"I was ridin' with O' Hanlon in those wild and heady days - when he fell off the wagon onto his pagan ways. We rambled up and down the street to where we'd come to be. We sang our song and beat our drum in the State of Tennessee. I was ridin' with O'Hanlon..."
Those are lyrics by American singer-songwriter RB Morris from a track on his 1997 album 'Take That Ride'. 'Ridin' With O' Hanlon' recounted his experiences in Nashville and beyond as he collaborated with Strabane musician Peter O' Hanlon. The need to immortalise those 'heady days' into verse and song merely encourages the mind's eye to attempt to visualise those days in Tennessee. Yet, they are just one chapter of the many in the life of Strabane's very own Peter O'Hanlon.
Originally from the St. Colman's Drive area of Strabane, Peter cites the late great Rory Gallagher as a major influence on him as a musician. At the age of 13 he saw Gallagher perform in the Guildhall in Derry. It was that gig, Peter believes, that set him off on his own journey into the world of rock n' roll.
A year later, Peter found himself playing guitar for local dancehall act Double Vision. Reflecting on those days he says, "It was a great experience. Those were early days for me but not so much for the dancehall era. The showband era was dying and the dancehall nights grew less frequent as more and more lounge bars began to open. Yet I still loved those days playing with the likes of Double Vision, Frankie McBride and Pat McGeehan."
As the Showband era came to a close, Irish music was to be taken in a new direction and led by the musicians who 'cut their teeth' on the Showband circuit. Rory Gallagher was one such musician leading the charge. In 1978, Peter found himself on the road with the legendary guitarist as a support act on his Christmas tour. Around this period Peter was also forging a friendship with Thin Lizzy front man Phil Lynott. In 1980, Peter along with Phil and Terry Woods, who would later become a member of The Pogues, recorded a single called "Tennessee Stud".
Peter has some great memories of Phil. One incident he looks back on with great humour was the night Phil and he went to the Baggott Inn in Dublin to watch Brush Shiels perform. "Brush was just starting into 'Whiskey In The Jar'," Peter recalls, "and Phil leaped up off the chair, sneaked his way onto the stage and crept up behind Brush. Brush had his eyes closed and when he heard the screams of the crowd he assumed they were aimed at him. It made him 'feel' the song even more. Then, just as he was about to sing, Phil ran to the mic and started singing himself. Brush opened his eyes to realise that the crowd were indeed going mad for a guy on the stage…but not necessarily him!"
As a lead guitarist, Peter has continually found himself in major demand. Along with working with the likes of Irish folk group De Dannan, Shana Morrison (daughter of Van), Dolores Keane and her brother Sean Keane and touring heavily in Canada and Nashville, he has both recorded and performed with 'Van the Man' himself. Peter played on Morrison's 1997 album 'The Healing Game', which many regard as Morrison's finest album of that decade. He also performed with Morrison at the City Hall in Belfast in 1995 as part of the events celebrating President Clinton's visit to the City.
In 1999, Peter released a solo album called 'Trick of Time'. Yet having the opportunity to invest his time on solo projects has been difficult down through the years. "I've been writing my own songs since I was 13," he stresses, "but playing guitar has continually side-tracked me into working for other people. There just hasn't been the time to focus on my own stuff. Perhaps I say 'yes' too much," he jokes.
Yet it seems that Peter has finally found a balance between working with other people and working on his own material. "I've been taking my own stuff out live and seeing how it works with a live audience," he enthuses. "It always helps to see the reaction from the crowd." He has also been collaborating and playing live with ex-Energy Orchard frontman Bap Kennedy.
Peter is very optimistic about the music scene in Strabane at the moment. "One of the things that is really positive in at the minute", he states, "is that young people are writing and performing their own material and having a blast doing it. Even though I've been writing my own stuff since I was 13, I can recall in the early days getting strange looks if you even suggested that you were going to play something you wrote yourself. It's almost the opposite now."
One of our most well travelled musical sons returns to the local stage on Monday November 5 at the All Stars Bar, Strabane, for what promises to be an unforgettable night.
Those are lyrics by American singer-songwriter RB Morris from a track on his 1997 album 'Take That Ride'. 'Ridin' With O' Hanlon' recounted his experiences in Nashville and beyond as he collaborated with Strabane musician Peter O' Hanlon. The need to immortalise those 'heady days' into verse and song merely encourages the mind's eye to attempt to visualise those days in Tennessee. Yet, they are just one chapter of the many in the life of Strabane's very own Peter O'Hanlon.
Originally from the St. Colman's Drive area of Strabane, Peter cites the late great Rory Gallagher as a major influence on him as a musician. At the age of 13 he saw Gallagher perform in the Guildhall in Derry. It was that gig, Peter believes, that set him off on his own journey into the world of rock n' roll.
A year later, Peter found himself playing guitar for local dancehall act Double Vision. Reflecting on those days he says, "It was a great experience. Those were early days for me but not so much for the dancehall era. The showband era was dying and the dancehall nights grew less frequent as more and more lounge bars began to open. Yet I still loved those days playing with the likes of Double Vision, Frankie McBride and Pat McGeehan."
As the Showband era came to a close, Irish music was to be taken in a new direction and led by the musicians who 'cut their teeth' on the Showband circuit. Rory Gallagher was one such musician leading the charge. In 1978, Peter found himself on the road with the legendary guitarist as a support act on his Christmas tour. Around this period Peter was also forging a friendship with Thin Lizzy front man Phil Lynott. In 1980, Peter along with Phil and Terry Woods, who would later become a member of The Pogues, recorded a single called "Tennessee Stud".
Peter has some great memories of Phil. One incident he looks back on with great humour was the night Phil and he went to the Baggott Inn in Dublin to watch Brush Shiels perform. "Brush was just starting into 'Whiskey In The Jar'," Peter recalls, "and Phil leaped up off the chair, sneaked his way onto the stage and crept up behind Brush. Brush had his eyes closed and when he heard the screams of the crowd he assumed they were aimed at him. It made him 'feel' the song even more. Then, just as he was about to sing, Phil ran to the mic and started singing himself. Brush opened his eyes to realise that the crowd were indeed going mad for a guy on the stage…but not necessarily him!"
As a lead guitarist, Peter has continually found himself in major demand. Along with working with the likes of Irish folk group De Dannan, Shana Morrison (daughter of Van), Dolores Keane and her brother Sean Keane and touring heavily in Canada and Nashville, he has both recorded and performed with 'Van the Man' himself. Peter played on Morrison's 1997 album 'The Healing Game', which many regard as Morrison's finest album of that decade. He also performed with Morrison at the City Hall in Belfast in 1995 as part of the events celebrating President Clinton's visit to the City.
In 1999, Peter released a solo album called 'Trick of Time'. Yet having the opportunity to invest his time on solo projects has been difficult down through the years. "I've been writing my own songs since I was 13," he stresses, "but playing guitar has continually side-tracked me into working for other people. There just hasn't been the time to focus on my own stuff. Perhaps I say 'yes' too much," he jokes.
Yet it seems that Peter has finally found a balance between working with other people and working on his own material. "I've been taking my own stuff out live and seeing how it works with a live audience," he enthuses. "It always helps to see the reaction from the crowd." He has also been collaborating and playing live with ex-Energy Orchard frontman Bap Kennedy.
Peter is very optimistic about the music scene in Strabane at the moment. "One of the things that is really positive in at the minute", he states, "is that young people are writing and performing their own material and having a blast doing it. Even though I've been writing my own stuff since I was 13, I can recall in the early days getting strange looks if you even suggested that you were going to play something you wrote yourself. It's almost the opposite now."
One of our most well travelled musical sons returns to the local stage on Monday November 5 at the All Stars Bar, Strabane, for what promises to be an unforgettable night.
http://www.strabaneunplugged.co.uk/
1 comment:
Hey there,
Just want to say hello to Pete (my ex-hubby) and all the great folks in Strabane. Anyone have an e-mail address for the fella?
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