JigTime

So tomorrow, February 1st will see the launch of the Ar Ais Aris website for 2008. Rumours have been all over the place this year too. How do you top the 1st two years? The idea of the festival is to celebrate the music of our home town and the people who take that music to the rest of the world. From the local fiddler who travels to Malin to play in a wee session or two, to the great ambassadors of Buncrana music like Ciaran Tourish who in the month of February alone will be in France, then Hawaii and various other US states, playing to packed houses with Altan.

I am been very fortunate to have toured America with Altan 4 times in the past 5 years. I have travelled with them as they played to senators and presidents, prime ministers and world leaders.

Altan at their best are on stage in a venue like McGrory’s in Culdaff but I have stood beside them at more than 100 concerts in more than 30 American states over the past few years and on every occasion have had a huge wave of pride as the crowd inevitably gets to its feet for a standing ovation. It is so heartening to see in this world of throwaway pop drivel that the music of my home county is genuinely loved and appreciated by people all over the world.

I am also glad to say that two of my proudest moments at every concert are when Dermot Byrne and Ciaran Tourish take their solos. Ciaran especially, the great showman, takes the glass of wine I have been dispatched to rescue from the dressing room for him , walks quietly to the microphone and launches into a set of Donegal reels that blows the roof off every venue.

(The video attached shows one such solo I took from the side of the stage in Ann Arbor Michigan)

As tour manager, I had a million things to do, but I always did my best to be there for that moment and every time I felt goosebumps as he took our precious music and gave it to an eager crowd. I am always proud when I am selling CDs at a huge theater in the heart of America and 3000 people come out through those doors at the end of the show with big smiles and all they want to do is meet the band and have the CDs signed. And I am also happy to say that the band make Donegal proud and will smile and chat to every last fan.

In a festival like Ar Ais Aris the organizers are fostering a new generation of great ambassadors like Ciaran and Dermot. I am so proud that they have invited me to be part of this for the past 3 years. I am happy to stand on stage with my friends and family and celebrate all that is good and fun and at times crazy about the wealth of musical talent from Buncrana.

I believe the organizers deserve an award for this priceless gift they have given Buncrana. The local council should honor those who have worked so hard to make this a reality. If this is to be the last festival then they will still have given Buncrana a real reason to be very proud. If, as so many of us hope, this is just a break to come up for air, then we need to show those who put this wonderful series of festivals together, that we know and appreciate what they have done.

Thank you all.

See you at home

 

 Ciaran Tourish - Live with Altan in Ann Arbor: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download