MacD on Music: Derry Folk Tales

Derry has always been a town of great opportunity for budding musicians.

Both Bennigan’s and The Grand Central host weekly Open Mic Nights (Mondays and Wednesday’s, respectively) and places like the Nerve Centre offer opportunities for up-and-coming artists to practice their craft.

As well as these, Tinney’s plays host to the Foyle Folk Club, which brings together talent both old and new, and is back now, after almost three years, thanks to…unforeseen circumstances. This week I’m talking to Martin Sweeney, founder of the club and member of Ventura Highway. We met in Tinney’s, appropriately enough, and discussed, among other things, the origins of the Foyle Folk Club and it’s triumphant return a few weeks ago.

Talking about how it initially came together, Martin tells me: “It was started in 2015 and it was Sean McTaggart and me that had the idea.

"Sean teaches music and some of the people he teaches, he said they’re absolutely brilliant and there’s no platform for them to play. What we wanted to do was create somewhere where young musicians could get a chance to play out, but we knew that wouldn’t attract an audience, so what we decided was to try it out as a trial, one night.

"We would have an established artist, and then we would have ourselves playing, maybe somebody else who’d been playing for a while, and then the young, up and coming stars of tomorrow.

"That’s what we did for the first one, and it was a great night’s craic. We had a great turnout at it. We called it the Foyle Folk Club, but we never did any publicity for it, so then I started advertising the second one on Facebook.“

From there, it took off, with artists such as Paddy Nash and Eamon Friel taking part, the later actually (unknowingly) playing his last concert there, with the launch of his final album, ‘Atlantic Light’. 

During our chat, Martin told me about the number of emails and messages he gets from people wanting to take part. He told me that “Anybody who gets in contact will get playing”.

It may not always be at the next event, but they it will definitely happen. This is just one of the many things that makes the Foyle Folk Club a wonderful resource for artists. Another key part of the Club is the fact that every performance is recorded. For a lot of young artists, this may be the first recording they’ve got of themselves playing live, and each performance is posted on Facebook after the event.

A few years into their tenure, Sean bowed out of the Foyle Folk Club due to other commitments, and was replaced by Kieran Duffy. Prior to certain events that shall not be mentioned, the last FFC gig was in December 2019 (how long ago that feels). The next one was supposed to be in February 2020, but by this stage there were rumblings of what was to come, and it was decided to cancel the show, just to be on the safe side.

That temporary delay soon turned into three long years, until the 21st October this year, when the Foyle Folk Club came back with a vengeance. Boasting a lineup that included Acoustic Vibes, Jordan Curley and, in the headliner slot, Pat Gallagher, of Goats Don’t Shave, the gig was a huge success, and is the first of many more to come. With no shortage of artists lined up looking to take part, the Foyle Folk Club looks to be going from strength to strength.

Over the years, a number of well known names have played that upstairs room in Tinney’s, including the Hutton Sisters, the Henry Girls and (as previously mentioned) the late Eamon Friel. Eamon was a beloved part of the Derry music scene for many years, and his tragic death came as a shock to everyone.

Martin, however, has plans to help keep his memory alive. He tells me he is planning on holding an singer/songwriter completion in his name, something which he has spoken to the family about, and which will hopefully help to boost the careers of some of the town’s best new talent.

This is just one of the ways that the Foyle Folk Club gives back to the community. Another is the charity nights that, Martin says, they try to do at least once a year. Next month sees the return of the club’s annual Christmas show, which is always a great night out, and is sure to feature some of the best talent this town has to offer.

After three years away, it’s sure to be a gig to remember. The new year will also see the return of the Henry Girls to the Foyle Folk Club.

Dates for both of these shows will be announced on the official Facebook page, which also features videos of all the performers. 

Now, onto other business. The Barbiturates new single ‘Pollitricks’/‘Timex’ is out now. It can be found on the groups’ official Bandcamp page.

This week also sees the release of Tramp’s much anticipated new single, ‘Snakes & Rabbits’ this Friday. 

Both The Barbiturates and Tramp can be found on Instagram @the_barbiturates and @thisistramp, respectively.