User:Seány Murphy/Ger Wolfe

Background
Ger Wolfe is a singer-songwriter from Co. Cork, Ireland. He is best known for his song 'The Curra Road' which The Boston Globe hailed as 'A classic of grace and simplicity that deserves to be a folk standard'. He has produced 5 full C.D'S of original material since his 1998 debut 'Word and Rhyme'.He has also become known for his song 'The Lark of Mayfield',an emigration song he wrote for two of his brothers when they left home in 1987, some lines of which were used in John Spillane's celebrated song' Magic nights atthe Lobby bar'. The 'Lobby bar' song was subsequently covered and recorded by Christy Moore.

Biography
Born in 1969 in Cork City and raised in the northside suburb of Mayfield which he left in 1987 to work at a variety of jobs most notably nursing before coming around to working full time in music in 1996-97. He operates out of Macroom in Co. Cork, from where he runs his own record label 'RAGGEDY RECORDS' He lives in Macroom with his wife and young family.

Discography
Word and Rhyme (1998)

Ragged Ground (2000)

Heaven Paints Her Holy Mantle Blue (2004)

The Velvet Earth (2006)

No Bird Sang (2009)

Music
Musically Wolfe inhabits a world where poetry, melody and rhyme co-exist in unison.He has toured throughout Ireland and as far afield as St. John's, Newfoundland, since his debut performance at 'The Horse and Hound' folk club in Drogheda run by the Faulkner brothers in November of 1987.

He has toured both solo and with 'The New Skylarks', a band he formed for his second album 'Ragged Ground' around 2000 which featured Edel Sullivan (violin/viola) Paul Frost (double bass) and Martin Leahy (drums/percussion)and also regularly Bríd Dunne (accordeon/ piano) and Geoff Ward (Saxophone/clarinet/percussion/mandolin). Following three albums with the band Ger recorded 'No Bird Sang' in 2009 with Peadar O' Riada in Cúil Aodha, West Cork. This marked a return to the simpler sound of his 'Word and Rhyme' album of 1998. Since then Ger has been playing with a new trio featuring Martin Leahy on drums and occasional electric bass, alongside Shane Scanlan on electric guitars.The trio sound marks a move to a more electric style.

Tradition
In the springtime of 2009 Wolfe spent three months as artist in residence in Gaetacht Mhúscraí, (the Irish speaking region of north west Cork which touches on the Kerry border). He worked at gathering stories and anecdotes from the older members of this area which itself has a very rich cultural and artistic heritage. He composed a collection of new songs, some in the english language but many in the Irish language, amd also some polka's and slides which he composed himself during the project(Ger also plays the fiddle among many other instruments).He is currently recording a C.D. of these songs, set for release in April 2011.

Web links
www.gerwolfe.com

www.myspace.com/gerwolfe