The Session @TESSBURKES presents: DEREK WARFIELD and The Young Wolfe Tones

The Session @TESSBURKES is a series of monthly concerts taking place in 2024 and we are thrilled to bring Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones to Borrisokane for our third event.

A special group of Irish men and women have been responsible for preservation of the tradition of Irish ballad singing over the past 50 years. Derek Warfield is a distinguished name among them. Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones are bringing that musical tradition forward with a reverence for Ireland’s past and the energy and optimism of a new generation of Irish musicians.

Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones are thrilled to be celebrating 10 years On the One Road and are delighted to be celebrating it in style with the release of a new CD “Boys & Girls” planned for April release, and performances all over America including some great Irish American Festivals & Venues.

“We’re presenting an old tradition in a new package – and I’ve the same passion for it now as I had when it all started 50 years ago!”

DEREK WARFIELD (New York Society Dublin Man of The Year 2013) and (The AOH Spirit Of Freedom Award 2017)

DEREK WARFIELD & THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES (Official performers for ‘2015 The Friends Of Ireland Speaker John Beohner St Patrick’s Day Luncheon in Capitol Hill) for President Obama, Vice President Biden, Taoiseach Enda Kenny & many other distinguished friends of Irish America.

2015,and 2016

2016 Was a pinnacle for Derek and The Young Wolfetones was when they were chosen to perform on the 24th April at the 1916 centenary commemorations at the General Post Office in O’Connell Street Dublin at 12.o’clock noon. This was the exact same time the Irish proclamation was read by Padraig Pearse one hundred years ago to the minute. As Derek is quoted as saying “of all the honours bestowed on the Wolfetones old and young this privilege was the most significant. It was honour to perform the music and songs of remembrance and the patriotic ballads that were sung by the volunteers inside the building during the struggle for our freedom, and we performed them with the same passion and emotion. “The Foggy Dew”, “Wrap the Green Flag Round me” “The Soldiers Song” were some of the chorus’s that rang out along the main thoroughfare to the 30,000 people assembled.

Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones produced a powerful 20 track CD commemorative 1916 CD titled “The Call of Erin” that embraces the heritage of popular ballads that remember our hero’s and patriots in poem, song and music.

After spending nearly 40 years as founder, leader and front man of the legendary Wolfe Tones (named after the 18th century Irish Revolutionary Theobald Wolfe Tone), Derek Warfield is revered as a singer, songwriter, historian and entertainer in all parts of the world where Irish roots have been put down. The Wolfe Tones enjoyed phenomenal success with 13 best-selling albums, 3 number one hits, many television appearances and shows in esteemed venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London.

Derek has been proudly presented with the keys to San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles for his contributions to Irish Song & Music over the years and was

honoured as “Dublin Gael of The Year 2013” by the New York Dublin Society.

Since breaking away from the Wolfe Tones in 2001, Derek’s solo career has yielded 11 albums to date, the most successful of them being “A Nation once again” “On the One Road”, “God save Ireland” “Sons of Erin” ‘The Bonnie Blue Flag” “Washington’s Irish” and “Let Ye All be Irish Tonight”. With the formation and ongoing success of The Young Wolfe Tones, the legend of Derek Warfield continues.

LEGACY – THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES

In 2001, after nearly 40 years performing, the legendary Wolfe Tones parted with their founder and leader – Derek Warfield. No other Irish folk group, before or since, told the story of Ireland so completely and unapologetically. But for Derek’s hunger and desire to continue to further the story of Ireland through song, an ancient tradition might have lost perhaps its most iconic figure. In 2005 Derek put together a band containing some of the finest musicians and singers in Irish music – The Young Wolfe Tones.

Derek Warfield’s 50 years of experience coupled with the talent and energy of The Young Wolfe Tones brings the old tradition of Irish balladry into a new age. The story of Ireland is transmitted in their music and song and illuminated by the outstanding musicianship of three wonderful ambassadors of a new generation of traditional players. Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones deliver Ireland’s traditional music and folk songs with an energy and skill that shows the quality of contemporaries within that tradition. The patriotic spirit of Irish music carried through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s by the Wolfe Tones now marches on in the dynamic sound of The Young Wolfe Tones.

SHOWS

Irish festivals all over the United States have been host to Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones since 2007. Currently the band plays between 20 and 30 Irish festivals per year all over the country. In addition to musical performances, Derek also delivers lectures on Irish history and the history of the Irish in America. These lectures feature acoustic performances of ballads relevant to the subject matter.

Pat Byrne from Columbus Ohio, one of the organizing committee at the Dublin Irish Festival in Ohio, had this to say “Derek has always set high standards for his performances and this band raises the bar. The people loved them and gave them an unbelievable rousing and appreciative reception. These Young Wolfe Tones and their legendary leader were given a standing ovation, The Dublin Ohio festival were delighted to have them … they’re as good as it gets!”

Australia was the destination in April of 2011. The band played twelve concerts in two weeks with the highlight being four days performing at the National Folk Festival in Canberra. The same year saw the release of “Far Away in Australia” – a CD to coincide with their Australian visit. With 19 tracks the collection is a mixture of classic Irish songs music and literature that connect the two countries. “Far Away In Australia” fittingly highlights the Irish contributions to Australia in song and music.

They perform regularly at the Rí Rá Irish Pub at Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas and are certainly regarded as a unique stalwart among Las Vegas’ many musical acts.

AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY AND CIVIL WARS

Many of the Irish festivals around the United States every year also play host to lectures/musical performances on the songs of the Irish in the American Revolution and Civil War by Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones. Derek deals with ballads of regret, joy, victory and defeat and clearly illustrates Ireland’s hand in defending the promise of the Declaration of Independence. The lecture/show has been an eye-opener for many folk and history enthusiasts from Ireland and America alike. The response and feedback throughout the festival circuit here has been wonderful and has added such a wide and important aspect to the legacy of Derek Warfield and his part in the history of Irish balladry. It is a rich legacy that was almost entirely neglected before Derek began putting together “Sons of Erin”, “Bonnie Blue Flag”, “Faugh-a-Ballagh” (“Clear the Way”) and “Washington’s Irish” — four albums dealing with the Irish in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars. He has also written a book, The Irish Songster of the American Civil War.

Derek Warfield’s lifelong passion for engaging people in the music and story of Ireland is also very present in the other band members: “Communication with a live audience through music is what I believed to be of primary importance when I founded the Old Wolfe Tones in 1963. In performing with The Young Wolfe Tones, I continue to communicate with audiences while also passing on an important tradition to a new generation. But perhaps most importantly, it has been fun and enjoyable and every performance gets better. The experience has reinvigorated me and given the young players and singers the opportunity to display their skills and talents around the world”

And I believe that I am passing on an ancient Irish bardic tradition worthy of preservation to a younger generation.