Hand me Downs play the Bush Bar tonight
OFTEN in a small talent pool like Fermanagh, you find that many musicians interchange between bands.
And, one band, led by Jimmy Farry on vocals and mandolin, are the aptly named ‘The Hand me Downs’.
“I’d been thinking about starting a new musical project for ages so I put a status up on Facebook to gauge interest and was really overwhelmed by the response,” explained Jimmy.
“Through one thing and another we ended up with the seven we have today.”
Joining Jimmy are Marty Jones on drums, Adam Cooke on bass, Roni McManus on bazoki, Jenni McGullion on guitar, George Bracken on keyboards, and Jay Snyder on washboard, bodhran and cajob.
“I think that’s everyone,” remarked Jimmy.
“We play a really eclectic mix of songs. From the Specials to the Lumineers to Florence and the Machine. We try to put our own slant on everything we do. It either works or not but it’s always good fun finding out. We practice every week at John Moffat’s Oaks recording studio. We started in my Kitchen but out grew that pretty quickly,” he added.
The band played their first gig at a Pat Nolan tribute night in the Railway Hotel, Enniskillen.
“The bright eyes gig was a great wee night. Once the nerves were dealt with. We got a great response and some really positive feedback so that inspired us to keep it going.”
And as for plans for the future? “We’ll have to wait and see,” said Jimmy.
“We have plans to get out gigging as much as possible and original material could be in the pipeline.
“It’s all quite new and exciting at the minute.”
Tonight (May 31), The Hand me Downs will play the Bush Bar in Enniskillen along with a handful of guests.
Included are, Maurice Collins, Caimin O’ Shea and Bronagh Broderick – as well as another unconfirmed act.
Music kicks off at 10pm.
