Irish Trad Music Blog

Seize the Day (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Damien Dempsey talked to JOE recently about his charity work, Barney McKenna's passing and the current state of Irish music. Damo Dempsey has been on the go for a while now. That’s often easy to forget as he’s still in his mid-thirties playing traditional Irish music in a genre that is dominated by bushy-faced sixty year olds for the most part. Another reason why people forget this is that he blends the traditional and modern with an injection of contemporary bite and social commentary. When JOE catches up with Damo he explains why he makes the music that he does.

Photo subjects: The Dubliners, c. 2005. From left to right: Eamonn Campbell, John Sheahan, Barney McKenna, Séan Cannon and Patsy Watchorn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Cover of The Dubliners DUBLIN (AP) — "Banjo" Barney McKenna, the last original member of the Irish folk band The Dubliners, died Thursday while having a morning cup of tea with a friend. He was 72 and had just marked his 50th year with the troupe. Irish classical guitarist Michael Howard, who was with McKenna when he died, said he was talking with his longtime friend at his kitchen table, when "all of a sudden Barney's head dropped down to his chest. It looked as if he'd nodded off." Howard said paramedics over the phone talked him through emergency revival procedures, but McKenna "was pretty much gone." "The comfort that I take from it is, he passed away very peacefully sitting at his own breakfast table having a quiet cup of tea and a chat," Howard said. "What a lov...