Songwriter turned singer Johnny Duhan's will play the Town Hall Theatre on Friday 23 May at 8.30pm.

Johnny, who hails from Limerick now lives in Galway City with his wife and family. His songs, such as 'The Voyage' and 'Don't Give Up Till It's Over', are sung all over the world in a variety of languages, thanks to the focus put on them by Christy Moore, The Dubliners, The Irish Tenors, Tommy Fleming and hosts of other Irish and international singers.

Now the songwriter has taken to the stage himself in a one-man show that has audiences hanging on his every word.

"My influences have changed over the years and are reflected in four collections of songs. The first of these I've just released on album. 'Just Another Town' is a portrait of the city I grew up in, written in song and story. It sings of the people and location that formed me. Its melody and poetry come from the homes, bars, dancehalls, chapels, gardens, prisons, factories and the very streets of the town it celebrates. It is not a nostalgic look back in blinkered pleasure. The landscape is urban, gritty and hard, and the characters are flawed and damaged. DH Lawrence once described cities as scabs on the face of the earth before he attempted to flee back to some primitive idyll.

"Modern cities are indeed scabs on the face of the world, but, the way I see it, scabs are healing skin formations in the process of transforming damaged tissue back into healthy flesh. One of the greatest achievements of mankind, I believe, is that we have learned to live in relative harmonious community in vast cities all over the world in a relatively short space of time. A spiritual dimension lies behind the ordering process that has brought this transformation about. 'Just Another Town' attempts to illustrate some of the elements and forces that bound together the fragile community I grew up among. It also shows how youthful innocence can act as a compass to guide us in doubting times," said Johnny.

Tickets, €20, are available from 091-569777.

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