JigTime

Already two of my favorite American music festivals have come and gone and I have missed them both. Merelfest is one of the biggest in the roots and Americana festival calender and took place last weekend in North Carolina. By all accounts from my pals backstage it was a great event again this year. I also missed Springfest way down there in Florida, which is run by my good friends Beth and Randy Judy. I had a decent excuse of course having been in Ireland playing music at the time.
Springfest and its sister festival Magnoliafest, for me bookend the festival season here in America. I have not missed a Magnoliafest in 6 years and only missed Springfest because Ireland called me home that same weekend every year. [Read more →]

 

 The Magnoliafest Podcast [53:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I didn’t mean to write this final tribute to my fellow Pyros two weeks after getting back from Ireland. It was supposed to be done before I left for the trip. But I am glad I didn’t do it then because I managed to get almost 2 weeks in the company of Laurence Doherty and with that a solid reminder of why he is one of my favourite people in the world. [Read more →]

Ok we have been back in Georgia for a few days now and have been trying to get back on track with our real lives. The trip to Ireland was wonderful and I will have full reports and pictures up very soon. Stand by. Much more to come in the coming weeks. Thanks to everyone in Buncrana for another great festival.

In an hour or so we will be heading out the door with the inevitable feeling that we have forgotten something. The kids are already packed and gone to the places they are staying so we wont have a “Home Alone” situation on our hands.

And in a matter of hours we will be flying from Atlanta to Paris and then on to Dublin. The weather is looking a little cold and damp for our arrival but we cannot wait all the same. The music is going to be wonderful and I am going to be so happy taking Lupa around Ireland with me for the first time.  But most of all I will be very happy to see my friends in Buncrana.

By this time tomorrow we will be rounding the turn at the village of Fahan where, when you pass the last house in the village the great view of Lough Swilly opens up for the first time and we will be on the home stretch to Buncrana, Co Donegal. See you there.

I think the first time I remember meeting Michael Gallanagh was in St Mary’s Hall in Buncrana. The upstairs of the hall was, and still is, the old cinema where once a week we could all parade to the latest film that came to town. Downstairs was a small community center that was home to bingo, whist drives, jumble sales and on the night in question, a talent competition. Now my memory is really fuzzy on this but I think Michael was also competing in this competition and I think he may well have won something. I remember that I didn’t.

Some time later we had gotten to know each other and I was writing some very early and naive songs. Even back then I think I was aware that my singing wasn’t going to be my fortune and my much more talented sister, Caroline, carried the tunes much better than me. We became a band very quickly. Caroline and her best friend Carmel McElhinney on vocals and Michael and I on guitars. Our biggest gig ever was in the Plaza ballroom in Buncrana to what seemed like a full house. That was my first real band.
Roll on some 30 or so years and Michael is the driving force behind the Ar Ais Aris festival. Michael himself was once one of the musicians who left town and took the music to far off places. In London he played in the same bars and pubs that I ended up playing a few years later. In fact I remember my first week in London, I was staying with Paul Rodden who had to go out of town for something. So I was alone in the big city and broke. One quick call to Michael changed that. He bought me lunch and a couple of pints and gave me enough money to tide me over until I could start earning some for myself. That is Michael for you, generous and loyal.

He spent some time in Paris too and music was always a huge part of his life. With a family and other responsibilities, the corporate world called him back home to Buncrana and he has been a very visible part of the traditional music scene in the town.

Michael, along with the team, has done more for our home town with this one small idea that has grown into something so precious it will be hard to follow and hard to improve on but has given Buncrana a new lease of musical life. See you on stage Michael. It is an honour to be part of all of this and a pleasure to be a friend.