An Interview with Foster and Allen

With more than 40 years working together in the music industry, world-class recording artists Foster and Allen are coming to Cheltenham Town Hall at the end of this month. Tickets are available for the showing at 7.30pm on Sunday 28 October. The dynamic duo have sales in excess of 20million worldwide and are known for expceptional live concerts and easy listening music. We caught up with one half of the duo, Tony Allen for a special interview... 

---

Tell us about yourself?

We are the duo known as Foster and Allen and we have been working together since the mid 60s, in dance bands all across Ireland. Then, in 1975 while on tour in UK, a friend of ours asked if Mick (Foster) and I (Tony Allen) would play at the opening of his new pub in London. We played for a full week and that was the start of Foster and Allen. 43 years later we are still on the road.  

What may we be surprised to learn about you? 

It might surprise people to hear that we've never had a row or a cross word in all the years we've worked together. 

You're playing at Cheltenham Town Hall on 28 October in a show called ‘For a night to remember’? What can people expect?

Our concert is made up of songs and tunes from our recordings over the years. The first half also features solo spots from our band members Moyra, Bryan and Ollie. We have recorded over 800 tunes over the years so there's lots to choose from. You'll just have to come along for yourself to find out which ones we've picked!

What kind of music is Foster and Allen and what inspires you to make it?

We're known for being an Irish folk duo, but we are not just that. We are more middle of the road or easy listening as a loose genre, but we have actually recorded all kinds of music from folk, pop, rock and roll, and even country. It's always in a Foster and Allen style though so I think that’s what we are. 

You’ve recently released a new album; ‘Putting on the style’ – tell us more?

Over the last few years we have recorded a few TV shows and we have a lot of songs from these shows that were not included in the shows or on dvd. We decided to put 50 of them together with the same tracks on CD as a special just in time for Christmas. 

How can people find out more about Foster and Allen?

The best thing to do is follow us on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook a or go to our official website fosterandallen.ie.

What about Cheltenham? Have you been here before? 

I remember a few years back we recorded a song with the Irish jockeys working in the UK at the time for the Injured Jockeys Fund. We spent a wonderful day with AP McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and about ten more of the boys at the races in Cheltenham where we all sang the fields of athenry. It was a day I will never forget. 

The duo has also had a runner in the 1992 Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham - a mare named Nancy Myles after a song by their friend, Kevin Sheerin. Reportedly, the pair later found a pub in Tralee called 'Nancy Myles' and when they asked the landlord where he got the name, he told them 'after a horse owned by Foster and Allen', not realising who he was talking to!

A small number of tickets are still available for the event at Cheltenham Town Hall on 28 October at 7.30pm. You can see more event details here, or buy tickets on the Town Hall website.