Ruairi "Radar" Fry

By Lisa Curran

If you have been watching the nightlife and music scene in Kerry recently, there are amazing gigs by the ‘Stag and Doe sessions’ in their new home in The Greyhound, one of the organisers Ruairi Fry known as his artist name of ‘Radar Fry’ has a chat with me about his own music journey.

It’s a pleasure to speak with you, I know you are putting a lot of hard work in at the moment!

Firstly how have the stag and die sessions been going in their new home? How did that idea come about and what is it trying to encourage?

Stag and Doe sessions was created to promote and showcase original musicians and focusing on local talent. Stag and doe sessions is a platform to give original music the opportunity to show their talent and ability on a professional stage. The idea came about in 2018, I was looking for original music in tralee. I am a huge fan of new fresh material and love hearing up and coming artists. Even as a musician I found it difficult to find places to play original music. Then I decided with a friend of mine Tadhg Flynn that we would really love to do something like this, and thus the creation of Stag and Doe sessions and we had our first gig in March of 2019. Local music is our primary focus, we choose local acts first and then fill in the line up from there. Each session is tailor made each time. Stag and doe sessions is there so artists can try out their own material and to also express their own passions through music.

Stag and Doe sessions is an organic, ever changing entity and we've showcased artists in bars and on large scale stages at local festivals and large local events. Venues in tralee have been very good to us and we look forward to their continued support.

We have grown a great amount over the last few years and have the privilege to showcase some amazing artists and the support locally has been great!

Where did your love of music come from? Has it been a lifelong passion or something life has inspired you to concentrate more on?

Music and the arts have been a major part of my life. I believe music is in my DNA. I can remember being around music my whole life and playing from a very young age.

I started taking music seriously in my teens when I started my first rock band "JERCS" at the age of 13 and I was the drummer. At that time I was one of the founding members of the the kdys band project which was a great avenue for young people, and I have great memories of playing in the Kdys. Shortly after that at around the age of 16/17 I was in a heavy metal band called "Trench" which had a good amount of success. Releasing an EP, We toured many parts of the country.

As I got into my twenties I began to be more drawn to playing guitar and in particular lead guitar. I also loved playing fast up tempo rhythms on acoustic guitar. With encouragement from family and friends and trying out different bands I went solo! I was supported by my great friend Harry Cunningham who's is and amazing bass player. I have always been writing lyrics and music from about 12 or 13. Blues folk rock has always been the style that I was drawn too. In particular ballads I love good balled from Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore and of course Phil Lynott. I have really enjoyed heavy music such as Tool, Staind, Metallica and more heavier bands like slipknot.

Music has been something which has always been a passion of mine it's apart of my daily life I really don't have any day where I don't play or write or go to watch music.

What’s the next step in your journey?

For me the next step is to release my own original music, I have been working hard for a few years crafting songs and to be honest I'm writing constantly and I have a huge amount of material. I will be getting into the studio to record an acoustic album and release an EP. Gigging is a very important part of playing and looking to play venues around the country is my plan.

I know you have some amazing series on social media about different aspects of guitar, how did that come about and what’s next for that?

It's one of those things that happened very organically. I was sending videos to friends and at social events friends would ask me to play on the spot to random backing tracks on YouTube almost like a positive challenge. Which then developed to become part of my practice routine. Every video I put up is literally on the spot never heard the track before and I improvise playing along to it. Which is really fun and challenging.

Following up from that people were reaching out to me asking about elements of how to play guitar and how to learn different ways of playing. I thought that's an idea how do I explain how I do things bringing back to the basics and breaking it down. To be able to share this with others has been great and genuinely fun! The feedback and support from people has been amazing and a huge confidence boost for me. It is amazing to hear people talking about them enjoying my videos.

Where can people follow your journey and support you?

All my social media is @Radarfrymusic Facebook, Instagram, twitter, YouTube and sound cloud

The Tralee Food Festival will take place on the 20th and 21st of May, building on the success of previous years this year’s festival is being run by a newly formed committee of Mary Mc Quinn, Ken Tobin and John Mc Carthy. Promising to be a community-led, family orientated event Oliver Hurley and Ken Murphy have been brought on board as festival directors bringing years of experience to the festival and will ensure it runs smoothly.

The festival’s itinerary will incorporate a World of Food Section, a dedicated Kids Zone, Workshops, Demonstrations, a Celebrity Cook Off, Food Trucks, Market Traders, Live Music and an amazing Taste & Trail.

As well as the highly popular Taste Trail, the festival markets will now encompass the Island of Geese, Dominic Street & the Tralee Town Square, offering a wide range of food and drink options and free family-friendly activities for visitors of

Marketing Manager of Tralee Food Festival Mary Mc Quinn said “As the counties capital town our aspiration is to create an event that both locals and visitors can enjoy. Tralee is ideally situated within the county and has great connectivity to all local towns and villages so we are encouraging people to visit the town over the weekend and experience first-hand the best of Tralee’s culinary scene. We would love the opportunity to welcome people to Tralee and provide an opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products and services.”

For more information on this years Tralee Food Festival visit www.traleefoodfestival.com and follow them on socials