One of my personal highlights of last St Patrick’s Day was a Livestream performance by Dundalk trio The Mary Wallopers (Brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy and Seán McKenna) on YouTube. I’d not long heard of them but the buzz around the show was enough to make sure I didn’t miss it. They were also one of the first out of the block following the lockdown. So I tuned in…not only had they a self-built pub in their house all ready for the show but as I watched. Word had clearly spread as the audience numbers were rocketing – more than any other folk gig I’ve seen since. Described as a space where Wayne’s World meets Irish ballads, the show brought joy with over 40,000 people watching it in just the first 24 hours alone.
They did all of this off their own backs – no industry grant – connecting with people through the chat room and speaking directly to camera the Wallopers made their show unmissable to those trapped in lockdown or overseas.
Two episodes later with one at Halloween and one at Christmas they introduced the Walloper’s extended family with musical guests like CMAT, Daragh Lynch (Lankum), Radie Peat and Katie Kim alongside guest appearances from Junior Brother and Shane McGowan (The Pogues).
On the 17th of March 2021 (9pm GMT), the Wallopers will be celebrating their 1st-anniversary stream (details below) and promise even more surprises and less professionalism. So it seemed like the perfect time to catch up with them. Subscribe to their YouTube page for updates.
Before we dive in…here’s some highlights
Beginnings then, and is there a crossover of fans from TPM (a hip-hop duo featuring Charles and Andrew Hendy of the trio)?
“We were broke living in Dundalk together and the three of us loved playing ballads so we started going into pubs and asking for pints in exchange for songs, it worked very well in most places, until we got offered money instead on St. Patricks Day 2016. We only really started pushing The Mary Wallopers at the end of 2019 so we’re glad we did! As for the crossover of fans, there is a crossover, both acts are anti-authority in nature and we think folk and hip hop have more in common than you’d think.”
There seems to be something of an Irish folk revival going on although the current Irish folk scene when looking at the likes of Lankum, Lisa O’Neill, The Deadlians seems different to that of the past…it has an almost DIY feel – maybe even more in common with the punk scene.
“Yes there is definitely a bit of a revival happening and everyone in the scene seems to be fairly punk in their own way. For a while there, folk music was portrayed as being very safe and clean but to our knowledge that’s not what folk music is about. It should be raw, and there are lots of raw acts in Ireland now. Its great.”
While the songs The Mary Wallopers sing are from the distant past, many of them still resonate with the issues of today…
“We think the trials and tribulations of people has remained somewhat the same all through the years. So yes the music definitely is as relevant today as ever. Many songs exist about landlords, the only difference is people used to shoot landlords back then. So, we can learn a lot from these songs. We collect songs in loads of different ways, in pubs, old books, the ITMA and even YouTube. A good song is a good song no matter where you find it.”
We get on to chatting about their hometown of Dundalk…it seems that their home/pub was more than just a stage prop…an actual venue?
“Yes, we built a stage in our shed and a pub in our sitting room, we had gigs happening in our house the likes of Thomas McCarthy, Jinx Lennon, Myles Manley and Junior Brother performed at them. We organised it so you pay 20eur and you get a lift out to ours and back into town and its BYOB. They got a bit messy at times so we slowed down on them!”
Just the one EP to date…you’re starving us!
“Yes, we have an album nearly finished and it should be out this year, so sit tight.”
That first Youtube show…was the response a total surprise?
“Yeah it was all very quick, there wasn’t much time to organise and covid lockdown was kind of a novelty at the time, we weren’t expecting that many to tune in but we enjoyed the whole experience.”
The trio are pretty set on doing all their own publicity and merch etc. Necessity or desire to be totally independent?
“From the start it’s been our approach with everything we do, any of the music scenes we have been influenced by growing up have had a real DIY attitude. Whether that be early Country, Punk, Dancehall or Hip Hop the approach has been to make everything out of nothing. We turned down a deal from a major record label last year, I suppose our ability to work independently gave us the courage to turn down whats supposed to be a ‘dream deal’.”
So, the new Paddy’s Day show on March 17th – what can you tell us about the show?
“The gig will be a year anniversary celebration of the livestreams. There will be special guests, ballads and stout. It’s the perfect way to spend Paddy’s night.”
Got your security sorted?
“We’re gonna have our most trusted guard cat, Martin on the door so trespassers beware.”
When are you back on the road and did you get your van sorted out?
We are rearing to get back on the road, in 2019 we did 153 gigs so last year was a bit of a shock. After lots of last-minute overhauls between gigs our beloved transit finally died from the stresses of touring. We are getting a new van ready to go for the end of the year though so fingers crossed!”
Head to the Wallopers YouTube channel where the lads will be live from 9pm on Paddys Day (Wed 17 March 2021, 9pm GMT) – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXiepMEW-gDVnARydII_caA
Subscribe to their YouTube page for updates. You’d be a fool to miss it!
https://www.marywallopers.com/