This fine venue is located in the centre square of Rathfriland and has a long history in serving the local community. It was originally the site of a soap and candle-making factory in the late 18th century before it was home to both a post office and a bank over later years. The regeneration of the building has seen the region benefit from the work done by a dedicated committee in achieving grant support from the Architectural Fund in Northern Ireland. It is now home to various community-based activities, including film and book clubs and an intimate music venue.
Tonight we have the very talented Ken Haddock appearing in a room filled with expectant music fans and it is heartening to see such an enthusiastic turn-out on a bitterly cold night. Ken is a respected local musician who is continuously active across Northern Ireland from his home base of Belfast. He has collaborated with local musicians over the years, including Foy Vance, Brian Houston, Gareth Dunlop and Jules Maxwell. He has also shared the stage with Anthony Toner and Ronnie Greer, in addition to working with the poet Olive Broderick.
Ken performs a generous set of twenty songs and delivers a performance that is filled with kinship, warmth and a gift for communicating easily with the assembled audience. Such is his expertise that Ken accepts random requests for songs that span many musical genres, and he mixes these with his own songs taken from previous albums that he has released. His debut ALMOST arrived in 2008, an album of thirteen songs and he followed this up in 2013 with THE SWEETEST HOUR. A live album arrived in 2018 performed with The Arco String Quartet at Willowfield Church in Belfast and was titled ONE NIGHT IN WILLOWFIELD, which also included a full band to colour the song arrangements.
There is no doubting the great talent on display among the various song interpretations from Ken but his own songs deserve equal footing among the performances. In my opinion, he doesn’t include enough of these. There are great versions of Who Am I To Blame, Diamond Girl and Come On Over To My Place from the SWEETEST HOUR album. Ken also performs Almost and Word By Word from the debut album together with a song yet to be recorded, It’s Not Over Yet , and this proves to be one of the highlights in a night of great style and enjoyment. Ken has a powerful voice and there is great nuance in the delivery, softly gentle when reflecting the quiet tenderness of a lyric and deeply resonant when displaying the heartfelt emotion in moments of great intensity.
He is a fine interpreter of the music of the late, great John Martyn and we are treated to superb renditions of Solid Air and May You Never. James Taylor is given an airing on both Fire and Rain and Carolina In My Mind, with Van Morrison given great resonance on Tupelo Honey and Into the Mystic. Tom Waits (House Where Nobody Lives), Radiohead (No Surprises) and Bruce Cockburn (Pacing the Cage) show the wide span of Ken’s ability on acoustic guitar, with his sonorous vocal turning each song into his very own unique take on the original. There is also a moving tribute to Shane MacGowan in the version of Fairytale Of New York which has the audience joining in on the famous chorus.
Ken Haddock should be held as a real treasure with his ability to write sincere songs and also as an impressive and sensitive performer in highlighting the songs of other artists. Tonight, Rathfriland got to experience a night of deep connection and credit to local promoter Andy Peters for always looking to bring such high quality artists and their music to his home town.
Review and photo by Paul McGee