Hello, my dear friend, I am a naughty tortoise, and I was tempted by the Green lettuce and bit the leaves. The “street demons” ran me out of town to the forbidden forest. I climbed the tallest pine tree and sat on the sweetest green leaf of all, and waited for the great Fall Out in the Autumn. I am hunted down like scum but I am holding on to life. Thank you for the three albums that you lovingly crafted together: Lilly, Magic Nights & Flying into Mystery. You are the genius of ballads and gardening! The Bord Na Mona Man was a treat to savor again, rescued from the previous recording on the “Blue ” Album. Nice one! Love & Hugs, Francis.
Christy's reply
Francis… “the sweetest green leaf upon the pine tree” brings me right back to a verse we used to sing back in the time of the Ferguson TVO
“the men of the forest they asked it of me
how many strawberries grow round the salt sea
I answered them back with a tear in my eye
how many ships sail in the forest”
that poor Bórd na Móna Man has had at least three incarnations….I think its time I let the poor crathur sleep……but he still slips out the odd night…usually when he gets a whiff of the short grass
Hello Christy.Thanks for another blockbuster concert last night..You have us all eating out of the palm of your hand. I hope I didn’t upset you starting Hatti Carroll.It is a song I love.it was great to hear lawless and sacco and vanzitti.Table 6 is a legendary table in vicar st Thanks to Hilary for booking it for us.Lookingforward to visiting your humble abode at the end of 2024
Thanks again for a wonderful night. May you and your family have a very happy Christmas. Sweet music roll on.Next stop Monk’s Lane for the Hake from Union Hall.
Christy's reply
Happy Birthday to Gavin…love to Michelle…dont overdo the Dessert
PS your “Hattie Carroll” prompt was lifesaving…I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights ’til you offered upthat most appropriate prompt….doubtcha boy
Christy
Good on Kneecap.
An open goal penalty kick they said, and it was.
They continue the good work that you and many others do too and have .
Politics and music do go hand in .
Rory
Christy's reply
and fair play To Darragh Mackin and Joe Brolly..their Solicitor and Barrister…
two top men who were recently on the frontline representing the bereaved Families at The Stardust Tribunal
“From Poppintree, Coolock,Bonnybrook and Artane
those Famiies were abandoned time and again”
Hello Christy,
Muldoon, a solid man? Now you’ve piqued my interest. Wondering what it sounds like, I’ll have a sniff about later.
Hope the election gives you what you want. I’d dearly love to see 32 too.
So many different topics on here right now. I hope I don’t forget anything. Funny Hilary should mention Metropolitan Avenue. When YFW asked about best loved lyrics that one and Allende got mixed up in my head. It took me a day to realise that I was really thinking of Allende.
They twist and turn like twisty turns things.
Aisling is deep in my mind, burrowing the way only Shane’s songs can.
“The Madness from the mountains crawling,
When I saw you first my own Aisling”
Gets me every time.
I feel in my heart that the person who chooses your songs should be you. You know them in a way that no one else can. In the same way that I know mine.
“Ghosts looking for a voice”
So true, sometimes they nuzzle, sometimes they bite.
Thanks again for the recent kind comments about the exhibition of my Grandads WW1 art…happily,it’s been extended and I’ve met some top folks through it…and again,today/tomorrow.
Talking of which…such a great forum here. A quick drop in and I’m reading about your post gig comments,Mick Moloney,Frank Harte,Noel Brazil,Nic Jones…so that’s me set up for the day
You were on fire last night from the start, Christy, such energy and commitment to raise our level to yours; thank you for a wonderful night of music, you’re the best!
yes…give Aisling a chance…it s such a great song and I d been loving it for decades..and it s got this special move in it…….I hope to hear it again live in spring when I ll be able to come over again….. will you also please remember one last cold kiss…the two island swans…. it s heartmelting when you sing it.
keep the spirit high and ride on. stay heathly and all the ones around you that keep this very special thing working
love from faraway
Ursula
Ahhhh, the talk of Shane and the song Aisling! That song needs an outing!
You mentioned the song “ A man you don’t meet every day”, which I first heard as Jock Stewart. Heard it driving over the mountains one evening listening to Fiona Ritche’s “Thistle and Shamrock” on the radio at least 30 years ago. That show brought a lot of great music to us Yanks back in the day when it wasn’t available anywhere else.
Mick Moloney and Robbie O’Connell did a brilliant version of Annan Waters which I wish they had recorded.
Now all kinds of songs waking up in my head that haven’t been thought about in ages. But give Aisling a go at one of the gigs if it feels right.
Christy's reply
its a done deal….Aisling will be played
I’m gonna take her out… gonna give her a twirl…
“one-two-three-four Telegraph Poles
burning on the cold black road
The night is bursting into Morning
give us a drop of your sweet Poitín”
( I know of no other who could write that verse……only Shane)
gonna
“saddle up the old gray mare….
ride through the night without a worry or a care”
that Annan Waters brings me to Nic Jones and “Penguin Eggs”..gonna listen to it now before we go and vote for Richard “Boy-Band” Barrett and give two to Mary Lou….gonna vote “early and often”
“I dreamt that Boy-Band Barrett met up with Mary Lou
they added 6 to 26 and came up with thirty two “….zzzzzzzzz
Hi C. I just read a reference to the fact that Noel Brazil is gone 21 years ago this week, what a great songwriter he was , here is a recording of one of his finest from Other Voices in Dingle which, by coincidence, starts this weekend https://youtu.be/HWUzyAW3Ez4?si=p2tCC5BV53bnev2b The Vicar St gigs are a delight such variety of songs and each gig totally different, GRMMA beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
Thanks for posting that H… I’d forgotten about Noel’s classic “Metropolitan Avenue” ….Declan Sinnott and I sang that song together more than any other but very seldom gigged it….every rehearsal we played or jammed in a thousand dressing rooms,hotel rooms, back-of-the-vans we played that song….I’ve not played it once since we went our separate ways…
Noel was the real deal of a songwriter…he saw beneath the rocks, he’d call it out, he had an eye that saw beyond the exteriors, he poked at the cess..
I liked him a lot although we seldom met
Hi Rebecca. Mick Moloney was the originator of two of my favourite quotes relating to folk music. The first is “Songs are ghosts looking for a voice”. The second is “The powerful get to write the histories, the powerless get to write the songs”. Good aren’t they! I hope Christy’s concert is going well. By now he should have warmed up nicely.
Christy's reply
Mick lived a life that was immersed in Songs and Music….he was forever at it….diggin up auld tunes and verses long since lost….giving them a new lease of life that we might hear them again….his early version of “Kilkelly” is heartbreakingly beautiful….
that second quote was from Frank Harte who was a very close friend of Mick’s….they were two songsters together in the same pod….between them they uncovered an enormous swathe of the raw bar….
they are back together now…singing in some distant snug.. away in some Firmament Fleadh ….there will be songs,laughter, bonhomie, yarns to bate the band….I feel like I’m almost there with them
Writing from Liverpool once again. Thanks a million for the recommendations of tunes a while back. I’ve been getting a great sing song going with “The Leaving Of Liverpool”.
I wanted to ask you a guitar based question if I could, and apologies if you’ve been asked this a lot before, but I do notice you have the capo on the 1st fret a lot but you’re still in standard tuning with it on, is there any reason for that? I do play in two steps down myself, and love the added option of going down a couple steps for certain tunes.
I’ve also been wondering for a long time, seeing how when you play a G chord, you use the thumb but it looks like you’re on the 2nd fret playing the F#, how did you get to playing it that way? I remember seeing Tom Petty playing a D chord swapping the 1st and 2nd finger on the second fret, and I’ve been doing it like that ever since.
Congrats on the new album, “Boy In The Wild” really left a mark on me, as I’ve a close relationship with my Da, him being the one who gave me my appreciation for music in the first place.
Thanks a million,
Nollaig
Christy's reply
another beautiful Liverpool song is “Seth Davey”….I learnt it from Jacqui & Bridie when I played their club in 1967….they were a great Duo….I sang it back in Dublin in the late 60s..it got picked up..Danny Doyle had a big hit with here calling it “Whiskey On A Sunday”
I had look for that song sung by Mick Moloney. No luck so far…
Christy's reply
my mistake….
I was getting two very different songs mixed up…
Rory was talking about Cait O’Riordan’s version of “Man You dont meet Everyday”….I was thinking of Mick Moloney’s version of ” Muldoon, a solid man”
the only thing those two songs have in common is my capacity to confuse them…the wind is howling here on Thomas St but the loyal listeners are gathering in Vicar St..
General Elections here tomorrow…. some live in hope while others live in Quiet Desperation
Hello Christy,
Your comment made me laugh. All those sheeny shiny guitars on the internet and the main part of the experience is completely missing. They look so pretty but it’s the sound and feel that makes them what they are.
Thankyou for your advice. And I promise to keep as sensible a head on as possible when I’m trying to choose one. It’s going to be so exciting!
Have a great gig…freezing here,hope travels go well for all.
From a charity shop,I added a Woody CD to the collection…first song sounds like it’s recorded in a station jacks,but gems further in and a few songs I hadn’t previously heard.
The compilation is just credited as Woody Guthrie,but there are other musicians at times.Im going to do some online rooting and try and see who’s who…
Theres some ace harmonica blowing.It reminds me of Andy Irvine…I’m guessing the player might have influenced Andy. It got me wondering….with you and Andy being Woody devotees way back,did Planxty jams/ rehearsals feature many of his songs ? If so…any tapes lurking?
Hi Christy, Really looking forward to your gig in Vicar street tonight and loving the new album, especially Black & amber – congratulations on the launch! You’ve been a staple in our family for many years, when dad first left Donegal for Leeds, he met my mum on his first week there and their first date was to one of your concerts in Leeds circa 1985! Your music has always been part of our lives. Last time seeing you live was in 2019 pre-covid, so very excited for the gig tonight & joining with my dad, partner and best friend. Thank you continuing to gig and share your wonderful music and wishing you a wonderful Christmas when it arrives!
Christy's reply
Leeds was always a great City for me….starting out I attended many Folk Clubs, made many friends and learned found great singers and songs…lovely to read that your Folks met at a gig…I played the Leeds City Variety Theare that year…. a venue with great history …..but the Adelphi on Leeds Bridge was may favourite…also The Grove was a belter….first Leeds gig was the RAOB Club in 1967….John and Rita Wall ran that one
Great to see you are returning to University Concert Hall next year. I am an MA Journalism student currently writing an article about the upcoming shows for the Limerick Voice UL student newspaper – would you be available for a 15 minute chat about it at some point? If so I can send on my details – many thanks in advance, looking forward to the show!
Hello, my dear friend, I am a naughty tortoise, and I was tempted by the Green lettuce and bit the leaves. The “street demons” ran me out of town to the forbidden forest. I climbed the tallest pine tree and sat on the sweetest green leaf of all, and waited for the great Fall Out in the Autumn. I am hunted down like scum but I am holding on to life. Thank you for the three albums that you lovingly crafted together: Lilly, Magic Nights & Flying into Mystery. You are the genius of ballads and gardening! The Bord Na Mona Man was a treat to savor again, rescued from the previous recording on the “Blue ” Album. Nice one! Love & Hugs, Francis.
Francis… “the sweetest green leaf upon the pine tree” brings me right back to a verse we used to sing back in the time of the Ferguson TVO
“the men of the forest they asked it of me
how many strawberries grow round the salt sea
I answered them back with a tear in my eye
how many ships sail in the forest”
that poor Bórd na Móna Man has had at least three incarnations….I think its time I let the poor crathur sleep……but he still slips out the odd night…usually when he gets a whiff of the short grass
song about b. behan , shane and the last high king of ireland, i call him.
damien his new album is out for 5 weeks now as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5C7P7QyztA
love you, christy.
we ran the kings outa here a long time ago….still a few pretenders lurking but, hopefully, they will be soon exposed and sent crawling on their way
Hello Christy.Thanks for another blockbuster concert last night..You have us all eating out of the palm of your hand. I hope I didn’t upset you starting Hatti Carroll.It is a song I love.it was great to hear lawless and sacco and vanzitti.Table 6 is a legendary table in vicar st Thanks to Hilary for booking it for us.Lookingforward to visiting your humble abode at the end of 2024
Thanks again for a wonderful night. May you and your family have a very happy Christmas. Sweet music roll on.Next stop Monk’s Lane for the Hake from Union Hall.
Happy Birthday to Gavin…love to Michelle…dont overdo the Dessert
PS your “Hattie Carroll” prompt was lifesaving…I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights ’til you offered upthat most appropriate prompt….doubtcha boy
Christy
Good on Kneecap.
An open goal penalty kick they said, and it was.
They continue the good work that you and many others do too and have .
Politics and music do go hand in .
Rory
and fair play To Darragh Mackin and Joe Brolly..their Solicitor and Barrister…
two top men who were recently on the frontline representing the bereaved Families at The Stardust Tribunal
“From Poppintree, Coolock,Bonnybrook and Artane
those Famiies were abandoned time and again”
Hey Christy, hope you’re well .
Wow! Boy In The Wild. What a powerful song. Definitely one to add to my ‘More Christy’ tribute act repertoire!!
This might be it
https://youtu.be/WuWCMhVycOc?si=cqrzzwigNpduSgaP
Hope it posts
Hello Christy,
Muldoon, a solid man? Now you’ve piqued my interest. Wondering what it sounds like, I’ll have a sniff about later.
Hope the election gives you what you want. I’d dearly love to see 32 too.
So many different topics on here right now. I hope I don’t forget anything. Funny Hilary should mention Metropolitan Avenue. When YFW asked about best loved lyrics that one and Allende got mixed up in my head. It took me a day to realise that I was really thinking of Allende.
They twist and turn like twisty turns things.
Aisling is deep in my mind, burrowing the way only Shane’s songs can.
“The Madness from the mountains crawling,
When I saw you first my own Aisling”
Gets me every time.
I feel in my heart that the person who chooses your songs should be you. You know them in a way that no one else can. In the same way that I know mine.
“Ghosts looking for a voice”
So true, sometimes they nuzzle, sometimes they bite.
Rebecca
Mornin’ Christy
Thanks again for the recent kind comments about the exhibition of my Grandads WW1 art…happily,it’s been extended and I’ve met some top folks through it…and again,today/tomorrow.
Talking of which…such a great forum here. A quick drop in and I’m reading about your post gig comments,Mick Moloney,Frank Harte,Noel Brazil,Nic Jones…so that’s me set up for the day
Thanks…have a good day
Dave
You were on fire last night from the start, Christy, such energy and commitment to raise our level to yours; thank you for a wonderful night of music, you’re the best!
yes…give Aisling a chance…it s such a great song and I d been loving it for decades..and it s got this special move in it…….I hope to hear it again live in spring when I ll be able to come over again….. will you also please remember one last cold kiss…the two island swans…. it s heartmelting when you sing it.
keep the spirit high and ride on. stay heathly and all the ones around you that keep this very special thing working
love from faraway
Ursula
Ahhhh, the talk of Shane and the song Aisling! That song needs an outing!
You mentioned the song “ A man you don’t meet every day”, which I first heard as Jock Stewart. Heard it driving over the mountains one evening listening to Fiona Ritche’s “Thistle and Shamrock” on the radio at least 30 years ago. That show brought a lot of great music to us Yanks back in the day when it wasn’t available anywhere else.
Mick Moloney and Robbie O’Connell did a brilliant version of Annan Waters which I wish they had recorded.
Now all kinds of songs waking up in my head that haven’t been thought about in ages. But give Aisling a go at one of the gigs if it feels right.
its a done deal….Aisling will be played
I’m gonna take her out… gonna give her a twirl…
“one-two-three-four Telegraph Poles
burning on the cold black road
The night is bursting into Morning
give us a drop of your sweet Poitín”
( I know of no other who could write that verse……only Shane)
gonna
“saddle up the old gray mare….
ride through the night without a worry or a care”
that Annan Waters brings me to Nic Jones and “Penguin Eggs”..gonna listen to it now before we go and vote for Richard “Boy-Band” Barrett and give two to Mary Lou….gonna vote “early and often”
“I dreamt that Boy-Band Barrett met up with Mary Lou
they added 6 to 26 and came up with thirty two “….zzzzzzzzz
Hi C. I just read a reference to the fact that Noel Brazil is gone 21 years ago this week, what a great songwriter he was , here is a recording of one of his finest from Other Voices in Dingle which, by coincidence, starts this weekend https://youtu.be/HWUzyAW3Ez4?si=p2tCC5BV53bnev2b The Vicar St gigs are a delight such variety of songs and each gig totally different, GRMMA beir bua agus beannacht. H
Thanks for posting that H… I’d forgotten about Noel’s classic “Metropolitan Avenue” ….Declan Sinnott and I sang that song together more than any other but very seldom gigged it….every rehearsal we played or jammed in a thousand dressing rooms,hotel rooms, back-of-the-vans we played that song….I’ve not played it once since we went our separate ways…
Noel was the real deal of a songwriter…he saw beneath the rocks, he’d call it out, he had an eye that saw beyond the exteriors, he poked at the cess..
I liked him a lot although we seldom met
“Paddy maintains we’re all Yellow inside
Gun smoke got him….no mistake”
Hi Rebecca. Mick Moloney was the originator of two of my favourite quotes relating to folk music. The first is “Songs are ghosts looking for a voice”. The second is “The powerful get to write the histories, the powerless get to write the songs”. Good aren’t they! I hope Christy’s concert is going well. By now he should have warmed up nicely.
Mick lived a life that was immersed in Songs and Music….he was forever at it….diggin up auld tunes and verses long since lost….giving them a new lease of life that we might hear them again….his early version of “Kilkelly” is heartbreakingly beautiful….
that second quote was from Frank Harte who was a very close friend of Mick’s….they were two songsters together in the same pod….between them they uncovered an enormous swathe of the raw bar….
they are back together now…singing in some distant snug.. away in some Firmament Fleadh ….there will be songs,laughter, bonhomie, yarns to bate the band….I feel like I’m almost there with them
Hi Christy,
Writing from Liverpool once again. Thanks a million for the recommendations of tunes a while back. I’ve been getting a great sing song going with “The Leaving Of Liverpool”.
I wanted to ask you a guitar based question if I could, and apologies if you’ve been asked this a lot before, but I do notice you have the capo on the 1st fret a lot but you’re still in standard tuning with it on, is there any reason for that? I do play in two steps down myself, and love the added option of going down a couple steps for certain tunes.
I’ve also been wondering for a long time, seeing how when you play a G chord, you use the thumb but it looks like you’re on the 2nd fret playing the F#, how did you get to playing it that way? I remember seeing Tom Petty playing a D chord swapping the 1st and 2nd finger on the second fret, and I’ve been doing it like that ever since.
Congrats on the new album, “Boy In The Wild” really left a mark on me, as I’ve a close relationship with my Da, him being the one who gave me my appreciation for music in the first place.
Thanks a million,
Nollaig
another beautiful Liverpool song is “Seth Davey”….I learnt it from Jacqui & Bridie when I played their club in 1967….they were a great Duo….I sang it back in Dublin in the late 60s..it got picked up..Danny Doyle had a big hit with here calling it “Whiskey On A Sunday”
I had look for that song sung by Mick Moloney. No luck so far…
my mistake….
I was getting two very different songs mixed up…
Rory was talking about Cait O’Riordan’s version of “Man You dont meet Everyday”….I was thinking of Mick Moloney’s version of ” Muldoon, a solid man”
the only thing those two songs have in common is my capacity to confuse them…the wind is howling here on Thomas St but the loyal listeners are gathering in Vicar St..
General Elections here tomorrow…. some live in hope while others live in Quiet Desperation
Hello Christy,
Your comment made me laugh. All those sheeny shiny guitars on the internet and the main part of the experience is completely missing. They look so pretty but it’s the sound and feel that makes them what they are.
Thankyou for your advice. And I promise to keep as sensible a head on as possible when I’m trying to choose one. It’s going to be so exciting!
Anyone remember scratch and sniff films or tv?
Rebecca
Hi Christy
Have a great gig…freezing here,hope travels go well for all.
From a charity shop,I added a Woody CD to the collection…first song sounds like it’s recorded in a station jacks,but gems further in and a few songs I hadn’t previously heard.
The compilation is just credited as Woody Guthrie,but there are other musicians at times.Im going to do some online rooting and try and see who’s who…
Theres some ace harmonica blowing.It reminds me of Andy Irvine…I’m guessing the player might have influenced Andy. It got me wondering….with you and Andy being Woody devotees way back,did Planxty jams/ rehearsals feature many of his songs ? If so…any tapes lurking?
Keep warm
Dave
no tapes lurking
Let the T minus 11 hrs 15 mins countdown begins for tonight’s CM gig at Vicar St. I am so looking forward to it!!!
pressure mounting, tension tightening..I think I’m gonna need a chill pill…..have a good one
Hi Christy, Really looking forward to your gig in Vicar street tonight and loving the new album, especially Black & amber – congratulations on the launch! You’ve been a staple in our family for many years, when dad first left Donegal for Leeds, he met my mum on his first week there and their first date was to one of your concerts in Leeds circa 1985! Your music has always been part of our lives. Last time seeing you live was in 2019 pre-covid, so very excited for the gig tonight & joining with my dad, partner and best friend. Thank you continuing to gig and share your wonderful music and wishing you a wonderful Christmas when it arrives!
Leeds was always a great City for me….starting out I attended many Folk Clubs, made many friends and learned found great singers and songs…lovely to read that your Folks met at a gig…I played the Leeds City Variety Theare that year…. a venue with great history …..but the Adelphi on Leeds Bridge was may favourite…also The Grove was a belter….first Leeds gig was the RAOB Club in 1967….John and Rita Wall ran that one
Hi Christy,
Great to see you are returning to University Concert Hall next year. I am an MA Journalism student currently writing an article about the upcoming shows for the Limerick Voice UL student newspaper – would you be available for a 15 minute chat about it at some point? If so I can send on my details – many thanks in advance, looking forward to the show!
Regards,
Paul.
I look forward to that