'Further down the road'

Colin Henry's second instalment of the touring experiences of Ferguson, Holmes, & Henry:

From the Red Room of Sharon and Arnie we headed west to Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, for a gig at the Abbey Theatre. It was a wet and windy evening and we were fearful that people would be reluctant to come out. In the end we got a reasonable crowd and had a good night. The theatre itself was a delightful space with a good sound system and sound man. I would recommend this venue to any other musicians. I don't think I mentioned in the last post that for the first time our two youngest children [left] are with us on the tour all the way. So far all has gone well and they have been roped in for 'roadie' duty. Olivia (aged 8) has turned out to be the perfect saleswoman for the CDs, totally irresistible as she 'confronts' the unsuspecting audience member!

After Ballyshannon we were meant to have a gig in Tullamore, but - such are the hazards of the touring musician - we arrived to find that they had forgotten we had been booked and had another artist for the evening. We cut our losses and headed straight down to Durrus in Co. Cork. We had decided, like last year, to record some music and we chose 'Ocean West' recording studio which is attached to Carbery Cottage B&B. A beautiful spot to stay and record. The hospitality of Mike and Julia who own the place was mighty; in fact as I write this I have just had a wonderful home-made Irish beefburger, but I am sworn to secrecy about the secret ingredients that they use. When we arrived and had settled in we were invited to the local pub, 'The Tin Bar', where we gave the local customers a taste of our music [below].

Needless to say they had not encountered too many dobros before - the old 'hound dog' is always a conversation piece if nothing else.

I must say we could stay here in Cork forever, but we move on tomorrow to Listowel in Co. Kerry. Hope to meet some of you along the way.