The Goodnight Irenes are a folk trio formed in Kingston, Ontario in 2016 featuring Al Duquette, Jon McLurg, and Chris Morris. Three singers, two guitars, one fiddle, and nearly 1000 songs! Traditional folk, blues, classic country, bluegrass, Western swing, Cajun music, fiddlin’ tunes … no rules, no limits, no setlists!
A Goodnight Irenes show is spontaneous and lively. You’ll hear songs by the Carter Family, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotten, John Prine, Robert Johnson, The Grateful Dead, Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, and who knows who else. Only one thing is a constant: finishing the show with a certain Lead Belly song.
The Goodnight Irenes came together very organically at Musiikki Cafe in 2016. Jon McLurg held a Wednesday residency with rotating special guests. Chris Morris joined him on one fateful Wednesday and had so much fun he pestered Jon into doing it again. Sharing the night quickly became a permanent arrangement as they learned each other’s repertoire on the fly. Fiddler Al Duquette was a regular guest, and soon it became clear the three were a band, and that the band needed a name. Since every show concluded with a rousing and often weird version of Lead Belly’s Goodnight Irene, that became the name of the band.
The Musiikki residency lasted five years, fizzling out mid-pandemic. Still going strong and performing at venues all over eastern Ontario, The Goodnight Irenes have now played more than 300 shows together, which means more than 300 unidentical versions of Goodnight Irene itself (it can sometimes get a little wild).