For the past two years, Waterford City and County Council has been collaborating with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council (MEABC) on a Shared Island project. We have been exploring how the two communities can find links and collaborations through creativity. So far, we’ve looked at areas like literature, mural art, and industrial heritage. Recently, we began exploring the possibility of the communities collaborating through music.
Joe Rocks from MEABC generously invited us to come and visit Ballymena to get an idea of their music scene and brainstorm ideas of future collaboration, and we didn’t have to be asked twice! Bana Rua kindly agreed to come with us for the visit to lend their insight on the planning process from years of gigging in Waterford. None of us were too sure what to expect when we piled into the car on Thursday morning and headed North, but we were excited about meeting new people and seeing new places. Little did we know what a treat we were in for.
Exploring Belfast
As many Ballymena musicians gig in Belfast, this was our first stop. We started our tour in Van Morrison’s homeplace and then it was time to venue hop. Joe brought us to Banana Block, Oh Yeah, Ulster Sports Club, The American Bar and Madden’s to give us an idea of the types of places locals and tourists go to see live music. A special highlight was the session in Madden’s where Bana Rua performed an acapella sea shanty to the delight of the crowd. This unplanned moment of connection set the tone for what would be a series of magical moments in the days ahead.
We made our way to Slemish Barn, a place that would become a home away from home for us, and got a much needed sleep in preparation for a busy Friday.
The Joys of Ballymena
After a delicious breakfast in Ballymena on Friday morning, Joe took us on a tour of The Braid. This Council run arts venue has a variety of rehearsal, performance and exhibition spaces enjoyed by local and touring performers alike. After some lovely daydreaming about the types of performance we could organise here, it was time to get to work. We wandered over to Busker’s Corner in the heart of Ballymena, where Bana Rua and local musicians spent two hours performing together. They were a huge hit with local shoppers – and even got some inquiries about playing weddings!
Our next stop was into local legend Johnny Murphy’s fiddle workshop, where we got to see fiddles being made from scratch by hand. Johnny told Dean, Bana Rua’s fiddle player, that he could try out any of the fiddles he wanted in the workshop. What followed was complete overwhelm and delight. Poor Joe almost had to physically pull us away to head to our next stop as we all sat completely entranced with Johnny and Dean’s impromptu duets.
On we rambled to Amberville Studios, where we were met by Stevie Scullion, aka Malojian, who showed us around the impressive premises. Stevie then offered to record some tracks for Bana Rua – an unexpected treat. They recorded an original song, an acapella cover, and a collaboration with Joe – and all before dinner!
Our last stop of the day was to be a flying visit to Crosskeys Inn, Ireland’s oldest thatched pub and internationally renowned traditional music venue. We got chatting to the staff as we looked around and told them about the Shared Island initiative and how much we’d been enjoying our visit. We were told in very mysterious but authoritative terms that we were to make it our business to come back the following night, as there might be something we would enjoy on offer. We had no idea what we were being offered, but we of course agreed wholeheartedly and put it into our diaries.
You would think we’d be exhausted when we finally arrived back to Slemish Barn, but the events of the day had Bana Rua fizzing with energy. They asked the owner, Maeve, if they could play some music in the communal sitting room and she not only agreed but asked if she could join in. What followed was an impromptu trad session with Bana Rua, Maeve, and the other guests at the barn. Another magical and unplanned moment of connection that felt truly special.
New Friends
Saturday took a little bit of a different format. Slemish Barn had kindly given us the use of their communal spaces for the day, and Joe put out an open invitation to all local musicians to pop over and spend some time with us. We were a little nervous that we’d end up sitting around alone for the day drinking cups of tea, but we need not have worried. The first musicians started trickling in after breakfast, and before long the room was full and the ceiling was shaking with the vibration of so many people joining in on the group jamming sessions. We completely got into the zone and didn’t notice the time passing – until we looked at our watches and realised with a shock that it was somehow evening time! We hadn’t even stopped for lunch.
Many of our new friends had to run off to play gigs, but some were able to stick around and have dinner with us. We bonded over shared slang words from both communities and taught each other a few new gems. We would have stayed there all night joking and laughing if we hadn’t made a very important commitment to Crosskeys Inn. In we piled to the car and made our way to the venue, curious and excited to see what kind of a night lay ahead for us.
We ended up attending one of the most stunning, intimate gigs imaginable. Piaras O’Lorcáin played a solo set that included both new and traditional music – what all the songs had in common was they made the hairs stand up on our arms. You could hear a pin drop over the two hours that Piaras was on stage. The question that we asked each other as we walked out of the performance space was “did you cry?” and the answer was pretty unanimous. Suffice to say if ever you get a chance to see Piaras O’Lorcáin perform, grab it with both hands.
Now we could have gone back to the barn at that point to get some sleep before our early morning engagements, and perhaps that would have been the sensible choice – but Bana Rua were suddenly invited to sing at a session in the main pub, and who are we to turn down an opportunity like that? Bana Rua’s trademark three part acapella harmonies were a hit with the punters, and they started getting song requests shouted from across the room – which they happily fulfilled. We chatted to people about our trip and the local music scene in Waterford until the small hours, and a few even decided to book a trip to Waterford for a holiday to check it out – so we must have done an okay job at promotion!
Do you think we thought to take a single picture or video of this, the best day ever? Of course not. But sometimes, you have to just be present in the moment.
It’s Not Goodbye, It’s See You Later
Fueled by relentless positivity and very strong coffee, we got up early on Sunday morning to explore the iconic Glens of Antrim. The green fields and fresh waterfalls blew us away, and as always we got chatting to people out and about walking. An overarching theme from this trip was just how friendly and welcoming the local community are – even chattier than us, which we didn’t think was possible.
We popped by Curfew Tower, a very mysterious and exclusive artists retreat venue, and Joe told us all the secret lore about its history. In summary, it’s very haunted and we very much want to stay there.
Our final stop was to the Skerry Inn, a venue that every musician we met in the previous days had told us to make sure to visit. Joe had invited the people we’d met over the trip to come and meet us in the venue for a group sing-song before we got on the road. This was the perfect end to a trip that turned out to be all about making connections through music – sitting in a circle, teaching each other songs and singing them together.
After spending about an hour repeatedly saying goodbye to each other, we very very reluctantly left. Not even driving slap bang into the All Ireland final traffic enroute back to Waterford could put a dampener on the joy in the car – we sang and laughed the whole way home.
In Conclusion
We went to Ballymena to try and answer the question of whether we think our two communities could perhaps use music to collaborate and build relationships. We left Ballymena with a new question – which was when can we go back, can it please be very soon?
Watch this space – so many plans are coming down the line. Our heartfelt thanks to Creative Ireland for funding this experience through their Shared Island scheme, which continues to bring such joy and connection to both communities.