a MySpace Tara Telephone tribute page. Amazingly, it was the discovery of the literary community of MySpace that encouraged me to explore that channel as a way to research and connect with other people who are interested in contemporary poetry. The Charles Bukowski tribute page here demonstrates what MySpace can also do for literature.

And it works. I've 'met' BP Fallon and have been absolutely intoxicated by his wild site.

I truly hope to use this MySpace page and the supporting site to draw attention to the significance of Tara Telephone, which had an influence on both the contemporary rock scene and the modern poetry scene of Ireland. My own interest in this is the realization that it then becomes part of the international beat movement, which had epicenters in San Francisco, New York, London, and Liverpool -- to name the few.

This following week will be a big week for Horslips news, with performance in Dingle airing on Wed. 15th Feb., on Other Voices RTE Two at 11.30pm. Fans of Horslips will be able to take part in a web chat with Jim & Barry on Thursday 16th Feb. at 2pm. All times are Dublin timezone times. Closer to the chat, I'll try to have up the timezone conversion.

Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts:The George Seaview Ballroom

Crystal stopped by for a comment below, and that was the kick I needed to go and visit her site. And I'm glad I did!

Top of the blog post is her tribute to The George Seaview Ballroom, which, from the sounds of it, was a great place:

Originally named The George Hotel, it had later been known as the Seaview Hotel, and referred to by all as 'the Seaview' when Dolores San Miguel started managing it as a venue for alternative bands.
Dolores moved on to create a venue at The Exford Hotel in Russell Street Melbourne, and that's when the St.Kilda location became The Crystal Ballroom - named by Legendary Laurie Richards.

The ballroom was on the first floor and had an impressive chandelier which amazingly survived the pogo-ing punk stuff which occurred below it. All around the room there were beautiful stained glass windows of St.George and the dragon. The floor was 'sprung' for dancing.

More, including pictures, at the link.

John Kelly: The other voice behind Other Voices

Just before introducing Horslips that night, John Kelly made a joke for the benefit of the longtime Horslips fans in the audience. Bouncing up and down on his knees a few times, he said "No...this isn't the Astoria." A reference to the legendary ballroom of Horslips lore where the fans would have the floor moving in rock rhythm by night's end.

Hotpress has an interview with John Kelly as well:

Kelly's Heroes

As a long time fan, an obvious highlight for Kelly was the first full-on Horslips performance in some 25 years.

“Well, the Horslips reformation has been a slow process,” he says. “We’ve all done our bit to encourage that in various ways, but the difference with this one was that there was electricity involved. It suited them ‘cos it wasn’t like doing the Stadium. I think they had the time of their lives. They arrived and there was a session on and Charlie got the fiddle out. The next day during the soundcheck I walked up the gravel road to the church and all I could hear coming out of the wall was ‘Dearg Doom’. I realise this mightn’t mean anything to a lot of people, but I was hearing that for the first time in 25 years. I just sat outside and kinda fell apart, I mean I really did. And then I snuck in and hid and watched them privately rehearsing tunes.

“It was amazing, the highlight of my professional life for sure. I felt 13 again. And it was incredible on the night. Unlike the other gigs, it was packed with Horslips fans: people travelled from Derry. When they broke into ‘Dearg Doom’ and ‘Trouble’ there was a lot of love in the room.”

More at the link.

Philip King: The man behind Other Voices

Seeing Horslips perform live last December in a small church in Dingle was one of the musical highlights of my life. Here's a story on the series itself and how it has become one of the leading showcases for music in Ireland:

The King of Dingle

The programme is now generally regarded as a major success for Philip King, who is himself a noted musician, songwriter, radio presenter, music pundit and all round decent bloke – as well, of course, as a television producer/director of the highest calibre. One of the unlikely treats of the concept is that it’s all centred around a tiny church in Dingle, a long trek from the bohemian environs of Temple Bar or the technical surroundings of RTRs Montrose, places both musicians and crew might be more used to inhabiting.

“If you want to know the facts you can always consult the historians, but if you want to know how the people responded emotionally to what was happening to them you have to consult the poets and songwriters.” He says “In a real sense Other Voices is archiving the soundtrack of this generation, and that’s a very exciting thing to be involved in.”

So why record it in Dingle?

“I live here,” King replies, “This place had long struck me as a perfect setting, with a real toehold on the heart of the tradition.”

“Every creed, colour, kin and shade of musical persuasion can cross-fraternise and the end-point might be Afro-Celt Sound System fans hunting for Sean O’Riada recordings.”

The church setting is, he explains, a vocalist’s dream. “The voice is unlike any other instrument, it’s very personal, located closest to the heart – whether it’s Tibetan throat singers or Robert Plant or Tim Buckley, the sounds are related. As such, I’d obviously hope that diversity is a defining feature of the event – somebody listening to a different form, suddenly going ‘what is that? We recognise that’.”

More at the link. Requires registration.

Other Voices Fourth Season Begins

James Blunt and The Walls live from Dingle

THE fourth series of RTÉ’s Other Voices series will make a welcome return to the screens this week. The music series filmed last December at St James’s Church in Dingle begins this Wednesday on RTE 2.

It has become one of the most celebrated events in the musical calendar and this year was no exception with 32 Irish and international acts, descending on the Kerry town to take part.

Bell X1, Rufus Wainwright, Hal and Horslips were among the acts that took to the stage in the 70-seater venue.

The popularity of the series is due to the variety of musicians from different backgrounds playing a diversity of styles and sounds in the intimate setting of the 200-year-old church.

Presented again this year by John Kelly, the show will run for nine weeks until the end of March. Kelly, who presents The View on RTE 1, said there were so many great moments.

“José Gonz·lez singing Kylie was one. But there were far too many to mention. Musicians mixed, friendships were made and who knows what collaborations lie ahead,” he said.

More at link.

Other Voices Official Site

Stay tuned for news on the online chat with Barry Devlin and Jim Lockhart!

Promoting the next gig: Johnny Fean & Steve Travers

Johnny Fean & Steven Travers, legendary players on the Irish rock scene, play The Cobblestone on Saturday, the 18th of February.

Johnny Fean is best know for his work with Horslips and Steve Travers was once the bass player with the Miami Showband. Together they create a musical experience that mixes furious paced rock, grass roots blues and some Celtic rock classics.

Johnny Fean began playing guitar, tenor banjo, mandolin and harmonica as a teenager and performed with groups like Sweet Sweet and Jeremiah Henry. When Declan Sinnott left Horslips, Fean was drafted in on a guitar and spent a very successful decade with the band.

Over twelve albums and a multitude of singles, Horslips lay down the template for Celtic Rock mixing traditional and rock music and referencing tales from Celtic mythology. Horslips played their last concert in Belfast in 1980 encoring with a rousing version of The Rolling Stone's "The Last Time".

After Horslips, Fean spent his time playing with The Zen Alligators, Host, Treat and The Psychopats. Horslips re-grouped last year to open an exhibition of Horslips memorabilia in the Orchard Gallery in Derry and recorded a new album, Roll Back.

More at link.

Horslips Fans on MySpace

Oh dear. A simple registration to leave a blogwarming message to the Radiators From Myspace has quickly metasized into a whole new dimension of interactivity online when I should be working at my day job.

Turns out there's more Horslips fans in California! One of them has a LOT of friends.

Sharkie

Sharkie's Album Pics

Tara Telephone concert ticket with Leo O'Kelly

Finally, a bit of ephemera in the form of a concert ticket:



According to those who know, we have

Skid Row - featuring Gary Moore
Blues House - featuring Ed Deane
Orphanage - featuring Philip Lynott
Leo O'Kelly - doing a solo gig, but see below for his bio in Tir na nOg
Jazz Therapy - featuring bass-player Brian Masterson who became an in-demand studio engineer with lots of major artists

And we have Tara Telephone, which makes this last-ever post of mine on a dial-up modem all the more appropriate. Cable guy came and went and wireless cable hardware and software is installed. What's needed now is a trip to the computer store to pick up a wireless card. Would have done this before, but the decision to go wireless was a bit spontaneous yesterday.

Sorry...back to Tara Telephone (it's the phone thing, see? And you wouldn't believe how much time it takes for files to load and..whoops! At it again.)

A very important part of my "Horslipping" in 2005 (I don't know what else you call it, but essentially: all the activities around this unshakeable infatuation with a rock band that I never saw perform live until last month...) was the discovery that Tara Telephone has made a significant contribution to Dublin's modern literary scene. And, via its later guise as Gallery Press, I had already 'discovered' that long before buying my first used Horslips CD.

More groovy stuff came to light on this last visit when I checked out the two Tara Telephone publications in the books & periodicals collection at the National Library. Read them both in the hour before closing, trying to memorize as much detail as possible. Seems like there's going to be a King Crimson album purchase in my future! And, with luck, an essay to contribute to the Hairless Heart Herald.

In the midst of all that was 2005, I had begun a section of the site dedicated to Tara Telephone. It's been highlighted now and then, and still has much more to be done (see above, re: dial-up modem and the frustration of it all!)

Expect big things from it now, but here's a link to it as it currently stands:

Tara Telephone (Main Photo)
Tara Telephone Introduction