It is strange thinking about how many people I have met only over the past 10 years of constant travelling, and among those wonderful people, are the people that I talk to regular by e-mail that I have never met ! Most of them share a love for music, and more than that, a love for the music played by Andy Irvine.
One of those people is Sergio Gonzales. I have very much enjoyed talking with him and sharing bits of our lives and music. Sergio is also an Irish Bouzouki player in the band The Kells. Sergio lives in Agentina and was intrumental in getting Andy to come and play there. Thanks for everthing Sergio, great knowing you!
Kieron
Give a bit more of time to scan more pictures. By now I'm sending just too
more...
I first herd Andy's music (and Irish music!) about 15 years ago when a lad
who I met in a travel in Patagonia (the south of Argentina) gave me a tape
and told me "this is Celtic music". I didn't have an idea of what
a hell was that !! The tape had "the well below the valley" album...
after that my head was blown and I couldn't stop hearing Irish music and specially
Planxty and more specifically Andy's !! I didn't play music at that moment,
but I bought a mandolin and I started to learn to play by myself...
In 1996 I went for first time to Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland. In
that trip I met Andy after a Patrick Street gig in London at the Barbican
Center. After that I started to write to him and sending photos of Argentina.
I returned to Ireland in 1998 and see him two times (in Dublin and Sligo)
He remembered me and we had a little conversation before the gigs... of course
I kept sending emails to him and I insisted him to come to Argentina.
And my last trip to Ireland was in 2001 and I met him again in Limerick in
a workshop.
And finally after a lots of emails... he told me: "OK... lets do it!!
get me some places to play and I will go to Argentina"
Of course, the story is bigger than that, but It's very difficult to me to
write in English...
You can read more in Andy's journal in Andy
in Argentina
Well, your story is very similar to mine... I also started to play music after
hearing Andy !!
We played together a couple of times in my parent's house... I saw them having
rehearsals every day for 6 days.
I always try to learn something when I see "the masters" playing,
but is hard to tell if I actually learn something... I hope I did !!!!!
My band Kells plays Irish music. We try very hard to sound like the Irish
do. We have: fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, uilliean pipes, bodhran,
Irish flute, whistles, harmonium and two singers (actually we are just four
guys)
I will send more photos when I get they scanned.
Thank you! Take care !
Sergio