John Sheahan, the fiddle player who toured the world with legendary folk band The Dubliners for almost 50 years, has written a book of poems recalling some of his favourite memories.
Speaking to RTÉ TEN Sheahan revealed that Fiddle Dreams is a collection of poems and lyrics reflecting his memories with Ronnie, Luke and Barney.
The poem, The Long Note, recalls the manner in which Luke Kelly would play with the possibilities of a song’s delivery, keeping the musicians on their toes.
"Stretching a note beyond the bar line,/’Til you left us dangling at a cliff edge."
Sheahan recalls “He’d stretch out a note at the end of a line, create a certain amount of tension, leave you worried that he wasn’t going to catch up on the rhythm on the next line.
"But he always somehow did.”
The fiddle-player was a member of the Dubliners between 1964 and 2012, touring the world and playing prestigious venues for fans of every description.
He also revealed that when he joined the group he didn't drink alcohol - a rare stance at the time for any member of a folk band- and remained a teetotaller for about five or six years thereafter. “Then I got curious and I started having the odd glass of wine. Happily I kept it in moderation"
Fiddle Dreams is out in all good bookstores now.
Read the full interview here
