The magnificent surroundings of Clonabreany House somewhere between Crossakiel, Oldcastle and Kells Co. Meath but nearly in Co. Cavan was the setting for the wedding of Ramon and Carol-Ann and I had the great pleasure of providing the entertainment along with Don for there night after the wedding day celebrations.
It really was a night to remember for myself and Don and all the guests. The atmosphere was electric and the crowd in fine voice. Every song requested(bar two) was played and everybody in flying form. It was a long late drive home though!

That was Friday night and Saturday was a night to recuperate before Sundays sessions in The Dame Tavern with Stephen Ennis, Rock-on, Bev (Sax),Niall (Harmonica), the 2 Dave’s and Don (Mandolin) with Barney surprising us with his Banjo.
It was on to The Ha’Penny for 9.30 then were we were joined for a couple of songs by Ronan on Tin Whistle.
Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting. I should have news soon of some new venues, until then
All the Best

It was another enjoyable night in the Ha’Penny Bridge Inn last night with The Ha’Penny Heads.
Thanks to Joe (Banjo) Niall (Harmonica) Barney(Guitar) and of course Don Conlon (Mandolin).
The Highlight of the night for me was the punter participation particularly for So Long Marianne (Leonard Cohen) and the Levon Helm tribute The Weight ( The Band).

I hope to catch up soon with youse all.

All the best

Well we got thru it in the end although our throats were cracked and sore. A big thanks to everyone who made it into the Ha’Penny over the weekend the atmosphere was absolutely electric. I would be a wealthy man if I had a euro for every time I was asked for “The Galway Girl”. It’s amazing how a relatively recent song is now engrained in Irish Culture. Quality song though.

On a sadder note my deepest sympathy is passed on to the O Toole family after the Death of mine and everyone else’s friend Lar. It was an absolute pleasure to sing “The Fields of Athenry” in the church for him and it is a song which will now be part of my repertoire. We certainly gave him the send off he deserved in The Viscount with a marathon sing song.

A big thanks to Eamon Ennis who recorded The Elie Madden Fundraiser Gig in Swords and now there is some videos for your viewing pleasure on You Tube I will post the links on the website.

Cheers

4 Days 8 Gigs an overwhelming success I would say. It all started at the Ha’penny Bridge on the Thursday and ended up in The Palace Bar Fleet St on Sunday Night with a mighty session with a huge selection of musicians who met up to finish off the weekend in style with Fiddles, Mandolins, Banjo, Flutes, Whistles and a Mandola.

Another Highlight was the Session in Mc Neills of Capel St on Saturday Night  where I met up with Tony Burke (Bouzouki) and Cian (Flute) and a gang load of others although this was tinged with a sad note as it was the last day of the music shop upstairs which has now closed its doors for the final time another victim of the recession.

Thanks to all who showed up at the various gigs it was good to see some “Aul Faces” again and without you the atmosphere wouldn’t be the same.
 
All the best
Billy

Extra Dates

I’ve just been made aware of some extra dates for the Temple Bar Tradfest. I hope to see you at one or another. The new schedule is
Thurs 26th The Ha’Penny Bridge 9pm
Fri 27th Ruby Duck Cafe Fleet St 6pm
Sat 28th Ruby Duck Cafe Fleet St 6pm
Sat 28th O’Donoghues Baggot Merrion Row 8.30pm
Sun 29th The Dame Tavern 7.30pm
Sun 29th The Ha’Penny Bridge 9.30pm

The Ruby Duck is opposite The Hard Rock Cafe.

See you soon

As part of the Temple Bar Tradfest music marathon myself and Don Conlon and the rest of “The Ha’Penny Heads” will be playing in The Ha’penny  Bridge Inn this Thursday night 26th and of course on Sunday night 29th. Many thanks to all our guests last night who were Martin Bridgeman (Banjo) Joe Guinan (Banjo) Niall (Harmonica) Barney (Guitar) and Stephen (Vocals).

See you soon

I’m delighted to say we raised €700 euro for Operation Elie in The Slaughtered Lamb last Saturday night. It might not seem much in the greater scheme of things but it all adds up and every penny helps, not bad for a hastily arranged fundraiser.

The sound was great and The set went down well with the punters and everyone had a smashing time and all for a good cause.
If you would like to follow Elie’s journey you can look up Operation Elie on Facebook or log on to www.eliemadden.com I will try and post some pictures or video clips from the night.

Thanks once again to everyone who came and donated and I’ll see you soon remember I’m in the Ha’penny Bridge Inn every Sunday Night.

I will be playing in The Slaughtered Lamb in Swords on Saturday 14th January from 8.30pm with Don Conlon on Mandolin and Alan Arkins on Bass. Tickets on the door will be €10 with all proceeds going to Operation Elie.

For those of you who don’t know of Elie Maddens plight you can find more info on The Facebook page Operation Elie.
Other acts on the night include Johnny Lynch, Simon Walsh & Darragh Nugent and Pharmacy.

I really hope you can make it out to support this good cause and I hope to see you there.

Billy.

A big crowd sang in The New Year in the Ha’penny Bridge last Sunday Night with Guests galore including Luke Paragon on Banjo and Caroline Giles on Flute and Whistles the latter coming all the way from The Isle of Wight.
Last but not least was our Temple Bar resident Lillian who lashed into her old stalwarts ‘Biddy Mc Grath’ and ‘Little Tommy Tucker’.

See you soon.

New Venue

I’m pleased to announce that myself and Don will be playing in The Merchants Arch this Thursday 22nd of December from 5-7pm so if you’re finished your Christmas shopping or just need a break from it come and join us for a sing song with a few Xmas numbers thrown in to get you in the mood!

This Sunday the 18th of December marks the Musicians Christmas Party starting from 7pm at The Dame tavern and moving up to The Ha’penny around 9pm. It should be some Craic so I hope to see you there.

Happy Christmas