Dear Reader –
I’m not sure if it was our Lady Madonna (below) that inspired some American visitors to utter the above famous words in The Strand last Friday, but I enjoyed hearing them I must say. Now watch out Paul McCartney!
More about that below, but first - does anyone want a bit more music in their lives this September?
**All hyperlinks in bold.
The Big Thing
Adult Classes have been popular since we were allowed meet in groups again, and there are now two options for any of you wishing to get stuck into music again this year.
Piano classes. Lessons and group workshops for adults looking to play piano by ear. All the details you need here.
Our Music Club. An informal and supportive environment for adults who want to sing/play with and for others. All the details you need here.
Both start in September - email kieran@kieranquinn.ie if you are interested.
Where else but Sligo?
I was lucky enough to get out to the Neap Tide festival on Coney Island last Saturday. Brian Mulligan was walking up the road with his double bass as I arrived, so I figured I must have just missed The Old Market St. Swing Band. However I did get to see Seamie and Sandy (loving this duo!), and the legendary No Crows.
And the day brought back so many memories - not just of a famous weekend in Belgium with No Crows in my early days as a musician, but also of the island itself, and fun times spent there over the years.
Everyone you met there was telling stories about the place. Picnics on sunny summer days, skinny-dipping on Carty’s Strand, paddling a homemade canoe in the dangerous channels that surround it (!) and the tastiest pints when the pub happened to be open. And my own favourite - having to ring Peter Ford telling him I couldn’t make it to training that evening because I had miscalculated the tides.
A magical place, and lovely to see it so alive last weekend.
What’s New?
BACK IN THE STRAND: What a gig with Seamie and Gerry last Friday in Strandhill. It was the first time we had played together since our last Connolly’s gig in May. The crowd were brilliant, including the aforementioned gang of enthusiastic Americans and plenty of happy locals. And bearing in mind the famous quote ‘writing about music is like dancing about architecture’, I’ll say no more, only that it was magic!
THE ECONOMICS OF MUSIC: With David McWilliams. Podcast here.
REGULAR JAZZ GIGS: Young pianist Nils Kavanagh remarked to me during this year’s Sligo Jazz that it was a real shame that for one week Sligo has the best jazz scene in Europe and for the rest of the year, nothing. No longer my friends (!), because Nils, SJP maestro Eddie Lee and talented young drummer Sam Purcell now have not one but two regular gigs - Thursday at 7 upstairs in Lillies - who it must be said are doing fantastic work putting on live music in town - and Sunday at 6 in The Strand. Only for the next few weeks so make sure and catch them.
Finally…
In memory of a wonderful day on Coney Island last Saturday - well done to all who made it happen.
Till next time - Kieran.
