Sligo piano player, Kieran Quinn, is to visit a number of Midland venues over the coming weeks as part of his “32 Piano Tour” which will see him visit all 32 counties in Ireland.
Speaking with Topic in the run up to his visits, Mr Quinn explained his reasons behind the tour. “I’m a sucker for a challenge so I thought I might as well try because it’ll be one way of getting me around every county in the country anyway. I have a GAA background too so I suppose that fed into it as well-so they county idea would be well embedded in my mind I suppose.”
Despite a tumultuous relationship with the piano as a child, Mr. Quinn only began playing professionally at 25. “I had piano lessons from the ages of eight to 12 and I hated it because of the way I was taught, so I gave it up. I went back to it about three or four years later when I figured out I could play things by ear and it was that that made me interested in it.”
Mr. Quinn launched his album, ‘The Next One’ on September 16 at the Sugarclub in Dublin and spoke to Topic about the inspiration for one track, ‘Iwetta’s Theme’. “Iwetta Higgins was a neighbour of ours here in Strandhill who passed away this Summer long before she should have from a particularly aggressive bout of cancer. Her funeral was very sad and all the community came together and her husband spoke very well at it. I guess whatever mood I was in after it I went to the piano and wrote the song.”
The pianist has also dabbled in acting after English film and television director Ken Loach approached him at one of his gigs in Galway and asked the musician if he would like to be involved in a film he was shooting. “Ken Loach was over in Galway a couple of Summers ago filming ‘Jimmy’s Hall’ which is a film about Jimmy Grant who brought jazz music and other new forms of art and culture to Ireland in the 30s when the Catholic Church was at it’s height. They objected to this and It ends up with him being deported from the country. I played the part of one of the musician’s who learns how to play jazz and it was a very enjoyable experience.”
With 15 gigs already done, the musician is halfway through the mammoth tour and says the gigs have had a very positive reaction from the audience so far.. “Its kind of a test for me to see if this music has a future and if people like it and they definitely do. I’ve had some great feedback with people buying albums after the gigs and asking if I’m coming back so things are definitely going in the right direction.”
Kieran Quinn plays Eden School of Music, Edenderry on 4 November and Mullingar Golf Club, on 12 November.
