This article is from page 6 of the 2012-01-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
AS ONE of the country’s foremost concertina players, music provided Chris Droney with a passport to see the world.
In 1951, the Bellharbour musician visited America for the first time, hopping aboard a plane for the first time from Shannon to Boston.
It was a shocking experience, one that Chris vividly recalled to The Clare People in 2007.
He said, “I remember the first time. It was one of those planes with the propellers and we had to re-fuel in Gander airport in Newfoundland. I mean, the cold in that place was unreal. I’d say it was about 25 degrees below. I’ve never known anything as cold. We had to refuel there and then head of for Boston. The planes would be half-empty.
“It took nine and a half hours to go to America that time. They were all re-fuelling in Gander back then. It was the first time on a plane and I will tell you one thing, it was like being in the World Cup, that’s how nervous I was.”
Music brought Chris Droney to Gander. It brought him most places. He learned the concertina by paying careful attention to his father James and grandfather Michael at the family home in Bellharbour.
Playing music was a social thing. It also provided the opportunity to travel. His teenage years were spent playing in pubs and dance halls and competitions. He was named All-Ireland Senior Concertina Champion on nine occasions. After winning the All-Ireland in 1961, he was invited to play in Boston.
They toured hard in the 1960s, travelling from America to Canada and back to America, playing to noisy, sold-out venues.
He said, “I was asked to go to play in a concert in Boston in the colonial hall. I’ll never forget it. It was frightening, because I never realised there would be much of a crowd there but there were 2,200 people.
“I had to play for about 20 minutes for two nights, just two nights. The second night there were maybe about a thousand people there. But the amplification they had was perfect. It was no trouble…
“I know there were 23 concerts in America. We started off in Boston; there were two concerts in Boston. Then we went to New York and after that we flew to Canada and we did Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa and then we crossed into Detroit. We went from Detroit to Chicago and from there to Philadelphia. We went all over.”
Despite the rigours associated with transatlantic travel at the time, Chris said he was grateful for everything music afforded him.
He added, “I don’t think I’d be here now if I wasn’t playing music. I’ve been playing all my life, 74 years now. I don’t think there was ever a bad night.”