Late Kenny Rogers once played Westmeath gig
Photo above - Kenny Rogers, on stage at the Midlands Festival in Ballinlough in July 206. Pic courtesy Colin Watters.
US singer Kenny Rogers, who died on Friday March 20, once visited Westmeath – and won himself a whole new cohort of fans with his performance.
Rogers was just one name on a mind-boggling line-up at the two-day ‘Midlands Music Festival’ at Ballinlough Castle, near Clonmellon, in 2006.
Other luminaries from the international music scene who performed at the event, the first of the Ballinlough Castle festivals, were Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Glen Campbell, Van Morrison and Don McLean,
The Westmeath Examiner described Rogers’ performance as having been ‘triumphant’.
Rogers’ career started in the 1950s and over a lifetime in music, he released an astonishing quantity of albums, many of them topping the country and pop album charts.
He is best-known for his huge hits such as ‘The Gambler’, ‘Coward of the County’, ‘Islands in the Stream’ (with Dolly Parton), ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town’ and ‘Lucille’.
Born in Houston, Texas, he had 120 hit singles, and in 2013 was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
According to Wikipedia, he had some Irish ancestry, and was also partly Native American.
AFTER THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE WESTMEATH EXAMINER, WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSION
Midlands Music Festival 2006
Editor,
The article in the Westmeath Examiner about Kenny Rogers appearing at the Midlands Music Festival in July 2006 stirred up a few memories.
Most of us who are music fans, and attend gigs on a regular basis, tend to keep tickets, posters, wristbands and other memorabilia so that when we are in our dotage we will have something to remind us of the good times we had when we were younger!
Your article prompted me to dig out my own ticket and wristband for the Saturday 29 July gig at the Midlands Music Festival at Ballinlough Castle in 2006.
To the best of my recollection, Kenny Rogers played the following day, the Sunday, but my fellow travellers and I were fortunate to be able to sit in a sunny field outside Delvin and be entertained by the likes of Don McLean, Nanci Griffith, Glen Campbell, Van Morrison, Dwight Yoakam, Jackson Browne and many more top artists.
The day was sunny and warm and we were fortunate to get a good spot to sit in front of the sound desk which gave us a good view of the stage with the benefit of the best possible sound quality.
We had a wonderful, happy and entertaining day but all agreed, however – that for some reason unknown to us – the path up the hill from where we were sitting to the bar got steeper as the day wore on.
Regards,
Philip Ginnell, Cullion.