Whiskey in the Jar

& Mr Grumpy's Ceilidh Band

 

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Manchester's favourite Irish Band

LATEST NEWS

 

28 06 2008 - St Patrick's Day 2009.

We are now receiving enquiries for St Patrick's Day 2009...  if you are interested then contact the band.

 

'Ceol Agus Craic'

The History of Whiskey in the Jar   Vol 1

CD Available Now

£8.00 plus £1.50 p&p

 

'By Request'

The History of Whiskey in the Jar   Vol 2

CD Available Now

£8.00 plus £1.50 p&p.

 

BOTH CD'S £15.00 plus £2.50 p&p

We still have a limited number of cassettes available at £5.00 for 1, £9.00 (2), £12.00 (3) and £15.00 (4)

The cassettes, in order are 'Live 1990', 'By Request 1992', 'Encore 1994', 'Whiskey and Water' 1996.

 

04 03 2008 - Our new website.

Welcome to the new-look home of Whiskey in the Jar and Mr Grumpy's Ceilidh band. Some changes being planned here... soon you'll be able to listen to many of the songs listed on the band page.

25 02 2008 - Leigh East RLFC Tickets

Tickets are now available for the bands appearance at the clubs new home at the Leigh Sports Village on March 15th. Tickets costing £5.00 are available from Alison Grainy on 01942 671198, from the clubhouse at LSV or in person at Phil the Cobbler, 99 Railway Road in Leigh.

20 02 2008 - St Patrick's Day 17th March.

The band have opted to be available for the big night of the year after all, despite racking up nearly 700 miles already over the weekend.  We will consider offers for gigs within travelling distance of Manchester.

14 02 2008 - 20 years on the road.

The band celebrates 20 years this year, and what a great 20 years it has been.  A big thank you to the many people who still keep in touch after all these years.

15 06 2006 - Second CD due out soon.

A new compilation of tracks taken from the band's previous recordings will be available as a follow up CD in July. The release is to be promoted by a live appearance on BBC Radio Manchester's flagship Irish programme "The Parlour" on Monday 26th June. Due to the many requests that we receive, we are re-releasing all four previous cassette recordings at the same time.

25 01 06 - Problems uploading the latest news.

We apologise for the lack of up to date news on the band. Difficulties with the web server have prevented regular updates. Hopefully we are back to normal again and back with the latest news.

11 11 2004 - Mason's Apron to record soon.

With limited opportunity for the band to get into the recording studio for a while... Mason's Apron will hopefully be recording some new tracks over the coming months. The intention is to release a new CD during 2005 of songs and tunes that feature in the gigs, songs like "The Rose of Allendale, Jock Stewart, Steal Away, Byker Hill, The Blarney Roses, From Clare to Here" and loads more. The CD will feature contributions from as many friends as we can muster including Ray, Alan and Danny who have helped the band in the past.

23 08 2004- Thrapston Fire Station Gig.

A mention of a rare gig in the midlands.

Thrapston Fire Service.  We have played for the lads at Thrapston for the last two years and are chuffed to be asked back this year. All the lads are part-time fire-fighters but give up a lot of time in helping charities, not just their own charity too. This years gig will be another sell-out occasion and a special thanks to John Lynch and the rest of the crew at Thrapston for the way they look after the band and make our trip so worth-while. We look forward to meeting all our friends again in the future.

09 08 2004 - C D released.

Our new CD entitled "Ceol Agus Craic" (music and the crack) is now on sale at £10.00. The one hour long CD charts the history of the band and features songs from all the different line-up's over the years. The last four tracks are all new recordings from the present line-up.

25 07 2004 - TOUR of IRELAND 2002..  What a great week in Ireland

Wed 18th .. arrived at Bundoran, Co Donegal, spent the first night gently breaking in to the spirit of the week... or was it the Guinness.

Thurs 19th.. a sign for a session out the Bridge tonight but the landlord said we'd be too late after playing at Donegal town, after buying us a beer or two and listening to the music.. he told us .." sure we're open till 4 in the morning, just ring the bell". Nice to see our friends from Leitrim on a day trip to Bundoran, Marion and Brendan Shanley.. certainly gave us a surprise for the day. Followed that with a trip to Glenties in Donegal.. home of renowned Donegal fiddlers, then back to The Central Hotel in Donegal. A great gig to start the tour.. followed by.. the session back at The Bridge.. the drinking had started.                                                                      

Fri 20th..  The short trip down to Sligo for a drink at The Harp Tavern.. an old haunt of the band, followed by some bar at Strandhill, followed by a drink or two at tonight's venue.. The Venue at Strandhill. Another great gig and great hospitality from Peter and Yvonne.

Sat 21st..  another short journey, this time to Mayo.. and breakfast at the local supermarket, followed by.. a pint or two. Got to the venue for tonight's gig, The Humbert Lodge at Killala and the sad news of the sudden death of my (Phil) friends mother, so had to relocate the beds to the pub we were playing. Took a ride to Ballycastle for a drink but my first choice was closed as it was the brother of the bereaved family, so next door to the welcome of the week. Michael at Katy Mac's.. a Dubliner and nice whistle player.. what a fabulous man. It was a pleasure playing for 3 hours to such a man as he (and a few regulars).. the only trouble was that by five o'clock we were already feeling the drink again. After a very private couple of hours with Tony and Carmel's family at Belderig (thanks for inviting us and letting us sing to you on such a sad occasion), and a couple of Belderig measures of whiskey, we had to go and do the nights work back at Killala.   Thanks again to Ger and Geraldine at the Humbert for putting us all up at short notice.

Sun 22nd..  Great to be back in County Leitrim and people I have known for over 25 years, and who have been good followers of the band on previous tours. Jamie and Stuart just HAD to play some O'Carolan tunes at a pub called O'Carolans.. and we thought the drinking was to stop today !!. McKeons at Keshcarrigan was the first Leitrin gig.. and to see my old friend Ben in such fine form was a bonus... he booked the band before we were good !!

Mon 23rd..  Woke up at the home of Margaret and Pat Curran.. familiar friends and familiar breakfasts.. and at last a day off from the drink. followed by the familiar surroundings of Quinn's Lounge at Fenagh. Thanks to new landlord Tommy Flynn for taking the risk of putting on a band on a Monday night.. fair play to you and a great night.

Tues 24th..  and the last night of the tour. The drive to Dublin was quieter than usual.. the end was in sight. Not the busiest gig of the week at The White House, The Ward, near the airport  and just outside the city, but what a welcome from those who turned up.. and the promise of a gig next year on a Friday night when they get 200-250 in the place. Thanks Simon Rutledge for your hospitality on the night.

01 08 2002 - FIRST IRISHMAN INTO SPACE !!!  (True story) !!

It was Easter 2002 when Stuart, the bands banjo caller received a visit from his life-long friend Lawrence O'Brien. Lawrence knew he didn't have long for this world and asked Stuart to take him on a "last look" around some of the parts of Lancashire he so loved. In particular he took Lawrence to the "Pots and Pans" landmark, near Saddleworth where he asked Stuart to spread his ashes when he died. It was not many weeks after that that Lawrence's wife Sonia rang from their home at The Boghill Center, near Doolin, County Clare, to tell Stuart that Lawrence had indeed passed away, and arranged for the ashes to be brought to Oldham. 

To cut a (very) long story short, Stuart and his friend John Harrison, also a director of the Boghill Center, arranged for his ashes to be spread, but were refused entry onto the land because of the foot and mouth epidemic, and could not afford a "helicopter drop". On a visit to his local hardware store, Stuart discovered a £17 firework rocket.. and yes.. the answer to his problem. Along with a host of fiddlers and other musicians fro across Ireland and England, off came the top of the rocket, in went the ashes, and up went the firework.. bursting into a cloud of dust, and settling over the Pots and Pans as the crowd cheered for Lawrence.

That night at the wake in the local pub, Stuart and the lads played among others, a tune called "Michael's Waltz". The tune was written by Stuart in memory of Lawrence's brother, Michael, along with "O'Brien's lament" written during a quiet moment in the company of Stuart's memories of the family. During the evening a local reporter interviewed Stuart and John and took a few photo's as usual... think of the surprise next morning in the Manchester Evening News, Oldham Chronicle, The Sun and The Mirror at the headlines . .  

"Retired Rat-catcher sends first Irish man into space".

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PREVIOUS TAPE RELEASES

1991 "Live" Recorded in Chorley and Ingelton.

1994 "By Request" First studio recordings.

1996 "Encore" Our best seller.

1997 "Whiskey and Water" with Blue Water Folk.

 

 

Copyright © 2008 Philip Taylor