It’s not an obvious collaboration but the friendship and music that have developed since Damien O’Kane, the Irish tenor banjo whizz, met his American counterpart Ron Block, genius of the 5-string American version of that inexplicably oft maligned instrument, have now spanned 15 years and three groundbreaking albums. The turn-out in Belfast’s Black Box venue was a testament to the duo’s popularity, especially as it clashed with several other attractive gigs tonight. Accompanied by Scotsman Duncan Lyall (Kate Rusby, Treacherous Orchestra) on upright bass, Moog and keyboards and Kilkenny musician Steven Byrnes on acoustic guitar and kick drum, the band kicked off with a Damien O’Kane composition St Patrick’s Day, which started sedately and eventually ramped up to a much livelier pace. Damien O’Kane is clearly the extrovert of the pair, regaling the audience with hilarious anecdotes between every set, while Ron Block was content to smile and generally take a back seat. Most of the music tonight was comprised of the traditional Irish system of playing two or three instrumental compositions one after the other, known as a 'set’. O’Kane introduced the next set that included a tune that he wrote called I Asked For A Hamster, explaining that he and his wife Kate Rusby had bought a drum kit for their young daughter Phoebe one Christmas but, you guessed it, she would have preferred a furry friend.
Led predominantly by O’Kane’s 4 string tenor banjo, most of the tunes were written by him also, but the two banjos danced around and harmonised with each other in a mesmerising whirl, backed up superbly by the equally dynamic playing of Byrnes and Lyall. It was obviously why Ron Block has 14 Grammys and 6 IBMA Awards under his belt (something which led to O’Kane’s constant ribbing all evening) and his seemingly effortless playing, fingerstyle, on the brighter and lighter 5-string banjo complemented the mellow 4-string tenor banjo that is played with a plectrum. After featuring tunes from their just released BANJOVIAL album, they also played a selection of numbers from the earlier albums BANJOPHONY (2018) and BANJOPHONIC (2022). Damien O’Kane was born and bred in Magilligan, Co Derry and he told us that, not surprisingly, some of his family were present, including his parents. He dedicated the lively tune Guiseppe to his father Joe, after telling us how that tune came about.
Ron Block switched to guitar and sang his own composition, written for his Momma, Love Ain’t Like That. A highlight was another Ron Block instrumental composition, Mario Cart Rides Again, inspired by Damien’s driving (don’t ask) which featured impressive sound effects simulating church bells, ambulances and much skidding! Block, of course, is better known for being a member of Alison Krauss’s Union Station bluegrass outfit for the last 30 years, and bluegrass fans may have expected more of that music’s influence on the night, but they had to wait until the second half of the show for that. He introduced his lovely tune Daisy’s Dance by explaining why it was named after Damien’s other daughter Daisy, and the harmonic interplay between the two banjos that followed was simply sublime. He also played his bluegrass composition Fiddler’s Gun, after Damien O’Kane switched to tenor guitar to sing his version of Paul Brady’s iconic Homes Of Donegal.
The standing ovation at the end said it all and a bunch of happy punters made their way home through a rainy Cathedral Quarter. Let’s hope Music Capital continue to put on great nights of world class music like this.
Review by Eilís Boland. Photo by Julie-Anne Rouquette