Two giants of Irish music, accordion supremo Liam O’Connor and acclaimed country singer Mike Denver, have joined forces for an uplifting new recording to be released next week.
The Story I’ll Tell You is True was written by the late John Joe Reidy who died, tragically, several years ago, at the age of 39.
The record is a true multi-county project as O’Connor lives in Killarney, Denver is from Portumna in Co Galway, John Joe Reidy hailed from Newmarket, Co Cork and the record was produced by Peter Maher in Middle Walk Studios, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
Liam remarked: “I’ve always wanted to record John Joe’s song as he was a friend of mine and a fine singer and piano accordion player”.
He previously worked with Mike Denver over a decade ago when they released The Day of My Return and the track viewed over a million times online do he didn’t hesitate to invite the Galway man to link up with him once again.
Mike and Liam use their combined talents to give The Story I’ll Tell You is True an appealing waltz-time lilt, with Reidy’s lyrics depicting precious memories of an Ireland not long gone but dearly missed.
The full line-up of musicians on the recording included Liam O’Connor (accordion), Mike Denver (vocals), Tony O’Flaherty (piano), Gareth Lowry (drums), Peter Maher (bass and keyboards), Frankie Colohan (acoustic guitar and backing vocals), Michelle Lally (backing vocals),Niall Murphy (fiddle) and Tony Fitzgibbon (mandolin).
Killarney-based Liam O’Connor was born into a musical family in Newmarket, Co Cork. At the age of 10 he joined the family’s band and while still young, he won the Beamish & Crawford award for best all-around musician from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and was named an All-Ireland champion.
His artistry on the accordion has since taken him all over the world, from Electric Picnic to the Sydney Opera House ,and along the way he has teamed up with a diverse range of collaborators, including Moya Brennan from Clannad, Boy George, Michael Flatley, Maureen O’Hara, Christy Dignam, Brian Kennedy, the RTE Concert Orchestra, Danny O’Reilly of The Coronas, Paddy Casey and Mike Denver.
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