THE line-up for the third annual Celebration of Christie Hennessy has been finalised and it features an exciting range of well-known, top quality musicians who will perform to audiences at the Carlton Hotel Tralee this weekend 18-20 October – and it’s all free!
Among the special guests for the weekend event, on Saturday 19 October, will be Christie’s son Tim, his daughter Hermoine and TV Celebrity, Aonghus McAnally, who is thrilled to be returning to Tralee to be part of the Christie Hennessy Celebration.
“I will never forget performing my show ‘When Jolie met Christie’ at Siamsa Tíre Theatre as part of the Irish tour, to play Christie on stage in front of his home crowd, his brother and all those who loved him, and to receive a standing ovation for his life and music is one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I am honoured to be asked to be Special Guest on Oct 19th and the extra ordinary bonus of performing with Hermione and Tim will be amazing. I look forward to the night with eager anticipation,” said Aonghus.
The IMRO Final of the Songwriters/Performers Competition on Saturday 19 October, sponsored by Tralee Chamber Alliance, will be one of the highlights of the Festival which is fast becoming one of the main events on the Irish Music calendar.
A day earlier, on Friday 18 October, the Celebration of Christie Hennessy will open with the Troubador Club where nine up-and-coming acts will perform three of their own songs. The acts featured will be Chapter 2, Sumdaze, Ian O’Doherty, Dermot Kelly, Like a Fire, Mark Leen, John Buggy, Pam & Joe O’Connor.
Admission to the Troubadour Club on Friday night is free, so connoisseurs of great music will have no excuse for not coming along enjoy the show which gets underway at 8pm in the Carlton Hotel.
Special guest at the Troubadour Club, Mickey Harte, who will lead a number of singer-songwriter workshops throughout the weekend has only great praise for Christie Hennessy: “As a young Irish singer and musician with aspirations to write good songs it was impossible for me not to be aware of and impressed by the songs of Christie Hennessy. ‘Don’t Forget Your Shovel’, sung by Christy Moore, was first on most of our radars, from then on his songs came to me through various avenues, sometimes from his own recordings and a lot of the time from others interpretations. It was later on that I had the opportunity to get closer to Christie’s songs and it was only then that I fully appreciated the genius of the man.”
The Celebration of Christie Hennessy will run from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 October at the Carlton Hotel and admission to all events is FREE, while pre-booking is required to attend the workshops (marketing@tralee.ie).
