“What’s not to like about meeting up with your friends in the pub on a Monday night?” queries Roghan Headen about Timahoe’s new men’s choir.
“It’s our men’s shed and the demographic is wide, including young and old. We talk about the events of the day, have a sing song and see where we can go to entertain people. It’s a great bit of buzz and we all enjoy it thoroughly.”
Having left his boyband days behind him, Damien Bowe is hitting a high note with this, his latest project.
Damien who now lives in Timahoe, formed a family band at the age of 15 and signed his first record deal in 2000, going on to sign with Warner Bros Music and Universal Music as part of the international pop act, D-SIDE in the Noughties.
Now working in HR in the University of Limerick (UL), Damien got the choir up and running last November.
“I had a conversation with a gentleman, the late Billy Ramsbottom, before Christmas about a male choir in Timahoe in the 1950s. Women weren’t allowed to sing at the novenas then,” he said.
“There was a great tradition of singing in Timahoe so we decided to set up a men’s choir.
We started rehearsals on Monday nights, alternating between Ramsbottoms and Headens. That was the carrot – to have it in the pub,” laughed Damien who is originally from Shanahoe.
Members don’t have to show musical ability. “My philosophy is if you can talk, you can sing. Everyone is welcome; there is no criteria,” Damien said.
“We had about ten men the first night. We had about four or five rehearsals before our first performance, a carol service in Timahoe church where we got a standing ovation.
“People were blown away by the performance and how good everyone looked in their uniforms,” he said.
“We are now up to 34 members and we still have people joining the group. It’s fantastic. They include our priest, Fr David Vard, prison officers and farmers.
“There are no solos, everyone sings as a group and the emphasis is on fun. It’s the musical form of the men’s shed. It’s a great bit of craic,” Damien said.
“We sit down for a chat after rehearsals. There is a great sense of camaraderie,” he remarked. “The men are stepping out of their comfort zone and there is a range of ages from 30 to 75.
“It’s been genuinely incredible to experience the atmosphere. There is a resurgence in choirs since the recession,” he said.
The choir performed publicly for the first time over Christmas and they were so impressive that they caught the eye of those involved in Electric Picnic.
And the group has been booked for a performance on the Hazelwood Stage on one of the days over the weekend in August.
Before all of that, the choir has been booked to perform the National Anthem before the Laois v Leitrim National Football League Division 4 game on March 16.
The benefits of singing in a choir were recently found to include boosting a sense of wellbeing, according to one study discussed on the radio, Roghan said.
“We have a number of events scheduled including a concert in Borris-in-Ossory in March; a performance at the annual ecumenical remembrance service organised by Embrace Farm service in June, and Electric Picnic in Stradbally in August,” Damien said.
“We are promoting positive communication. Some of the men are living on their own and what a great thing for them to do on a Monday night.
“We have got very positive feedback from the men and from their adult children. One chap moved to the area during Covid so it has been a fantastic way for him of meeting local people,” he said.
“We are encouraging people in other communities to do the same thing. There is a wealth of untapped talent out there and a great energy in the performances.”
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