World renowned musicians The Elders make their 13th annual trip home to Ireland from their base in the USA from October 15-25. The band will travel around Ireland with a group of up to 80 of their fans from the USA. On their Irish tour they will play in the Arklow Bay Hotel, on October 22 at 8pm, with guests Fran Harper, The Penston Vocal Academy and Eimear Harper.
“This will be our 13th bus tour of Ireland,” said Ian Byrne. “We always bring two busloads of people with us from all over the US and Canada. We have always included Arklow on these tours. I grew up in White Bridge and the Meetings Avoca. Arklow has always been my home! I get great satisfaction showing off our town to all of my American friends and hopefully helping the struggling economy a little. The feedback from our guests is always very positive for the couple of days we spend in Arklow. I thank all of Arklow for that!”
All proceeds on the night will be divided between the Lavander Ward in St Coleman’s Hospital, Rathdrum who took great care of Ian’s mother during her illness and the recently formed committee of Arklow Music and Arts who are trying to get a badly needed theatre in Arklow. Tickets are €10 each and are available from Julie New, Kustom Kids on Lower Main Street, Kavanaghs’s on the Wexford road and the Arklow Bay Hotel.
The band is made up of the following:
Ian Byrne – Vocals, percussion and whistle
Steve Philips – Vocals, guitar and mandolin
Brent Hoad – Vocals, keyboards, fiddle and guitar
Norm Dahlor – Vocals, bass, guitar, guitar and banjo
Kian Byrne – Drums, bass and mandolin
Diana Ladio – Fiddle player
The Elders have headlined major Celtic festivals in North America and Europe and for the past number of years headlined the Milwaukee Irish Festival in America, performing in front of up to 5,000 fans. On their Irish tour they will take in Westport, Co Mayo, Achill Island, Connemara, Limerick, Killarney, Cobh, New Ross, Dublin and of course Arklow, Co Wicklow. A lot of people might be familiar with Regent Street, the band who were based in Avoca and were huge in the 80s, featuring Ian Byrne, who is lead singer with the group, growing up in Avoca and now residing in the USA. They will visit historical and geographical sights during the day and at night time have a few pints and there will be a performance by the band nightly at the venues. This is a must to support two wonderful groups and support one of our own from the Garden County, who have been great ambassadors for Ireland over the years. Their music is a combination of Americano & Celtic, folk rock and infectious.
