The Alzheimer's Society Cupcake Day fundraiser 2019

Some of you will have seen the documentary programs ‘Our Dementia Choir’ which aired recently on BBC1 and which featured heavily in the national press following both programmes, such was the extent that people were touched by the story of the choir and the individuals involved.
We have a close connection with the choir as Helen’s mum, Maureen, is a member and we have been helping support them since they formed last year. Such a diverse group of characters, vast age range and totally different personalities, all brought together by their love of music and Vicky McClure’s curiosity about the effect music can have on the brain of someone suffering from dementia has formed a ‘choir family’ with bonds stronger than we could ever imagine!

Even while we and many others are fundraising to keep the choir going (if you would like to donate, go to www.justgiving.com/fundrais…/music-and-memory-dementia-choir ), once we heard about the Alzheimer’s Society Cupcake Day, some of the families decided they would like to take part and so on Thursday 13th June we held our event as part of the national fundraising effort and we had a blast!!
Maureen very kindly opened up her home to the choir, their families, her neighbours, friends, friends of friends, local councillors and many more.
For over four hours and despite the rain, there was music from Kellys Heroes, Lynn Goulbourn and the choir themselves, loads of laughter, a little bit of dancing, a raffle, a ‘guess the weight of the cake’ competition. There were people in the living room, the passage way, the kitchen, up the stairs, in the garden, basically anywhere there was room, there were people!

All together the amount raised was £340.00 which is great and if you would like to contribute too then just go to www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/make-donation

Our new album is finally here!!

Look what’s just arrived!! After a few delays, we have just received the first copies of our new album, ‘Live At Scilly Folk Festival’.

This is our very first entirely live album, recorded in May when we headlined the opening concert for the 2018 Scilly Folk Festival.

Our new album, ‘Live At Scilly Folk Festival’, was recorded by our sound engineer on the night, Brendan McGreal, of Cornish Underground (cornishunderground.co.uk) and produced by Celteire Music which is the recording company owned by Kellys’ guitarist, Steve Hall, and our accordionist, Helen O’Connell. It’s packed with seventeen tracks played in true Kellys Heroes style. With over an hour of live music from the truly foot-stomping ‘Galway Girl’ to the heartfelt ‘Caledonia’, this album really captures the essence of what a Kellys Heroes gig is all about! ‘Live At Scilly Folk Festival’ is available to buy from our store now so take a look at the full track listing. We think you’re going to love it- we do!

The concert took place in the Town Hall, Hughes Town, on the stunning St Mary’s island. It was the first visit to the Scilly Isles for everyone in the band and we were very much looking forward to it after hearing so many great things about both the Scilly Isles and the festival. We boarded the Scillonian Ferry in what felt like the middle of the night, feeling a little bit the worse for wear from lack of sleep and over-enthusiastic socialising with new friends made at the previous night’s gig in Truro. The four-hour ferry crossing from Penzance to Hughes Town left everyone in no doubt as to which two of the band are good travellers and which two really aren’t! Helen and Simon disembarked both very white with just a hint of green around the gills but we arrived to bright blue skies, a couple of friends quayside who had made the journey by plane or should that be biplane?) and two of the friendliest festival organisers who quickly sorted out our bags which were sent ahead to the digs and the instruments which went straight to the sound check.

It’s fair to say that our first impressions of the island were stunning and we continued to be wowed by it’s beauty as much as by the friendliness of the local people throughout our stay. So much so that we intend to make a return trip next year and are hoping to stay longer and to be able to venture onto more of the islands next time!

CeltFest 2018 line up just announced!

CeltFest is always a special date in our diary but we're very excited about this year's line up of bands.

Alongside Kellys Heroes for CeltFest 2018 we have a fantastic band, The Outside Track, who describe themselves as a Pan Celtic group that performs Scots, Irish and Cape Breton songs and step dance. Members of the group include Ailie Robertson who has won a Live Ireland Music Award and was a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Finalist, and Fiona Black who was a winner of the BBC’s Fame Academy. As a group they won ‘Best Group’ in the 2012 Live Ireland Music Award a ‘Tradition In Review’ award, and were nominated for the 2013 MG Alba Scots Traditional Music Award. For their album Flash Company, they also won the German Radio Critics' Prize.

Joining us to complete the 2018 line up we are very excited to have The Fitzgeralds, a family group consisting of fiddling and step dancing siblings Tom, Kerry & Julie Fitzgerald from just outside of Canada’s renowned Ottawa Valley. Featuring 3-time Canadian Grandmaster Fiddle Champions and Ontario Open Step Dance Champions, this unique act features high-energy fiddling and mind blowing step dancing. It is the rare combination of exceptional musicianship, incomparable step dancing, audience interaction, evident love of performing, and genuine sibling connection that resonates with audiences of all ages and sets this group apart.

The music will start at 2.00pm and don't forget- you get all of this for free! So come down to The Victoria Hotel, Dovecote Lane, Beeston, Nottingham, settle back and enjoy Celtic music at it's best.

City Arts (Nottingham) Folk Proms

Later this month we will be opening this series of concerts celebrating 40 years of Nottingham City Arts. Such a great event and a privilege to be taking part.

Take a look at the City Arts page for full details.

city-arts.org.uk/folk-proms

'Our Country's Good' after show party.

Another great after show party for Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company and Ramps On The Moon after watching their wonderful production of 'Our Country's Good'.
Thank you to the Playhouse Bar for letting us take over the back room for what proved to be another fantastic session of music, singing, poetry, The Siege Of Ennis ceilidh dance and signed performances of Bohemian Rhapsody and Wuthering Heights. Now you tell me where else you're ever going to find as varied a session as that on a Wednesday night 😀
Lots of great memories from this gig but I think the biggest laugh was at the start of the ceilidh dance. Being just two people short of another set, Tony stepped in to dance and was encouraging a woman next to him to join him. He thought she offered him her hand so he took hold of her and swung her into the set at which point she kept shaking off his hand. He explained that the dance started with everyone holding hands and she explained to him that she was trying to sign the instructions for the dance to all the deaf people on the floor and that while he was holding her hands, none of them could hear what was being said! Oops 😂
Thank you Caitlin O'Connell for the photos and videos 😁

Tommy@Nottingham Playhouse- the after show session.

Hands up who saw the production of Tommy at Nottingham Playhouse? Wasn't it absolutely brilliant! The standing ovation that the cast received was thoroughly deserved!
Having played after show sessions a few times now for different productions, we thought we knew what to expect but this brilliant, crazy cast and crew went one further this time- I can safely say we have never had a limbo competition done to a set of jigs before. It was totally surreal to see Tommy and the Acid Queen battling it out for limbo glory with Uncle Ernie cheering them on!! Fair play, two and a half hours on stage and they still partied with us into the wee small hours armed with drums, shakers, tambourines and I'm sure there was a triangle in there somewhere?
The singing was epic and I wish we'd stopped long enough to get the camera out but the craic was mighty and we weren't stopping for anything. At least Caitlin O'Connell thought to record some of the night on her phone.
Oh, and if you do want to see the show, it's on at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds until 13th May and then they're off to Birmingham.

Take a look at the video page to see the clips from the session!

Friend's Remembered

Last night was the official hand over of the money raised from the two wonderful 'Friend's Remembered' events held in memory of Gren Morris and Roy Harris to raise money for Macmillan.

Thank you to the Nags Head, Sawley for hosting last night as well as to Tiger Folk Club for organising everything including the music and singaround!

The total raised for the charity by the events held in November and January plus some donations came to an amazing £3000, with a further £100+ collected last night from a raffle and donations.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen- organisers, performers, attendees. You were all incredible!

Our new T Shirts have arrived!

We've just taken delivery of our new t shirts from the guys at Shirtysomething and they look great!!

They are now available from our online store. Get your orders in asap for delivery before Christmas!