Leo's is known as the home of band Clannad and the singer Enya.
If you got a massage in the 80s, you would have been hearing this:
Or this:
Here's an interview with Enya, which includes a conversation with Leo at the taverne.
Every month Moya Brennan, (First Lady of Celtic Music), produces Clubeo, a monthly showcase of local musicians. Most of the performers are starting their careers, and more than half of the performers last night were women. The crowd were just the locals, and friends and family of the performers.
We arrived an hour before anything started, but seats were already scarce, so we joined two women where were waiting for friends who never arrived. Later more women joined us, so we had a cozy group.
More than half the sounds were sung in Irish, and Moya spoke more Irish than English when announcing the acts. Most of the singers were from Donegal and north western counties. Some were performing for the first time, others have released records.
There's no cover charge, so anyone who can get themselves to this corner of Donegal can come listen. They pay for the event with a raffle and the three prizes are always the same: A Drink at the Bar, A Bottle of Wine, and a Bodhran signed by all the musicians playing that night.
The evening was the real deal: uncommercial and unpretentious. The kind of music evening where everyone's hearts grow softer, and everyone's creativity grows deeper.
The evening's Special Guests were these earnest fellas, Ye Vagabonds.
They just happened to play at President Higgins's inauguration a few weeks ago.
As we were leaving, two women we had been sitting with introduced themselves: Ann-Marie and Veronica. We promised we would see each other again at the next Clubeo in January.
She looked so happy. We promised to meet there too.
So here we have Moya Brennan, probably Ireland's most well-known musician, but she's not the headliner. She started off the evening singing a song for us, to break the ice she said, and get the folks in the back to stop talking. She's accompanied by Aisling Jarvis.
More than half the sounds were sung in Irish, and Moya spoke more Irish than English when announcing the acts. Most of the singers were from Donegal and north western counties. Some were performing for the first time, others have released records.
There's no cover charge, so anyone who can get themselves to this corner of Donegal can come listen. They pay for the event with a raffle and the three prizes are always the same: A Drink at the Bar, A Bottle of Wine, and a Bodhran signed by all the musicians playing that night.
The evening was the real deal: uncommercial and unpretentious. The kind of music evening where everyone's hearts grow softer, and everyone's creativity grows deeper.
The evening's Special Guests were these earnest fellas, Ye Vagabonds.
They just happened to play at President Higgins's inauguration a few weeks ago.
As we were leaving, two women we had been sitting with introduced themselves: Ann-Marie and Veronica. We promised we would see each other again at the next Clubeo in January.
"How is Patsy Dan's?," Ann-Marie asked me with sudden concern. She braced herself for a sad answer. "Is it still going?""Oh, yes, it's still going," I assured her. "They have a session every Monday and Friday."
She looked so happy. We promised to meet there too.
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