Winkler Voice 101112-32pager.indd

The Winkler Morden Voice Thursday, October 11, 2012
11
Irish Rovers bringing
the party to Winkler
Legendary Canadian-Irish band brings
Drunken Sailor Tour to town Oct. 20
By Ashleigh Viveiros
When a teenage George Millar first
started performing with the Irish
Rovers in the pubs and music halls of
1960s Toronto, he never imagined he’d
still be doing the same all these years
later.
“I started when I was 16 with the
band,” Millar says when reached at his
home in Nanaimo, B.C. last month, a
few weeks before hitting the road on
the group’s cross-Canada tour that
will bring them to the Winkler concert
hall on Oct. 20.
Millar and his friend Jimmy Ferguson, both recent immigrants from
Ireland, would take to the stage on
the weekends, simply enjoying the
chance to create and share their Irish
folk-inspired tunes on the local music
scene.
“We were just doing it for a weekend
thing,” Millar says. “They were paying
us $25 and Jimmy and I thought we
had it made.”
Once Millar graduated and his
brother Will and cousin Joe Millar
were added to the group, they decided “to give it a year and see what
happens.”
“After 49 years, we’re still saying,
‘Ah, we’ll give it another year and see
how it goes,” Millar says, laughing. “I
don’t think I’m ever going to be able
to retire.”
If the success of the band’s most recent album, The Drunken Sailor, and
their sold-out shows this fall is any indication, that’s probably true.
“The little kids all those years ago
that we sang ‘The Unicorn’ to, they’re
in their 40s now and they’re coming
back and bringing their kids to the
shows,” Millar says. “It’s come full
circle.”
“I can’t believe after all these years
people are still buying the Irish Rovers [music] and coming out to see us.”
It was with a similar dose of disbelief
that the new album got created and
released this spring, Millar says.
Irish Rovers’ George
Millar brings
his band to
Winkler on
Oct. 20 as
part of their
Drunken
Sailor national tour.
The group
has been
performing
their brand
of Canadian/
Irish folk
music for
generations
of fans for
nearly 50
years.
SUPPLIED
PHOTOS
The title song gained some unex- by a Reindeer’ because it’s too early
pected popularity among the younger in the year … but most of what they
generation last year thanks to a pair expect to hear they will in fact hear,”
of hugely successful Youtube videos.
he said of next week’s Winkler show.
“Somebody phoned me and said “We understand that people want to
‘You know, they’re playing that hear those songs over and over and
‘Drunken Sailor’ song of yours and that’s fine with us.”
it’s got like five million hits,” Millar
Millar says “The Unicorn”, even afsays. “I went ‘What?’ They wouldn’t ter all these years, remains his favoube playing us’ ... but I get on the web rite song to perform.
and indeed it is us.”
“That is the song that made us,
“Basically from all that, I wrote a lot without that little unicorn the Irish
of the songs for the new
Rovers would’ve probalbum and it went from
ably broken up years ago.
there,” he said.
There would’ve been no
The album also inreason to keep going.”
cludes a song called
“It took us from the
“The Titanic” in honour
pubs of North America
“IT’S JUST
of the 100th anniversatook us to the stages
TWO HOURS and
ry of the sinking of the
of the world,” he says. “So
great ship.
I never get tired singing
OF A BIT OF
“I’ve known about the
that song, and I’ll sing it
FUN, THAT’S anytime anywhere.”
Titanic since I was a wee
boy, so it was always
Whatever your favouALL IT IS.”
something I meant to
rite Irish Rover tune may
get around to,” Millar
be, Millar says they hope
says of writing the piece,
you’ll leave the show with
adding that the ship was built in Bel- a smile on your face.
fast, which further fueled his interest
“It’s just two hours of a bit of fun,
in the disaster. “The song’s a tribute that’s all it is,” he said. “We don’t do
to those poor souls that perished that any political agenda, we have no
night.”
great message other than to just enAs proud as they are of their new joy yourself because life is far too
songs, the group - which today in- short to worry about everything.”
cludes George, his cousin Ian Millar
“After two hours we hope they’re
(Joe’s son), Wilcil McDowell, John leaving whistling the ‘Drunken SailReynolds, Sean O’Driscoll, and Fred or’ without a care in the world, beGraham - has also been in the busi- cause that’s all we do.”
ness long enough to know to give
Tickets to the show are on sale at the
their fans what they want.
P.W. Enns Centennial Concert Hall
“People want to hear ‘The Unicorn’ ticket office in Winkler’s City Hall,
and ‘Wasn’t That a Party’. We’re not online at winklerconcerthall.ca, or by
going to sing ‘Grandma Got Run over calling 325-5600.