John Doonan

This elder Irish musician keeps his instruments saved in his pocket and it is susceptible to extravagant claims. At one stage he boasted to be 112 years of age, and just like a great Irish lad, stated taking in whisky was the reason behind his great health. He gained the nickname from the “Whistling Welder” for his musical escapades while at the job for the Tyneside shipyards, where he utilized to boast that he could open fire red-hot rivets away of his piccolo. All such non-sense aside, Doonan can be a whiz on his tin whistle and piccolo and is known as among the Godfathers of Irish music for his regular involvement in various rings and memorable documenting sessions like the small-instrument summit The Lark in the Obvious Air flow, released in the first ’70s on Subject. Both Doonan’s dad and grandfather had been fiddlers, so that as a young man, he found this instrument aswell as learning flute, mandolin, and piano. Gradually he gravitated toward preferring the thin metallic flute, and in 1946, created a normal celli music group with five fiddles, three concert flutes, and drums. His dad was among the fiddlers, and Doonan offers stayed involved in family members rings throughout his profession. He would later on type the Doonan Family members Band which presented his two sons: Mick Doonan on piccolo and Kevin Doonan on fiddle. This music group offers documented two albums, Fenwick’s Windows and Manna From Hebburn. Doonan turned from flute to piccolo when he experienced small, higher instrument will be better at slicing through the rest of the players in the music group, the same cause jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders turned from flute to piccolo aswell. But whereas Sanders dropped his piccolo inside a bar rather than got another, Doonan offers continued showing his virtuosity on the tiny instrument on produces like the live documenting In the Feis, released around the Lark in Crystal clear Air flow label. He was the 1964 All Ireland champion in the flute competition. He in addition has made an appearance on recordings from the Irish guitarist and vocalist Archie Fisher.