Latest news with #AaronRowe
Saudi Gazette
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Saudi Gazette
Ed Sheeran surprises fans with Irish performance
BELFAST — Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has surprised fans by playing a number of original songs and Irish tunes during a music and arts festival in Wexford town. The hitmaker played alongside Irish bands Amble, BIIRD, Beoga and Aaron Rowe in the Sky and The Ground pub on Tuesday night, as part of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. Brought up in Suffolk, the Galway Girl singer's dad hails from Belfast, and in June Sheeran announced that he identifies culturally as Irish. Sheeran also made sure fans who couldn't get make inside the pub didn't miss out, as he made his way outside to perform an acoustic rendition of his hit single Perfect. Sheeran and all-female trad supergroup BIIRD performed traditional folk song Wild Mountain Thyme together. The crowd sang along as Sheeran played the guitar, accompanied by the other artists on violin and the bodhrán - a traditional Irish frame drum. Wild Mountain Thyme is a Scottish and Irish folk song which was first recorded in 1957 and has been performed by many people. Aaron Rowe and Irish folk band Amble joined BIIRD and Sheeran to perform folk song Raglan Road to the crowd of enthusiastic Fleadh-goers. The performance of Raglan Road was no different, with everyone singing together as the violin, accordion and guitar were played while the musicians stood in a circle at the pub. On Raglan Road was originally written by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh and it was brought to musical life and made famous by The Dubliners. Vocals and instrumentals from Irish folk band Beoga, Aaron Rowe, BIIRD, and Sheeran came together for a rendition of The Parting Glass. The origins of the song can be found in Scotland with it being first printed along with its familiar melody in Colm O Lochlainn's Irish Street Ballads in 1939. Cork poet Patrick Galvin recorded the song in 1956 and The Clancy Brothers popularised it when they included it on their 1959 album. Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann - the All-Ireland Fleadh - is held for a week during August and, in the past, has welcomed up to 600,000 visitors to the host town or city. It is the world's largest annual festival of Irish music and hosts street performers, intimate concerts, big-name acts and more 150 competitions showcasing the best of traditional music talent. Fleadh Cheoil is run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann - the society of the musicians of Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1951 by traditional musicians and Gaelic culture advocates from across Ireland. Each year Comhaltas hosts numerous fleadhanna (festivals) across the island at county and provincial level. Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is the best known of the festivals, often simply known as the Fleadh. — BBC
Extra.ie
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Ryan Tubridy: 'Watching Aaron, I knew that I had just witnessed a star of the future'
A most enjoyable week in London included a trip to the London local on Wednesday evening for the launch of some new music by a singer-songwriter you might not have heard of just yet, but I reckon could be a household name by the end of the year. I met Aaron Rowe a few months ago at The Devonshire, and he was telling me that things were going well in his music career as he was attracting the attention of people like Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi. They spotted Aaron's talent from a mile off and have been putting a gentle wind in his sails as he leaves the harbour of anonymity for the headwinds of global domination! Since we last met, Aaron has supported David Gray at his gigs at the 3Arena in Dublin, duetted with the aforementioned Ed and stunned a crowd of 20,000 in Boston when he joined Dermot Kennedy on stage for a knockout rendition of The Parting Glass. Ryan Tubridy and singer Aaron Rowe. Pic: Supplied On Friday, Aaron released his beautiful single, Hey Ma, and I urge you to download it today as it's an instant classic. At the launch on Wednesday, a crowd of friends and supporters gathered to hear him perform a small but powerful selection of songs. Surrounded by the brilliant trad house band, Aaron belted out the tunes with a gusto I haven't seen since a memorable appearance by Liam Clancy on Tubridy Tonight nearly 20 years ago. It was electric, authentic and distinctly Irish, but with beautiful twists of Motown and The Dubliners – depending on the song. Aaron thanked some of the people who had been backing his ascent and then invited Ed Sheeran to join him for a haunting version of The Parting Glass. The crowd went wild, and the short but perfectly formed launch came to a close. Aaron hugged and shook hands with everyone in the room; the feeling was that we had witnessed something and someone special whose future is big, bright and beautiful. Ryan Tubridy with Vogue Williams and her sister Amber. Pic: File I've always loved chatting with and interviewing Vogue Williams, top right, and since I've moved to London, we see a lot more of each other than either of us would have anticipated. I've always found her to be very authentic and great fun, which explains why her new book, Big Mouth, is so enjoyable. Beginning with a dictionary of Irish slang/expressions for her loyal UK readers, this is a series of episodes in Vogue's life rather than a typical A-Z autobiography, and it's all the better for that. There are stories about her sister Amber, bottom right, her late father (a bon viveur whom they buried with €20 and a packet of Benson & Hedges) and her shock at being divorced and childless at 31. There's a bizarre fantasy moment where she envisions a future in which her husband comes out as gay, living with his husband in a brownstone house in New York's East Village! All told, it's a thoughtful, funny and often poignant tiptoe through the life of a hard-working, thoughtful and entertaining woman who is surfing the pop cultural waves with aplomb. Every so often, a book lands on your lap that you know within a few pages will be an 'event' book, one that everyone will read or want to get their hands on. The Names by Florence Knapp. Pic: File Books like The Time Traveller's Wife and Star Of The Sea would go on to be career-defining tomes for authors and fan favourites for readers. This week, I finished The Names, below, by Florence Knapp. A great name, beautiful cover, and perfect length meant this was a great start before a word was read, and things got better from there. Pitch-wise: A mother carries a baby in one arm while holding the hand of an older child as they make their way to have the baby's name registered. On the way out the door, her husband forcefully reminds her to call the baby Gordon after him and his father and so on. At the registry office, she is asked what she wants to call the baby, and she pauses before giving a name – it's not Gordon. Chapter 2 sees the same scenario, but another name is given, and in the third chapter, she gives the name Gordon. What follows is a series of alternate chapters that imagine how life transpires for each of the characters depending on the name they were given. The consequences are devastating and sometimes painful to read, but that's a testament to the author, who has constructed the most extraordinary series of stories that confront ugliness, fear, kindness, and so much more. The book looks at the power of the names we are given at birth and the impact they can have on the rest of our lives. I've spent a lot of time this week telling everyone about this book, as it's a rare thing to be able to make such a general recommendation that is highly unlikely to disappoint anyone. My favourite comment came from a listener who said that she hasn't read a book in 20 years, but after hearing me rhapsodising about The Names, she went and bought it. With any luck, the book will bring that person back onto the reading bus and she'll never be bored again!
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Gillingham beat Vale as hosts are denied title
Already-promoted Port Vale fell to defeat at home to Gillingham as their hopes of pipping Doncaster to the League Two title failed to needed leaders Doncaster to drop points away at Notts County to have any chance of finishing in top spot but Rovers ran out 2-1 winners to be crowned champions.A stunning goal from Aaron Rowe secured all three points for Gillingham, who ended the campaign in 17th place on the back of a 12-match unbeaten run, as Vale were unable to finish in were the only team to register a shot on goal in a lacklustre first half, with Rhys Walters and Ronan Curtis forcing saves out of Gills goalkeeper Glenn hosts had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock just before the break but Lorent Tolaj ballooned his effort high and looked a lot brighter after the restart and came close to taking the lead when Max Clark's strike went just wide in the 55th did go ahead moments later thanks to a superb finish from Rowe, who created space for himself on the edge of the area before firing a left-footed shot into the top Stockley came off the bench straight after the goal and nearly brought the home side level on the hour mark but, having been found in the box by fellow substitute Rico Richards, his attempt was well saved by the legs of George Byers had a late effort saved by Morris as Vale's hopes of snatching what was by then a relatively insignificant equaliser ended and they were forced to settle for a second-placed supplied by PA Media.
