Mattie looking forward to Longford concert return

An icon of the 1970s music scene, Mattie Fox is really looking forward to performing in concert for the first time in over four decades at Ballinalee’s Holy Trinity Church, on Thursday, September 29 at 8pm.
“It is incredible to think that the last live show I performed was at The Rustic Inn, Abbeyshrule in May 1980,” explained Mattie.

So why is he making this comeback performance, alongside the accomplished quartet of Charlie Arkins, Matt Leavy, Dessie Hynes and Eddie Quinn?
“I love music and I love singing,” replied Mattie.

The concert will benefit Holy Trinity Church and Mattie expressed thanks to Fr Tom Murray for his encouragement and assistance in organising the much anticipated event.

“We will be performing for two hours and I can’t wait to get up on stage. The five of us are really looking forward to it. I’m very grateful, from the bottom of my heart, to Charlie, Matt, Dessie and Eddie who will be playing alongside me on the night. Who knows what the gig might lead to in the future.”

Mattie says the audience will be treated to a wonderful mix of songs, respecting the venue and there will also be some toe tapping songs from the memory vault.

During his ten years performing, Mattie starred with ‘The Grassroots’, ‘The Country Blue Boys’ and ‘Misty’ and he was one of the leading singers on the circuit. With The Country Boy Blues, he released a couple of singles, ‘Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger’ and ‘Crystal Chandeliers’.

After he ended his own singing career, Mattie went on to enjoy a high profile career in music management with acts like Christy Moore, Planxty, The Chieftains and Mary Coughlan and candidly admits, “I got very lucky.” Indeed, during visits to Nashville, Mattie regularly met with Bob Doyle, manager to a certain Garth Brooks who thrilled Irish audiences in recent weeks.

Charlie Arkins is an exceptional fiddle player and recording artist and Mattie first teamed up with Charlie when they were together in ‘The Grassroots’. He said Matt Leavy is a super guitar player and a lovely singer in his own right.

Mattie said he knows the talented Dessie Hynes and Eddie Quinn from their five years together in ‘Misty’.
The concert on Thursday, September 29 which will see the five old friends back together - some of them started in the music business almost fifty years ago, and it promises to be an occasion to remember.

Steeped in GAA, Mattie is a deep thinker and a shrewd judge of gaelic football. He’s immersed in his home club, Sean Connolly’s, serving as coach and initiator of fundraisers, and he served as selector with the Longford and Westmeath inter-county senior sides when Denis Connerton and Brendan Hackett, were the respective managers.

A highly regarded former columnist with the Longford Leader for over seven years, Mattie’s book ‘The Golden Years - Longford GAA 1965 - ‘68’, was launched by former inter-county star Paul Barden in April 2016.

Mattie suffered a stroke some years ago and says he is ‘blessed’ to have recovered from that setback and he is thankful to everyone that has assisted him.
Tickets for the fundraiser on Thursday, September 29 at Ballinalee’s Holy Trinity Church are available in all shops in Ballinalee. Admission is €10.

The show will be for a full two hours, so you’re advised to bring a cushion!