A CLEAR case of you can’t keep a good band down or away from the music is surely what can be said of one of the top Irish outfits and Midlands music fans will have a chance to judge this for themselves next month.

Following the sudden death of founding member Barney McKenna in 2012 and John Sheahans’ decision to retire it was agreed that The Dubliners, as a touring band, would come to an end and this in turn brought about the birth of The Dublin Legends and they will soon be appearing locally.

This virtual reincarnation features Sean Cannon, Paul Watchorn, Gerry O’Connor and Shay Kavanagh, who between them have over 100 years of performing experience and Sean was the lead singer with The Dubliners for over 30 of them!

They will, of course, continue to play all the classic songs that made The Dubliners famous throughout the world, as well as many well known ballads known - Whiskey in The Jar, Dirty Old Town, The Wild Rover, Seven Drunken Nights, The Rare Auld Times, Molly Malone, The Irish Rover, Black Velvet Band & many more.

Late last year the band suffered another significant and huge loss when guitarist and founder, Eamonn Campbell, passed away while they were on tour in Holland. Even though he had been in poor health it was still a massive shock.

The lads then turned to an old friend, Shay Kavgh, and asked him if he would like to come on the road with them and, thankfully, Shay readily agreed.

He is a stalwart of the Irish Folk Music scene. He was a founding member of General Humbert with the great Mary Black and has played with The Dublin City Ramblers for many years.

It was Eamonn’s wish that the band continue touring and finish off recording the album they had been working on.

This is a follow-up to The Dublin Sessions which featured 16 newly recorded tracks and included some old favourites and classics that the band wanted to get down on disc… The Leaving of Liverpool, Schooldays Over, Pub with No Beer, Rambling Rover, Hand Me Down My Bible and some scorching tunes from Gerry O’Connor - Billy in The Low Ground, The Temperance Reel and of course, Seven Drunken Nights.

In the past five years the band have continued on the legacy of The Dubliners by travelling far and wide playing concerts to a whole new generation of Irish music fans.

They have wowed audiences in Iceland, Norway, Finland, The Faroe Islands, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland and, of course, all over England, Scotland & Wales.

This year sees the band celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day period with a 10-date March UK Tour and will follow it with a tour of Scotland and more UK dates in April.

One thing that this band can guarantee is that it promises to be one hell of a party! From Seven Drunken Nights to Whiskey in The Jar.

To join the boys for ‘one’ on the road there are several Midland venues where you can catch them.

They will be at Birmingham Town Hall on March 17, Malvern’s Forum Theatre on March 22 and the tour concludes on April 23 at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury.