Book description
With a Fenian fiddle in one ear and an Orange drum in the other',
singer Tommy Sands was reared in the foothills of the Mourne
mountains, where he still lives. As a child, he was immersed in folk
music - his father played the fiddle, his mother the accordion. The
kitchen was where Protestant and Catholic farmers alike would gather
for songs and storytelling at the end of a day's harvesting. During
the sixties and seventies Tommy was chief songwriter for The Sands
Family, who played wherever they were welcome, from local wakes and
weddings to New York's Carnegie Hall; his songs have been recorded by
Joan Baez, Dolores Keane, Dick Gaughan and The Dubliners. He tells of
his family's traditional way of life; of the turbulent days of the
civil rights movement; The Bothy Band brawling in Brittany; encounters
with Alan Stivell, Mary O'Hara and Pete Seeger; Ian Paisley on his
radio show Country Céilí; and a 'defining moment' during the Good
Friday Agreement talks, when he organized an impromptu performance
with children and Lambeg drummers. The Songman is a memoir replete
with warmth and wit. 'Tommy Sands' words fairly 'freewheel down the
hill' but they also have a great zest to 'sow the seeds of justice'.
You feel you can trust the singer as well as the song.' - Seamus
Heaney 'Tommy Sands has achieved that difficult but wonderful balance
between knowing and loving the traditions of his home as well as being
concerned with the future of the whole world.' - Pete Seeger
'With a Fenian fiddle in one ear and an Orange drum in the other',
singer Tommy Sands was reared in the foothills of the Mourne mountains,
where he still lives. As a child, he was immersed in folk music - his
father played the fiddle, his mother the accordion. The kitchen was
where Protestant and Catholic farmers alike would gather for songs and
storytelling at the end of a day's harvesting. During the sixties and
seventies Tommy was chief songwriter for The Sands Family, who played
wherever they were welcome, from local wakes and weddings to New York's
Carnegie Hall; his songs have been recorded by Joan Baez, Dolores Keane,
Dick Gaughan and The Dubliners. He tells of his family's traditional way
of life; of the turbulent days of the civil rights movement; The Bothy
Band brawling in Brittany; encounters with Alan Stivell, Mary O'Hara and
Pete Seeger; Ian Paisley on his radio show Country Céilí; and a
'defining moment' during the Good Friday Agreement talks, when he
organized an impromptu performance with children and Lambeg drummers.
