THE Rebel County – and indeed West Cork – holds a special place in the hearts of Aslan.
‘We’ve had some great nights in West Cork – in places like Bandon, Clonakilty, and Kinsale,’ says Billy McGuinness. ‘Some fantastic gigs, and fantastic audiences. Cork is special to Aslan.’
Aslan was special to Cork and of course their charismatic frontman Christy Dignam had a place in the fans’ hearts. Christy’s death last year left a void for the band, who first came together 42 years ago.
‘Christy was a legend and what we had with Christy was amazing, and we will never have again. But this is a new start,’ said Billy. ‘We’ve all suffered a lot in the last year. But we’ve moved on, and life has to go on. We can’t live in the past.’
After a lot of soul-searching, Aslan have re-emerged, with a new frontman, Lee Tomkins, giving the first outing of the new line-up in Cork, last March, in Cyprus Avenue.
And in July, they will perform a special outdoor gig, at the free Joy In The Park festival in Fitzgeralds Park in Cork city.
West Cork musicians like Polly Barrett and Molly O’Mahony will also feature on the bill as well as the 49 North Street contemporary music sessions.
‘For our first outdoor show with Lee, we wanted to something special, and Joy In The Park is special. We really like the vibe and the message of Joy In The Park of looking after mental health,’ said Billy.
Aslan without Christy Dignam is a different recipe. ‘It’s not like Lee is trying to replace Christy. He brings a different quality.
‘I think the sound is a lot fuller now with Lee because Lee is a great guitarist too, and we have an extra guitar playing,’ says drummer Alan Downey.
‘This is a new direction, a new journey. We still perform Aslan favourites like This Is, and Crazy World but we play a lot more of the old songs that we hadn’t played live for a long long time, and have updated them.’
If you’re an Aslan fan, try catch them at Joy In The Park, because they’ll be taking a break from the road to write new material together afterwards.
This year’s Joy in The Park runs from Sunday July 21st from 12noon to 6pm.
Joy In The Park will deliver a programme of music, spoken word, family entertainment, circus, storytelling, arts and crafts, food stalls, wellness activities, workshops and a mental health support hub.
The aim of Joy In The Park is to balance that sense of fun with connection and understanding, whilst raising awareness for mental health and well-being.
This is the third year of Joy In The Park, a free event organised by Linda Plover to celebrate the loss of her stepddaughter, Joy, who died in 2021.
The mental health support hub will be at the heart of the festival with charity partner, Cork Mental Health Foundation joined by other mental health organisations and local support groups offering information and advice throughout the afternoon including: HSE Cork & Kerry Community Health Care team, Pieta, Grow, Shine, Samaritans, MyMind, Cork Counselling Services, Jigsaw, Shine A Light, Aware, National Learning Network, HUGG, Féileacáin and Mental Health Ireland.
The first event in 2022 attracted 9,500 attendees, while last year almost 12,000 came over the day.
Hopes are high that this year can be the biggest yet.
