The popular Irish band will perform on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday evening.
The Irish Rovers will perform on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday night at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.More than 40 years a-rovin’, and still they haven’t had enough.
The Irish Rovers, who have touched three generations of music lovers, -will be a-rovin’ into The Log Cabin for two shows—one on Tuesday afternoon and another on Thursday night.
“We keep going and going like the battery bunny,” said George Millar, one of the founders of the group. “We still enjoy what we do. We still enjoy each other and the music.”
Though all band members hail from Ireland, The Irish Rovers formed in 1963 in Toronto when Millar, then 16, and 23-year old Jim Ferguson, both new immigrants from Northern Ireland, met at an Irish function and sang together until dawn.
Called “International Ambassadors of Irish Music,” The Irish Rovers are known for songs like “The Unicorn,” “Drunken Sailor,” “Lily the Pink,” “Years May Come, Years May Go,” “Black Velvet Band” and “Farewell to Nova Scotia.”
Life in Ireland and emigration have long been the focus of the band's original music.
Millar said he finds inspiration “anywhere and everywhere” for the songs he writes—driving down country lanes in Ireland, in pubs, in the 200-300-year-old traditional songs he pieces together and rearranges. “There is an endless amount of Irish songs yet to be discovered,” he said.
The Irish Rovers have hosted three international television series, released dozens of albums internationally, represented Canada at five world Expos and received the Harold Moon Award for a quarter century of contributions to the international music world.
Since 1995, the band has released a dozen more albums including Come Fill Up Your Glasses, Down by the Lagan Side, Still Rovin,’ Gracehill Fair, Home In Ireland and two greatest hits albums, Gems and 40 Years A-Rovin.’
The Irish Rovers are releasing their 40th album, Drunken Sailor, with a song that tells the story of the ship Titanic's beginnings in a Belfast shipyard.
The Titanic hit an iceberg four days into its first Atlantic crossing on April 14, 1912, and sank on the morning of April 15.
"Being from Northern Ireland and born on April 14, the legend of the Titanic has been with me all my life,” Millar said. “It took the labor of 15,000 Irishmen to build her; she was the pride of Belfast.”
Irish pride was evident, and the sinking devastated the shipyards and its workers. “To this day they say with a wry smile, ‘She was all right when she left here!” Millar said.
The veteran singer/songwriter was compelled to put this song down on paper for the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.
Millar is intrigued by the fact that the ship’s band continued to play until the ship sunk. “I don’t know if I’d have had the same fortitude,” he said. “It’s something I’ve thought about for years.”
Some people contend that the last song the band played was “Nearer My God to Thee,” and Millar likes to think that’s true. “It’s absolutely a beautiful piece of music,” he said.
Those who attend the Rovers’ concerts in Holyoke can expect to hear the Titanic song as well as other songs from the new Drunken Sailor album and some of the swashbuckling, womanizing, drinking songs the Rovers have made popular.
“We’ll throw in ‘The Unicorn’” and other “chestnuts,” he said. “That’s what people like to hear.”
Millar said the Rover’s music appeals to various age groups because it is often uplifting. In fact, they might be singing about war, but an uplifting tune almost fools the audience into thinking it is a happy song.
“Irish music is fun to be around. There’s an infectious sort of tempo to most songs,” he said, though others are heartwarming love songs.
The Rovers follow the mood of an audience and add music accordingly. “It’s not a set show,” Millar said. “We have an idea what we’re going to do, but it’s subject to change.”
On Tuesday, lunch at noon will be followed by the show at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $59 and include the family-style lunch with potato and leek soup, Guinness stew, O’Brien potatoes, corned beef and cabbage, salmon with parsley cream and bread pudding with Bailey’s sauce.
On Thursday, the show will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the show only.
Food stations will be available for an extra $15 beginning at 6 p.m. and including corned beef, cabbage, Guinness beef stew and loaded potatoes.
In March, the Rovers’ television special, “Home In Ireland,” is scheduled to be broadcast on PBS. The special was filmed on-location in Northern Ireland. Millar said the group is working also on a Christmas 2012 PBS program.
For more information about the shows at the Log Cabin, call (413) 535- 5077 or go to www.logcabin-delaney.com