The Willin’ Fools new studio album “When the Light Flickers”,is due for release in the spring of 2012. Already available in Italy in a different form, it features both instrumental and vocal pieces,original and specially selected renditions of centuries old folk songs.

Some photos from the tour:

The unpredictable weather meant some of the outdoor gigs were moved indoors, in one case, to a giant sports hall fulfilling one our life long ambitions to play a stadium gig!!!  On our last night the gig was cancelled due to rain, despite this we managed to fulfill our second life long ambition, to play Irish music in a English pub namely the ‘Cockney London Pub’!!!!

As per usual the trip was full of self inflicted mishaps. Backing up the notion from Paul McCann that the willingfools are not a band but a ‘Drama Group’. The misadventures included Conor losing his passport, Cathal losing his passport, Abe Doran having his flight delayed and diverted to another airport, Cathal landing in an airport eight hours away, the entire group missing their planes home and to top it all, Barry treating mister Hertzs petrol car to some Diesel when heard that petrol prices had increased!!!!

Despite all this, we honestly found this tour a great adventure, thanks to the great atmosphere within the band. 

One of the highlights of the tour for the band was performing at the world famous Cafe Pedrocchi in Padua.

Joining us on tour for the 1st time is Caroline Jamieson – Vocalist, Bodhran player and Flower arranger!

Paul McAnn on the Bass guitar was another great addition to the band bringing wonderful tones and textures to the music.

As Always, it was a pleasure to have Patrick Martin on Uillean Pipes and Flute. We were lucky enough that Patrick was available to play with his busy schedule. It’s a pity he wasn�t as generous with cigarettes as he was with his pipe playing!

The Willingfools would like to extend a huge thanks to all the people we met during our tour. It was pleasure to be in Italy and we hope to be back next year.

Performance in Tel Aviv Museum

On this particular tour the Willing Fools were lucky enough to have two special vocalists accompanying them on their trip. Ann-Marie Sweeney from Newry, County Down and Jackie Rooney from Kilkeel, County Down apart from being two lovely girls, their harmony vocals brought a new facet to the Willing Fools sound.

Also joining us on our trip was Israeli man Abe Doron, ex-Riverdance percussionist now playing in his own band Evergreen, whom it was an honour to have playing with us. His rhythmic patterns enriched the overall sound of the music for which are very greatful.

The bands new look was used on an Italian television show, in front an audience of five thousand people and countless TV viewers. This has increased the bands fan base immensely receiving great praise for the performance despite this being the first time the band has mimed! Meeting the cream of Italian musical acts made the evening a great experience.

The biggest news on the creative front is the welcome addition of the bands own recording studio.Purchasing a state of the art pro-tools recording system complete with a thirty-two channel mixing desk will mean the band will never again have to record elsewhere. Overlooking the Irish sea it the perfect setting for inspiration and will undoubtedly increase the bands output of music.