Legends of Irish music and song The Fureys to play the Apex
The Fureys, the legends of Irish music and song, are coming to the Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, next week for their fifth concert at the town centre venue.
They have been entertaining audiences worldwide for 43 years, audiences that have included former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, former Irish President Mary McAleese and the late Pope John Paul.
The band was formed in 1978, literally by accident.
George, Paul and Davey were playing in Denmark with their own band called the Buskers and Eddie and Finbar, while touring in Germany, were involved in a road accident.
When George and Paul got news of the accident, they immediately travelled to Germany to be with their brothers. They then decided that they should all be playing together, and this was the start of The Fureys.
Inevitably changes have occurred over the years. Their brother Paul died suddenly in June 2002 and Finbar left the band in December 1996, however George and Eddie have continued to delight audiences on their tours and have released a new CD “The Fureys … 40 years on …to be continued”.
The Fureys are responsible for some of the most stirring music ever to capture the public imagination and they credit their musical ability to their parents, Ted and Nora, who were well known musicians themselves. They encouraged their sons to play music from a very early age and there was live traditional music in their house almost nightly.
The oldest of the brothers, Eddie Furey left home in 1966 and travelled to Scotland at the time of the great folk revival where he met and shared accommodation in Edinburgh with then unknown folk singers Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty and Alex Campbell, now all famous in their own right.
In 1969 with his brother Finbar, he was the special guest for the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem throughout the USA and Canada.
Dave Stewart, from the Eurythmics, has credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on guitar when they met up while Dave was still a teenager.
The Fureys play the Apex on Wednesday, March 9, at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from www.theapex.co.uk or 01284 758000.