The Kilkenny band with music in their blood - The Donnys dream of launching on the indie scene

The Donnys played the Yulefest stage in Kilkenny last Christmas

Growing up surrounded by musicmakers maybe it was inevitable that the five lads who make up Kilkenny band The Donnys would one day form their own group.

Fate may also have had a hand in the process, as did luck, like all the best band formation stories.
In little more than a year the teenagers have firmly established themselves on the local music scene, topping off the year, so far, with a support slot for the legendary Kerbdog, at The Set theatre last weekend.

Adam, Ethan, Niall, Eoghan and Johnny California are enjoying every moment of their early success. And why wouldn’t they, with competition wins under their belts and getting to play a mix of the music they love and their own songs.

Johnny explained that the five of them first came together as a band in school, Coláiste Pobail Osraí, last year, to enter the Gael Linn music competition for school musicians, Scléip.

Although beaten by another band from their own school last year, the lads were ready again this year and went on to be named not only the best band in the senior category, but were the overall winners of the competition.

But as they will quickly tell you, they’re not just a ‘school band,’ Scléip was a good way to get started as The Donnys, Johnny said, as they quickly started getting gigs in Kilkenny, playing in venues like Andrew Ryan’s and Billy Byrne’s. Opportunities they got from “putting ourselves out there,” Johnny said.

It was from a fortuitous connection at that Billy Byrne’s gig, last summer, that resulted in the support slot with Kerbdog. The pub gig led to a party gig, where one man in the audience was impressed - Billy Dalton, Kerbdog guitarist, was there and he really liked what he heard.
“Willie (from Billy Byrne’s) rang me and said ‘I’ve a bit of good news,’” Johnny said. And they were on.

It might have only been a few months after they had officially formed, but the members of The Donnys already had a long history of being around and playing their own music.
Eoghan and Johnny California are the sons of John Conroy, the late bassist who made a huge contribution to the Kilkenny music scene over 30 years, especially with his band Garland Sun.
So music is ‘in the blood’ of the boys.

Growing up watching drummers at his dad’s band rehearsals definitely influenced Eoghan, who is now The Donnys drummer.
Ethan is the son of popular local musician Tomás Jackman. “I’m surrounded by music,” Ethan said, adding that his brother was also in a band. They grew up, he said, in a ‘perfect environment’.
And, it was ‘perfectly natural’ that they would find themselves in a group together, Johnny said, as they have known each other, or known of each other most of their lives. Click 'next' for more of the story and more photographs from TheDonnys support gig for Kerbdog...