At 8pm on November 10^th – the eve of the Armistice –Drogheda songsmith SJ McArdle and band, featuring Lisa Lambe will be performing a very special new song cycle in Droichead Arts Centre about the Great War and its effect on generation of local people, at home and abroad.

 ‘All My Dream Companions Gone’ is set in Drogheda during the First World War which the British author, H.G. Wells famously described as "the war that will end war."

Hundreds of young Drogheda men joined the army to fight in World War I. Many didn’t return, and those who did survive the acute trauma of the trenches returned to a changed Ireland.

This new set of songs is a patchwork of emotional, relatable stories, reflecting the hopes and fears of a generation of local people.

I will be joined on the night by Trevor Hutchinson on double bass (Lúnasa, The Waterboys), Graham Henderson on accordion and piano (Fairground Attraction, Moving Hearts) and very special guest, critically-acclaimed Dublin vocalist Lisa Lambe.

Tickets are available from droichead.com https://www.droichead.com/show-detail/?id=873662851   

SJ McArdle is known for his Droichead-produced PORT project and its accompanying RTE Radio 1 Album Of The Week Old Ghosts In The Water, his previous work in award-winning folk band Kern and his career as a singer-songwriter in Nashville and Germany.

SJ’s songs and performances have been featured in radio, film and television and he has toured and recorded extensively in Ireland, Europe and North America.

Praise for Old Ghosts In The Water:

“The songs are intriguing and evocative ... rooted in folk but coloured by expansive and imaginative arrangements.” – The Irish Times

“All the ingredients of great folk songs” – Lynette Fay (BBC)