We Were the Rock 'n' Roll Kids

With less than a week to go for my Singing on Solid Ground busk for Nepal, I was delighted to get to chat with Charlie McGettigan (he of ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Kids’ Eurosong winner). Also in studio for the second hour was a very talented young singer/songwriter, Ultan Conlon.

It’s rare that 2 hours in a studio have gone by so quickly. Charlie met me in the canteen at Shannonside’s Longford studio and asked me a couple of questions and decided not to ask too much till we were on air to keep it fresh.

The focus was my Wandering Minstrel days, who I met, what sort of reactions I got and the first hour flew by so fast that I barely got time to cover the fundraiser and just about got a mention in for the school visit project that I hope to get underway very soon - Garda vetting is slow and essential for external facilitators going into schools. Next time around.

I really need to learn to talk a bit less too as, instead of the three songs Charlie was hoping for, I only got two in and I don’t get royalties for talking.

Ultan had the 2nd hour and, having heard hime now and then on the radio, it was a pleasure to meet him in such a convivial atmosphere. Charlie does an amazing job of juggling, sometimes in the middle of a sentence he’d realise that the ad break is over and go straight into talking on air - often continuing with something we’d got to discussing and taking off in a new direction but always getting back to what he’d planned to discuss and so, what seems like 10 minutes, can be a half hour in real time.

Most of the music on the station - and in the bars - is what’s known as Country & Irish - (think ’60’s country and western - leaving out the quality stuff). Someone in the room (and I won’t say who - it might have been me) summed it up by saying something like, ‘They really like shite around here - throw enough shite on the floor and they’ll dance in it’ - Yup.

Of course that’s an entirely subjective opinion but - there was no one in the studio this morning argued with it.