Here is the second of our two videos from the Return to London Town Festival. After well known Donegal folk group Altan kicked the weekend off in excellent style, Saturday night culminated in an evening concert that concert that featured Noel Hill, Brian McGrath and Eileen O’Brien.
Noel Hill told The Irish World on the night: “There’s nostalgia, there’s history, there’s everything in this town. All the great players: Willie Clancy, Seamus Ennis, Bobby Casey, Margaret Barry- it’s endless- Raymond Roland, Finbarr Dwyer: They have their shoeprints in this town and you cannot but be aware of that when you’re here.
“This was the place when people left rural Ireland and they all congregated in this town, there was serious music played here. We never forget that, you can’t but be attached to that.
“We pay homage to all the great players who have come before us in this city. We just pay homage to the keepers of this music we’re just passing on ourselves.”
The weekend was rounded off with three album launches by Páraic Mac Donnchadha with Noel O’Grady and Graham Guerin, Paddy Tutty with the Ó Fearghail brothers Seán and Caoimhín and The Housekeepers which is made up of Sarah Flynn and Doireann Glackin of the famous Glackin family.
Doireann told The Irish World: “I grew up listening to stories about the great London sessions of Bobby Casey, Tommy McCarthy and then you’re growing up listening to the likes of Bryan Rooney, Seanin Mac Donnacha, and we spent a brilliant weekend playing allthe Bobby Casey tunes, we met Bryan Rooney and Sheáinín Mac Donncha. We were so star struck, that made the weekend for us. It’s all the sweeter to get the chance to share a bit of what we’ve been working on for the last few years. We did a big research project on women who played traditional music so it’s great to have the excuse to be over in London playing music and meeting all our heroes.
“Since the 60s and 70s, you could say that London traditional music has its own regional style and it’s definitely a very vibrant scene that’s impacted music in Ireland now so it’s great to see it live in action.”
