DUBLINESQUE - A Celebration of Dublin in Song and Story
Please note - due to predicted high temperatures this show will be performed in our auditorium.
Dublinesque is a celebration of Dublin, Ireland in song and story. This show is produced and presented by Irish singer-songwriter / pianist Eamonn Flynn (The Commitments, Black Family, Maria Muldaur, Elvin Bishop) and is a fascinating mix of music, songs, and stories. You will enjoy a portrait of Dublin through the years in an engaging performance rich in humour and soul.
Along with original new songs and old standards, this performance features lively instrumental tunes on fiddle, accordion, banjo and piano. The show takes a memorable glimpse into the past and present of Ireland’s capital. Meet a cast of her characters through the years – from street poets to ladies of the night, rebels to street traders, the nobility to the denizens of Dublin’s infamous tenements. Through it all the indomitable spirit, pride, and wit of Dublin not only perseveres but triumphs.
Félim Egan (accordion) was raised in West County Offaly. His musical influences include Matt Molley, Tommy Peoples, Charlie Lennon and Frankie Gavin. Félim plays frequently with The Black Brothers and Eamonn Flynn.
Darcy Noonan (fiddle) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area. Darcy has been an instructor many times at music camps such as the Freight and Salvage’s Fiddlekids, Golden Toad Camp, Lark in the Morning Camp, and apprentice at Fiddle Tunes.
Hector Bragado (banjo) was born near Bilbao in the Basque Country. Influenced by Barney McKenna, famed banjo player from The Dubliners, he is the ideal musician to anchor the Dublinesque show in the time honored sonic traditions of Dublin music.
Tickets are $30 GA, $25 for OCA Members. Doors open at 3:30 PM. Fine refreshments available, art gallery open during intermission.
Eamonn Flynn says:
"Dublinesque is my attempt to recreate the kind of parties we had in my parent's house when I was growing up in Dublin. There'd be a bunch of neighbours and friends, family, musicians and non-musicians alike and it would always end up as a sing-song/jam session. Everyone would participate - if you couldn't hold a tune you'd perform a 'recitation', if you couldn't perform a recitation you'd tell a joke.
My mother would serve cocktail sausages and squares of cheddar cheese and pickled onions on toothpicks, and the grown ups would drink bottles of Guinness, Bass or Harp. I started a cigarette box collection from the next morning's left-overs cartons. I can still remember the smell of smoke and old beer the next day.
My mother would sing John Denver's 'Annie's Song' to which my older brother would inevitably respond "could you sing ANNIE other song"? My brothers and sisters and I would play Irish ballads and tunes, but also songs by The Beatles, The Stones, Marvin Gaye, Little Feat, Hoyt Axton, John Martyn or Elvis Costello. There was no mystery about making music, everyone did it to the best of their abilities, and there was no delineation between genres in the way the music business superimposes on people - a great song was a great song, and a great set of tunes was a great set of tunes.
This show is an excuse to bring together some of the brilliant traditional Irish musicians I have the privilege to work with: Felim Egan on accordion, Darcy Noonan on fiddle, and Hector Bragado on banjo, play some great music, and recreate one of those parties!"
REVIEWS
"With the recent passing of the great Pete St. John, Dubliners need have no fear. The well is not dry; Flynn is the bard to continue the canon of songs for Dublin, because every generation needs its memories and melodies."
Seán Laffey - Irish Music Magazine
"Dublinesque offers a creative mix of Irish music and storytelling, entertaining the crowd from start to finish. The musicians are at the top of their craft and the packed house left our venue in pure Irish bliss.”
United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco
Irish keyboardist, singer and songwriter Eamonn Flynn forges his own kind of Irish soul. Growing up in Dublin, he was steeped in rock 'n' roll as well as Irish songs sung around his home. He draws from both, his deftly written songs and Dublin humor buoyed by his soulful vocals and formidable piano and Hammond organ chops.
Flynn first came to prominence playing keyboards on the 14 million selling soundtrack of The Commitments, a film about a Dublin soul band. After moving to San Francisco in 1997 he went on to record and tour worldwide with a who's who of soul and blues artists but also kept a hand in Irish music working with the renowned Black Brothers (siblings of Mary and Frances Black) and Finbar Furey. He's released three albums of original music; 'The Irish Channel', 'Black Coddle' and 'Anywhere But Home'.