Hello Christy,
Lots of talk about Chris Woods here. I’ve been a fan since I lost my mother’s wedding ring (she wore it for 58 years), and then it turned up in a really weird place. You talked about One in a Million then. I’ve been listening to him since then.
“A Dam Burst of Dreams”
I love the way Ger Wolfe sings
caught him one night, many years ago, in De Barras Folk Club, Clonakilty…
his head back, he gazed upon the heavens and sang his hymns to beauty and love
My son is a huge fan and is going to your concert in UL tonight. It’s his very first concert and he’s so excited. If you could give him a mention, you would make his day. Kieran Gibbons from Clonlara Co Clare. Thanks so much.
Jen
Christy's reply
I’ve had a big bundle of call out requests….Kieran will go into the drum and I’ll do my best…first gig !!! thats a buzz for me too
Good on Rory for adding ‘Hollow Point’s to the list of Chris Wood masterpieces…it’s right that CWs attention to small detail adds to the impact of the words and there are some amazing tunes in the mix.
Thanks for the insights into your IMRO session with students. What a superb event…beneficial to all,and a day the students will always remember.In dismal,inward looking times here,it’s heartening to hear of a progressive scheme.
Have a great day and gig
Dave
Christy's reply
rolling on to Limerick today
great venue Shannon side
just packin the gear now
Dear Christy,
The talk of the wonderful Chris Woods brings me to his song Hollow Point.
This is a masterpiece.
From the moment that i first heard it ( on a tv showing of Folk Awards) i was entranced.
It moved me.
The song captured me, drew me in, rocking me gently at first, but more and more powerfully until the awful clash at the crescendo and the shattering disappointment that the song had ended, just like the life of Jean Charles de Menezes.
I was perhaps amazed that someone had taken the time, the care, the need , to write a song about such an injustice.
Details are crammed into the lyrics in a way that takes several listens to be able to absorb, but from the first moment that you hear it you know that you are in the presence of greatness.
A protest song among protest songs.
Eventually the bbc took it off their loop and so i went in search of the recording, there it was on a compact disc, but not polished and sanitised, not rubbed off at the edges, it was as sharp and horribly entrancing as the live performance had been.
This protest song led me to protest.
I walked my daughter Flora to work ( when she worked in London) one day. She took me past Stockwell tube station and there he was.
Jean Charles looked down at every passer by with a kind, forgiving, gaze from a mosaic that friends had erected on the wall of the pavement outside the deep , dark dungeon of the place he was executed in the coldest of blood.
However the ravages of a handful of years had allowed pieces to decay, duct tape holding an edge together, small pieces missing and a nazi symbol disgustingly daubed in red paint next to him.
I protested, in a tiny way compared to Chris. I photographed the scene and sent a copy with a real written letter to Sadiq Khan , Mayor of London.
He wrote back, he was delighted to help, Jean Charles would be restored.
The next time i visited we walked to see him. There he was, clean, in tact , grafitiless and smiling down just as he would have been moments before the advent of Hollow Point.
So Chris Woods is a master of his art, he inspires but quietly.
He took a song of murder and turned it into a thing of beauty, terrible beauty however.
Thank you Chris, thank you Flora, thank you Sadiq.
Perhaps we need a protest song penned to support Sadiq now, what a sad world we live in, we must cherish the beacon of light that is the protest songwriter.
Keep on keeping on.
Rory
Christy's reply
Rory….your notes on “Hollow Point” are so well described….I consider it ,like yourself, a pure classic..
I’ve forwarded your notes to Chris Woods
We (myself, my sister Shirley, and brother-in-law Duncan) will be at your concert in Limerick tomorrow night. We came to Kildare last March to see you and sang our hearts out! We were supporting Clare and begged for Spancill Hill! Would love if you could dedicate a song to my sister Shirley & Duncan tomorrow night. They came from the Scilly Isles again, and me from Las Vegas to meet up in Ballynacally, Clare and to travel to Limerick to see you again. Their favorite songs are Black is the Colour, and Only Our Rivers Run Free. I love Delerium Tremens but whatever you play will be greatly received. With continued appreciation of your incredible talent. Kind Regards,
Siobain Horan.
Christy's reply
lots of requests for call-outs tonight..yours in the raffle drum with all the others…I’ll draw 3 out later and do the best I can….
Hi Christy
Thanks for the pointer to ‘One in a million’,New to me…another gem from Chris Wood. I saw it on YouTube. At a festival,he plays it as a request,not having played it for awhile…such an honesty to the way he plays.The essence of his writing and playing reminds me of John Spillane…
One of Chris’s finest that I listen to alot is ‘The Cottager’s Reply’…magnificent. On first hearing,the final lines floored me…on repeated playings,there’s a triumph in there.Hes a class act.
I hope you enjoyed the Kildare school gig. I’d be grateful if you get chance to say a bit more about it. Hopefully,the kids went home with good stories…but,maybe they’re like my 10 y o grandson.When asked about what he did at school,’stuff’ is the standard response…
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
Meeting the students yesterday was a wonderful experience…I sat in a room with 25 students, aged 12-15, all of them interested in songwriting.. among them were 5 guitar players, (one electric) a fiddle player, a concertina, two keyboards….the collective had written a song specially for the event….there was an interview with Luan Parle during which I sang “How Long” “The Curragh of Kildare” “The Time has come “..then the students asked a series of very interesting questions …the session ended with the collective singing their song for me….the event was part of an initiative by Imro ( Irish Music Rights Organisation) to bring songwriters into schools around the country ….
Chris Woods “Cottager’s Reply” is a classic… I heard a gig he did here in Dublin a few years back…5 star , top shelf, the dogs bollocks
Hello Christy,
Love your descriptions of your Granny Dowlings house. Thinking back to memories of my grandparents. My Dad’s parents lived in slum property in Barnsley. There was an outside toilet which was freezing cold and a shower in the cellar. My grandad had a fish and chip shop there. I loved watching him skinning and boning the fish with a big, flexible knife. It came packed in ice in big crates. He had a “rumbler” for peeling the potatoes.
After a few days of trying with the old mandolin I’ve come to my senses and decided that fighting both myself and the instrument is more than i can deal with. A new mandolin landed here this morning. A nice, well behaved Eastman. So now the instrument is behaving itself beautifully, and I’ve only got myself to fight with. Three chords, almost there with them, and a strum from the bodhran to learn. It’s going much easier now.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
Have you heard Chris Woods sing “One in a MIllion”
best chippy song ever…he’s one of my favourites
outside toilet…they were lucky
Hi Christy,
Took my kids to see Nicolas Reyes’ Gipsy Kings last night.
Reminded us of sing a longs in the car on several holidays in France, their earlier memories are of singing Dont Forget Your Shovel in the car on many less warm holidays in Headford, Dungarvan, Gorey, Kinsale, Rosslare, Ballymoney etc.
Car sing a long magic, not always in tune but always in joy.
Rory
Christy's reply
often I meet people who tell me they first heard the songs on long car journeys…back in the day when the cassette player would have been the only source of music in the car….how that has changed…now ther are multi devices at play..even the drivers are gazing into smart phones..
“……new fangled high tech fax machines.” I think quite a few, maybe not all, of those machines, have any valuable parts removed for recycling and rest removed to landfill. They (fax machines) were among the largest nuisances of things and rid of them, I’d be awfully glad.
“New fangled” machines – nah!
Christy's reply
I remember the electric coming in our Granny Dowlings house in the early 1950s…they were not impressed…nothing changed for them except they slowly replaced oil lamps with light bulbs….they never got around to sockets and plugs…they had no need for them…..in retrospect they were right to be suspicious of the new fangle….neither car nor tractor…..a high nelly ,working horses, pony and trap for Sunday morning….the plainest of fare graced the Dowling table, (a table that folded back up to wall between meals)……very simple kitchen , great open hearth fire , Granny reckoned that fire had been burning continuosly for over 300 years……a dairy where Auntie Nan churned every thursday, where bacon was salted and stored in straw in a bug iron bin….eggs plentiful…potato pit in the garden….once a year a threshin machine would roll into the haggart and there’d be a mighty meitheal
Hi C, I ‘m afraid the Treaty Cafe in Nicholas St is closed, and it seems that Richard Coughlan passed away in 2021 at that time The Limerick Leader wrote this about the cafe. “Back in the days of the showbands when there were 600-700 on the road, Dick was the first person who left the cafe open all night, until 3am or 4am. Showbands when they were finished, they had really no place to eat. The restaurants would have closed around 10pm. Every showband in Ireland at one stage of another ended up in the cafe in the middle of the night. That was their dinner-time before they headed back home. As a token of their stay, many showbands would have donated signed photographs to the cafe which Richard proudly displayed in his premises. He was an institution known all over Limerick and Ireland. All the showbands used to speak of him. He was part of our social history ” Safe travelling all. Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Christy's reply
you can add Planxty to that list….we loved our late night Treaty dinners before taking the (then very long) road back to Dubbelin….
another favourite was the original Mother Hubbards which was in a field on the road west…run by Barry it was a great pull in..he sold it and retired…. Mother Hubbards became a chain..when I reference it in “cabaret” its Barry’s Bacon Sambo and strong tea I’m thinking of… provided fuel to carry us farther afield..Belmullet, Colooney, Coolaney and Cliffoney
The Manhattan Cafe in Dublin was a great spot..long since gone, the mixed grill was deadly, the Liver & Bacon special with bread & butter was bliss after a rake of pints….the Bean-an-Tí had a soft spot for Donal so we always got a good welcome
Hi Christy,
Fantastic to see and read about the progress of the new Album. The most important person in all of this is yourself. I am certain that once you have it complete and are HAPPY with the result, then the rest of us will be more than happy with it. We are privileged to be looking forward to the new work from you.
The ” whoever else reads these lines” are a large and varied group scattered across the Country and the World. It is wonderful to pop in and out of this page daily ( and sometimes) more to see and read all of the chats and updates. Long may it continue.
See you in the Treaty town.
Ride on.
Patsy
Christy's reply
anyone know is The Treaty Cafe still open in Limerick…used to be a great late night stop in the 60s & 70s…I recall a happy hour when we landed in at the same time as Joe Dolan….as our sausage egg and chips were served who arrived in only Eileen Reid and The Cadets..it was like the cover of Spotlight
Christy, great to hear you’ve gone all high tec with the big screens, the next thing you know you’ll be using one of them new fangled fax machine thingies. Just wondered with the big screen ‘close up’ shots does it mean you have to spend an extra hour in make up before the gig, just hope you dont go all Ziggy Stardust on us? x
Christy's reply
Just got off the phone to Ziggy’s crew… wardrobe, hair and make up brigade…they’d never heard of me before but have agreed to a trial run….we’re looking Croke Park or PaddyPowerPairc Uí Caomh ( bet sensibly sez Ruby)…if all else fails we’re try for the Cathedral in Knock… we’ll lay on a turbo prop (Cian Healy) from John Lennon Airfield that would deliver you into Knock in no time….should bad weather prevail you can bail out over Barr na Cúige and the PP will gather ye up in his Ferguson TVO
Hello Christy,
I bet there are a lot of people here who enjoy the wee chats. I know I love hearing you news, musings, plays with words etc… etc…, and then adding our own bits and pieces that we hope will be interesting.
I was wandering down the street in brighouse the other day, when I saw an interesting shape in a charity shop window. An old mandolin. So I went in to have a closer look. It was old and battered but I couldn’t see any obvious problems, so I bought it.
Been fiddling (mandolining?) about with it since. Tuning, trying to get the bridge in the right place. I’ve learnt three chords, C, G, F, not sure which is which, but I’m thinking, a Dmin and an Amin plus a good capo and I’ll be away. It will be great to have a little portable thing to take around with me.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
much more portable then the Harp…I used to bring comb and silver paper to the Fleadhanna years ago
Well Christy ?
The first earlies are in the ground.
Bit of fleece on top – just in casey.
Planted them on Monday listening to the wireless.
And who did the bould Ronan Collins finish his show with ?
Only the Christy Man singing Brown Eyes.
Went into town afterwards and found a book I didn’t
even know I was looking for –
Last night’s fun by Ciaran Carson – Happy Days.
And sure what’s time to a pig ?
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Christy's reply
Still in the scratcher here Bourkey,
contemplating the day ahead,
going back the old hometown today
gonna sing a few songs and do a Q & A with Secondary School students
part of an Imro initiative
Luan Parle, the Wicklow singer, is the invigilator,
(I’ve never used that word before, I think it may be appropriate)
Its all go in the workroom
13 songs recorded, one more to reod
been wrestling with it
abandoned it a few times but it keeps comin back at me
maybe if I try it this way, that way,no the other way,
its a co-write with another singer
they shared a song with me
then allowed me to add to it, change it ,turn it inside out
I cherish such freedom of spirit
I’ll give all details in the forthcoming sleeve notes
got a few short drills in on Paddy’s day
just finished last year’s spuds yesterday
balls of flour they were
the butter melted in and chopped scallions for the bit of exotica
god only knows where the scallions came from
back in the day you’d not see a scallion ’til July or August
playin Limerick this week
I worked in The National Bank, Askeaton almost 60 years ago
I hated the job but loved the village
thats when I first heard Joan Baez
her finger pickin guitar style
I was in digs with Mrs Nolan
another lodger had two Joan Baez albums and a wee turn table
dont know yet how many will make the cut
its not like the old days
back then an LP duration would be around the 45-50 minute mark
very happy to see the vinyl return
getting a finished LP and sleeve into the hand had a great sense of achievement attached
a download or stream becoming available is a damp squib in comparison
thats it for now Bourkey (and whoever else reads these lines)
I love the wee chats
Word has it the spiders only went as far as Belturbet for a breather, they caught the rest of the gig on the big screens via the web..
Christy's reply
the screens are a new departure….it started for me in The Park in Mullingar..coming for the sound check I entered the room at the very back…I realised how far away the stage was from those rear seats… I wondered how screens might work so we tried them the following week, according to all accounts, they worked well…I hope they will be available for any of the larger rooms we play this year…when performing I cant see them at all but I sense a positive change in the room….
a big change from 58 years ago and my first Folk Club gig…guitar case and sleeping bag…that was it
Hi Christy.. great to read that you got the call up for Ire V Sco and no doubt gave the squad a great lift before Saturdays test. Some good taste in song there too! Missed your recent visit on International Women’s Day here, it’s been a busy and emotional time on the music front. I sang and played for both a wedding and funeral this past weekend – a great guy whom I had the pleasure to know and attend school with, lost his brave battle at the age of just 33. Having sat down with his grieving wife last week, she told me that he had a small playlist of songs which provided a great source of comfort during treatment. They included your live versions of, “Ordinary Man” (On the Road), “Beeswing” (On the Road) and “Black is the Colour” (Live at The Point). We sang “Beeswing” and a played an instrumental of, “Black is the Colour” with guitar and violin at the funeral. On a separate note, we played “Bright Blue Rose” as part of the wedding ceremony for the couple who were married. It was a reminder of the power of these songs and of the importance of music in times of grief and joy. Hope to catch you soon and good luck for the upcoming gigs.
Christy's reply
Hey Kevin…good to hear from you…..you’ve been busy with emotional performances…its life enhancing to live with songs and music..an added bonus is when we get to share at special family events, be they sorrowful or rejoicing..
I hear Seanie Quinn’s Ballad Lounge is up for sale..here’s hoping the new regime keep it available for concerts..its one of my fave venues to play….those 8 candelabras twinkle for the slow ones and rattle for the heavy duty numbers….last week there was an exodus of spiders during the chorus of Back Home in Derry
Hi christy,
Can i just say how fabulous it is to have old Dagrab back on board as a 4711er.
Always fascinating, rarely off piste, musically knowledgeable and an authentic old hand.
You have a great range of contributors, from Germany and beyond, but the old sufragette himself was sorely missed during his technological trauma.
Rb
Christy's reply
Thru the chair….may I second the remarks from our learned Hawick correspondant when he pays tribute to our man in Suffragette City
In the record shop today, an LP jumped out of the rack…now had a few spins.
1965 issue of Pete Seeger and Bill Broonzy in concert…brilliantly recorded by Folkways in the US and a UK release by Transatlantic Xtra. Such a vibrant gig with power,banter and humour…hard to believe that Broonzy died a few months later in August 1958.
Some tracks are on YouTube and worth a search…in the 1960s,Bill Leader was with Transatlantic Records and wrote introductory sleeve notes for this release. Cover photos by Brian Shuel….another veteran class act.
Great to hear some magic from a golden era…
Dave
Christy's reply
I’m reminded of being out across the Curragh Plains of a September day picking mushrooms….the joy of coming across the perfect mushroom…..on days they were plentiful we’d create “hanks” of mushrooms and stand by the side of the Dublin to Cork Road displaying our wares..I think we got a shilling a hank..
later on we’d go home and fry them up….if there was a rasher knockin about, all the better
Hi Christy
After recent posts,I thought I’d best stop droning on about the Manchester mosaic trail…I was going to stick to the resolution until I (very belatedly) explored the mighty Afflecks Palace (Northern Quarter of city centre)and found the Morrissey mosaic.
After the stairs,I was drawn to signs for cafe and “Vinyl Resting Place’…not only a great name,but an amazing record shop.Out of similar city centre places,this place has the best folk selection,sensibly priced….so,this ramble is a tip off,for readers who might visit…have a great wander,finish up on the third floor. Get a vinyl fix and slump over a coffee,like yours truly!
Dave
Christy's reply
I’m past the slump here myself, just finished the porridge and the coffee pot is starting to gurgle….almost ready to get to work….album 90% there …started mixing most of the tracks, still one to get down…. not sure how to go with it but I’m enjoying the challenge…
saw a beautiful movie yesterday…”Driving Madeleine” when it comes to the flicks, no one makes better movies then the French….highly recommend this 90 minutes to anyone who likes slow moving intense beautifully captured acting with wonderful dialogue ( well subtitled)…..it almost made me want to return to Paris and play a few more gigs there ….but I’d have to visit Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds on the way….that said ,Knocknagoshel calls, so too Clonakilty, Silversprings, Carrickdale,Muff, Clogh, Newtownmountkennedy and Ballyjamesduff….
this week its back to Limerick…back to Chuck Feeney’s beautiful Concert hall in UCL….Chuck died recently but twas him that built the entire campus for The People of Ireland….a truly magnificent gesture from a humble man who’s fortune was founded on the concept of Duty Free Goods…..( responsible for some awful international hangovers )
Hello Christy,
Lots of talk about Chris Woods here. I’ve been a fan since I lost my mother’s wedding ring (she wore it for 58 years), and then it turned up in a really weird place. You talked about One in a Million then. I’ve been listening to him since then.
Here’s something I found this morning. One of the songs referenced in Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar?
https://youtu.be/DUQ_HUAIbVc?si=zEefEAdfPV61aeum
Hope it’s a good one tonight.
Rebecca
“A Dam Burst of Dreams”
I love the way Ger Wolfe sings
caught him one night, many years ago, in De Barras Folk Club, Clonakilty…
his head back, he gazed upon the heavens and sang his hymns to beauty and love
Morning Christy,
My son is a huge fan and is going to your concert in UL tonight. It’s his very first concert and he’s so excited. If you could give him a mention, you would make his day. Kieran Gibbons from Clonlara Co Clare. Thanks so much.
Jen
I’ve had a big bundle of call out requests….Kieran will go into the drum and I’ll do my best…first gig !!! thats a buzz for me too
Morning Christy
Good on Rory for adding ‘Hollow Point’s to the list of Chris Wood masterpieces…it’s right that CWs attention to small detail adds to the impact of the words and there are some amazing tunes in the mix.
Thanks for the insights into your IMRO session with students. What a superb event…beneficial to all,and a day the students will always remember.In dismal,inward looking times here,it’s heartening to hear of a progressive scheme.
Have a great day and gig
Dave
rolling on to Limerick today
great venue Shannon side
just packin the gear now
Dear Christy,
The talk of the wonderful Chris Woods brings me to his song Hollow Point.
This is a masterpiece.
From the moment that i first heard it ( on a tv showing of Folk Awards) i was entranced.
It moved me.
The song captured me, drew me in, rocking me gently at first, but more and more powerfully until the awful clash at the crescendo and the shattering disappointment that the song had ended, just like the life of Jean Charles de Menezes.
I was perhaps amazed that someone had taken the time, the care, the need , to write a song about such an injustice.
Details are crammed into the lyrics in a way that takes several listens to be able to absorb, but from the first moment that you hear it you know that you are in the presence of greatness.
A protest song among protest songs.
Eventually the bbc took it off their loop and so i went in search of the recording, there it was on a compact disc, but not polished and sanitised, not rubbed off at the edges, it was as sharp and horribly entrancing as the live performance had been.
This protest song led me to protest.
I walked my daughter Flora to work ( when she worked in London) one day. She took me past Stockwell tube station and there he was.
Jean Charles looked down at every passer by with a kind, forgiving, gaze from a mosaic that friends had erected on the wall of the pavement outside the deep , dark dungeon of the place he was executed in the coldest of blood.
However the ravages of a handful of years had allowed pieces to decay, duct tape holding an edge together, small pieces missing and a nazi symbol disgustingly daubed in red paint next to him.
I protested, in a tiny way compared to Chris. I photographed the scene and sent a copy with a real written letter to Sadiq Khan , Mayor of London.
He wrote back, he was delighted to help, Jean Charles would be restored.
The next time i visited we walked to see him. There he was, clean, in tact , grafitiless and smiling down just as he would have been moments before the advent of Hollow Point.
So Chris Woods is a master of his art, he inspires but quietly.
He took a song of murder and turned it into a thing of beauty, terrible beauty however.
Thank you Chris, thank you Flora, thank you Sadiq.
Perhaps we need a protest song penned to support Sadiq now, what a sad world we live in, we must cherish the beacon of light that is the protest songwriter.
Keep on keeping on.
Rory
Rory….your notes on “Hollow Point” are so well described….I consider it ,like yourself, a pure classic..
I’ve forwarded your notes to Chris Woods
Dear Christy
We (myself, my sister Shirley, and brother-in-law Duncan) will be at your concert in Limerick tomorrow night. We came to Kildare last March to see you and sang our hearts out! We were supporting Clare and begged for Spancill Hill! Would love if you could dedicate a song to my sister Shirley & Duncan tomorrow night. They came from the Scilly Isles again, and me from Las Vegas to meet up in Ballynacally, Clare and to travel to Limerick to see you again. Their favorite songs are Black is the Colour, and Only Our Rivers Run Free. I love Delerium Tremens but whatever you play will be greatly received. With continued appreciation of your incredible talent. Kind Regards,
Siobain Horan.
lots of requests for call-outs tonight..yours in the raffle drum with all the others…I’ll draw 3 out later and do the best I can….
Hi Christy
Thanks for the pointer to ‘One in a million’,New to me…another gem from Chris Wood. I saw it on YouTube. At a festival,he plays it as a request,not having played it for awhile…such an honesty to the way he plays.The essence of his writing and playing reminds me of John Spillane…
One of Chris’s finest that I listen to alot is ‘The Cottager’s Reply’…magnificent. On first hearing,the final lines floored me…on repeated playings,there’s a triumph in there.Hes a class act.
I hope you enjoyed the Kildare school gig. I’d be grateful if you get chance to say a bit more about it. Hopefully,the kids went home with good stories…but,maybe they’re like my 10 y o grandson.When asked about what he did at school,’stuff’ is the standard response…
All the best
Dave
Meeting the students yesterday was a wonderful experience…I sat in a room with 25 students, aged 12-15, all of them interested in songwriting.. among them were 5 guitar players, (one electric) a fiddle player, a concertina, two keyboards….the collective had written a song specially for the event….there was an interview with Luan Parle during which I sang “How Long” “The Curragh of Kildare” “The Time has come “..then the students asked a series of very interesting questions …the session ended with the collective singing their song for me….the event was part of an initiative by Imro ( Irish Music Rights Organisation) to bring songwriters into schools around the country ….
Chris Woods “Cottager’s Reply” is a classic… I heard a gig he did here in Dublin a few years back…5 star , top shelf, the dogs bollocks
Hello Christy,
Love your descriptions of your Granny Dowlings house. Thinking back to memories of my grandparents. My Dad’s parents lived in slum property in Barnsley. There was an outside toilet which was freezing cold and a shower in the cellar. My grandad had a fish and chip shop there. I loved watching him skinning and boning the fish with a big, flexible knife. It came packed in ice in big crates. He had a “rumbler” for peeling the potatoes.
After a few days of trying with the old mandolin I’ve come to my senses and decided that fighting both myself and the instrument is more than i can deal with. A new mandolin landed here this morning. A nice, well behaved Eastman. So now the instrument is behaving itself beautifully, and I’ve only got myself to fight with. Three chords, almost there with them, and a strum from the bodhran to learn. It’s going much easier now.
Rebecca
Have you heard Chris Woods sing “One in a MIllion”
best chippy song ever…he’s one of my favourites
outside toilet…they were lucky
Hi Christy,
Took my kids to see Nicolas Reyes’ Gipsy Kings last night.
Reminded us of sing a longs in the car on several holidays in France, their earlier memories are of singing Dont Forget Your Shovel in the car on many less warm holidays in Headford, Dungarvan, Gorey, Kinsale, Rosslare, Ballymoney etc.
Car sing a long magic, not always in tune but always in joy.
Rory
often I meet people who tell me they first heard the songs on long car journeys…back in the day when the cassette player would have been the only source of music in the car….how that has changed…now ther are multi devices at play..even the drivers are gazing into smart phones..
road deaths are ramping up here every day….
“……new fangled high tech fax machines.” I think quite a few, maybe not all, of those machines, have any valuable parts removed for recycling and rest removed to landfill. They (fax machines) were among the largest nuisances of things and rid of them, I’d be awfully glad.
“New fangled” machines – nah!
I remember the electric coming in our Granny Dowlings house in the early 1950s…they were not impressed…nothing changed for them except they slowly replaced oil lamps with light bulbs….they never got around to sockets and plugs…they had no need for them…..in retrospect they were right to be suspicious of the new fangle….neither car nor tractor…..a high nelly ,working horses, pony and trap for Sunday morning….the plainest of fare graced the Dowling table, (a table that folded back up to wall between meals)……very simple kitchen , great open hearth fire , Granny reckoned that fire had been burning continuosly for over 300 years……a dairy where Auntie Nan churned every thursday, where bacon was salted and stored in straw in a bug iron bin….eggs plentiful…potato pit in the garden….once a year a threshin machine would roll into the haggart and there’d be a mighty meitheal
Hi C, I ‘m afraid the Treaty Cafe in Nicholas St is closed, and it seems that Richard Coughlan passed away in 2021 at that time The Limerick Leader wrote this about the cafe. “Back in the days of the showbands when there were 600-700 on the road, Dick was the first person who left the cafe open all night, until 3am or 4am. Showbands when they were finished, they had really no place to eat. The restaurants would have closed around 10pm. Every showband in Ireland at one stage of another ended up in the cafe in the middle of the night. That was their dinner-time before they headed back home. As a token of their stay, many showbands would have donated signed photographs to the cafe which Richard proudly displayed in his premises. He was an institution known all over Limerick and Ireland. All the showbands used to speak of him. He was part of our social history ” Safe travelling all. Beir bua agus beannacht. H
you can add Planxty to that list….we loved our late night Treaty dinners before taking the (then very long) road back to Dubbelin….
another favourite was the original Mother Hubbards which was in a field on the road west…run by Barry it was a great pull in..he sold it and retired…. Mother Hubbards became a chain..when I reference it in “cabaret” its Barry’s Bacon Sambo and strong tea I’m thinking of… provided fuel to carry us farther afield..Belmullet, Colooney, Coolaney and Cliffoney
The Manhattan Cafe in Dublin was a great spot..long since gone, the mixed grill was deadly, the Liver & Bacon special with bread & butter was bliss after a rake of pints….the Bean-an-Tí had a soft spot for Donal so we always got a good welcome
Hi Christy,
Fantastic to see and read about the progress of the new Album. The most important person in all of this is yourself. I am certain that once you have it complete and are HAPPY with the result, then the rest of us will be more than happy with it. We are privileged to be looking forward to the new work from you.
The ” whoever else reads these lines” are a large and varied group scattered across the Country and the World. It is wonderful to pop in and out of this page daily ( and sometimes) more to see and read all of the chats and updates. Long may it continue.
See you in the Treaty town.
Ride on.
Patsy
anyone know is The Treaty Cafe still open in Limerick…used to be a great late night stop in the 60s & 70s…I recall a happy hour when we landed in at the same time as Joe Dolan….as our sausage egg and chips were served who arrived in only Eileen Reid and The Cadets..it was like the cover of Spotlight
Christy, great to hear you’ve gone all high tec with the big screens, the next thing you know you’ll be using one of them new fangled fax machine thingies. Just wondered with the big screen ‘close up’ shots does it mean you have to spend an extra hour in make up before the gig, just hope you dont go all Ziggy Stardust on us? x
Just got off the phone to Ziggy’s crew… wardrobe, hair and make up brigade…they’d never heard of me before but have agreed to a trial run….we’re looking Croke Park or PaddyPowerPairc Uí Caomh ( bet sensibly sez Ruby)…if all else fails we’re try for the Cathedral in Knock… we’ll lay on a turbo prop (Cian Healy) from John Lennon Airfield that would deliver you into Knock in no time….should bad weather prevail you can bail out over Barr na Cúige and the PP will gather ye up in his Ferguson TVO
Hello Christy,
I bet there are a lot of people here who enjoy the wee chats. I know I love hearing you news, musings, plays with words etc… etc…, and then adding our own bits and pieces that we hope will be interesting.
I was wandering down the street in brighouse the other day, when I saw an interesting shape in a charity shop window. An old mandolin. So I went in to have a closer look. It was old and battered but I couldn’t see any obvious problems, so I bought it.
Been fiddling (mandolining?) about with it since. Tuning, trying to get the bridge in the right place. I’ve learnt three chords, C, G, F, not sure which is which, but I’m thinking, a Dmin and an Amin plus a good capo and I’ll be away. It will be great to have a little portable thing to take around with me.
Rebecca
much more portable then the Harp…I used to bring comb and silver paper to the Fleadhanna years ago
Well Christy ?
The first earlies are in the ground.
Bit of fleece on top – just in casey.
Planted them on Monday listening to the wireless.
And who did the bould Ronan Collins finish his show with ?
Only the Christy Man singing Brown Eyes.
Went into town afterwards and found a book I didn’t
even know I was looking for –
Last night’s fun by Ciaran Carson – Happy Days.
And sure what’s time to a pig ?
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Still in the scratcher here Bourkey,
contemplating the day ahead,
going back the old hometown today
gonna sing a few songs and do a Q & A with Secondary School students
part of an Imro initiative
Luan Parle, the Wicklow singer, is the invigilator,
(I’ve never used that word before, I think it may be appropriate)
Its all go in the workroom
13 songs recorded, one more to reod
been wrestling with it
abandoned it a few times but it keeps comin back at me
maybe if I try it this way, that way,no the other way,
its a co-write with another singer
they shared a song with me
then allowed me to add to it, change it ,turn it inside out
I cherish such freedom of spirit
I’ll give all details in the forthcoming sleeve notes
got a few short drills in on Paddy’s day
just finished last year’s spuds yesterday
balls of flour they were
the butter melted in and chopped scallions for the bit of exotica
god only knows where the scallions came from
back in the day you’d not see a scallion ’til July or August
playin Limerick this week
I worked in The National Bank, Askeaton almost 60 years ago
I hated the job but loved the village
thats when I first heard Joan Baez
her finger pickin guitar style
I was in digs with Mrs Nolan
another lodger had two Joan Baez albums and a wee turn table
dont know yet how many will make the cut
its not like the old days
back then an LP duration would be around the 45-50 minute mark
very happy to see the vinyl return
getting a finished LP and sleeve into the hand had a great sense of achievement attached
a download or stream becoming available is a damp squib in comparison
thats it for now Bourkey (and whoever else reads these lines)
I love the wee chats
Word has it the spiders only went as far as Belturbet for a breather, they caught the rest of the gig on the big screens via the web..
the screens are a new departure….it started for me in The Park in Mullingar..coming for the sound check I entered the room at the very back…I realised how far away the stage was from those rear seats… I wondered how screens might work so we tried them the following week, according to all accounts, they worked well…I hope they will be available for any of the larger rooms we play this year…when performing I cant see them at all but I sense a positive change in the room….
a big change from 58 years ago and my first Folk Club gig…guitar case and sleeping bag…that was it
Hi Christy.. great to read that you got the call up for Ire V Sco and no doubt gave the squad a great lift before Saturdays test. Some good taste in song there too! Missed your recent visit on International Women’s Day here, it’s been a busy and emotional time on the music front. I sang and played for both a wedding and funeral this past weekend – a great guy whom I had the pleasure to know and attend school with, lost his brave battle at the age of just 33. Having sat down with his grieving wife last week, she told me that he had a small playlist of songs which provided a great source of comfort during treatment. They included your live versions of, “Ordinary Man” (On the Road), “Beeswing” (On the Road) and “Black is the Colour” (Live at The Point). We sang “Beeswing” and a played an instrumental of, “Black is the Colour” with guitar and violin at the funeral. On a separate note, we played “Bright Blue Rose” as part of the wedding ceremony for the couple who were married. It was a reminder of the power of these songs and of the importance of music in times of grief and joy. Hope to catch you soon and good luck for the upcoming gigs.
Hey Kevin…good to hear from you…..you’ve been busy with emotional performances…its life enhancing to live with songs and music..an added bonus is when we get to share at special family events, be they sorrowful or rejoicing..
I hear Seanie Quinn’s Ballad Lounge is up for sale..here’s hoping the new regime keep it available for concerts..its one of my fave venues to play….those 8 candelabras twinkle for the slow ones and rattle for the heavy duty numbers….last week there was an exodus of spiders during the chorus of Back Home in Derry
Hi christy,
Can i just say how fabulous it is to have old Dagrab back on board as a 4711er.
Always fascinating, rarely off piste, musically knowledgeable and an authentic old hand.
You have a great range of contributors, from Germany and beyond, but the old sufragette himself was sorely missed during his technological trauma.
Rb
Thru the chair….may I second the remarks from our learned Hawick correspondant when he pays tribute to our man in Suffragette City
Hi Christy
In the record shop today, an LP jumped out of the rack…now had a few spins.
1965 issue of Pete Seeger and Bill Broonzy in concert…brilliantly recorded by Folkways in the US and a UK release by Transatlantic Xtra. Such a vibrant gig with power,banter and humour…hard to believe that Broonzy died a few months later in August 1958.
Some tracks are on YouTube and worth a search…in the 1960s,Bill Leader was with Transatlantic Records and wrote introductory sleeve notes for this release. Cover photos by Brian Shuel….another veteran class act.
Great to hear some magic from a golden era…
Dave
I’m reminded of being out across the Curragh Plains of a September day picking mushrooms….the joy of coming across the perfect mushroom…..on days they were plentiful we’d create “hanks” of mushrooms and stand by the side of the Dublin to Cork Road displaying our wares..I think we got a shilling a hank..
later on we’d go home and fry them up….if there was a rasher knockin about, all the better
Stand up is great.. so they can’t say they don’t have a seat for me haha
Hi Christy
After recent posts,I thought I’d best stop droning on about the Manchester mosaic trail…I was going to stick to the resolution until I (very belatedly) explored the mighty Afflecks Palace (Northern Quarter of city centre)and found the Morrissey mosaic.
After the stairs,I was drawn to signs for cafe and “Vinyl Resting Place’…not only a great name,but an amazing record shop.Out of similar city centre places,this place has the best folk selection,sensibly priced….so,this ramble is a tip off,for readers who might visit…have a great wander,finish up on the third floor. Get a vinyl fix and slump over a coffee,like yours truly!
Dave
I’m past the slump here myself, just finished the porridge and the coffee pot is starting to gurgle….almost ready to get to work….album 90% there …started mixing most of the tracks, still one to get down…. not sure how to go with it but I’m enjoying the challenge…
saw a beautiful movie yesterday…”Driving Madeleine” when it comes to the flicks, no one makes better movies then the French….highly recommend this 90 minutes to anyone who likes slow moving intense beautifully captured acting with wonderful dialogue ( well subtitled)…..it almost made me want to return to Paris and play a few more gigs there ….but I’d have to visit Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds on the way….that said ,Knocknagoshel calls, so too Clonakilty, Silversprings, Carrickdale,Muff, Clogh, Newtownmountkennedy and Ballyjamesduff….
this week its back to Limerick…back to Chuck Feeney’s beautiful Concert hall in UCL….Chuck died recently but twas him that built the entire campus for The People of Ireland….a truly magnificent gesture from a humble man who’s fortune was founded on the concept of Duty Free Goods…..( responsible for some awful international hangovers )