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| Driscoll and Smith |
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| seeing it this way, it is Smith and Driscoll!! |
Play Song: The Leaving of Liverpool.....with Ronan
| Ronan Smith, Jim Connor, and myself |
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| Strawberry Festival, 2013 |
Play Songs: Rare old Mtn. Dew/Hills of Connemarra. This is me playing with "Thorns and Roses", recorded ages ago with Jeannie
Cassells and Marty McKernan...
| Old Bushmill Boys Recording Session |
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| Bruce Nelson, Mike Griffin, Eileen Ivers, Marty McKernan, and I ! |
PLAY SONG: THE OLD BUSHMILL BOYS, by McKernan and Smith, Marty McKernan on vocals and guitar, with Eileen Ivers on Fiddle,
Bruce Nelson on Bass, recorded by Brendan Harkin, 1991.
| After a gig, Pound Ridge NY, Bluegrass Fest,1987 |
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| L-R, The Great George Dodd, Me and daughter Megan, and Marty Moonshine McKernan |
| At The Scotch House, Bushmills, County Antrim |
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| Jim Fairbairn on my right, and Stanley, on my left |
watch this video of THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY. The accompanying song, "Sunset on the Causeway" was written(and sung) by my friend
Jimmy Fairbairn, sitting, to my right, in the picture above!
PLAY SONG: The Fiddler of Dooney
AVAILABLE FOR PUBS, CLUBS,
FAIRS, FESTIVALS, WAKES, WEDDINGS, FUNERALS, BAPTISMS, AND PARTIES OF ANY SIZE, 1-5 PIECES
hello, nice to meet you, come in...we are under construction here, so, please, don't mind the mess, or the fact that
we don't have much up at this time....My name is Don "Banjo" Smith, and I have singing folk and other songs for over 40 years
and have been playing to accompany my singing for over 30...
I play banjo(tenor and five string), concertina(anglo/german),
tin whistle, mandolin, ukelele, tenor guitar, and Appalachian dulcimer...
I am sometimes known as "Hieland Donald", but
don't use that moniker much these days....I play/sing/perform traditional and contemporary Celtic(Irish and Scottish based)folk
music, American and Maritime Folk songs, plus some classic country and the occasional pop song thrown in for good measure...Audience
participation songs are high on the list!
I have been playing in the NY/NJ metropolitan area for many years on the Irish
Pub circuit, and have appeared at many Irish/Celtic festivals over that time...I also do Celtic Leather Work, which I shall
feature eventually...
I work with various people, most notably Jack Driscoll, known as "Driscoll and Smith", we have a
page on My Space, check it out...I also play with two very talented women named Peggy Greene and Jeannie Cassells, and we
go by the name of "The Thorn Between the Roses", it is great, and a lot of fun, for us, and the audience...I played for a
long time on Sundays with Kevin Behan and Collin Philhower in a trio called "Six Mile Cross", but it caught up with me, and
I had to bow out! I also play from time to time with such great guys as accordianist Jack "humpy" Pendergast, Ed Packer, Big
Mike "Stout" Kobetich, and Doug Watson, all great guitar players, singers, and entertainers...I have had the privelege of
playing with, sharing the stage with, and or opening and/or following on stage many well known players including Joe
Banjo Burke, Pete Seeger, Spook Handy, Fintan Stanley, Jim Coogan, and many others....Marty Moonshine McKernan has been
a close friend, inspriation, and mentor for many, many years....
Festivals where I/we have appeared include the East Durham Irish Festival, Memorial Day, East Durham , NY(11 straight
years, both days of the festival); The Andy McGann Traditional Irish Music Festival, East Durham, NY, four years 1998-2001,
The Orange County NY Irish Festival(three years) Hunter Mtn. Celtic Faire, et al......
Play song: Nancy Spain
| Don and Doug! |
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| playing to the ladies!! |
| My Son, myself, and Jack Driscoll |
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| Pete Seeger and Tommy Sands were to Jacks left |
Play Video Song: Driscoll and Smith, "Panic on the Ground"
| We opened For Uncle Floyd, Twice!! |
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| Boy, was he sorry!! |
| Jeannie and the Leprehaun!!!! |
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| On St. Patricks Day at the Cloverleaf, any thing can happen!! |
| My Good Friend, Fiddlin' Lee Turner!! |
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| with a bunch of his good red hatted friends!! |
My Favorites
| At the Kingston Irish Festival |
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| The Hooley on the Hudson, 2002 |
My Biggest musical influences are/were, in no particular order, Johnny Cash, The Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, The Irish
Rovers, Jim Reeves, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Tex Ritter, Stan Rogers, Johnny Horton, The Kingston Trio, The Dubliners, Ronnie
Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, Mick Moloney, Waylon and Willie, Moe and Joe, CCR, The Moonshine Mountain Boys, Bill Monroe,
Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, et al......
| Big Mike Stout, Don, and Jack Pendergast |
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| Labor Day Weekend, Stacks Pub, East Durham, NY, 2004, Jack P. has a band called the Wild Rovers! |
My Hobbies
| Halligans, Warwick, NY, 2006 |
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| me singing, Collin Looking, Kevin playing.....! |
Playing Music....Teaching Welding(my job, after many years as a welder) doing leatherwork; fixing instruments....restoring
old concertina's....hanging with my girl Jeannie, fishing, and camping with my children....
Most Admired
| A True American Hero |
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| with some regular guys!! Jack, Pete Seeger, and me... |
My Father, William "Red" Smith....Bill McCarthey, Sgt. Art Htichens, Otto Siegrist, Russ Martin, Stuart
"McStu" Carroll, Rich Ciatto, Joe Banjo Burke, from my private life.....Public figures I admire include Pete
Seeger, George Washington, Stan Rogers, Tommy Makem, Ronnie Drew, Robert Emmett, William Wallace, Thomas Jefferson,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Martin Luther King, U.S. Grant, Bill Cosby, and there are more!
| Bill Kirchen, King of Diesel-Billy Music, and us! |
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| Bill is a nice guy, and puts on a great show!! |
That is me and my girl Jeannie after a Splatter Concert series show with Bill Kirchen, formerly of Commander Cody and
his lost planet airmen, he is a nice guy, and an amazing guitar player! Jeannie works with Father Dan Staniskis putting
on the Splatter Concert shows, a great series! Check them out at:
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