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Buy Music And Mayhem By Keith Donald online from Woodbine Books – free delivery in ROI on orders over €50
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Music and Mayhem charts the immersive and explosive life of one of Ireland’s most important musicians, and the golden decade of Irish music he was at the very centre of.�
Keith Donald’s story begins in Unionist east Belfast, hurtling through vivid memories of a childhood as a musical prodigy, first performing at the BBC aged ten. His story takes him to the classics department of Trinity College Dublin in the early 60s, a hotbed of new ideas, before he becomes enveloped in the beauty of tenor sax. Jazz clubs by night and studying classics by day, Donald soon felt the early onset alcohol addiction, fueld by childhood PTSD. From university he joined the booming showband scene with The Federals in Belfast and The Greenbeats in Dublin, touring the dancehalls and marquees of the Irish country.�
The 70s saw Donald building a music career in Dublin and Europe, coping with addiction, a crumbling marriage, and forging a separate life as a qualified social worker. It was the 1980s however, when his greatest breakthrough came to pass withthe formation of the Celtic rock supergroup Moving Hearts. With the Hearts Donald was manager, star performer and inspiration, alongside bandmates including Christy Moore and Donal Lunny. Their fusion of jazz, rock and traditional music created the soundtrack of an era and paved the way for a generation of Irish musicians.�
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One for the ages … Told with candour.
Belfast Telegraph
I got the bus from Galway to Dublin to see Moving Hearts playing in Baggot Inn in the early 80s – I'll never forget it! A few years later I asked Keith to play on my album 'Tired & Emotional'. The stories in the book are great and brought back memories of the years when me and Keith travelled the same roads together.
Mary Coughlan
A very moving, intimate and courageous story of my friend Keith’s journey through life and music.
Davy Spillane
A quietly absorbing memoir … A sobering read … In part an autobiography, public apology, and sermon, it reads like Keith Donald played: free-form, instinctive, and visceral … Donald is a terrific storyteller with a finely-tuned sense of the absurd … Balances the dark realities of addiction with a battery of scarcely believable yarns … What sets Music and Mayhem apart is that it is one of only a handful of testimonials that counter the partisan narratives and laze cliches that dominate its telling … By refusing to yield to cheap nostalgia and instead telling what at times is a brutal story, he has done himself – and history – no little service.
Colm O’Callaghan, Irish Examiner
After reading his book, I’m amazed he made it this far … A raw read … Full of the messiness of an alcoholic musician’s life … His story is a mass of contradictions, and it is as complex and interesting as life … The rationale for the memoir is to tell people that there is a better life and that you can get sober.
Ciara Dwyer, Sunday Independent
A fascinating memoir … You get a sense of the addictive feeling of playing music and the power of music … I loved it.
John Toal, BBC Radio Ulster
Incredible … Wholly absorbing … A scorching chronicle of addiction but at its heart is Donald's transcendence of recovery. A great read.
Anne Cunningham, Meath Chronicle
I really, really enjoyed it … There are so many brilliant stories in here, you could have got a trilogy out of this … I highly recommend it.
Ray D’Arcy, RT� Radio 1
A remarkable book.
BBC Radio Ulster, The Mark Patterson Show
