| The Makem Brothers (Makem and Spain) | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Years Active: | 1989–2018 |
| Associated Acts: | Tommy Makem |
| Website: | Official website |
| Origin: | Dover, New Hampshire, USA |
| Genre: | Folk |
| Label: | Red Biddy Records |
| Past Members: | Rory Makem Liam Spain Mickey Spain Conor Makem Shane Makem Brian Sullivan |
Makem and Spain was an Irish-American folk music band. The band was founded as "The Makem Brothers" in February 1989 by Rory, Shane, and Conor Makem, the three sons of "The Godfather of Irish Music" Tommy Makem, and grandsons of Irish source singer Sarah Makem.
In 2003, brothers Liam and Mickey Spain joined, and the band was renamed "The Makem and Spain Brothers". When Shane and Conor Makem left in 2014, the band was renamed "Makem and Spain".
On March 5, 2018, Makem & Spain announced on their Facebook page that they were breaking up, bringing down the final curtain on the act originally known as the Makem Brothers.
The three Makem brothers were born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland and grew up in Dover, New Hampshire, where the family moved to in the mid 1970s. Their father, Tommy Makem, was one of the most famous Irish musicians in the world, first as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and later as a solo act. Tommy's mother was the singer and traditional song collector Sarah Makem. The Makem Brothers' elder sister Katie Makem is also a performer, although she does not tour professionally. Shane Makem was born in August 1967, Conor in September 1968 and Rory in October 1969.
Both Shane and Conor attended Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts and Rory went to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. As a student at Bard College, Rory formed a band with Lisa Gentile, Lisa Lisa and the Country Jam.
In February 1989, Shane and Rory Makem founded the band, the Makem Brothers, debuting at the now-closed Blackthorne Tavern in Easton, Massachusetts. Guitarist Brian Sullivan joined the duo soon after. The Makem Brothers and Brian Sullivan were set to perform at the Tom Clancy Memorial Concert in New York City in November 1991; for the event, they wanted a bass player. Their father, Tommy Makem, suggested their middle brother, Conor Makem, and so he debuted with his brothers and Brian Sullivan at the memorial concert.
In 1992, the quartet recorded a demo album which was later commercially released for a time. Songs on the demo included Charlie and the MTA and Maid of Fife-O. In 1994 the Makem Brothers and Brian Sullivan released their first full-length album, Out Standing in a Field. Also that year, they made their television debut on Tommy Makem's PBS television special, Songs Of The Sea. Judy Collins also performed on that special.
Brian Sullivan left the band in 1995 but stayed on to play backup on the Makem Brothers' second album, On the Rocks. The Makem Brothers continued as a trio for eight more years, releasing two more albums, Who Fears to Speak in 1998 and Stand Together in 2001. In 1997 they filmed a concert for Iowa PBS which was released on videocassette. In 2003, the New Hampshire-based Irish folk musicians teamed up with The Spain Brothers, Liam and Mickey Spain (both natives of Manchester, New Hampshire), to become The Makem and Spain Brothers. Though they had been informally performing together for several years, their first official concert as a five piece band took place at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts in February 2003. They were billed as the Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain. Their combined forces preserve and advance folk music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and New England, as well as whaling songs, fishing songs, mining songs, even Australian Bush songs. Influences include The Clancy Brothers, Ewan MacColl, and The Corries.
The Makem and Spain Brothers released their first album together in 2004, called Like Others Did Before Us. They recorded a live album on Good Friday 2005 and released the album, The Makem and Spain Brothers Live in 2006. They recorded and filmed a live concert in Butte, Montana, releasing both a DVD and a CD of the concert in 2008. Both releases were called The Makem and Spain Brothers Home Away From Home. In January 2011, they released a studio album, titled Up the Stairs.
Shane left the band in 2011 for unknown reasons.
In October 2013, Conor Makem was arrested for allegedly placing a hidden camera in a women's bathroom.[1] The police confiscated his American and Irish passports, which prevented him from participating in the band's annual musical tour of Ireland.[2] Conor Makem was sentenced to a year incarceration at Strafford County House of Corrections in May 2014 after pleading guilty to 19 invasion of privacy charges.[3]
According to their website www.makem.com, the band, now a trio consisting of Rory Makem, Mickey Spain and Liam Spain, was officially renamed Makem & Spain.
In 2012, the Makem and Spain Brothers created their first Kickstarter campaign drive to help fund their next two albums, a two volume set titled Sessions Vol. 1 and Sessions Vol. 2 which would feature a multitude of guest musicians including but not limited to Tom Paxton, Schooner Fare, The Shaw Brothers, Gordon Bok and David Mallett. A goal of $15,000 was surpassed, capping out at over $20,000. After several delays, Makem & Spain Brothers Sessions Vol. 1 saw a limited release in late May 2014 to contributors. On June 3, the album, re-titled "Sessions, Vol. I - Makem and Spain," was released on iTunes. Finally, on August 3, it was released on compact disc to the general public. There are two different versions of the album cover; copies distributed to Kickstarter contributors contain the group name 'The Makem & Spain Brothers' with photos of all four group members at the time; copies available to purchase by the general public on August 3 and henceforth include the new group name, 'Makem & Spain,' with photos of just Rory, Mickey and Liam.
On January 12, 2016, Makem and Spain released a new studio album, Four Pounds a Day. It is the 10th full-length album for the group as a whole, excluding the 1992 demo CD. According to their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/makemspain/?fref=ts, the record was originally called For Ramblin' For Rovin, after lyrics taken from the song Bold Thady Quill, track number 10 on the album. Sessions Vol. 2 was released on October 6, 2016, making this the first time the group released two albums in one year. It would be their final album.
In 2014, Rory Makem, the youngest son of Tommy Makem, started performing as a solo act, in addition to touring and recording with Makem and Spain. Donal Clancy, youngest son of Liam Clancy, released an album of songs, Songs of a Roving Blade, the first to feature him on vocals as a solo; previously he sang as part of a chorus with his father, Liam, and cousin, Robbie O'Connell, in the group, Clancy O'Connell & Clancy, while focusing on instrumentals. Promoting his album, he began touring as a solo performer that year.
In the summer 2016, Rory and Donal joined forces at the Milwaukee Irish Festival, performing sporadically for the remainder of the year. They featured as a duo on Joannie Madden's Folk and Irish Cruise that fall, billed as Makem and Clancy. They toured the American Irish Festival circuit in the summer of 2017, and occasionally tour together as of October 2019, as well as solo.
Makem & Spain performed less than half a dozen concerts during 2017, and on March 5, 2018, they announced on their Facebook page that they were breaking up:
"Hello all. We reluctantly announce that we will no longer be performing as a trio. Rory will be performing with Donal Clancy as well as a solo artist. Mickey will perform as a solo artist as well as with his brother Liam. We would like to thank everyone for the support that you have given us over the years and we hope that you will continue to enjoy, attend and support folk music.
Cheers,Mickey, Rory and Liam"
Their final concert was at the 2nd Annual Folk Extravaganza in Manchester, NH at the Palace Theatre on October 6, 2017.
Note: The footnotes will take you to lyrics but not necessarily to The Makem Brothers' recordings of these songs, many of which are traditional.