New Mills Golf Club

Murphy's Marbles supported by Milligan's Wake

November 2011

Members and Non Members Welcomed alike

The New Mills Golf Club welcomed back the fabulous Murphy's Marbles, and anyone who has seen them before at the club will know what a brilliant and talented band they are. Come early to ensure a seat.

The Marbles are one of the most accomplished Irish bands in the country. Testament to this is they are one of the only Celtic bands from the UK to be invited to perform in Ireland at the International Irish Music Festival.

Add to this that Sean Cannon of the world famous Dubliners chooses to perform with them regularly and it becomes clear they an outfit of some considerable credibility. To quote from James McKeefry of BBC Radio East Midlands:

'Murphy’s Marbles not only believe in the music they produce and compose but they carry with them on to their stage an infectious enthusiasm that results in encore after encore. 'To see Murphy’s Marbles is to experience Irish music as it should be performed – with humour, vitality, tradition and when required, pathos, but at the same time Murphy’s Marbles reinvent each song or tune as each band member has an individual input that injects a fresh approach to well tried and tested tracks.'

A great evening was offered with additional support from the popular Irish music duo Milligan's Wake.

Read the write-up by Yvonne Cawley from their visit in March 2011

I didn’t see a Christmas tree but it certainly felt like Christmas had come early, along with St Patrick’s Day too, when I went with some neighbours to see Murphy's Marbles at New Mills Golf Club in March 2011.

The Marbles feature four very talented musicians who play guitars, fiddle, flute, whistle, bass, mandolin, bodhran and harmonica. They have performed the length and breadth of the country as well as in Ireland and Europe including the Guiness Feile na nDeise in Ireland,the Midland Irish Music Festival, Middlewich  Folk and Boat Festival and the Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival which resulted in Cheltenham Racecourse commissioning the band to produce a CD ‘The Cheltenham Experience’ in 2004 followed by another album ‘They’ll Run Forever’.

The evening’s entertainment began though with ‘Milligan’s Wake’ - a man and wife duo consisting of Alan & Pat Blakeman. Alan provided the velvety vocals and played guitar whilst Pat threw everything she had into producing the most wonderful sounds from her accordion – I must admit I was exhausted just watching as Pat’s fingers feverishly work the keys and buttons, whilst her feet manipulated the foot-pedals.

All this activity done with such precision and flair; resulting in a beautiful harmony and clarity of combined sounds and voice. This was a rare treat indeed with familiar songs such as ‘Fields of Athenrye’, ‘Maggie’ and ‘The Irish Rover’ (to name but a few), plus lots more songs and ballads that I’d never heard before, but all equally enjoyable. Their whole performance was one of a couple who just wanted to entertain their audience and at the same time just enjoy themselves, and they certainly achieved both.

Murphy’s Marbles, made up of four members, then took to the stage and instantly got our attention with a fabulous piece of Irish Music that introduced us to the individual sounds of the Whistle, Violin, Mandolin and bass.  This was to ease us all in gently before the fun started! Kevin, the lead singer, was what I would call a “cheeky chappie” and entertained us with little jokes and anecdotes in between songs for the whole evening – some of which were a little ‘risqué, but for me, this added to the fun and buzz of the evening and hey we’re all adults here! Everyone was in stitches and the room was filled with giggles and raucous laughter all night!   There was one point when Kevin was telling us a particular anecdote, and the whole place was enthralled, hanging on his every word – I kid you not, you could hear a pin drop amongst the 100 or so crowd.

They delighted us with a huge range of traditional Irish songs such as ‘Black Velvet Band’, ‘Donegal Danny’ and ‘Wild Colonial Boy’ – the latter was subject to a little tale from Kevin, telling us that his Mother (who used to play the banjo) never understood why this was played to the tune of a Waltz and so she always used up the tempo a little.  Hence the version played was the ‘racier’ one (and by that I mean the speed and not risqué lyrics”!) which worked extremely well. In fact, the next day I went onto YouTube to listen to the original version and it sounded way too slow. So Kevin’s mum was ‘spot-on’- see it does pay to listen to your mother!

Other songs to mesmerise us included ‘Whisky in the Jar’, ‘Colours’ (Donovan), ‘Dirty Old Town’, Sweet Sixteen (Fureys) and a more up-to-date song ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ (Waterboys). There was only one song which included the use of the Bodhran (an Irish frame drum), which was a shame really (well from my perspective) because the sound it produced was hypnotic and gave a real ‘depth’ to the music.

Kevin then announced they were going to do a Christmas song! Odd as it may seem, it was actually quite fitting as everyone was in the party mood by now. The song chosen was ‘Fairytale of New York’ originally performed by The Pogues and Kirsty McColl – what a fantastic rendition the boys provided, which went down a storm. Dave, who played Bass guitar, provided the vocals and as with all the previous songs, the harmonies were perfect. Their whole set was a finely polished, enjoyable and relaxed affair with everyone singing and toe-tapping along with music.

One little touch I thought was very nice was when Mulligan’s Wake said that it had been their ambition to play with Murphy’s Marbles and so they did one song together. For a spur of the moment idea, the resulting music was brilliant, and showed the skills of the individual musicians as they combined two styles into one – amazing and a real credit to both bands.

I don’t want to finish this article without mentioning the delicious food that was on offer. Succulent Gammon Barmcakes and a good old fashioned Irish Stew, both of which tasted wonderful and were extremely reasonably priced. The Irish Stew was tested by Kevin from the band who gave this a huge ‘thumbs up’. All credit must go to the Bar Staff who, despite the large number of customers, managed to deal with all orders quickly and efficiently and most importantly, always with a smile.

 
All in all a superb evening of Music (and giggles, courtesy of Kevin!) by extremely talented and accomplished musicians; all this topped off with a relaxed fun atmosphere.