Reel Union @ Kilmarnock Folk Club, 1978

The group was founded by singer Dolores Keane and her husband, John Faulkner. On this Kilmarnock recording the members were Terry Yarnell, Kieran Crehan, Eamonn Curran, John Faulkner and Dolores Keane (vocals, flute).

Reel Union @ Kilmarnock Folk Club, 1978 - This is a recording of Reel Union at Kilmarnock Folk Club. Reel Union was based in London and associated with The Singers Club. The group was founded by singer Dolores Keane and her husband, multi-instrumentalist John Faulkner. On this Kilmarnock recording the members were Terry Yarnell (fiddle, vocals), Kieran Crehan (fiddle), Eamonn Curran (uillean pipes & whistles), John Faulkner (bouzouki, guitar & vocals), Dolores Keane (vocals, flute). This evening lives long in the memory of Kilmarnock Folk Club members - it was special in so many ways. The club organisers were aware that Reel Union were appearing at Inverness Folk Festival at the weekend, and travelling up from London - an opportunity to take the opportunity of a break in their journey to appear at Kilmarnock on the Thursday evening. What the organisers didn't know was that Sean Cannon was also travelling up to Inverness, so that evening also featured a floor spot from Sean. 

The recording at this stage is only roughly edited. The recording is split here into three parts. We will need to go back to the source tape to try to work out the sequence of the evening. 

This recording is part of The Living Tradition Archive and is presented here for your enjoyment and as part of the process of documenting and indexing this archive. Feedback is welcome.

PART 1 The start of the evening: Tuning up is the first task, then John Faulkner introduces the band members before they launch into their first part of the evening with a set of reels. Sean Cannon appears towards the end of this section (without introduction on the tape). 

PART 2 Sean Cannon continues his set, then back to Reel Union. (The tape runs out towards the end of this set - it was likely an old fashioned C90)

PART 3 Reel Union continue, presumably with a new tape swiftly inserted. Sean Cannon then reappears, then Reel Union. At the end of this section one of the club's regular singers, Jack Foley, pops up with a song. This won't have been the actual sequence of the evening - perhaps the tape had been turned and overwritten. This part of the recording will probably be edited out as we tidy up this recording and insert tune and song titles into this text.