Archive for March, 2012

Perched on the edge of a wooden stool, torso leaned slightly toward the microphone, eyes, ablaze with mirth, peering at the animated audience, Tom Lanigan is completely in his element.

“Come out you Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man, show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders,” his raspy voice entreats. “Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away, from the green and lovely lanes in Killeshandra.”

Lanigan, a 34-year-old Irish immigrant, is carrying on the rich tradition of storytelling that he remembers as a youth growing up in Dublin, one that predates him by centuries. The Irish are fabled storytellers and whether the tales are of such fantastical creatures as banshees and leprechauns or a so-called rebel song detailing the suppression of the English paramilitary police, “Black and Tans,” sent to patrol city streets at the beginning of the 20th century, their stories have lived for generations. Irish music has traditionally drawn from tall tales and historical accounts.

These are the sounds that inspired a young Tom Lanigan, who immigrated with his family to Warwick at the age of 16. Feeling isolated in his new home and with a deep brogue that set him apart from classmates at Pilgrim High School, Lanigan picked up a guitar and was soon immersed in music. Read More