Back in the early 70’s when we were all moving about in random directions trying to make ends meet and waiting for the weekend to come in order to see some live music in the local youth club or go into town to the Club a Go Go or Countdown Club the local hero’s for the likes of me were the musicians to made the transfer across the water to the big league. To the fans and budding musicians at home these exiled local hero’s generated pride and joy as they built their reputations, broke new musical ground and achieved international recognition for their musical talents.
It was in this context that I felt a real sense of privilege watching two of my local hero’s Ed Deane and Fran Byrne walk on stage in JJ Smyths Saturday night having followed their careers in the New Spotlight, NME and Hot Press over the years in an industry that can tear your soul apart and unfortunately has sent many of our musical local hero’s to a sadder stage in the sky.
I watched these two much acclaimed musicians on stage and I felt their was an honesty in the way these men played that makes the experience unique a feeling that all that matters to musicians of this calibre is getting to play in a place and at a time where it would mean something to people.
When you’ve paid your dues and toured as extensively as Ed Deane you always try to add something new and it becomes clearly evident that when he plays a solo he doesn’t stick to what was planned and plays from the heart until he can hear himself singing through the guitar. He plays the classics and he plays them well, not with the original precision or technical finesse but with his own eyes closed self possessed unique style that shows how much he has embraced each song and made it his own. When his heart tells him to get out a little bit he goes for it and when it pays off it’s a lotto win for everyone in the room. It’s of course also a high risk strategy for live entertainers and not for the faint hearted because you lose marks on the slick meter when it doesn’t fly and only works for the guitarist not trying to be anything other than what he is. Ed also has a superb safety net in his Drummer Fran Byrne whose ability to weave support and innovate around Ed’s playing was absolutely fantastic and a joy to ears and eyes.
Ed’s guitar’s on the night were a Black Fender Strat and a commie red Danelectro both strung with the low E string closest to his shoes, Ed strings them as if played by a right handed player thus the bass strings are on the bottom of the neck. Except for a jazzy old world Aria Pro hollow bodied arch top with the strings strung the opposite way, the signs of a man who likes a challenge, and a musician who wants to play what he hears in his head.Ed had trouble getting this good looking Gretch like guitar under control with a fair bit of uncomfortable twiddling with the tone and volume knobs as the jazzy orientated number progressed which is often unavoidable when utilising several different types of guitar through a stage set up and often results in the guitar sound having a mind and agenda of its own.
It’s a bit like taking an untrained Alsatian for a walk, you’re the one with the lead but it decides where you’re going.It’s a suspension of belief to watch Ed move between right handed and left handed guitars playing them backwards and forwards in open and standard tuning in accordance with his handwritten set list on the floor beside him and occasionally at the behest of a request from the crowd jubilantly heralding Ed Deane’s return, clearly delighted to witness this legendary Dublin Guitarist on stage again.
Ed plays a myriad of diverse guitar styles very effectively, a treasure throve, including some highly charged Link Wray and the unmistakable Pulp Fiction reverb drenched left handed upside down Dick Dale surf guitar with whammy bar chords that make you want to drive out to Dollymount Strand with the top down at midnight to hear the waves crashing and rolling onto the rocks of Dublin Bay on a hot summers night.
It’s when Ed gets into the Blues that this southpaw reveals a startling vibrato enhanced ringing guitar style, his guitar chops imbued with a similar emotional left handed string bending intensity and style of another Chicago southpaw Otis Rush.
When Ed Deane plays its about attitude, delivering every note with conviction using a mix of pick and fingers to get the chugging boogie riffs up and running and as soon as the band are all aboard the bluestrain he dips into his bag of tricks sliding up the fretboard to pull double stop bends and piercing single note lines pouring himself into every move never failing to command complete attention.
Talking about bluestrains the audience included my favourite aviator of the blues airwaves Charlie Hussy from Anna Livia’s FM 103 Sunday night show Bluestrain as well as three of the best Blues Guitarists on the scene Ben Prevo, Pete McGowan and Johnny Renolds in a JJ’s, house full of live Blues musicians and supporters including Larry Roddy who has worked tirelessly over the years to promote live Blues music. Both Ben Prevo and Johnny Reynolds joined Ed Deane’s Band onstage for tasty samples of their own talents on the fretboard adding a variety of flavours to the blues scale territory with Eamonn Murray on Sax and Blues Harp the expressive James Delaney on Keyboards, Fran Byrne on Drums and Chris Mayfield on bass name checked inadvertently by Ed Deane as Curtis to much amusement. It was amazing to hear the chemistry of Ben and Johnny’s right hand string pushing bends bounce against Ed’s southpaw string pulling bends on both of their respective jams.
There was a wonderful atmosphere of celebration in JJ’s Saturday night including contributions from two ladies in a decidedly reduced state of awareness whose dancing routines in front of stage defied the laws of gravity during the bands rousing rendition of Houndog.
In the mid sixties many white kids in Ireland and Britain appropriated the Blues styles and learned how to belt out the tunes that had kept the audiences in the Roadhouse circuits of the oppressed Southern States of America entertained after long and hard days in the field. The power of this music to motivate and keep the spirit high was the attraction of the Blues for these young guitarists who mastered their craft and got their license to drive the music forward creating the evolution of modern music as we know it in all its different directions.In England there were the likes of John Mayal, Peter Green and Eric Clapton and in Ireland we had the likes of Rory Gallagher and Ed Deane to heed and lead the call of the Blues.
For all of us who love music and the people who make it we had National treasure on stage in JJ’s Saturday night.
ALL YOUR LOVE I MISS LOVIN’
ALL YOU KISSES I MISS KISSIN’
ALL YOUR LOVE I MISS LOVIN’
ALL YOUR KISSES I MISS KISSIN’
SINCE I MET YOU, BABY
I NEVER KNEW WHAT I WAS MISSIN’
Mick Kenny aka MTW
