‘Small world, isn’t it!?’
Jimmy Cricket had a chance meeting with a friend of one of his Northern Irish relatives when he performed at the Birmingham Irish Centre.
The famous entertainer, who was in a show with the traditional Irish musical outfit Irish Mist, bumped into Shaun Preece, the general manager of the centre.
Jimmy said: “Shaun is a good friend of my second cousin who hails from Strabane – small world, isn’t it!?
“The concert was a superb blend of music and comedy, and I was really impressed with the musical prowess of Irish Mist, as they had a great accordion player, a superb penny whistle player and very competent fiddle and drummer.”
Irish Mist are a four-piece traditional/folk band featuring Mal Rogers on fiddle and Joe Giltrap on guitar, plus All-Ireland accordion and flute champion Eugene Teevan and long-time associate, Belfast-born bass/whistle/flute player Brian Aldwinckle.
Over the years they have appeared with all the top names from the Irish folk world, including The Dubliners, Christy Moore and De Dannan, with shows at the Royal Albert Hall, the Dominion and the Gaiety in Dublin.
* Jimmy is pictured with Paul Crowley and Mary Hussey who were members of the audience.
