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The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is preparing to go all country for a gala jamboree evening by the banks of the Lee. The Classical Country Roads show will rock the Live at the Marquee in Cork sessions on Saturday night, 29 June, for what promises to be the best show of the year down Lee-side.
Gavin Murphy will conduct the 50-piece RTÉ Orchestra as they support some of the best-known country performers on the circuit today for an evening that promises to raise the roof. It is an evening that is also certain to provide the orchestra members with one of their most enjoyable and heart-warming occasions that will long remain in their memory.
Hugely respected country artists like Ray Lynam, Roly Daniels and Philomena Begley will be joined by Robert Mizzell, Michael English, Lisa McHugh and Patrick Feeney for this special evening during the month-long series of concerts organised by Aiken Promotions.
It should come as no surprise that Peter Aiken is continuing the family love affair with country music, just like his late father Jim Aiken did all through the years.
Jim always said that it was Charley Pride who saved his promotions company in the 1970s when agreeing to come and do shows in Belfast at the height of The Troubles.
The Louth man never forgot that Charley came to Belfast at a time when no other major act would take the chance and, for some memorable nights, gave the people from both sides a chance to come together and share their love of country music.
The Aiken family fondness for country music is further reflected in the fact that they have two other major country shows during Live at the Marquee 2019.
Nathan Carter and his band return again this summer and will headline the show on 14 June while American country legend and writer of many classic songs, Kris Kristofferson, headlines on 23 June.
The Country Roads Session in Cork will add a whole new dimension to country music and patrons can look forward to hearing such classics as Rhinestone Cowboy, He Stopped Loving Her Today, 9 to 5, Blanket on The Ground, Ring Of Fire and The Gambler and a whole lot of other standards like they have never heard them before.
For real country aficionados and those who know the history of the genre, there will, no doubt, be shades of Danny Davis and The Nashville Brass to this show.
Danny, with the endorsement of the legendary Chet Atkins, one of the most influential pioneers of the Nashville Sound, along with Owen Bradley, at RCA back in the 1960s, got together some of the A-list Nashville musicians and they released their debut album, The Nashville Brass Play The Nashville Sound, in 1968.
Another album followed in 1969 which won the Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance, not bad for an idea that had been completely turned down by the executives at RCA New York before Chet Atkins took Danny on board in Nashville.
The promoters are expecting the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Country Roads Show to be one of the highlights of Live at the Marquee Cork 2019 Festival with heavy demand for tickets.
The compere for the evening will be Shay Byrne, presenter of Risin’ Time on RTÉ Radio One. Tickets from €40 are available from Ticketmaster outlets countrywide and online at www.ticketmaster.ie.
This truly looks like an exceptional evening down Lee-side. It sure has the makings of one great party. Y’all come now.
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