From NY to St. Iberius once again
PIERCE Turner hopes his return show at St. Iberius Church on Wexford’s North Main Street in December will be as memorable as its June predecessor.
‘Last time the whole gang stood outside arm in arm and sang ‘Faith Of Our Fathers’ - incredibly touching for me,’ says the Wexford New Yorker whose church performances are something very special indeed.
Last week, Turner played his final New York show of 2016 at the city’s Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church where he had recorded his latest album ‘Love Can’t Always Be Articulate’.
The album’s New York launch show in this venue earlier this year raised $3,000 towards the repair of a stained glass window at the church, and proceeds from last week’s concert were also helping to foot that bill.
November brings Turner back to Ireland for a performance with his Irish Ensemble at the Dublin Unitarian Church in Stephen’s Green on the 25th.
Then it’s home to Wexford for that St. Iberius show at 8 p.m. on December 3, again with the Irish Ensemble and church organist Josh Johnston. This is a Wexford Arts Centre promotion and tickets, at €23 each, can be booked through the centre’s website.
There are two other pre- Christmas gigs - at Coughlans in Cork on Thursday, December 8, and 1 Pery Square in Limerick (invitation-only) on the 12th, followed by Turner’s first Glasgow date in many years at the Celtic Connections Festival in late January.
Our picture is one of the iconic images of the singer, and a real blast from the past. It shows Pierce Turner in full flight during one of his famous, hometown Christmas gigs at the old Shambles bar many moons ago. It’s from local photographer Padraig Grant’s new book ‘Padraig Grant’s Wexford’, images from which are currently on display in a festival exhibition at the Collins- Grant Gallery in Rowe Street.