Local band set to depart on tour of Germany

The 7-man music group, ‘Slemish’, which is headed up by local man, Paul McComiskey, is heading off on a tour of Germany.

They completed their first tour in Germany during March 2012. At that time they held concerts in three towns on the Baltic Sea.

As a result, the civic leaders in Barth invited them back for a concert during the annual town festival on Saturday, June 15.

‘Slemish’ play a variety of instruments including the Bodhran drum, tin whistle, fiddle and Uillean pipes and their music style and songs are well accepted on the continent.

Earlier this year they visited Southern Germany and held a concert to a packed audience of over 500 guests in the Black Forest Academy. In the last few years they have also visited France, Spain and Portugal as well.

Two technicians, Ivan Adair and Jonny Smith, travel with the group to set up the sound mixer and run the PowerPoint presentations.

A group member, Nigel Cameron, explained that the latter is a vital component of their visits abroad. He believes their own “enjoyment of the music comes across”, but adds, “We also try to captivate the audience with the great beauty of our island by using video and photographic images from Ireland.”

In addition to the town concert in Barth, Slemish will be responsible for the Sunday service in the local evangelical church, and for a similar evening event in Schwerin, the capital of this northernmost province of former East Germany.

Local man, Victor Watson, will accompany Slemish, as he worked with churches in that area over a number of years and will help with 
translation.

“Slemish is absolutely ideal for a society which was robbed of their belief in God during 40 years of communism,” said Victor. “According to a recent University of Chicago study, this part of Germany heads the world league table at 46% of the population who ‘do not believe and never have believed in 
God’.

“It is therefore very appropriate how Slemish enthusiastically share not only the music and culture of their homeland, but also about the faith of the Irish and their own personal experience with God.”

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