TOM HONOURED AT MAKEM INTERNATIONAL SONGFEST.
Click here to see the wording of the award The Songfest is a highly prestigious event in the world of folk music and included among it’s patrons are Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Seamus Heaney and Liam Neeson. Tom has been steeped in the folksong tradition since childhood and as he says himself, “When these songs are being sung all around you for most of your life it’s only natural that you end up with an extensive repertoire of old ballads handed for many generations in this family.” On countless tours Tom has brought these songs to many stages across the world. “I first went to play in the United States at the age of sixteen for a two month stint with my brother, Jimmy, and have toured the US and Canada on a very regular basis ever since. In fact I have performed these songs in every state and province across the US and Canada with the exception of Hawaii – must go there soon!” Tom was highly honoured by being invited to perform at the White House for President Clinton on St Patrick’s night in 1998. The Omagh based singer is constantly amazed at other versions of Irish songs still being sung in foreign parts. “Wherever the Irish went they brought their songs with them and through time these songs became assimilated with the local music of the area. Places like Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario in Canada and the far flung recesses of the Ozarks and the Appalachians in the US are redolent with many songs whose musical seeds were set in Ireland. If you study the history of Country and Bluegrass music you will find their roots firmly grounded in Irish music.” Tom is delighted to receive the accolade from the Songfest. “It’s a lovely gesture, because Tommy Makem was not only my uncle but a very close and dear friend of mine. We travelled many, many miles together and invariably the conversation would turn to ballads and singers. He is really missed by so many people, but at least we’re carrying on the family song tradition and that was one of the things he was always adamant about.” It’s a generational thing with the Makem family and the younger people coming behind Tom’s generation have a healthy interest in the songs and boasts a few good ballad singers. Tom will present a workshop on the whole Makem Legacy during the Summer School in Milwaukee August 2008. The reception for the Songfest Award took place in the City Hotel Armagh on Friday June 20th at 8pm and was sponsored by the Armagh City Council.
|
|
More BiographyRecent Award For nearly twenty-five years, Tom Sweeney has travelled the highways and byways of Ireland, Europe and North America with his seemingly endless rattle bag of songs, stories, poetry and tunes. His one man show is replete with the very essence of Irish culture which comes as no surprise when you consider that he has been immersed in the great tradition of ballad singing since he could speak. Tom’s maternal grandmother, Sarah Makem, is generally considered to be one of the greatest sources of songs in the entire history of Irish music and as a boy he learned many of them around his granny’s kitchen in County Armagh. Tom at the White House
The WandererWhen not on the road or in his home studio, Tom can be found wandering around the remoter parts of Ireland discovering something new about the country every day. |
Here is a man whose very soul is at one with traditional culture and who sees it as a living, vibrant and ever changing thing with its roots deeply implanted in his inherited knowledge.An evening with Tom is simply superb so give yourself a treat and experience what many people across miles and miles of music have known for a long time - that Tom Sweeney is the real thing and it doesn’t get any better than this! Milwaukee Irish Fest
|
On Friday June 20th 2008, Tom was honoured by the Tommy Makem International Songfest for his lifelong contribution to the Irish folksong and ballad tradition. 
