Whelan’s, one of the city’s most famous musical bars and venues has played host to the great and the good of the Irish music scene over the last quarter of a century, so it seemed like the most appropriate venue for the launch of the “Music for the homeless” event.
The Music for the Homeless campaign’s plan is to make a call out to all Irish acts of note, big or small to contribute signed CDs, vinyl and merchandise which will all go into one huge auction lot which will be bid on at a massive Charity Auction night in Whelan’s on June 18th . The idea is that the successful bidder will be the proud owner of a unique compendium of Irish music while raising thousands for the homeless in cities around the country.
The campaign is the brainchild of Peter Meade. Having experienced homelessness himself, Peter has been running fund-raising gigs from Abner Browns Barbershop in Rathmines, Dublin, where he now works as a barber.
Two fund-raising gigs held earlier this year also raised money for the Dublin charity, Inner City Helping Homeless and Peter spoke on the night to encourage everyone to get the word out to the public and to any artists and musicians who want to contribute their own material.
The launch night itself was a hugely enjoyable affair, there were performances from a number of artists who have already donated music for the auction including Mundy, who’s new album is climbing up the Irish charts, as well as new folk trio Pine Marten. There was also some delicious grub provided by Whelan’s neighbours Opium.
For any artists that would like to contribute their work for the charity auction you can leave your signed material in at the following locations:
