Duo's video for latest song shot at Rob's Ranch House
by Navjyoti Dalal
The day Rob's Ranch House drew curtains, the eatery's swan song was set to the tune of country music. Musicians Michael Murray, PJ Shanagher and Mark Rosney chose the American Wild West themed restaurant to shoot their latest music video, for their upcoming song Cotton Fields.
The crowd outside the restaurant shot pictures and videos as Michael sang and keyed the accordion, PJ plucked the guitar and belted out vocals, while the young Mark played the fiddle. The trio was dressed as American country musicians, and filmed by John Donohoe of Uisneach Studios. John is also the music director of the song.
While Michael and PJ have been jamming and performing together since the pandemic, this is the first time that the country, folk and trad music duo has roped in another artist.
“I heard Mark play with his family band at the Carers Concert at Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar. He was fantastic. Then we got in touch with him to work with us on Cotton Fields. Michael and us got on great together, like we've played all our lives together,” shared Michael, who runs a filling station in Walderstown, Drumraney, by day.
The septuagenarian shared that they wanted to shoot the video at Rob's Ranch House for it complemented the theme of an American country song. For the eatery, the video will be a time capsule of sorts, capturing the final moments of its much-loved innings in Athlone. Michael said that the video has come out well, and will soon be uploaded on Donohoe Music channel, on Youtube under Michael and PJ's songs.
It's noteworthy, that Michael, who played music as a youngster, returned to his interest when the pandemic put brakes on life's pace. “I was a full-time musician 50-60 years ago. I also played as the resident musician in McCormack's pub Mullingar, in the 1960s. Then I opened a filling station in the 70s. I got busy with the business, and music took a backseat. I retired from music about 45 years ago,” laughed Michael.
His return to music happened during Covid, on a golf club no less. “I was playing golf with the Three Jolly Pigeons Society, I paired up with PJ Shanagher (a retired Garda and Kiltoom resident) to play music during the prize-giving ceremony. Then we began playing a few times over a few pints,” he added.
The duo were then approached to do charity shows, which they readily obliged. “We did a few pub gigs, people liked our music, which was traditional folk and country music. We still perform a couple of times a week,” recounted Michael, who along with PJ released an album of music titled, Souvenir of Irish Folk Songs, last year.
The duo has found a fan following and success on Youtube, with their song Hard Times registering over 105.2K views. “And Mockingbird Hill garnered 684,000 views on Youtube. Another song, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, filmed on parish Drumraney, has over 323,500 views,” said Michael who is looking forward to seeing the response 'Cotton Fields' receives.