Irish musicians in Argentina

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bill Nevins talks with Black 47's Larry Kirwan about Politics, Beer, and Sex

Irish playwright and musician Larry Kirwan walked into a Lower Manhattan
dive, Paddy Reilly's, one night in 1989 and founded Black 47 over many
rounds of Guiness shared with NY beat-cop and uileann piper Chris Byrne.
They hit upon the concept of mixing Irish traditional music with rock, rap
and reggae and blending in a political edge and realistic street-smart
narrative lyrics. At first, Black 47 got a hostile reception from the NY
Irish music scene. But over time, with grit and perseverance, they caught
on. Black 47 has always been very open about their radical politics, but it
is counterbalanced by their very funny, boozy wit. The rest is history,
written large from bar to bar along the East Coast, in Ireland and even as
far off as Argentina. Their fans follow them from city to city, like
politically-astute Deadheads. And their gigs as house band for Connolly's
Pub on 47th Street in Manhattan are always packed, with delirious fans
bouncing around inches from the stage and shouting out the lyrics. Their
latest CD is Trouble in the Land (Shanachie). Larry Kirwan, a native of
Wexford on the southeast coast of Ireland, writes the songs of Black 47 and
he has recently recorded a solo album, Kilroy Was Here.

Bill Nevins talked with Larry Kirwan in November, 2000.

Bill Nevins: Black 47 has always been associated with the East Coast,
especially New York City. They've been called, "the house band of New
York". They've also played in Ireland, which makes sense given your Irish
roots. But this past October, Black 47 toured Argentina. What's up? Are you
getting restless? Why Argentina? And, since you are touring widely, when
will you play in the Southwest USA?

Larry Kirwan: Black 47 is eternally restless. We would love to play
everywhere. Unfortunately or fortunately, we are a working class band--we
live from the money we earn from playing. As we don't receive record
company support, each gig must be costed before we play it to make sure
that everyone gets paid and that we don't incur a loss which could put us
under, financially. This is a total pain in the arse, but it's necessary
for survival.

As it turns out, the Argentine promoters who invited us were able to pay
for flights and hotel rooms and pay enough money to satisfy everyone's
needs, so we were able to go. That's how we decide where we will play. It's
a very tricky situation, as any musician will attest to. But it is the
reality, so adapt or go back to playing in your garage!

Playing in Argentina was wonderful. A whole new audience and a whole new
situation to get used to.

Eventually, something will break so that we can play in the Southwest, but
for now . . . it's just keep on working to pay the bills! Been like that
for ten years now, and we really don't mind. It is a good job!

More than any other American band, Black 47 is strongly associated with the
struggle for human rights and political-social justice. Given Argentina's
grim recent history of right wing repression, the ongoing "Mothers of the
Disappeared" protests against military kidnappings and murders, and
Argentina's role as the birthplace of Cuban Revolution hero Dr. Ernesto Che
Guevara y Lynch, what ramifications are there in Black 47 going there now?

Well, it was an "interesting" situation. For one thing, it was unusual. We
did not know the political affiliations of the promoters before going
there--mostly because of the language barrier. To our shame, none of us
speaks fluent Spanish. Of course, when we got there it was quite obvious
that the former members of the Junta had not invited us!

I knew that there had been a sizeable emigration from Ireland to Argentina
in the late 19th and early 20th century--many of whom were from my own home
county, Wexford. In an anthropological way, I was deeply interested to find
out how these fourth and fifth generation Irish people had made out. I was
very moved by the greeting that was given to us. Many there already knew
about Black 47, which was quite stunning to me. They tend to keep abreast
of what is going on in Irish circles--not merely the big success stories
like U2 or Sinead O'Connor--the usual suspects, as it were--but in people
like us who have made an impact or contribution to Irish
culture--especially as it related to the Irish Diaspora.

Still and all, Argentina is a country walking on egg shells because of the
continuing influence and strength of the military and the disappearances.
Because the people have dealt with it--not entirely different from my
experiences of the Czech and Soviet peoples right before the Wall came down.

It's a very interesting culture--very sophisticated and yet one that will,
no doubt, experience great growth when the military shackles are finally
totally lifted. For me, it was a great personal experience. My father was a
merchant seaman and Argentina was almost his second home for many years. He
badly wanted me to go there and experience the warmth of the people and a
country that he loved as a young man. Also, one of my favorite composers is
Astor Piazzolla. I have been deeply moved by his music and to be in the
places that influenced him was inspiring.

And, I found myself dragged onstage to dance jigs with an Argentine Irish
dance troupe! Danced my arse off, but it was grand! And the audiences loved
us, even though there were English-Spanish translators scattered through
the crowds at every gig, explaining our lyrics.We seemed to get the word
across, anyway. Especially in our song, "Bobby Sands" when we sang of the
infamous role of Maggie Thatcher--the Argentines still hate Thatcher for
the Malvinas War and her sinking of their navy ship Belgrano. They all got
up and cheered--pretty thrilling!

Full interview: http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/kirwan.html


Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org