Draft:Ger Wolfe

Ger Wolfe (born 1969) is an Irish singer-songwriter.

Early Life

Born and raised in Cork city, Wolfe showed an interest and ability in learning and composing songs from 12 years of age. He spent summers busking in Galway, Cork and London as a teenager.

He moved to County Louth in 1987 where he performed at poetry and music open mic nights at The Horse and Hound Folk Club in Drogheda which hosted acts such as Pierre Bensusan, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. He was involved in traditional music sessions in Brian Mc Cann's, Dunleer, Co. Louth and Carberry's, Drogheda. Listening to traditional Irish music for the first time from the likes of the late Seán Corkery and Liz and Jim Mc Ardle as well as three-part harmony group The Voice Squad. Other early influence Wolfe cites are Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jacqueline Dupré, Neil Young, Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan.

Early Career and Collaborations

Returning to Cork fully formed as a song writer in 1990 he became involved in the folk music scene centred on The Lobby Bar run by promoter Pat Conway. The same year he formed a band with Bríd Dunne (accordion, fiddle and piano) and Geoff Ward (banjo, tenor sax. And clarinet) where they played at venues around West Cork, including The Blue Loo in Glengarriff. Also, in 1990 he bought his first nylon strung 'Alhambra' Spanish guitar, a great influence on his guitar style, from Mick Crowley in Crowley's music store, Mac Curtain Street.

He performed his first solo spot in The Lobby bar in 1993 (on the invitation of Hank Wedel). He continued to play at the iconic venue until it's close in 2005. His first break in Dublin was in 1993 at The Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield, opening a show for Jimmy Crowley. In 1994 he teamed up with other musicians he'd met at 'The Lobby Washed Down' sessions including Paul Frost (bass), Mick Power (slide guitar/mandolin) and Joe Noonan (fiddle), performing at a number of venues around Cork.

He recorded his first solo album "Word and Rhyme" with contributions from Edel Sullivan and Sinéad Lohan in the studio of Ray Barron in Douglas, Cork in the winter of 1995/96. The album was finally released in 1998. A song from the album called 'The Crackling Radio' was covered by Cork band 'Any Old Time' at the time with Mick Daly on vocals.

In 1998 he first teamed up with Paul Frost (double bass), Edel Sullivan (fiddle/viola) and Martin Leahy (drums/percussion) The group have played together for years, though only sporadically since 2020. When not playing solo, his posters bear the title 'Ger Wolfe and the New Skylarks, a name Wolfe styled from South African songstress Miriam Makeba's band 'The Skylarks'. Ger's music was championed initially by RTE Radio 1 presenter and broadcaster John Creedon, when he chaired the "Risin' Time' show in the year 2000, in particular 'The Curra Road', a song from the second album 'Ragged Ground' which John Creedon brought to national attention. Wolfe has built up a body of original work comprising 9 full albums.

Current Work

Ger Wolfe is currently recording an album of traditional songs from Alexander Martin Freeman's 1913-14 collection, initially published in 1921 called 'The Ballyvourney Collection' Ballyvourney is a village in The Múscraí Gaeltacht area of North West Cork near to where he has lived since 1998. The main contributors to Freeman's collection were Conchubhair O Cochlan, from Doire na saggart and Peig uí Dhonnchadha from Baile Mhc Íre.

Discography;

Full Albums except *

• "The Morning Star" (2021)
• "The bright girl laughing at the Sea" (6 track video) (2020)*
• "Melody Bright &The Favourite Sparrow" (2019)
• "I Have Been Loved" (2014)
• "Fréamh ; Root" (2011)
• "No Bird Sang" (2009)
• "The Velvet Earth" (2005)
• "Heaven Paints Her Holy Mantle Blue" (2004)
• "Ragged Ground" (2002)
• "Word & Rhyme" (1998)