Two of Ireland’s finest singer songwriters share the bill for this exceptional lunchtime concert. West Cork man Donagh Long has been regarded as one of our most gifted singer songwriters. He comes to Drimoleague to share a bill with Mick Hanly. Donagh grew up in Cork city surrounded by song and his early musical outings were playing classical guitar before the call of more immediate and culturally resonant contemporary music took hold. He wrote his first dong at 16 and never looked back. His most famous song “Never Be The Sun” is one of those instant classics embraced by singers and listeners alike from its very first performance.
Mick Hanly has long been a towering presence on the Irish music scene. Like his Limerick compatriot, the late and much lamented Johny Duhan, Mick was inspired by the sixties music scene and toured with Micheal O Domhnaill supporting a Planxty tour. Later he recorded two acclaimed solo albums for the Mulligan label with Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Declan Sinnott – “A Kiss in The Morning Early” and “As I Went Over Blackwater”. He then toured Ireland and Europe with Andy Irvine, who had recently left Planxty. In 1981, Hanly joined Moving Hearts as a vocalist, and contributed his own songs to the album “Live Hearts”.
His album All I Remember spawned the song Past the Point of Rescue, which was a huge hit in the US for country singer Hal Ketchum. The song received the BMI award for Two Million Radio plays in the US.