On Union Quay, in Cork, there are four bars in a row. No houses in between, no shops. Just the bars on the river. Two are venues of international status. The Lobby is one (currently closed when last I heard, some kind of management problem). The other is Charlie's. The Lobby is(was) big, sessions downstairs,free, all the acts you've ever heard of upstairs, pay to go in. Next door, Charlie's, is not like that at all. A good old one room bar, where you will meet the characters of the city, and the world. And every Monday, pretty nearly solid for the last ten years(the odd tour permitting) you get to hear serious musical legends, Hank Wedel and Ray Barron. Hank Wedel is one of those laid back Californian Irishmen(or laidback Irish Californians) who blew into Cork and stayed. Ray barron blew in to Cork from Waterford twentyish years ago and likewise stayed. Hank knows every song written since 1960 and a few trad ones as well. Ray Barron's mandoline is rightfully an international legend. So if it's a bit of Bill Monroe, some Eagles, or the lads giving the lash to Chuck Berry, you receive a musical education and an amazing Irish experience when you cram into Chalie's on a Monday night and experience the heaven of a slight Murphy's overdose.
    And, amazingly, the rumour is you're going to experience this in the White Lion in Swinton. Because Ray Barron, the aforsesaid mandoline player, is also an occasional agent for the likes of Andy Irvine and the Boat Band. And the Boat Band, ever grateful for the fantastic tours Ray has set up for them in Ireland, are reciprocating, and have lined up the amazing White Lion in Swinton to host Ray and Hank for an evening. Forget all that Dublin stuff which we are well used to. Experience that auhentic laid-back cosmopolitan ambience of Cork in sunny Swinton. You knpw it makes sense.