I received this stuff in an email from Fintan Vallely and I thought I should pass it on. I hope this is the right place to post it and all formatting faults are mine



Singing the Walls
A tribute to Eddie Butcher

Featuring Brian Mullen (BBC radio Foyle), Len Graham & John Campbell, Rosie Stewart, Chris Myles and Peta Webb. at The Great Hall, Magee College, Northland Rd., Derry. Monday 7th October, 2002. 9.00pm. Admission £5, concessions £4.

Part of The Gathering festival.

An acoustic concert of Traditional song in honour of singer Eddie Butcher of Magilligan. Host Brian Mullen of BBC Foyle recalls this legendary performer's repertoire in words and music, and introduces contemporary singers who carried his and others' melodies and lyrics from the early 1900s into the new century .

Eddie Butcher (1900-80) lived a tough but simple life as a farm labourer and road worker at Aughil townland. He and his three brothers were all singers – "from a singing family in a singing locality" as Portrush song collector John Moulden puts it. He had a hundred- odd pieces, some of them composed by himself, others partly constructed by him. He was "a robust singer, accented in the almost Scottish way of North Derry", with a subtle dramatic delivery. Well documented in his life time by Hugh Shields of Trinity College Dublin, he became popular during the 1960s through radio broadcasts, an iconic album, and the early Traditional music revival scene. Andy Irvine of the group Planxty, Paul Brady, Len Graham, and Dubliner Frank Harte were among those who learnt some of their most iconic songs at his fireside. (P)

Len Graham of Glenarm, Co. Antrim picked up his art from his parents in an intense home environment of singing and music, his selection of Ulster pieces later being picked up by others all over the island.

Rosie Stewart from Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh, grew up in an locality rich in song, began singing since she was a child, heavily influenced by her father's style.

Chris Myles of Kirkaldy, Scotland, has the powerful articulation and projection of the Lowlands, singing the 'big' ancient ballads and modern Traditional-style compositions. Peta Webb has a wonderful street-singer style and subtle finesse in pitch and dynamics, a repertoire influenced by Irish immigrants to her native London, by the great English ballads and by the American Old Time tradition. Brian Mullen has not only absorbed much of Eddie Butcher's style, but has a repertoire developed out of Donegal Gaelic tradition, East-coast United States migrated lyrics, and English-language Ulster song.

Together they present a panorama of the shades of voice that make up these islands' onetime most popular artistic expression. It demonstrates distinctive accents and styles, shared and inter-borrowed melodies, and locally composed, adopted and adapted lyrics, all of which comprise the body of English-language, Traditional singing in Ulster today.

The concert is the first in a programme of Traditional music performance and discussion events to be run by the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster.

Director of the series is lecturer and researcher Fintan Vallely Email - f.vallely@ulster.ac.uk www.arts.ulster.ac.uk/academy/ Tel: 028 7137 5304 fax 028 7137 5435 Mobile 0796 651 5154