“The late Luke Kelly is a legend. Brian Roebuck is a Dublin man himself (from Drimnagh precisely), and Luke is his hero since the age of seven, when he started singing Dubliners songs and playing the banjo. Luke kept him from getting into rock’n’roll!! Brian, now based in Manchester, honours Luke’s memory in all his songs. Why Luke? He put so much feeling and compassion into his material. Every song he sang seemed to end up as the ‘definitive’ version. As a folk singer he was awesome, none better. As a character he had charisma. Luke sang his heart out with conviction. He was sincere in his singing. His emotion poured out in every rendition. He believed in his songs. Luke took ownership of them. Kelly gave a voice to the ordinary man in the street. In the sixties he gave us dignity and self-respect. “A Song for Luke” is a collection of classic songs, recorded live in County Cork (because he says the Guinness tastes far better down there!!). Brians voice remarkably resembles that of Luke. He is joined by fiddler Dezi Donnelly, banjo players Marcus Maloney (tenor 4-string) and Pat Kelleher (5-string; see CD-review above). Well, younger folk afficionados might familiar with Luke’s repertory, but no longer be acquainted with Luke Kelly himself. So listen to Brian Roebuck for a glimpse of Dublin’s past. The ballads are still present and remain there in the future as well.”
Walkin’ T:-)M

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