Poet, musician, songwriter, playwright Larry Kirwan, is the voice of Black-47. A band he fronts that includes his mates, Geoffrey Blythe (formerly of Dexy's Midnight Runners) who plays Tenor, soprano & baritone saxophones, Chris Byrne: Uilleann pipes, tin whistle, bodhran, vocals, Thomas Hamlin: Drums, percussion, and Fred Parcells who plays Trombone, tin whistle, vocals and Andrew Goodsight on Bass and, harmonica. The subject matter, which he writes about, is as wide as the city he lives in is diverse. Controversial with intent on being entertaining, Kirwans work has received wide critical acclaim. He writes for all people of all ages His solo effort "Keltic Kids " has delighted Kids of all ages from all over the world, his work with Black-47 has created legendary hysteria on both sides of the Atlantic. From his picture in Time magazine to his appearance on TV's "Politically Incorrect" he's controversial and always daring. His home is New York and the club scene which he has been part of for over 20 years. Mostly he's known for his music & lyrics, which hold sway for his legions of fans worldwide. Born in Wexford Ireland on the 11 of July Larry came to the United States in 1970 to seek his destiny. Larry is the father of two and, lives with in New York with his wife June. This interview took place on July20 in his Greenwich Village apartment.

R: WHEN DID IT BECOME IMPORTANT TO YOU TO EXPRESS POLITICAL FEELINGS THROUGH MUSIC?

"I came from a political background but, to find a way through music that took time, I didn't think their was much good in preaching to people. In the 70's I was a member of Turner, Kirwan & Wexford and later The Major Thinkers, they were shared bands, we were mostly stoned doin music that reflected our times, but there was some opinion expressed.

Then it was that playwriting became my passion and I dropped out of the music until the late 80's, when me and Chris Byrne started Black-47, my whole style of writing changed. It became more character biased, story driven. I always felt odd preaching at people before, but now I learned how to carry the message through allegory.

So, we began writing songs reflecting the situation in northren Ierland. We started singing Free Joe Now! and James Connely, people liked it. We got signed by EMI, Fire of Freedom is released to a lot of great publicity, picture in Time Magazine, brisk sales here in America and worldwide, was headed for Europe. Suddenly the English company says, "Wait, you guys are the fuckin IRA", the English publisist says " how can I selll your records when you are bombing London?"

So EMI says we got to generate some favorable notices in the English press, they fly over four journalists, put them up in a big hotel, all expenses paid and all and take these guys to the show at the Ritz. Well these guys are from right wing English papers and are sitting in the gallery terrified. They refused to leave afraid! Actually afraid to walk through the crowds, and waited till everyone left. Then went back and wrote that the band was great but called us "The musical wing of the IRA on stage" As we toured we became a target of loyalists groups who listed us as members of the pan-nationalist front. This placed our families and our own lives in jeopardy. On one occasion a group of guys from the National Front showed up, but they were such a small group compared to the thousands in the crowd they left intimidated.

We cannot be blamed for inciting violence! They didn't listen to the words! We are trying to get people to think, not to adopt our point of view, but to just start thinking about it. When someone buys a Black-47 C.D. & finds out about Paul Robeson or James Connely, they're making and effort to learn, they become enriched".

R-How is it that a song like James Connely that has a quote like "Don't give up the dream, a republic for the working class, economic liberty!" appears on a C.D released on for a major label?

"When we met EMI, we met them as Black-47, and was never asked to water down our message. I believe they could be that way if they perceived you to be malleable, but they didn't know what to do with us anyway, we just delivered the records.

On Home of the Brave they got involved in the budgeting of the record and spent 5 times, than we would have independently. But the big guns were with it, and oddly enough these guys don't have much longevity in the business. Daniel Glass was our great champion. As boss at EMI, he put a lot of weight behind the band but, just before the release of Home of the Brave, was replaced. The new guy had his own signings he wanted to promote. We lost all the money the company spent on recording the c.d.

Record companies traditionally operate by spending all the money up front and then arbitrarily cut it off, instead of allowing the project to gain a profit. Even this is gonna get worse, in that they now belive in promoting a single entity. They sell that for a while, scrap it and send out the new thing. It was even worse with Mercury, at least the people at EMI came into the industry from a sixties perspective, I was stunned that these people had no conception of music what so ever".

R: What's the next project?

"The next album is called "Trouble in the Land." The title song deals directly with violence in our land. I have always been a pacifist, I don't see the point in violence, it never succeeds, just leads to more. A lot more can be achieved by taking the higher ground. Of course where I grew up I didn't suffer the way some folks have. I didn't have my door kicked in so I find it hard to condemn someone who used it to fight back. It isn't my way. That's how the cycle of violence begins. Even in Ulster it' only in the poorest of areas, where folks can't even aspire to working class status that the violence erupts from. It is almost always poor upon poor.

I've been fortunate that it has always been a clearer view for me. It has always been my intention to use Black-47 as a counter balance. To let people be aware that American views are not only that which is heard on conservative talk radio. Not all America is against a national health care system. What a staggering blow it is to the worker when they get sick. The mark of a great society is in how you look after your sick, poor, old, homeless, ensuring good schools for all children. To me unrestrained capitalism is the biggest pig at the troft".

R: What are our options?

 "Democracy is a tough old system and it depends on an educated populace watching to make certain that things are working as they were set up to. Democracy functions to allow the truth to be presented".

R:Where do we look for truth in the media?

"Don't look for it on television that only exists to make money from you. Right wing propaganda is what is driving up the violence. Conservative talk radio is causing a lot of people to become assholes. The amount of guns in this country is ridiculous, my own wife was almost killed by one. The cost of having them is too high. Our way of addressing it in Black-47 is to try to get people to come out and listen to music and get away from telivision. People gotta start talking to each other. Try to get your kids out of watching TV. Educate your kids in subtle but effective ways. I get up with my children and put on a college radio station, or sit and talk with them. It's our responsibility to do this. Our schools have become places to hold the kids in while we work. More affluent areas have the better schools. This is what happens when local areas run the school districts. Federally based schools work better because they apply one standard of education to all districts".

R-Can we make a difference?

"Well, that's the engine that runs Black-47. That one person acting in earnest can make a difference. Like Jack,and Bobby Kennedy, Jack inspired a lot of people, but Bobby Kennedy gave them hope. He saw a lot of shit go down, but felt it was his responsibility to do something about it. A lot died with him that night".

R-Your public position demands that voice be put to it, doesn't it?

"From our point of view this is and was what we are always about. I am a humanitarian.The songs we play allow for people who don't have a lot of money to come to our shows, have a good time. They hear about some of my heroes and meet and hang with the band. The band right from the get go has always been the common person's band. A New York band much in the same vain as what Lou Reed was doin the east village, downtown scene. He allowed me to sit after hours and see what he was writing about. What I began to write about was how the every man feels, the regular person, the waitress, the cop, factory person, how they feel good and bad"!

R-I've seen police on duty at Black-47 shows and they are enjoying the whole experience.

"Yeah, we're every body's band. If you don't have a favorite band, …were your band,…that's all I got to say. I've always felt the gratitude from the fans right from the start. Every night we meet a hundred people, rarely if ever is someone a pain the ass. They are almost always kind and thrilled to meet us. We make it a point to be accesable to them. It only takes a minute to do it and brings us so much. Imagining being a writer and having someone tell you how a song affected them. You could ask for no more than that".

R-What about communicating on the net?

"We try to answer all our E-mail and with the opening of the net we've made friends all over the world. I think the Internet is great, communicating, talking, sharing, it's always best. Write me at black47@AOL.com. Or just come out to a show one night and say hello."

R-Thank you ,Larry

Works by Larry Kirwan and Black47

1989 Black'47 (indy), 1991 Fire of Freedom , 1994 Home of the Brave,