Luke, there’s a show in town

Luke, there’s a show in town

16 September 2015

THE powerful music of one of Ireland’s greatest folk singers will be revived for a local audience next month.

Dublin singer and musician Luke Kelly gained worldwide fame as a founding member of The Dubliners during the great folk revival of the 1960s.

Distinctive with his red beard, banjo and husky voice, he was one of a generation of musicians who repopularised forgotten Irish ballads including Whiskey in the Jar, Seven Drunken Nights, The Black Velvet Band, Finnegan’s Wake, The Auld Triangle and Raglan Road.

Admitting that as a teenager he thought folk music was for “squares”, the working class Kelly, a committed socialist, said he became inspired by its melodies and meaning while working as a steel fixer in England.

With his natural style and spontaneity on stage, he quickly became a cultural icon. He was widely mourned when he died at the age of just 44 following an operation for a brain tumour.

Luke Kelly fans will be treated to a concert by Dublin singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Chris Kavanagh at Down Arts Centre in Downpatrick on Friday, October  23.

Chris and his band, Uillean piper and fiddler Joe Finn and one of Ireland’s best classical guitarists Michael Howard, have performed at sell-out venues for 14 years with a powerful tribute to the famous balladeer.

Having performed across the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, Chris also joined The Dubliners on their German tour of 2011 and made a guest appearance on their 50th anniversary concert DVD recorded at Vicar Street.  

The Kelly family have also taken part in Chris Kavanagh’s annual tribute performance at Dublin’s Vicar Street to mark Luke Kelly’s anniversary.

Although Chris has been noted for bearing a startling resemblance to Luke Kelly, he says he does attempt to look like the singer and instead lets the songs bring his music back to life.

Listening to The Dubliners as a young child, he said the band’s music was part of his life.

“My grandmother was from Roscommon and every Sunday without fail The Dubliners would be played on the record player,” he recalls.

“I was singing along with Luke from I was about three. I suppose it got into my blood.”

Chris and his wife wrote a song to mark the 25th anniversary of Luke Kelly’s death, The Voice of the People, which he will perform at Down Arts Centre, but he says he realises the audience will be there to hear Luke Kelly’s material.

“It is about remembering Luke and getting people to sing along with the music,” he said.

“It is about the music many of us grew up with - The Town I Love So Well, Raglan Road, Scorn Not His Simplicity, Joe Hill and Raglan Road.”

Tickets for The Legend of Luke Kelly are available now from Down Arts Centre for £15. The concert will last two hours and a bar will be available.