The Irish Descendants celebrate 35 years — and their biggest Christmas tour yet

The Irish Descendants are celebrating their 35th anniversary, and to celebrate the milestone the band is releasing a box set of 35 hit songs and a 24-show tour from Newfoundland and Labrador to Ontario. 

The tour begins in Liverpool, N.S. on Friday before moving down the road through Atlantic Canada, Ontario — their first concert in the province ever — and, of course, some shows at home. 

"Christmas is such a wonderful time for everybody, and for me in particular," said lead singer Con O'Brien. "That's where I honed my craft."

O'Brien says it was during Christmas family gatherings, on the north side of Bay Bulls, where he came up with some of his tracks. 

The songs, he said, are made up of funny stories that happened to his family, like the year of the white turkey, when Santa Claus was running late because "he was stuck down on the north side singing songs."

But when Santa finally came along, hungry for a meal, he found the turkey not in the oven, but thawing in the sink.

"[They're] stories to make people laugh, to give them a sense of where we are, where we are from, who we are," O'Brien said.

A Christmas tradition

The Christmas show has become a yearly tradition for many families, he says.

Over the years, he's watched how small children came back, grown up, now attending the concerts with their partners and also a new generation of fans.

"I got these 20 year olds who are singing every word of every song in front of me because they heard it in their car seats as they went up the road to Fort McMurray," he said.

LISTEN | Con O'Brien on the upcoming tour and the stories behind the Christmas songs: 

On The Go13:31The Irish Descendants box set and Christmas tour

The Irish Descendants celebrate 35 years in the music biz with the release of 35 songs on a new box set... as they gear up for their biggest Christmas tour to date. The group's founding member swings by the On the Go studio for a chat about Christmas days of old... and new. (Krissy Holmes with Con O'Brien)

The band's box set features their best 35 songs on CD and vinyl, pulled from their 15 albums over the past 35 years.

The set includes a book with archival photos and the history of the band. It's the story of four young men who started the band while they worked in the fishery, and later became musicians.

It's a history and love of music that, O'Brien says, that the band hopes to bring to the stage.

"We won't be looking forward to it being over," he said. "Wonderfully, for us, to go out and reach that many people, it's a special feeling."

The tour ends on Dec. 22 in Clarenville at the Eastlink Events Centre. 

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