After our first Internet
experience under the wings of Muziek Netwerk Nederland we have decided to go our
own way.
This web site is the result of our decision. We hope you like it!
At last! This summer it is
going to happen.
Bangers & Mash is heading
for Ireland.
We will be touring in Ireland for two weeks at the end of July
and the beginning of August.
We booked Kenmare, Kilkenny, Dublin and Howth.
We will keep you informed on new bookings as soon as possible.
In
Kenmare, Co Kerry we will be playing in
Spillane's Bar on July 30.
Owner Pat Spillane is Ireland's Johan Cruyff.
See you in Kenmare!
From August 15 untill September 6, 1998 twelve catholic and twelve protestant children from Londonderry will be on holidays in Heerhugowaard in The Netherlands. The idea for this trip came from pastor Ber Leurink. These holidays are offered to them by the inhabitants of Heerhugowaard. An action committee is very busy with gathering the necessary finances. To achieve this, among other things, a huge sauerkraut meal will be served on June 6 in Heerhugowaard.
To do their bit for this
promotion to encourage host families and to raise funds the local cultural
society HUMULUS LUPULUS (Latin according to chairman Robert Pater) organizes an
Irish Night on July 11 in café-restaurant Bleeker, Middenweg 550 in
Heerhugowaard.
Bangers & Mash will grace
this evening musically between 21.00 and 01.00 hrs.
For more information on this
action please call
Jan Borst (+31 (0)72-5711519)or
Wout Beers (+31 (0)72-5714705) or
Marion Bleeker (+31 (0)226-422731).
1998 May 17
Beverwijk 700 years City Charters
On May 30 and 31, 1998 everyone is invited to come to the city of Beverwijk to
celebrate 700 years of City Charters.
The battle for city charters between Westfriezen and Beverwijckers will take
place once again. Afterwards a great party will take place in the 'Camille onder
de Boompjes' inn at the church square. There will be dancing, music, theatre and
a fair, food and drink in abundance, preceeded by a cheerful procession. For the
children there will be all kinds of games, sweets, magic and story telling.
COME YE ALL!
Bring your loved ones and celebrate with us
700 Jaer Beverwijck, Ene Stee!
Sound in our website
Within a couple of days it will we possible, to listen to parts of our cd Dirty Dishes. We are working hard to make it happen. One trial part can be already be heard, although it is about 654 Kb, so take your time to download. The final samples will be smaller to reduce download time. If you have any suggestions to do so, please e-mail us.
1998
October 10The Millennium-problem, who
has not heard of it?
We probably all will have to face it.
And of course
Bangers & Mash
will have to, too! That is the reason why we raise the subject. Through this
report we want to inform you on the Year 2000 preparedness of our
society
As the logo shows, the society and with it the folk band Bangers & Mash is fully prepaired for the next century. The management established a team that made a survey on all aspects of the possible problem during the past months and studied them thoroughly. In her final report the study group came to the conclusion, that Bangers & Mash in no way will experience difficulties in entering the 21st Century. The musical instruments, the sound system and the recording equipment will not have any date data troubles. Our administrative systems are 100% Y2K-compliant, too. The power company cannot obstruct, for we do an acoustic gig just the same and fortunately even the lyrics are New Millennium Proof!
As you can understand we
face the future with full confidence and we hope you will do the same.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
On special request of Lowie,
we decided to start this column. If you know a good joke, please share it with
us and others and send us an e-mail.
Here is the first one.
What is the best and fastest way to tune a banjo?
With a wire cutter!
When do banjo tunes sound the best?
When they are over!
n Beachclub
Lutjestrand in Westerland (Noord-Holland) on 7 November 1998 a new folkclub
started: Folkclub Kinvarra. The intention is to have folk music sessions on 2
nights a month with special guests every now and then. For the time being 19
December 1998, 9 and 23 January 1999 are planned. The sessions start around
20.30 hrs.
Please feel welcome and don't forget to bring your instruments!
On 9 January 1999 special guests are Bangers & Mash with a concert of about 1 hour. We start around 21.30 hrs. See you in Westerland.
nternet
can lead to unexpected things, as we found out a little while ago. Our internet
contacts brought us an Ireland tour in the summer of 1998 and recently
Bangers &
Mash could be heard on CKJS Radio in Winnipeg,
Canada.
Host Lyle Skinner visited our website about 2 months ago and indicated his interest for our cd Dirty Dishes. After some emails from both sides we send our cd to Canada. We waited anxiously and 29 November, 1998 was the date. Lyle played 2 tracks of our "lively recording" as he called the album and he told his listeners, that we would surely come back to the album in one of his futere shows. He even was so kind as to send us a copy of the show on tape.
This is what a simple e-mail
can lead to.
We are planning to combine our Ireland tour in 2000 with the Canada tour
(just kidding!).
What should you do if you run over a banjo?
Back up, pull forward, back up ....
1999 January 17
Last
banjo joke
How many banjo jokes are
there in existance?
Only three, the others are true stories!
As we published all three of them recently and because Lowie could not cope with the psycological pressure any longer you will have to do without them from now on.
1999 January 17
Correct
reproduction of our website
ust recently we
realised, that not all computers have installed the fonts we use in our website.
That means that as our visitor you will not always see our site the way we
intented.
The fonts we use are Arabia, Comic Sans MS and Celticmd. Want to install missing fonts on your computer? Contact us and we will provide them.
1999 January 23
Bangers & Mash
plays Craic Celtic Music Festival
oday it was
announced that
Want more info, order tickets or have a look at the program? Go to http://home.worldonline.nl/~judkins/index.html
Maybe we'll meet in De Meern? See you!.
1999 March 9
Bangers & Mash
starts recording new cd
he time is
right!
The second
Bangers & Mash
cd is coming.
On the 9th of March the first recordings will take place. Of course this second
album will be recorded in Lowie's own recording studio in Uitgeest. To us it
means that we can work very quietly and that we can spend all the time we want
on it but it also means that the album will not be released before the end of
the year. So you will have to be patient!
The title for the new album and about 95% of the tracks have been set. Rather quickly all bandmembers turned out to be on the same level concerning the contents of the new album. Obviously it will be a recognizable Bangers & Mash cd, but with more emphasis on traditionals.
We'll do our utmost to make an even better album than Dirty Dishes and of course we will keep you informed on new developments.
1999 April 3
Dismissal at Bangers &
Mash ! ! !
fter ten years
of dedicated service we had no choise but to dismiss him: Our dear old Samick
8-channel mixer. Also the old and faithfull Alesis reverb had to step down and
in future will serve as a mere chorus for Peter's guitar.
On stage from now on we have a brandnew Behringer MX3282A 32-channel stereo
mixer at our disposal and an additional effect rack with a beautiful reverb, an
exciter and a feedbeack destroyer. Why?
The time was right for the new Bangers & Mash sound and we were not able to realize it with the simple equipment of 10 years ago. So it's much louder now? NO!! However ..... it's possible now and it will be a great advantage in the larger halls. Especially the violin can be made audible everywhere without feedback troubles anymore. But most important of all is the fact, that the audience will be able to hear the lyrics of the songs much better, that the sound is much brighter and the sound effects increase the acoustic suggestion. During the St Patrick's Day celebration on March 20, 1999 in Café Thijs in Uitgeest we ourselves were overwhelmed by the great new sound.
As you will understand:
Expensive equipment so ....... NO higher price!!
So, more
Bangers & Mash
for the same money and that's nice, especially when you are hungry!
1999 July 24
Bangers & Mash
on Australian radio
ur music is now
played on Australian radio as well. Nice huh? After Canadian broadcast it's now
Australia's turn to get to know our music.
Mr Jack Warner is playing our Dutch Irish folk music in his 'Only Folking' radio show. The show is on air on 93.7 Heritage FM on Saturday afternoon from 12-2pm and covers the city of Perth metropolitan area. Perth is the capital of Western Australia and is the most isolated capital in the world with a population of approx. 1.5 million. Jack plays traditional/contemporary folk music, acoustic and singer/songwriter material too. He tries to give his listeners a wide spectrum of music and bands from the folk world.
Jack is originally from England and has lived in Perth for 6 years now. He is also co-presenter of a soccer show during the season and loves a pint of Guinness! He got into the radio scene when he helped co-host a World Cup soccer show last year and after it had finished he enquired if there was a folk show on the station. And you guessed, there wasn't! He gave them his ideas and applied for a show. Shortly after he got himself a 2 hour slot playing the music he loves! He is getting particular enjoyment out of airing material from bands previously never heard of in Australia such as Bangers & Mash! Well, that's gonna change from now on, isn't it ??
As you see, Bangers & Mash is conquering the world bit by bit!
1999 July 25
The video
is finished!
t took, due to
some communication disorders, a while but the time has come! The
Bangers &
Mash-videoclip is finished!
And what a beauty it is. Cameraman Jeroen and owner Tristan of Multimedia
company HP-M did a great job. 'The Ferryman' was, with the beautiful Noordeinde
church in the background, immortalized for the offspring.
The video is available on VHS but also as avi-file. The avi however is too large to put in our site. We are investigating how to make it available on the Internet. As soon as we know how you will be informed.
Tristan and Jeroen, thanks again!.
1999 July 25
CD-project in Ireland in 2000
o our big
surprise we were asked this weekend to record a cd in Ireland next year with a
local Irish singer. Of course we agreed immediately.
Who would say no to such an opportunity?
We are supposed to accompany the singer (for a while we'll keep a secret who it
is) in a number of well known Irish tunes and he is going to play the piano to
some songs by
Bangers & Mash.
In this way a varied cd should arise to be played in restaurants and pubs.
As part of our 2000-tour in Ireland we once again write a unique piece of
Bangers &
Mash-history.
1999 October 2
Bangers & Mash
in Merakels
erakels
is a pub in Nieuwveen, situated in the "Green Heart" of the Netherlands,
close to the river Amstel between the cities of Alphen aan den Rijn and
Aalsmeer. Since 1900 the establishment is serving liquors at the Kerkstraat 10.
The name Merakels was given to the pub after the most recent renovation in 1996.
Merakels is a Dutch dialect word and means miraculous, great etc.
During the last 10 years the pub organized a lot of activities. Especially band gigs made the pub becoming a well known name in the region. To create enough room in the pub the billiard table can be lowered into a special cellar. The artists are no longer standing "upon the billiard table" but the table is standing beneath the artists. Merakels has an advanced sound system at her disposal and also the future is present: at the pub's computer you can surf the internet while drinking your favorite beer.
Besides Amstel beer you can also taste other brands of draft beer. During the autumn and winter you can enjoy the famous Amstel Bock and recently Murphy's, the Irish tastefull red, smooth and refreshing powerfull beer has been introduced.
Well, all this information makes you feel thirsty so come, at least on November 27th, 1999 to Merakels!!!!!
1999 October 17
The
continuing story
t's
almost becoming a continuing story: The interest for
Bangers &
Mash is growing and growing.
Following the Canadian, Australian and Portuguese radio at last the Dutch
national radio has discovered
Bangers & Mash.
The
NCRV is going to pay attention to
Bangers & Mash
on December 4th, 1999 in her program "Passie" (in English: Passion) between
17.00 and 18.00 hr on Radio 4. The program, broadcasted live from the Mediacafé
in Hilversum, aims at "better" amateurs and semi-professional musicians and
we're proud to be guests in this program as representatives of the Dutch Irish
folk music scene. Presenter Annemiek Schrijver has a conversation with the
artists to find out the how and why and of course there's time for some live
music. We will be playing 4 or 5 songs and we promise that one of them will be a
track of our new (upcoming) cd.
So if you want a foretaste or want to know, where our passion for the Irish folk music comes from (and if you understand Dutch of course!), please listen to Radio 4 on December 4th, 1999.
1999 October 29
Bangers & Mash
plays for
Czech audience (.... and for you?!)
ijk
aan Zee, a very special village on the Dutch West coast near the Corus steel
works (the former "Hoogovens" steel works), has declared itself this year
Cultural Village of Europe. That
means, among others, that every month another village from somewhere in Europe
is guest in Wijk aan
Zee.
From November 4th to November 7th people from the Czech village of Bystré are visiting Wijk aan Zee. To show them Wijk aan Zee’s hospitality Bangers & Mash and the Scots / Old-Dutch folk group Hailander will try to play the stars out of the sky on Saturday November 6th, 1999 in hotel Sonnevanck in Wijk aan Zee.
During this evening there will be a great raffle. Some of the prizes are compact discs of ..... Bangers & Mash and Hailander. In both cases very much worthwhile. Bangers & Mash is recording the new album, so this could very well be one of the last chances to get hold of a copy of Dirty Dishes. Concerning Hailander: their cd is brand new so this is one of the first opportunities to obtain this great album.
Besides cd’s there are some excellent wines for the lover among the prizes. These wines were selected with great care and donated by World Wide Wines.
Enough reasons we would say to come and visit hotel Sonnevanck at 2, Rijckert Aertzweg in Wijk aan Zee.
2001 January 14
Luka Bloom mails
Bangers &
Mash
Well, Bangers & Mash is working hard to finish the new CD before Paddy's Day 2001 and one of the songs on that CD will be 'Forgiveness' by Luka Bloom. It's an impressive song about the impossibly sad past of the Great Famine but it also opens a door to the future. You will just have to buy the CD when it comes out!
Anyway, to use a song written by someone else you have to get their permission. And, ofcourse, we asked Luka if we could use his song. He told us in his mail to feel free to release the song on CD and was very pleased that we thought it such a great song. The CD will contain songs about all kinds of addictions in Life, be that drink, money, women or even Ireland !
So check the news page regularly in March and find out how to get your very own copy !
2001 March
17
Our new album is
out!
t last. Our new album is out and we are so proud!
It is a beautifull album both in musical and graphical way.
Since the last album we have been on tour through Ireland twice and that gave us a lot of inspiration for the new cd.
We
decided to call it "Addiction".
All kinds of addiction from which people can
suffer are coming by: drinking, love, money, Erin of course and the longing for
melancholy.
The title song was written by Lowie some
time ago but only last summer in Ireland it came to full growth. With Peter's
accordion and Sjanneke's violin we found the right sound for this song in a pub
in Kilkenny.
This sound became determinative for the cd.
The climax of the new album is "Forgiveness" by Luka Bloom. This brilliant song
starts with the (traditional) total distress; in the second part Luka opens the
door to the future with respect for the misery, but facing tomorrow. Luka
personally gave us his permission to publish our version of his song.
In between these two songs you can listen
to stories about the longing for home, smuggling wine, an impossible love and
about a girl, that has to explain to her mother why her belly is growing...
Many songs with a modest fierceness and a tinge of party music every now and
then. Of
course there is Jeroen for the solid basis with his bass guitar and singing his
stories with his low voice.
Peter is the lead singer once on this album
and of course he plays the various instruments: accordion, mandolin,
electric and acoustic guitar. He also
took care of the graphic design of "Addiction". Even Sjanneke sings on this
album, but she's famous for all the beautifull parts on violin.
Lowie leads most of the songs with
his singing and guitar. He was also responsible for the whole technical part of
the cd in our own Bangers &
Mash
studio; he knows
everything about turning the knobs, recording and mixing.
To
get the right feeling on tape we recorded everything at the same time as much as
possible. A dufficult technical but musically very nice solution. After
recording we did not polish anything.
This is Bangers & Mas: Irish music, to which the feeling is much more important than technical perfection.
Soon soundbites of "Addiction" will be
available at this website.
For the introduction of the album there is no better date than 17 March: "St.
Patrick's Day", the day that the Irish all over the world celebrate with Irish
whiskey and beer.
The
official introduction of the new album will be on radio Heemskerk on Saturday 17
March 2001 between 17.00 and 18.00 hr. DJ Gerrit Vermeij will give airplay to a
few "Addiction" songs for the first time.
2001
April 1
Bangers & Mash on
television
hat
kind of practical joke is this? I can hear you thinking.
But it's no joke this time. Television has discovered Bangers & Mash. After being noticed by local and national radio, and even a number of foreign radiostations broadcasted our music, we now have the honour to show our talents live on televion.
On
Fridaynight 6 April 2001 you can watch your favourite folkband live during
"Malende Zaken", a program on TV Noord Holland by Erik van der Hoff, leader of
the Dutch legendary band Roberto Jaquetti & The Scooters. The show is recorded a
few days earlier in the coach house of Beeckestein Castle in Velsen. We expect
to sing two of our songs and we maybe will be interviewed considering our
recently presented new album.
Photographer Riet Molenaar promised to be there as well so you can await some
new action pictures shortly.
As the recording day comes closer we get a
bit more tensed. We're not afraid that something might go wrong, but such a big
brother close to you, registering everything down to the last detail (we will
have to wash our hands and brush our teeth again), is something that you don't
get used to so easily. On the other hand it's exiting to get that nervous
feeling again when you go on stage for the first time. Will it be biting our
nails or rattling our teeth?
We'll just let it happen but we will do our utmost.
So watch television on Fridaynight 6 April (or on Sundaynight 8 April in replay): "Malende Zaken" on TV Noord Holland and enjoy real folk music.
2001 April 6
The dream of a violinist
veryone
has those kind of dreams, those "someday-when-I've-grown-up" whishes. I've
always had a great fantasy and several dreams about the future. I
hoped to be a tightrope walker or trapeze artist. Looking back I'm glad I
didn't; when I accidentally step on my shoe lace the fear of heights creeps
up to me immediately. Maybe that's the reason why, although most people
dream about higher, one of my favourite dreams was about lower.
Ever since my early violin playing days I always secretly dream about a viola or maybe even a cello . . . In times of great desire I solely played the two lower strings and fantasised about clearing up an attic when suddenly a forgotten viola or cello appeared. But unfortunately . . .
There
were times, that my dream, at least temporarily, became reality. Every now
and then I meet someone who plays the cello and although I hardly dare
asking I mostly end up playing it for a while.
Sometimes it is very disappointing when a dream comes true. But playing the
cello isn't. That is why I was very happy to learn that there was a cellist
in the small group of musicians that we swept together for last Xmas.
Regularly we swopped instruments, he played my violin and I played his
cello. And slowly I started to make plans in stead of keep on dreaming.
But it seemed that I was not the only one with plans. Head-conspirator Willem and a whole army of friends and family hatched a plot. And on my birthday there was kind of cello shaped moneybox, that got filled better and better during the evening . . .
In the meantime I turned the moneybox upside down, I lost a dream and . . . became the owner of a cello!
2001 november 15
We congratulate ...
"Hielander"
best in single malt whisky
LKMAAR,
The Netherlands. Thursday afternoon Wullie
MacMorland was full of pride. The owner of the Schottish restaurant
"Hielander" received the Scotch Single Malt Whisky Society Award 2001 due to
the wide product range and his knowledge of whisky. Wullie owns over
threehundred
different
kinds of whisky and of course he has tasted them all. The collection is
never complete, "because it never is" according to the Scotsman in Alkmaar.
He called the award "A crown to the job". The sign-board will have a nice
place at the facade. The handwritten certificate can be found near the
bottles of Scotch.
The Scotch Single Malt Whisky Society was founded in 1990 by the leading
whisky-importers in The Netherlands. The award has been given three times up
to now.
If you want to taste
Wullie's whisky or the excellent Scottish kitchen you must come to Alkmaar.
On Januari 26th, 2002 it is "Burns Night" in "Hielander". A romantic diner,
live music by Bangers&MasH
and lots of poetry. Every table chooses one guest who declaims a poem of the
great Scottish poet Robert Burns in his or her best Scottish. Please call to
make an appointment because there is a limited number of seats and ample
interest.