"Share a glass and look back with a smile ..."
I came across the news that Dermot O'Reilly passed away yesterday morning.
A member of the 1970s-80s Newfoundland/Irish group Ryan's Fancy, he and his bandmates Fergus O'Byrne and Dennis Ryan brought the music of their adopted home to the attention of younger people. They influenced a generation of musicians in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador. Without Ryan's Fancy, many of my favorite bands today might not exist, and I likely would not have encountered Newfoundland music.
I tried to see Dermot O'Reilly wherever he was performing when we visited Newfoundland, whether it was playing with Fergus at O'Reilly's pub, or on his own at Erin's pub, or playing a set at the folk festival. He had devilish eyes under a shock of white hair, the air of a grandfatherly charmer, and a set of songs I could listen to all night. Although I only met him once, after the folk festival this past summer, I envied the people for whom Fergus and Dermot at O'Reilly's were a weekly mainstay.
As much as it breaks my heart to know I'll never see him play again, I know their hearts are breaking more because for them he was not only a voice, an influence, but also a friend.
"We all sat around singing songs Dermot sang," Moran said...
Memories of Dermot O'Reilly
*The subject line comes from one of my favorite songs of Dermot's, "Candlelight and Wine." The Punters covered it on their album "Will You Wait," and the first time I saw Dermot O'Reilly perform he was playing a duet with the Punters on this song. I haven't found a sound file of either version online to link to, but I'll keep looking.
A member of the 1970s-80s Newfoundland/Irish group Ryan's Fancy, he and his bandmates Fergus O'Byrne and Dennis Ryan brought the music of their adopted home to the attention of younger people. They influenced a generation of musicians in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador. Without Ryan's Fancy, many of my favorite bands today might not exist, and I likely would not have encountered Newfoundland music.
I tried to see Dermot O'Reilly wherever he was performing when we visited Newfoundland, whether it was playing with Fergus at O'Reilly's pub, or on his own at Erin's pub, or playing a set at the folk festival. He had devilish eyes under a shock of white hair, the air of a grandfatherly charmer, and a set of songs I could listen to all night. Although I only met him once, after the folk festival this past summer, I envied the people for whom Fergus and Dermot at O'Reilly's were a weekly mainstay.
As much as it breaks my heart to know I'll never see him play again, I know their hearts are breaking more because for them he was not only a voice, an influence, but also a friend.
"We all sat around singing songs Dermot sang," Moran said...
Memories of Dermot O'Reilly
*The subject line comes from one of my favorite songs of Dermot's, "Candlelight and Wine." The Punters covered it on their album "Will You Wait," and the first time I saw Dermot O'Reilly perform he was playing a duet with the Punters on this song. I haven't found a sound file of either version online to link to, but I'll keep looking.