Al O'Donnell at The Ballymore Inn

You may or may not be familiar with the music of the highly regarded Al O'Donnell. I unfortunately fall into the "may not" brigade, but I have, as they say, made my own enquiries and Al comes highly recommended. Not being in the know I have lifted a piece from  musiclee.ie -- credit to Paul Lee -- and I have included it here for the education of the masses!  
 
Al O’ Donnell was born in Dublin in 1943 but grew up in Granthom and Lincolnshire before becoming an art student in Nottingham.

He started singing at the Nottingham folk workshop and later became the chairperson. Those who were included were people such as Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger, Martin Carthy, The Watersons, Archie Fischer And the MacPeake family.

Al first sang in Dublin in the International Bar in 1963. He also played in O’Donoughes and the Embankment at the time. Al has toured Ireland, Britain, Europe and North america.

Al has recorded two solo albums one with Leader and the other with Transatlantic. Both Spanish Lady and Sammy’s Bar reached no. 6 in the irish charts.

Al also spent a year with the popular Sweeney’s men with Johnny Moynihan and Terry Woods. He has also either headlined or played at many international festivals including Lisdoonvarna, Edinburgh, Inverness, Berlin, Le Harve and the Folk Festival in Cornwall.

Al’s main instruments are guitar and long neck G banjo. He was also played with his friend Luke Kelly on the infamous version of Raglan Road taken from the Humours of Donnybrook made by RTE. He has had many radio and television appearances over the years. Recent gigs have been the Glor Centre Ennis, The Cobblestone and Liberty hall.

Al's unique style of storytelling when singing ballads from Ireland, England and Scotland have made him an original player not to be missed.
 
Al O'Donnell plays The Ballymore Inn next Monday October 24 2005 and with the above sort of musical history, collaborations and associations, one can begin to anticipate the quality of the show in store.

Do come along and see for yourself.

Roy Thompson.