Fergal Keane: At a time of deep division on this island Andy Irvine’s music kicked the door off its hinges
I am thinking of Preacher Casey’s words because of a person I am privileged to call my friend, a man whose big-hearted example is a fit answer to the rageful intolerance we see too often in Ireland and elsewhere these days. He is a singer, a songwriter, a chronicler of life from the ground up, campaigner for the poor and downtrodden, and the last of the real Troubadours, now into his eighties and still packing instruments and amplifiers into his car to head out on the road.
I think of their rendition of The Jolly Beggarman, a ballad of seduction collected in Scotland that also inspired a poem of Lord Byron’s. Then came his own songs, often steeped in his prodigious knowledge of history and fired by conscience. Our mutual friend, Bill Whelan, a trailblazing composer in his own right, always smiles when he speaks of Andy, remembering his humour, his deep intolerance for any form of bull**** and his fidelity to and unquenchable curiosity for the music. “He’s a true musical touchstone,” Bill says. “He created a repository of music and song which will influence those who engage with folk and traditional music for generations ... we had many laughs over the years but he was always focused on the work.
Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)
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