For those of you longing for an escape from the January gloom, a musical evening exploring the songs and life of Joe Dolan is guaranteed to lift your spirits. ‘My Brother Joe: The Joe Dolan Story’, live at The Civic, Tallaght on Thurs 7 February will take viewers through Joe’s life story as told by his own brother, Ben.
A much loved and charismatic performer, Joe Dolan’s career spanned 50 odd years. Expect to hear many of Joe’s classic hit songs and stories of life on the road in this trip down memory lane. The line-up will also include Ben’s daughter, Sandra, and sons, Adrian and Raymond, with their own band ‘Karen and The Dolans’ – an exciting up-and-coming band in their own right.
Born in Mullingar into a musical family, Joe was the youngest of eight children, and started his musical journey on the washboard accompanying his sisters’ singing in the house. Joe and brother Ben formed a band, playing local dancehalls, and The Drifters Showband soon found success. It wasn’t long before Joe left his job as a newspaper compositor at the Westmeath Examiner, cutting his first record in 1964 – an old Del Shannon song called ‘The Answer To Everything’, which hit the No 4 spot in the Irish Charts. The rest is musical history.
Dolan was to tour the world in the following decades, achieving huge success in Europe, the US and further afield. Joe was performing and touring even up until 2007, the year in which he passed away.
Civic Theatre, Tallaght will host ‘My Brother Joe: The Joe Dolan Story’ on Thursday, 7 February, at 8pm. To book tickets (€20 each) contact Civic Theatre on 01 4627477 or online here. The Theatre is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.
