Vocation with no retirement plan

Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” will mark 50 years in 2017.

By Colleen Taylor

Rock stars never really retire—as my dad consistently reminds me. In fact, some of them, like my dad, Joe Taylor—a school teacher-turned-songwriter—retire into music. His truism is particularly resonant in the Irish context. Whether it be the rock or folk genre, music in Ireland is more of a vocation than a job, and no matter how hard they try, these singers can’t quit. Here’s a look at what some of Ireland’s rock n’ roll superheroes are up to today.

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Van Morrison’s latest album title openly acknowledges the musician’s lifelong calling. “Keep Me Singing” was released just last year in 2016, marking Van Morrison’s 36th studio album. I haven’t even lived that many years! Its release encompasses a feat in and of itself, but the album’s exemplar quality speaks to the legend that is Van Morrison. It’s hard to believe “Brown Eyed Girl” was released 50 years ago this year, but you wouldn’t know it to listen to “Keep Me Singing.” It’s as if no time has passed: the album reflects that same, easy, romantic, jubilant style that made “Brown Eyed Girl” a hit and Van Morrison an eventual Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer and six-time Grammy award winner. To add to this astonishing perseverance, the seventy-one year old continues to tour and perform regularly. Just this week he, “blew the minds” of audience members at the Las Vegas Colosseum. Van the Man’s voice seems impervious to ageing—perhaps its those resilient shipyard genes from Belfast.

Black 47 front man Larry Kirwan with his

bandmates before the launch of his solo career.

At the local level, Irish-New York rocker Larry Kirwan has been trying—and failing—to retire for years. After putting his band Black 47 to rest in 2014, Kirwan couldn’t sit still. He went solo as a musician and as a writer. A year later in 2015, Kirwan released “A History of Irish Music,” a creative and literary kind of history that surveys the story of Irish music and its relationship to political conflict. The end of the book turns autobiographical, looking at his own legacy with Black 47 and Irish politics in New York City. Just like his senior, Van the Man, Kirwan continues to gig on his own. He has shows lined up for the St. Patrick’s Day March madness season in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. There’s even more Kirwan in store for 2017—he has an October tour scheduled in Ireland, and he’s working to help promote “Fanatic Heart,” a Black 47 film to be released in March. His “day job” is hosting the radio show “Celtic Crush” on Sirius XM.

Bob Geldof posed for a selfie with Orlagh Doyle and Dean O’Sullivan of Boyne Community School, Trim,

Co. Meath, at the One Young World Conference, Dublin, in October 2014. PHOTOCALL/MARK STEDMAN

Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the 1980s band the Boomtown Rats, remains youthful in politics and in music. At 65, Geldof is as much a political activist as ever, reaching out to young people in particular. He recently challenged Trinity College students to get involved in “real politics,” and has spoken out against Donald Trump. He has long been identified with humanitarian causes. Indeed, it has been revealed, via the Irish Times, that he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1980s. On top of that, Geldof has announced a 2017 international tour with the Bobkatz. They’ll be playing Germany, Switzerland, and Dublin’s Olympia Theatre. Geldof also announced a number of solo gigs, and is rumored to be performing at an upcoming George Michael memorial concert.

Individually, Van Morrison, Larry Kirwan and Bob Geldof, three very different rock stars, have an impressive legacy. But when grouped together, they mark a cultural tour-de-force. Long live Irish Rock n’ Roll.

 

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