Dear Reader - I hope you’re managing your way through the madness…
The Big Thing
It’s the first time since I started writing these letters almost 4 years ago that Christmas Eve has fallen on a Tuesday. So why not celebrate the greatest Christmas song of them all - set on this very day in New York City.
This is a really interesting article about how the song came about.
Where else but Sligo?
It’s a time of year where we think about those who are no longer with us.
Aidan Mannion is one such man. I won’t attempt to summarize what was an extremely rich and well-lived Sligo life - the Sligo Weekender do that better than I ever could here, but my attention was drawn to him once again by the great Sligo band Indian, who are putting on a night for Aidan in the Hawk’s Well this coming Sunday Dec 29th.
It’s a beautiful tribute from the band to Aidan, who did so much for them and countless other Sligo artists and bands. Whoever is lucky enough to have tickets for this sold out gig will have a fantastic yet no doubt poignant evening.
What’s New?
NEW CHRISTMAS SONG FROM LA GRACIA: Theme Night regular Gráinne McCarthy has just released this. Featuring one of our piano teachers Odhrán Smyth on piano.
JIM DOHERTY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: Jim is my favourite Irish piano player of all time. His son - comedian David O’Doherty sat down with him and a grand piano for an hour to chat and hear him play.
Catch it on RTE Radio 1 at 5pm on Christmas Day.ONE MORE YEAR: It’s always nice at this time of year to be reminded of the fun that Georgie and I had writing and recording this song back in 2017.
Finally…
One day to go Jacob…
Till next time - Kieran.
