The Fureys to make their sixth appearance at The Apex next month

Legends of Irish music and song, The Fureys (pictured above) return to the Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, next month, for their sixth concert at the venue.

With songs like “I Will Love You”, “When You Were Sweet 16”, “Red Rose Café”, “Leaving Nancy”, “From Clare to Here” and “The Green Fields of France”, they are one of Ireland’s most popular folk and traditional bands.

The group’s musical footprint is rivalled only by their vast collection of stories gathered by Eddie and George Furey along their 45-year journey, which shows no signs of ending.

They are particularly proud of their British chart success which helped bring Irish folk and traditional music to a completely new audience.

The band made their Top of the Pops debut in 1981. During one episode of TOTP, there was a BBC strike and all of the show’s artists found themselves at a loose end, so The Fureys struck up an unlikely music session with Kool & The Gang and Midge Ure of Ultravox. Alas, there are no recordings of how this fusion of styles came across.

The Fureys credit their musical ability to their parents, Ted and Nora, who were well known musicians themselves. They encouraged their sons to play from a very early age and there was live traditional music in their house almost nightly.

Eddie, the oldest of the brothers, 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.

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 are at The Apex, on Wednesday, March 13, at 7.30pm. Seewww.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more information or to book tickets.