(Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi) Covered, The Achtung Baby Covers Album featuring Gavin Friday doing U2′s The Fly is now available for download worldwide* on iTunes. All proceeds will benefit Concern Worldwide’s work in famine-stricken areas of East Africa.
The album was was conceived for Q Magazine to mark their 25th Anniversary issue and coincides with the 20th Anniversary re-release of U2′s Achtung Baby. Other artists on the album include Nine Inch Nails, Patti Smith, Depeche Mode, Garbage and more.
With the support of iTunes, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) and all of the participating artists, managers & labels, all proceeds from the sale of (Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi) Covered, will support Concern’s response to the East Africa crisis, where thousands of children have already died of hunger or related diseases and over 10 million people remain at risk.
Gavin Friday will be joining Duke Special on stage in Dublin tomorrow evening (10th Sep) at 21:30pm in the ‘Hennesy Spiegeltent’.
The show is called ‘The Silhouette Old Time Mystery Radio Show’ by Duke Special and friends and is part of Dublin’s Fringe Festival. Duke and friends will ‘explore the murky world of deception, crime and reluctant heroism in a night only made less noir by the stellar quality of his guests.’
Tickets are 20 euro and are available from the festival website.
Watch a video of this show.
From Ireland Evening Herald, April 2003
FROM LA TO INNER CITY : Band’s stunner teaches tin whistle to kids
ANDREA CORR’S THE QUEEN OF SHERRIFF ST.
Andrea Corr has been shunning the high life of late to give inner-city kids music lessons, the Diary can reveal. The Corrs singer has been accompanying her friend singer Gavin Friday on his regular visits to Sheriff Streets After Schools Education Project, an initiative aimed at discouraging local children from using drugs.
“Andrea has been down to Sheriff St with me a couple of times.” confirmed Gavin “She’s come down to give the kids lessons on the tin whistle and then hang around to chat with them. After a while, everybody forgets she is famous.” Despite being one of the worlds biggest pop stars Andrea didn’t arrive in Sheriff St with a team of bodyguards. “Andrea has never brought security with her or anything like that. But then again nobody needs security when they have Gavin Friday with them,” Gavin said.
The former Virgin Prune singer first became involved with the after school education project when he was contacted by local community leaders “Attendances were down and they hoped by getting someone like me involved it would bring more kids in,” he explained about the programme aimed at keeping young people aged 12-15 years off the streets and away form drug pushers. As part of the workshop youngsters are encouraged to make up a play on the spur of the moment and then act it out in the classroom.
“It could be something like Joan is pregnant but Mick wants to go to a nightclub and do some E’s – how do we stop him taking E’s?” “I’ve ended up playing the role of the bouncer at the nightclub” Gavin and Andrea work with the project came about after they teamed up for the soundtrack of Jim Sheridan’s new film, In America. The pair collaborated with Bono on a song called Time Enough For Tears.
“It’s a beautiful number with a jazzy feel, perfect for the mood of Jims film” raved Gavin about the track on which Andrea sings lead vocal. The recording may well get an early spin tomorrow night when Gavin and his pal Guggi man the record decks in Lillie’s Bordello for a benefit in aid of the Sheriff St Project. “We’ll be doing a special DJ set from 11 onwards. The money we raise will go towards buying the kids a new computer because the one they’ve got is banjaxed”
The kitty is sure to be swelled by the auction of two paintings, one by Gavin and one by Guggi towards the end of the night. “I don’t know who’ll be dropping in but I can tell you this: the music we’ll be playing won’t ever have been played in Lillie’s before and wont ever be played there again. And that’s the truth.”
Gavin has contributed to a charity single, “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew” in honour of The Dubliner’s singer Ronnie Drew. The proceeds will benefit the Irish Cancer Society at Ronnie Drew’s request. The track will be available in Ireland only as a download on Friday, February 22 and week later on CD.
The song was written by Bono, The Edge, Simon Carmody and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and features appearances by Kila, the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, the Frames’ Glen Hansard, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Keating, Chris de Burgh, members of the Dubliners, and Gavin Friday.
Hal Willner‘s Stay Awake 20th anniversary Gala Benefit in New York has added Gavin Friday to its line up. The event during which a large cast of musicians will be performing Disney songs will take place at St Ann’s at Dumbo, on April 2nd. Please note, tickets are between $300-1000, available from St Ann’s website.
For the 2007 Lunchbox Auction, 100+ iconic celebrities from the entertainment, fashion, art, music, literary and culinary worlds remind us that food matters by creating personalized lunchbox art for online auction. The auction, which goes live on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 12 a.m. EST, will benefit two hunger-relief organizations: Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa. Each lunchbox is signed and numbered and no two lunchboxes are alike. Bid on Gavin’s box.
The final tally of the The Gavin Friday forum community fundraiser raised is 1085 Euro. Fans started the fundraiser to celebrate Gavin’s birthday in 2004.
From the Sunday Mirror, March 21, 2004:
RADAR: CHARITY TUCKS IN FOR GAV
BY SUZANNE KERINS
GAVIN FRIDAY was at a special dinner thrown in his honour by the Irish Hospice Foundation on Friday night at the Shelbourne Hotel. The special dinner was to thank Gavin for all his hard work on the Peter And The Wolf CD and book which was sold to raise money for the Foundation. My spy said: “Although Bono did the artwork, Gavin brought him on board after he decided to make the CD for the foundation. “Gavin was the major force behind the project so the foundation just wanted to thank him for what he did. “Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry from U2 were there as well to give their pal a big round of applause.”
Gavin and a host of other Irish heads have contributed to Voices and Poetry of Ireland, a 3 CD and book anthology of Irish poetry to benefit Focus Ireland. Gavin picked Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol. The CD and book set (€ 40 will be available from Harper Collins in two weeks.
Press release
PRESS RELEASE
VOICES AND POETRY OF IRELAND
A UNIQUE BOOK AND 3 CD PACKAGE IN AID OF FOCUS IRELAND.
A collection of over 100 best loved Irish poems featuring recordings by many of Ireland’s famous names.
Voices and Poetry of Ireland is a 3 CD and beautiful hardback book anthology of classic and contemporary Irish poems from poets such as Yeats, Kavanagh, Wilde, Kennelly and Heaney read by over 100 of the best-known voices in Irish life such as Bono, Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Bertie Ahern, Maeve Binchy, Bob Geldof and Terry Wogan. The objective of this rich and colourful celebration of Irish poetic heritage is to raise much-needed funds for Focus Ireland, one of Ireland’s largest voluntary agencies solely dedicated to combating homelessness. Founded by Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985 it helps over 4,000 people each year throughout the country.
The original concept was by Lunar Record’s Brian Molloy and the project was produced by the company with the full support of Poetry Ireland. Voices and Poetry of Ireland is scheduled for world-wide release in November 2003 with Harper Collins. The CDs feature over 100 readers from such diverse backgrounds as the arts, broadcasting, politics and all aspects of public life and together with the Book comprises a living anthology of the best of Irish writing while capturing the wide range of registers that make up the Irish speaking voice.
The poems, drawn up in consultation with Poetry Ireland, reflect something of the diversity and variety of poetry from Ireland and includes both famous and historical poems alongside new and even unpublished work from among our finest living writers. The Book contains photos and biographical details on the well-known readers and the text of the poems which they bring to life on the accompanying CDs.
Retail Price Euro 40
VOICES & POETRY OF IRELAND
Contributor – Poem – Author
Bertie Ahern – The Mother – Padraic Pearse
Robert Ballagh – A Glass of Beer – James Stephens
Patrick Bergin – The Mystery – Amergin
Maeve Binchy – Pangur Ban – Anonymous
Charlie Bird – Danny – J.M. Synge
Tara Blaze – Nuala – Brendan Kennelly
Luka Bloom – Mirror in February – Thomas Kinsella
Bono – God’s Laughter – Brendan Kennelly
John Bowman – A Little Boy in the Morning – Francis Ledwidge
Paul Brady – 4 Voices without an Instrument – Medbh McGuckian
Pierce Brosnan – Father and Son – F.R. Higgins
Vincent Browne – A Christmas Childhood – Patrick Kavanagh
Gabriel Byrne – To L.L. – Oscar Wilde
Gay Byrne – Mid Term Break – Seamus Heaney
Liam Clancy – The Second Coming – W. B. Yeats
Paddy Cole – The Friction of Feet in Time – Michael Coady
Andrea Corr – Never Give all the Heart – W.B. Yeats
Sharon Corr – First Annual Report – Gerry Corr
Phil Coulter – The Man from God knows Where – Florence Wilson
John Creedon – The Bells of Shandon – Francis Mahony
Anthony Cronin – The Fisherman – W.B. Yeats
Jeananne Crowley – An Old Woman of the Roads – Padraic Colum
Bill Cullen – Shades of Ranelagh – Macdara Woods
Dana – The Christmas Rose – Cecil Day Lewis
Ian Dempsey – Duffy’s Circus – Paul Muldoon
Dermot Desmond – My Land – Thomas Davis
Moya Doherty – Winter Birds – Moya Cannon
Theo Dorgan – Death of an Irishwoman – Michael Hartnett
Anne Doyle – Nude – Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
Danny Doyle – Pity the Islanders – David Quin
Ronnie Drew – Ode – Arthur O’Shaughnessy
Joe Duffy – Someone – Dennis O’Driscoll
Myles Dungan – To My Daughter Betty, the Gift of God – Thomas Kettle
Eamonn Dunphy – excerpt from The Paddiad – Patrick Kavanagh
Paul Durcan – The Lovers – Anthony Cronin
Dave Fanning – July in Bettystown – Gerard Fanning
Colin Farrell – Dublin Made Me – Donagh MacDonagh
Marian Finucane – Night Feed – Eavan Boland
Brenda Fricker – The Pride of the Coombe – Seamus Kavanagh
Gavin Friday – The Ballad of Reading Gaol – Oscar Wilde
James Galway – The Rainstick – Seamus Heaney
Bob Geldof – Bagpipe Music – Louis MacNeice
Des Geraghty – Speaking to my Father – Theo Dorgan
Brendan Gleeson – Emotions – Rory Gleeson
Larry Gogan – She Moved Through the Fair – Padraic Colum
Adrian Hardiman – Seals at High Island – Richard Murphy
Mary Harney – Sunday’s Well – Vona Groarke
Richard Harris – Ode to Christy Brown – Richard Harris
Shay Healy – How to be my Heart – Pat Boran
Seamus Heaney – What Then? – W.B. Yeats
Michael D. Higgins – Dark Rosaleen – J.C. Mangan
John Hume – Claudy – James Simmons
Neil Jordan – I Grabbed an Education – Patrick Kavanagh
Fergal Keane – All of these People – Michael Longley
Frank Kelly – Stony Grey Soil – Patrick Kavanagh
Gerry Kelly – Ulster Names – John Hewitt
John Kelly – The Singers House – Seamus Heaney
Brian Kennedy – The Tree Speaks – Cathal O Searcaigh
Sen Ed. Kennedy – Fiddler of Dooney – W.B. Yeats
Sr. Stan Kennedy – To A Child – Patrick Kavanagh
Brendan Kennelly – My Father – John B. Keane
Pat Kenny – Antarctica – Derek Mahon
Marian Keyes – Thems Your Mammy’s Pills – Leland Bardwell
Mick Lally – Omos do John Millington Synge – Mairtin O Direain
Des Lynam – There Are Days – John Montague
John Lynch – The Sunlight on the Garden – Louis MacNiece
Ciaran MacMathuna – To a May Baby – Winifred Letts
Jimmy Magee – I Will go with My Father – Joseph Campbell
Tommy Makem – Requiem for the Croppies – Seamus Heaney
Paddy Maloney – The Country Fiddler – John Montague
Eamonn McCann – Christ Goodbye – Padraic Fiacc
Charlie McCreevy – Literary History – Rita Kelly
Paul McGrath – The Game of your Life – Gabriel Fitzmaurice
Paul McGuinness – Shapes and Shadows – Derek Mahon
Pauline McLynn – The People I Grew up With – Michael Gorman
Van Morrison – Solstice for my Daughter – Gerry Dawe
Mike Murphy – The Village Schoolmaster – Oliver Goldsmith
Kevin Myers – Fontenoy – Emily Lawless
Christina Noble – The View from under the Table – Paula Meehan
Michael Noonan – A Kind of Trust – Brendan Kennelly
David Norris – The Jackeens Lament – Brendan Behan
Miriam O’Callaghan – A Woman Untouched – Frank McGuinness
Sinead O’Connor – Pride – Paul Williams
Daniel O’Donnell – Poem from a 3 Year Old – Brendan Kennelly
Ardal O’Hanlon – Plaisir D’Amour – Patrick Galvin
Deirdre O’Kane – School Friends – Susan Connolly
Olivia O’Leary – Ship of Death – Kerry Hardie
Micheal O Muircheartaigh – The Boys of Barr na Sraide – Sigerson Clifford
Milo O’Shea – Peter Gilligan – W.B. Yeats
Morgan O’Sullivan – Canticle – John F. Deane
Fintan O’Toole – Ceasefire – Michael Longley
Maureen Potter – The Fairies – William Allingham
Deirdre Purcell – Bewleys Café – Paul Durcan
Niall Quinn – Swineherd – Eilean ni Chuilleanan
Ruairi Quinn – A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford – Derek Mahon
Gerry Ryan – The Did-You-Come-Yets – Rita Ann Higgins
Jim Sheridan – Peter Street – Peter Sirr
Dick Spring – A Drover – Padraic Colum
Niall Toibin – Everything is going to be Alright – Derek Mahon
Sile de Valera – I See His Blood Upon the Rose – Joseph Mary Plunkett
Ted Walsh – The Aluminium Box – Frank Ormsby
Kathleen Watkins – Beannacht for Josie – John O’Donoghue
Bill Whelan – Anseo – Paul Muldoon
Terry Wogan – The Planters Daughter – Austin Clarke
The exhibition of Bono’s illustrations for Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer’s Peter and the Wolf project is launched officially in Dublin today. The paintings had been on show in Dublin’s City Hall since October 1. They will be at Christie’s in London, October 6-8 and will travel to the USA after that. (schedule)
