AS THE RING ROLLS/THE CONTINUING SAGA
OF CLADDAGH RING -- Page 4
Left to Right: Dean Karres, Lloyd Helms,
Shannon Wright. Down in front: Devery Corteville
CLADDAGH RING AND THE CHIEFTAINS
Tuesday, April 29, 1997. Wow! Lloyd, Shannon,
and Devery, along with good friend Dean Karres, found out that the Chieftains
were inviting area Irish musicians to come early and play with them during
their sound check, so they (we) took off early to attend. After arriving,
we found out that the expected jam was to be, in reality, a sort of audition
to see who might play with them during their encore. All the waiting
musicians formed their own jam in the lobby, and got to know each other
a little bit. No one was from Topeka. Most were from Lawrence,
where the announcement had been published in the paper, and then there
was our group. Well, due to various little problems, no one got to
play with the Chieftains during their sound check, but they decided to
let all the musicians who had come for it play with them during the encore.
We were taken backstage to meet with Paddy Maloney, who discussed with
us what everyone played and what tunes we all knew. We then settled
on a set of three tunes to play. At first, they had talked about
having whomever was playing stay backstage the whole time, but decided
to let us all watch the first 3/4 of the concert. When it was time
for us to go on, Paddy called us on-stage by (group) name -- which means
that Dean Karres, not belonging to a band, was called out by his name,
and Lloyd, Shannon, and Devery were called out as Claddagh Ring.
Dean, of course, played his bodhran, as did Lloyd. Shannon brought
out a penny whistle, and Devery brought both penny whistle and bowl, and
played a bit of each. Unfortunately, Lloyd had to leave the stage
near the end of the first tune of the set, due to his health, but he had
gotten to play with the Chieftains! Later on, at the reception, we
were asked to audition for a Topeka Irish club, and they got permission
for us to play right there, with the Chieftains still in the room.
We played three pieces (we got the gig, just haven't set a date, yet) and
then let another group get up and play. Dean jammed with them until
it was time for the bus to leave.
ANOTHER
NEW MEMBER
Well, since March of 1997, Claddagh Ring had been just three people.
Everyone kept asking who we were going to get to replace Ted and Lisa.
We were not interested in rushing into anything. One thing we've
learned is that this group has a life of its own and we're just along for
the ride. When and if someone came along that was right, they would
be in. Auditioning for new members is just not in the stars for Claddagh
Ring. Well, along came Dean. He had played in sessions for
quite a while, and started expressing a strong desire to be in or start
a Celtic band. He even flew to Augusta, Georgia, to take a class
entitled "Celtic Band" from The House Band. Hmmm. Then, there
was the job offer in California that didn't work out for him. Well,
it must be time to ask. We decided that he needed to play with us
a bit, both in practice and in concert, even travel with us, to see if
the joining was compatible. And it was. We dumped a lot of
music on him, and, though he did complain a bit, he really took it all
in stride. His personality fits right in, though he can be sneaky
about it. Anyway, Dean officially joined the group on September 6,
just before (as in just minutes before) we played at the Lindsborg Coffeehouse.
Immediately, people began telling us what a great voice he has. We
had people come to concerts determined not to like this new addition, but
so far he's won over everyone we've heard from. We're really excited
to add Dean's repertoire, world-class bodhran playing, and his new instrument,
uilleann pipes, to our lineup.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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