root salad f22 The Mighty Doonans
Continuing the good time north eastern electric folk tradition of the likes of Hedgehog Pie, says Simon Jones.
“M
y daughter Frances lives in Andorra and Stu in France so we had to give this some consideration,
but everyone was committed. The icing on the cake came when our old mate Ian Fairbairn – also ex Hedgehog – agreed to join us. He’d been involved in various groups in Leeds where he lives, but when our offer came he wasn’t in a recognised band.
“Knowing each other for so long there are no great egos getting in the way, we focus on the band’s strengths. Rosie and Ben have voices that gel, we naturally base some material around them and they write so well too. Stu does much of the arranging of our songs, the philosophy’s quite simple, we have to feel comfortable with a number.”
A tempting promo was placed on the web which promised much. Live, they finally nailed the perfect blend as part of a bill assembled at Sage Gateshead by Kathryn Tickell. The eponymous album came out on Silvertop late last year, a mix of Irish core industrial songs, Rosie’s com- positions and Ray Davies!
“M
y great, great grand- parents were forced to move from Donegal because of the Great
Famine so Irish music has been passed down through the generations. My grandfather was a fiddle player and my Dad, John Doonan, played flute and piccolo and went on to become All Ireland Champion.”
Mick Doonan – legendary northern
piper – is in rewind. We’re investigating family history here.
“Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s I was drawn to rock and soul. Phil Murray and I were mates and we formed The King Bees. Phil was from Irish stock too and with the folk revival going strong we were inevitably drawn in, so we formed the first line-up of Hedgehog Pie with Phil’s brother Jim on guitar and my brother Kevin on fiddle.”
Ah, Hedgehog Pie… folk rock from the north east; support to the likes of Richard & Linda Thompson and John Mar- tyn; three albums and an EP crackling with creative energy. Former members did how- ever ensure some kind of legacy, issuing Live in 2003. There was also an under-the- radar return to the stage in 2010, but to all intents and purposes, Hedgehog Pie gen- tly passed in the early ’80s.
The focus then shifted to an acoustic approach and Mick drifted into The Doo-
nan Family Band, aka The Doonans, supple - menting his kith and kin with a selection of ex-Hedgehogs. Irish music and dance with a hefty dose of humour ensured they were a popular live draw. Albums reflected their good time approach.
“Having a bit of a laugh is always key, that is something my Dad instilled in us. it just becomes more natural between a bunch of mates. The important thing for us all is that we work with people we know and trust. The group has become one big family really; we’ve known each other since we were kids. Our children all grew up in a musical environment and got on like a house on fire. Obviously the kids were encouraged when growing to get involved with music.”
Doonans The Next Generation count amongst their number Rosie, with solo career under full steam; Fran equally adept at step dancing or blowing a mean saxophone; Ben Murray, he of Tarras and sidesman to Peter Gabriel; plus drummer Jamie Luckley who’d somehow drifted off into a life devoted to soccer!
By 2011 the line-up of The Doonan Family was a Hedgehog reunion in every- thing but name, with ex-Pie bassist Stu Luckley having signed up some years before. A passion for rock’n’reel bubbled away and everybody felt the same. How- ever geography was problematic.
Mick puts it in perspective, “Given our socialist leanings it should be no great sur- prise that we chose songs from people who cast a weather eye over things: Ewan MacColl, Ed Pickford, Cyril Tawney. We adapt trad things like Step It Out Mary and Banks Of The Nile where I think Ben and Rosie do a great job. It was Stu who came up with the idea of doing the Kinks’ Dead End Street as a song of social comment, he’s right though.”
Ed Pickford’s rarely been done better
service. Johnny Miner which closes the album is epic at six minutes, building from a soft atmospheric to rampaging anger, charting the decline of the coalfields. The listener is left in a stunned moment con- templating the appropriate arrangement and bitter lyric.
Too often overlooked, the electric folk scene of the north east was characterised by a good-time, rough-hewn, decidedly gritty, down-to-earth approach – remem- ber at their finest the likes of Lindisfarne, Jack The Lad and Hedgehog Pie. The Mighty Doonans are a link, keeping that original fire burning whilst handing on the inspiration and spirit.
“We are all loving playing and bring- ing the music to attention,” Mick consid- ers. “The band is generating a huge amount of interest and we’ve lots of places to play in 2013. We’ll just go with the flow and see how things turn out.”
www.thedoonanfamily.co.uk F
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