IN CONVERSATION WITH CIARA DWYER – 07 OCTOBER 2012
Eddie Furey, 67, is a musician and one of the Fureys. Born in the Liberties, Dublin, he lives in Co Dublin with his wife of 32 years, Bibi. They have five children -- Michelle, Paulie, Jamie, Sarah and Conor
I live in Co Dublin, on the border of Kildare. In the mornings, herself is here -- Bibi. Most of our kids have flown the nest, but we have one fella left in the house, Conor. He's 15 and still at school. Bibi and Conor are up early in the morning. Bibi has a cup of tea. We're 32 years married. I met Bibi in a pub in Dublin and, eight months later, we got married in St John's Lane. We had a great reception in The Embankment in Tallaght.
The time I get up in the morning depends on what time I get in the night before -- I could be playing somewhere down the west of Ireland and I mightn't get back until five in the morning.
If it's late like that, I'll probably get up at about ten o'clock. For breakfast, I'll have a bit of toast and a cup of coffee. If it's a normal day at home and Conor has gone to school, Bibi and I will head off to a market -- a flea market or a car boot sale -- they say that car boot sales are where you buy someone else's rubbish. If we're in Dublin, we like to go to the Liberties. I grew up there, and then we moved to Ballyfermot in the Fifties. I had three brothers and it was a bit of a squash in the Liberties, so it was great to have a big house in Ballyfermot with our own bathroom and kitchen. My mother knew the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne, and he helped us get the house. Finbar, Paul, George and me all played music when we were kids. There was always music around the house. It came from my parents.
A day in my life can vary. It can be hectic, especially if we're touring in the UK or Australia or America. Airports kill me. I love walking around towns and cities, but I don't like staying in hotels. I don't like being cooped up. The easiest part for me is playing on stage.
I love the music and I love the songs and I love the feedback from the people. We do a lot of touring. I could be away for seven months of the year. I like playing the bodhran, but I also play the mandolin, violin, mandola and guitar; I switch around.
At one point, we were carrying around 30 instruments, but we had to cut down -- it was too much trouble.
My father was a showman and he met my mother when he was working at Puck Fair. He played the banjo, guitar and bodhran and my mother was a great accordion and banjo player. We only had a radio for the news and Ceili House. There were always sing-songs in our house and we had great people there, like Seamus Ennis. My father taught us how to pick up instruments and play them. I think I was the first one in the house to play a guitar.
I wanted to do a bit of singing, especially when rock 'n' roll and the blues came in, but I also loved ballads. In the beginning, it was just myself and Finbar on the road. We played in all the folk clubs in England. We did contemporary songs and folk songs. Then we were invited to play in Ewan MacColl's club in London. Once you played there, you could play anywhere in England.
Eventually we decided to form a bigger band with the brothers and Davey Arthur. It took off. Nobody was married at the time, so it was carefree -- travelling around, playing here and there. One time we were rehearsing in my mother's house in Ballyfermot, in the big room, and one of the boys started playing Sweet Sixteen. She said, 'Why don't you record that song?' Now it's one of the favourites when we play a concert.
I still get nervous before I go out on stage. I think that's a good thing. I might tell the audience something funny as we're setting up. We've played everywhere -- Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall. The first gig we ever did was in Scariff, Co Clare, on a cold winter's night. I think we had about 20 people, but they enjoyed it. Five weeks later, we went back and the place was jammed -- word of mouth. It was a great feeling.
Our best gig was when we played for the Pope in Drogheda. We put the aunties and my mother in the bandwagon, so they got to be near the Pope.
Once, we played in Carnegie Hall on a Sunday afternoon. When we came out, there was a big queue of people outside -- they were all waiting to get in to watch Rigoletto. A friend said, 'That'd be a great crowd to busk', so we got out our instruments and played. This old woman in the queue said to me, 'You guys are pretty good. One of these days you're going to be in there.' I said, 'We just came out of that kip.'
When we played in Germany, we didn't always play organised gigs. Sometimes we'd play on the street to get something to eat, until someone would come along and give us a gig in a pub. It was a bit of a struggle, but a struggle you had to keep at. I always say: keep at it, keep working -- any kind of gig you can get, take it, because it's experience. You'll make friends along the way, and you'll make contacts.
If we're playing in a theatre, I like to go to the bar area beforehand and meet some of the people coming to see us. We have great fans -- some of them have been following us around for the past 30 years. Ten minutes before the show, I change into my clothes and then we have a yap. We like to try something new in our shows, but we always play the hits -- people want to hear them. We love playing at home and the Irish audiences are always fantastic. I'm usually pretty tired after a concert.
We started off playing in O'Donoghue's pub in 1960. We were paid two pounds each. I loved it then, and I still love it. We're very lucky. We have a great manager, Joe McCadden -- he is a real anchor for us. After a gig, I go out to meet the audience. I always make a big deal out of that because they've come out of their way to see us. Then it's back to the hotel, have a nightcap and off to bed.
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/eddie-furey-28818224.html
http://www.thefureys.com/
