The Fureys and Davey Arthur are one of the most respected and best loved Irish traditional institutions in the country. They celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2008 with the release of a live DVD/CD which was recorded in Vicar St, Dublin. They will take to the stage in the Royal Theatre this Saturday evening, April 3.
The band were formed in 1978 literally by accident. George and Paul Furey and Davey Arthur 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, Paul, and Davey 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 and Davey Arthur.
Inevitably changes have occurred over 30 years. Paul died suddenly in June 2002 and Finbar left the band in December 1996, however George, Eddie, and Davey Arthur have continued to delight audiences on their tours and have been releasing a new CD every year. They will be touring in 2009 with two superb musicians, Luke Crowley and Dominic Leech.
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. In 1971 he moved to mainland Europe where he toured for seven years with Finbar, building up a huge following, particularly in Germany. Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics has credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on guitar when they met up in the northeast of England while Dave was still a teenager. The band became an instant success and had a string of hits including ‘When you were Sweet Sixteen’, ‘The Green Fields of France’, and ‘Red Rose Café’.
Tickets are available from €25 on www.ticketmaster.ie as well as from The Royal Box Office on 0818 300 000. For further information check The Royal Theatre and Event Centre website on www.theroyal.ie or www.ticketmaster.ie
