Barney McKenna

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Barney McKenna (around 2005)

Bernard Noël "Barney" McKenna (born December 16, 1939 in Dublin ; † April 5, 2012 ibid) was an Irish musician .

Life

Barney McKenna, also known as Banjo Barney From Donnycarney , played the banjo , mandolin, and melodeon . The musician began playing the banjo when he could not afford the mandolin he wanted in his childhood. He did not tune the banjo in the “classic” CGDA tuning , but rather like the violin on GDAE, albeit an octave lower. At the age of twelve he wanted to become a member of the Number One Army Band, but was turned down because of his bad eyesight. After leaving school at the age of 14, he worked as a glass blower, furniture fitter and in construction.

Since 1962 McKenna was a member and co-founder of the Irish folk band The Dubliners , but also played at times with The Chieftains . He was known and loved for his humor and eccentric remarks, which the band members refer to as "barneyisms". It is reported that he once forgot the key to his hotel room and therefore kicked the door, but not without taking off his shoes first so as not to disturb the other hotel guests too much.

Barney's extraordinary banjo game clearly shaped the sound of the Dubliners and made Barney the model for all subsequent players of the Irish banjo. He was largely responsible for the fact that the tenor banjo is an important part of traditional Irish music today. Almost all players in Irish music have adopted his GDAE vibe. Barney played a valuable Paragon banjo for many years. In the concert video All the great songs - Live in Dublin , however, he played a new banjo by Irish banjo maker Dave Boyle. It is believed that this modern instrument is a little easier to play, which Barney may have accommodated. After all, the years had not passed by without a trace. By a diabetes his eyes had suffered further. Although he was no longer able to pursue his great hobby, deep-sea fishing with his own fishing cutter , he was still on tour with the Dubliners in 2011 after 49 years.

McKenna was also temporarily active as a singer with The Dubliners . His best-known songs include South Australia , Fiddlers Green and the ballad I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me . The musician's best-known banjo solos are The Maid Behind the Bar , The High Reel , The Mason's Apron and Colonel Fraser & O'Rourke's Reel , in which he was accompanied by Eamonn Campbell .

Barney lived in Howth on the Howth Head Peninsula with his Dutch wife. On April 5, 2012, he collapsed in his home and died on the way to a Dublin hospital. He was buried on April 9, 2012 in St Loman's Cemetery in Trim , where his family originally came from.

Barney McKenna (left) with the Dubliners 2010 at the Folk im Schlosshof

Web links

Commons : Barney McKenna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Barney McKenna of The Dubliners dies at 72 , RTÉ News
  2. Article in the Irish Times of April 5, 2012 (English), accessed April 6, 2012
  3. Irish Times article , April 7, 2012 , accessed April 10, 2012