Category: Guests

Canadian folk singer and songwriter James Keelaghan made his first appearance at Irvine Folk Club three years ago and he tore the place apart. He is a terrific artist and it’s great news that he is back in Irvine on Wednesday 25th October.
Calgary born but now based in Perth in Eastern Ontario, James has been in the music business for over 25 years and has eleven albums to his name. It’s said that he has one of the most distinctive and easily identifiable voices in Canada. James is an acclaimed member of the international singer and songwriter community – his albums have brought him an impressive share of nominations and awards from Australia to Sweden.
James’ Dad was an Irish man and it is to him that James owes much of his early musical inspiration. His Dad was also a great storyteller and James says he is still trying to be as good as his Dad. The love of storytelling gave James a passion for language and history and both aspects are evident in his songwriting. As well as his own material, James also does some covers, Gordon Lightfoot being a favourite.
As well as touring extensively, James has been Artistic Director of the Summerfolk Music & Crafts in Owen Sound in Ontario since 2011. He also leads tours in Ireland for about 22 people which are a mix of visits to places off the beaten track and music. The next one is in May 2018.
Expect to hear a mix of roots, rock, Americana and contemporary folk when James Keelaghan plays at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 25th October in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm.
The 2018 Celtic Connections programme is out. And who would have believed this will be the 25th Connections already! From 18th January – 4th February, 2,100 artists over 300 events across 20 Glasgow venues. You get the drift. A range of styles and traditions all celebrating live music. Visit www.celticconnections.com or follow the conversation @ccfest
And finally, The Johnny Silvo Story at The Townhouse Irvine is coming up fast. The date is Friday 27th October and tickets are £8. It will be different and it will be good. And looking slightly ahead, on Saturday 11th November in The Volunteer Rooms, Ian McCalman’s Far, Far From Ypres takes place. Narrated by Iain Anderson with 26 musicians on stage throughout, it’s a terrific production. Both events are part of the programme to mark the 50th anniversaries of Marymass Folk Festival and Irvine Folk Club. Tickets for both events are available from Joyce on 01294 551047 or email JoyceIFC@aol.com Don’t leave it too late to get tickets.

The Johnny Silvo Story will be told on Friday 27th October in Irvine’s newly revamped Townhouse. It’s a terrific setting for a story that Johnny’s many fans will want to hear and it’s part of the ongoing celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversaries of Marymass Folk Festival & Irvine Folk Club.
Johnny died in late 2012, but by clever use of innovative technology, film footage of the great man plus recorded and live material, the story of Johnny can be told. This type of event, although featured at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections, will be a first for the Irvine Club.
Johnny’s first association with Irvine stretches back to Marymass Folk Festival 1974 and, such was his popularity, that he was almost an ever-present at subsequent Festivals and also a frequent guest at Irvine Folk Club. Johnny’s Irvine fans couldn’t get enough of him!
Alastair McDonald will be the main linkman at the concert on the 27th October. He knew Johnny and like Johnny, started off his musical career in Jazz and Skiffle bands. Alastair is a weel-kent face to Irvine audiences and is ideally suited for the occasion.
‘The 50th Anniversary Celebrations give us the chance to do things we would otherwise be unable to tackle’. Said Anne Clarke of Irvine Folk Club. She continued ‘Johnny was such a favourite with Irvine audiences,that we had no hesitation in saying yes to having The JohnnySilvo Story premiered here. An added bonus is that it takes place in the impressive surroundings of Irvine Townhouse.’
Tickets at £8 are now on sale for The Johnny Silvo Story on Friday 27th October. They are available from Joyce on 01294 551047 or by email to JoyceIFC@aol.com – but be warned, tickets are limited so don’t hang about.

Irvine Folk Club first heard Maria Dunn & Shannon Johnson two years ago and they were terrific. The excellent news is that they are back at the Irvine Club to top the bill on Wednesday 11th October. It’s part of the duo’s month long UK tour.
Both are based in Alberta in Canada and the UK tour will feature songs from Maria Dunn’s sixth album – Gathering. One reviewer has described it as essential listening and that figures as the album was nominated in the 2017 Juno awards in the Trad Roots Album of the year category.
Maria Dunn was born in Scotland but moved to Ontario with her parents as a young child. She plays guitar, accordion and whistle and her playing can move seamlessly from folk to bluegrass to country. Based in Edmonton in Alberta, Maria has a formidable songwriting talent. Many of her songs reflect the resilience and grace of ‘ordinary’ people. Her song about the quiet courage of families supporting their children with disabilities being just one example. Maria’s hope is that her songs will make for a more compassionate take on today’s world.
All of Maria’s albums have been produced by Shannon Johnson, one of Western Canada’s most-in-demand record producers. Shannon is an exceptional violinist and has won many violin and fiddle awards at national and international level. Along with her two brothers, she is a member of The McDades: a well-established and much respected band in Canada and in Europe. Shannon also has an excellent voice and is said to have a raucous sense of humour.
Maria Dunn & Shannon Johnson are in the not-to-be-missed category, so make sure you are in the Irvine Folk Club audience on Wednesday 11th October to hear them. The Club starts at 8pm in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road, it’s BYOB and there’s a Café.
Finally, it was with great sadness that news was received of the death of Dick McAllister. Dick was a faithful supporter of Irvine Folk Club and Marymass Folk Festival. Along with his wife Maureen and Willie Sinclair he was a member of the Gaitherers in which he did vocals and played the guitar and of course his beloved banjo. Jokes about banjo players are many and Dick took them all in good part sometimes himself regaling audiences with new ones he had heard! He was also a frequent and able MC at the Club and Festival. Dick refused to let a cancer diagnosis blight his life and his spirited and dogged determination to keep on going is something that will live long in the memory. At the Club last week in tribute to Dick, Dominic Boyce led the audience in What’s the life of a man followed by a heartfelt minute’s applause. The sympathy of everyone at Irvine Folk Club goes to Maureen and the family.

Dicks funeral will take place at Holmsford Bridge Crematorium on Friday October 6th at 1pm thereafter to Marress Sports Ground. Shona asks that you bring instruments and make plenty of music and noise. Dress code informal. Lets give ‘Dick the Banjo’ the send off he deserves.

Dick McAllister passed away last night after an illness borne with great courage and determination. Dick was determined to MC the Thursday Night Concert and the Seniors Concert at Marymass and he managed it. He enjoyed Marymass and it was good to see him happy although we all knew he was struggling. A faithful member of Irvine Folk Club for many years – he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go to Maureen and the family.

You can shed tears that he is gone
Or you can smile because he has lived
You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him
Or you can be full of the love that you shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday
You can remember him and only that he is gone
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what he would want:
Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

We have previously announced two possible dates for the first of our special Marymass 50 concerts. Apologies for the confusion – but the final, final date is the FRIDAY evening. Friday 27th October, 7.30pm in the upstairs hall in The Townhouse / The Portal, Irvine. This is the fabulous room where we held the Marymass Exhibition launch.

The confirmed date for the first of our special Marymass50 Concerts in the Townhouse is FRIDAY 27th October, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8, available from Joyce at the Folk Club, or on-line. We can now announce that the main ‘storyteller’ for this evening will be Alastair McDonald. Please tell your friends about this concert. It will be a wonderful evening.

Eileen McGann – one of Canada’s finest songwriters and said to be the country’s most distinguished cultural export – is the special guest at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 27th September. Her appearance at the Irvine Club is part of her month long UK tour.
Toronto born and raised but now living on beautiful Vancouver Island, Eileen has been a professional musician for almost three decades and as well as being a seasoned performer she does workshops too and also frequently exhibits her landscape and tree paintings. A busy lady.
Eileen’s song lyrics challenge, stimulate and inspire. She is a strong voice for justice and her songs tackle life’s challenges and contradictions. Her award-winning songs can be environmental anthems, stark social commentary or side-splittingly funny. Eileen has released eight albums and a Songbook too which also features her artwork.
Tich Frier after finishing his guest billing at the Irvine Club last week – he went down a storm – acknowledged in straightforward fashion that ‘Eileen is good’. So, hear for yourself at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 27th September at Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB. It’s a Club but non-members are always welcome.
Looking ahead, and marking the 50th Anniversary of Marymass Folk Festival continues. Coming up on Thursday 26th October at The Townhouse in Irvine is The Johnny Silvo Story and it promises to be a great night. Irvine Folk Club is determined to do justice to this much-missed man who died almost six years ago and who was a great friend of so many in Irvine.

Tickets are now available online for the first of our special Marymass 50 Concerts to be held in the upstairs hall in The Townhouse, The Portal, Irvine. Friday 27th October, 7.30pm. This first concert is The Johnny Silvo Story

Johnny Silvo was a regular performer at Marymass Folk Festival over most of its 50 year history, and he was one who connected more than most with Irvine audiences. Johnny Silvo sadly passed away in 2011, just a few weeks after he had headlined the Marymass Saturday Evening Concert. Thankfully we have some wonderful live recordings of Johnny at Marymass and his musical legacy lives on in his songs and our memories. Johnny’s life story is a fascinating one and The Johnny Silvo Story will give you insight into the life of a travelling musician who was at the heart of the post war revival of music making which swept the country from the 50s and 60s setting the scene for so much of the music which thrives to the present day. Through the wonders of technology, The Johnny Silvo Story will be another chance to experience the music of Johnny Silvo, to sing along with him, and to see images from the recent and not so recent past. With Special Guests.

Tickets are £8 and are available online from this website www.irvinefolkclub.org.uk/tickets/ or will be on sale at Irvine Folk Club. The hall upstairs in the Townhouse is a lovely venue (it was where we held the Marymass Exhibition launch). We are limited to a capacity of 80 people, for what promises to be a very special evening. Please book your tickets early.

Tich Frier has one of the most distinctive voices on the Scottish Folk Scene and it will be good to hear him again at Irvine Folk Club when he tops the bill on Wednesday 13th September. As his biog describes him so succinctly ‘Small guy, big voice, sharp wit.’ That’s Mr Frier.
Edinburgh born Tich was Head Chorister at St Mary’s School Cathedral Choir – not a lot of people know that – before deciding that his future lay in Folk Music. Tich first came to Irvine in the ‘70s as part of the much-loved Bitter Withy. A trio whose harmonies were second-to-none and filled The Eglinton – the then home of Irvine Folk Club and Marymass Folk Festival. Since then, Tich has concentrated on his solo career apart from occasional musical forays with, for example, the aforementioned Vindscreen Vipers.
The powerful voice of Tich, his passionate singing style, clear diction, skilled guitar work and sense of fun all add up to him being a great entertainer. He is comfortable singing traditional and contemporary Scottish songs, Burns material, self-penned songs as well as parodies – and all of them linked by his sharp wit and sense of fun. In days of yore, Tich’s ‘brother in mischievous fun’ was none other than the late Danny Kyle.
Tich’s ‘One Man’s Burns’ show is yet another string to his bow. In addition he has released a number of Albums and he also features in the 50th Marymass Folk Festival Exhibition currently on at The Townhouse.
To summarise, make sure you are in the Irvine Folk Club audience on Wednesday 13th September for 8pm at Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road to hear Tich Frier. You will kick yourself if you miss him.