Musical extravaganza in aid of Midlands Simon

A night in aid of Midlands Simon, which will display the talents of some of Athlone’s top musicians will take place on Monday, October 17, at the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.

The night will see special guest star, TR Dallas headline local musicians as part of a tribute to Athlone crooner, Joe Flynn who will have his latest album launched by former Minister, and best-selling author, Mary O’Rourke. The music night will include a celebration of Joe’s 65 years in professional music.

Joe has called his new album, his “ultimate one,”, and it features 18 tracks, with the title track being 'Where The River Shannon Flows,’. His most recent album, recorded in 2011, was entitled, 'Looking Back’.

“Over the past five years, I’ve been planning this album, and it’s a compilation of different types of songs, some not necessarily compatible with my age,” said Joe, who is now 84. “Songs like 'Let’s Think About Living’ a pop type of song, and Kris Kristofferson’s 'Sunday Morning’ feature. Also the old favourites like 'Maggie’, which was once recorded by our own Foster and Allen, and 'Moonlight and Roses’, and I’ve included my recording of 'The Tumble Down Shack in Athlone,’ which I did with some Athlone friends from the OWLS charity, some of which are sadly no longer with us. Many artists recorded that song, including my old schoolfriend, Louis Browne from Athlone, who went on to great things as a tenor.”

In 1989, Joe recorded an album on the Harmac label, and one of the tracks he recorded then was – 'New Moon Over My Shoulder’.

“I’m featuring 'New Moon’ again, because it was considered a great favourite at the time,” said Joe.

He also features a song, 'Bridle Hanging on the Wall,” which was first released in 1936, eighty years ago this year, by an early US country star, Carson Robison.

“I was only five or six years old, when I heard the Bridle song playing on an old 78 record on the wind up gramophone in our house,” said Joe.

Joe decided to have Midlands Simon benefit from the night of his CD launch. The Athlone charity will receive the takings from the door, and also the raffle takings on the night of October 17th, 2016.

“I knew Simon were doing a lot of good work all over the country, and also in Athlone, so I decided for Midlands Simon to benefit, and then I went about building a show around it all,” said Joe.

The MC for the night will be legendary midlands musician and broadcaster, Ricey Scully, and the producer of the show will be Ray O’Reilly, the well-known DJ.
The Midlands Simon Community charity music night will begin at 8pm sharp at the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone on October 17 next