Frankie Lane and Paul Kelly in Fallons next week

The 2022 season of the Red Hot Music Club in Fallons of Kilcullen ends on Thursday next with one of the most enduring acts in Irish music, Frankie Lane and Paul Kelly.

In the late 1980s, both were members of the now-legendary Fleadh Cowboys, a country rock band whose regular weekend concerts at The Olympia Theatre in Dublin were the talk of the city. Regular guests of the band back then included The Pogues, The Waterboys, The Hothouse Flowers, John Prine and Nancy Griffith to name but a few.

After The Fleadhs stopped gigging, Paul returned to his traditional roots by joining The Sharon Shannon Band in 1992, while Frankie concentrated on studio work and performing with different bands around the country. The mid-nineties saw Frankie and Paul team up as a duo for the first time, producing their highly acclaimed live CD: Wahoo! Tours of Germany and Austria quickly followed, as the two lads honed their eclectic mix of Country, Roots, and Traditional music to an intuitive level of performance.

Guest appearances followed, with Frankie invited to perform with The Chieftains, and both he and Paul recording with The Dubliners on their1997 release, Further Along. Frankie and Paul then joined forces in 2002 with one of Ireland’s finest folk singers, Eleanor Shanley, for an Irish Tour. This partnership worked so well that Eleanor and the two lads continued to perform together, and indeed have recently celebrated 15 years on the road. Festival performances have included Tonder and Skagen in Denmark, as well as tours of Austria and Italy.

Frankie and Paul’s live performances are frequently sublime, sometimes bizarre, but always totally entertaining. What sets them apart from other duos is the sheer scope of their material. Paul, while primarily a traditional musician, has developed a broad eclectic palette of styles, which complements Frankie’s extensive range of songs perfectly. In a typical concert (if there is such a thing with this pair!) one may hear Irish Traditional tunes and songs, American Folk, Western Swing, Jazz, Classical, Bluegrass, and even a Gypsy number or two.

Guest artist on the night will be David Lane.

Tickets available on eventbrite, or from Fallons, Noel Heavey or Ray Kelly. 

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