Hank Wedel’s Summer Single, “(We Are) The Rakes of Mallow is available on all streaming platforms. The song is produced by Declan Sinnott (co-founder Horslips, Christy Moore, Mary Black, Moving Hearts).
"(We Are) The Rakes of Mallow" is based on an 18th Century Irish folk song, by Edward “Pleasant Ned” Lysaght (1763-1809). The original version is about the debauchery, bad behaviour and fun reported in Mallow during the latter half of the 18th Century when the local warm water spa became a major attraction to the town.
Hank Wedel's version is updated, and features Declan Sinnott (producing, guitar), Greenshine’s Mary Greene and his niece—actress/dancer/singer Clodagh Mai both on vocals. The single is an updated version of the old song. Hank says, “Mallow had a hot springs spa supplying warm water bathhouses. It was something of an Irish ‘Sin City’ for a while with all kinds of carrying on…” Mallow is also the Irish hometown of Hank’s mother. “In her time, the 1950s, Mallow was a bustling rural town, the railroad crossroads of Southern Ireland with a sugar factory, a chocolate factory and other agricultural manufacturing industries.”
Hank and friends dressed as 1750's Rakes when they made the video in September 2021. The project made national headlines in Ireland, as the video features performers from several performing County Cork towns--Doneraile's Art for The Heart Performance Troupe, dancers from Mallow's renowned "Centre Stage" performance school, the Cork City-based Aatma Indian Dance Troupe, well known Irish actor Martin Lucey, and members of Hank's circle of family and friends. In addition, Clodagh Mai singing and dancing and representing the youth of Mallow in the second verse, Hank’s wife Eileen (who was born and reared in Mallow) walks down the street with Hank at end of the video.
The video and song tie together all of Mallow’s history from the 1750s to his mother’s time, and then his years growing up in the 1970s and ‘80s. “The video looks towards a hopeful future, like a ghostly vision I had of where my life had brought me.”
Hank is planning a multi-part podcast later this year to explore the song’s travels through time and space, which includes the music in a famous fight scene in John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara classic “The Quiet Man,” the theme song of the University of Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish (U.S.) Football Team, in Indian culture—Krishna as a mischievous youth…..
“(We Are) The Rakes of Mallow” launched this year’s Mallow Arts Festival, July 20-24, with a concert at Mallow’s Hibernian Hotel Ballroom.
Hank plans to release a new ten-song album produced by Declan Sinnott, which will include “(We Are) The Rakes of Mallow,” and his 2021 singles “Poe Park 2am” and “The Time We Share.” Stay tuned for more information.
Hank Wedel was born in Dayton, Ohio, USA 1963, raised in New York City and Mallow County Cork, Ireland. Now based in Cork City, this guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/recording artist/band leader has performed thousands of gigs from The North Pole to Lanzarote from Oklahoma to Azerbaijan, solo or with bands Princes Street, Open Kitchen, Small Town Talk. Hank has a 28-year Monday night residency at "Charlies," in Cork City with mandolin maestro Ray Barron... Hank has performed onstage with Shane McGowan, Mary Black, Christy Moore, Kila, Philomena Begley and Bono.
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