The Irish Descendants are a
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
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Arts, entertainment, and media
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group from
St. John's,
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, Canada. All the members, born of Irish emigrants, were workers in the Newfoundland fishing industry before forming the band in 1990 out of the remnants of two former Newfoundland bands – The Descendants and Irish Coffee. The group helped to popularise traditional
Newfoundland music
Newfoundland and Labrador is an Atlantic Canadian province with a folk musical heritage based on the Irish, English and Cornish traditions that were brought to its shores centuries ago. Though similar in its Celtic influence to neighboring Nova S ...
to a wider Canadian audience in the early 1990s, along with other bands such as
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
. Their popularity within the province itself led to their selection as the official band of the province's 500th anniversary celebrations, during which they performed for the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
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* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
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* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
. Tension within the group caused co-frontman
D'Arcy Broderick
D'Arcy Broderick is a Newfoundland musician who plays Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle, fiddle, guitar, mandola, banjo, accordion and mandolin. He is best known as a former member of the popular Irish-Newfoundland bands The Irish Descendants and Th ...
to leave soon after this period, and their lineup has frequently changed since then, with frontman Con O'Brien being the only constant member. Regular touring and occasional album releases, most recently ''Southern Shore'' in 2007, have kept the group in the public eye.
History
In the summer of 1986, Con O’Brien and Ronnie Power of
Bay Bulls teamed up with Thomas Battcock of Brigus South to form The Descendants. After Battcock’s departure due to other commitments, Power and O'Brien teamed up with multi-instrumentalist and vocalist
D'Arcy Broderick
D'Arcy Broderick is a Newfoundland musician who plays Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle, fiddle, guitar, mandola, banjo, accordion and mandolin. He is best known as a former member of the popular Irish-Newfoundland bands The Irish Descendants and Th ...
of
Bay De Verde and Bassist Larry Martin of
Grates Cove to form the new band The Irish Descendants.
In 1991, the Descendants recorded their first album, ''Misty Morning Shore'', on independent label Duckworth Records. It caught the attention of
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
and they signed the band following up with their major label debut ''Look To The Sea'' in 1993. The record was successful, and was followed by 1994's ''Gypsies and Lovers'', which saw the band expanded to include drummer Gerard Broderick and keyboardist Kathy Phippard. The album won the band the Roots & Traditional Album of the Year award at the
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
, as well as the Entertainer of the Year award at the
East Coast Music Awards
The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...
.
Their 1996 album, ''Livin' On The Edge'', featured a contemporary country sound which caused a rift in the band. At a New Year's Eve show in the group's hometown of
St. John's, Broderick and O'Brien engaged in a fight backstage, which culminated in Broderick leaving the group. The official reason cited was "irreconcilable musical differences." His departure occurred just before a tour with
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career.
Murray was the fir ...
, and the band's rush to fill his shoes led them to Eamonn O'Rourke, an Irish fiddler living in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, who joined the band for a short time. He played with them on 1998's ''Rollin' Home''; this proved the group's last album with Ronnie Power and Larry Martin, who departed in 2000, and their last original album for Warner. The label released a final, compilation album entitled ''So Far So Good'' in 1999.
In 2001, the group resurfaced with a new lineup: O'Brien joined forces with St. John's musician Mike Hanrahan, as well as veteran players Byron Pardy, Kelly Russell and Paul 'Boomer' Stamp (all of whom had played, as guests, on ''Rollin' Home''). This new lineup released ''Blooming Bright Star'' on
Koch Records
MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...
, produced once again by Derek Harrington. The disc featured
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
guesting on vocals on the track 'Step It Out Mary', as well as covers of songs by
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was " Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...
and
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age.
Initially popular for playing ...
. The group also released a Christmas album, ''The Gift'', the following year. (The disc was re-released in 2006 on Newfoundland label Avondale Music.) However, Kelly Russell left the band in 2003 due to their extensive touring schedule; Graham Wells, a St. John's musician known for his multi-instrumental capabilities (although especially proficient on the accordion) joined in the same year. Pardy was to follow suit soon; at this time, brothers Glenn and Paul Hiscock (performing fiddle and bass, respectively) of the St. John's band Connemara came into the fold. Guest musician Bob Pike of
Shanneyganock played bass on 2004's ''Across the Water'', released on the Kells Music label; the change in distribution enabled the band's new music to be released in
America. The album hit the top of the North American Irish music sales charts. A second compilation followed, entitled ''We Are the Irish Descendants''. Stamp left the band in 2004.
2007 saw the release of ''Southern Shore'', produced by Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea, who also co-wrote the track 'Not for the Money Alone' with O'Brien and played on several songs; Great Big Sea also guested on the song 'Downtown Girl.' The album also featured the group's first song recorded without O'Brien, 'No Con Test.' In 2009, the Hiscock brothers took a temporary break from touring, replaced in the lineup by various musicians (and for one tour, Kelly Russell). Later in the year, the pair were replaced permanently by
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
native Duncan Cameron and Newfoundland musician Robert Kelly. A third compilation, titled ''Encore: The Best of the Irish Descendants Volume 2'' was also released, this time by Avondale. 2010 marked the group's 20th anniversary, celebrated with a series of shows in western and central Canada, as well as a closing performance at the 34th Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, in St. John's. In addition, another lineup change was evident: Wells departed, and veteran Dave Panting (formerly of
Rawlins Cross
Rawlins Cross is a Celtic band that formed in 1988 in Atlantic Canada. With members from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, the band took its name from an intersection in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Formation and ea ...
) joined the band.
The band is noted for its heavy touring schedule. They have played overseas, notably at the International Festival of the Sea in England, although the majority of their work has been in North America, particularly Canada. Upon the celebration of Newfoundland's quincentennial in 1996, the group was selected as one of the official entertainers, and as such performed for the representatives of the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
, including
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
. They continue to play regularly.
On 19 September 2021, the band reunited with all of the original members for a sold out, one night only, performance at the Iceberg Alley Performance Tent. However, in the wake of
Hurricane Larry
Hurricane Larry was a strong and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that became the first hurricane to make landfall in Newfoundland since Igor in 2010. The twelfth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurrica ...
, the Iceberg Alley Performance had been destroyed by the winds. The after the cancelation of the
April Wine
April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which reac ...
show on September 13, the rest of the festival was moved to the
Mile One Centre
Mary Brown's Centre (formerly Mile One Centre) is an indoor arena and entertainment venue located in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The arena opened in May 2001, replacing Memorial Stadium. At full capacity the arena can ...
. The Irish Descendants then played their sold out show along with The Masterless Men and The Navigators.
Member history
The members of the Irish Descendants have changed repeatedly over the years, both in number and in name. Founding member Con O'Brien has been the only original member of the group since 2000. The group has occasionally recorded and toured with guest musicians and alumni; most recently, Larry Foley, Patrick Moran, Billy Sutton, Sandy Morris, Ron Hynes, Jamie Snider, Alan Doyle, Rowan Sherlock, and
Kelly Russell
Kelly Russell (born December 7, 1986) was a Canadian rugby union player, and is a coach for the sport. She captained at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup and was named to the Dream Team.
International career
Russell has also featured in two R ...
joined the group at various times in 2009.
Discography
Albums
Compilations
Singles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Descendants, The
Canadian folk music groups
Musical groups from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Musical groups established in 1990
Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group winners
1990 establishments in Newfoundland and Labrador