Apologies for not posting in so long. There were a couple of highlights over the Winter which should be recorded, in particular the night that Johnny McGlynn joined us and gave us a good shaking! It was a fantastic night. Great guitarist, and a fine singer too.
Our night in February was a bit of a howl, with a few off the wall songs from me, including Spudato and Mary's Corduroy Surprise. Well, you had to be there...
Last night, our March session, had Klaus, Malachy, Helen and myself huddled around the fire on a bitter night.
Klaus opened with Bringing Them All Back Home, based on the bible story of the shepherd who left 99 sheep in order to find one lost lamb. Klaus has a beautiful, deft touch on his guitar - well-practiced, lovely compositions.
He also sang a song about a town in Tajikistan called Dushanbe (not Drumshanbo!). His friend had traveled there on a trip to China by motorbike. The tune was written for bouzouki, so Klaus tuned down, and gave us a fascinating oriental riff to keep us tapping.
He sang two more songs - Letting Go - another bouzouki song, about childhood memories, and 8 Planets:
"8 different planets, travelling around the sun
but singing and dancing, you find only on one"
Malachy gave us 4 songs too: Destiny Road, which led to a heated debate as to whether it was more like Dylan or Cohen.
But I met a man, who paid what he owed
And he held his head high on Destiny Road".
He also sang Life's a Funny Thing, Bad Memory and The First Cold Drops of Rain. A very atmospheric song, about memory and loss (as against memory loss!)
"I dropped slowly to my knees, my fingers traced your name
and as I walked home alone, I felt the first cold drops of rain."
Helen sang Lotto, a "wry" song about a life of if onlys...
A Thousand Miles which was inspired by an article she read in the Times, which told of Brazilian women who had to travel far from their families in order to earn a living.
"Goodbye my love, I have to go"
She really knows how to tug at the heart strings...
But Helen was determined not to bring us down last night, so she sang a song she wrote called The Man about a local man who was a genius, in ways, but his genius went pretty much unrecognised. She told a couple of good stories about the same fella. (You had to be there...)
Her last song was called Johno, about a common thief who went to jail for his troubles while politicians and bankers never had to pay. Well, she wrote that in 2004. Some things never change.
Conor also sang a song called Johnno, coincidentally, also about a criminal - a murderer this time. (Are there any Johnnos reading? Apologies :-)
I also sang The Messenger and The Proposal, and a cover of So Lonely by the Police. (Apologies to Sting - more murder there...)
