Irish band has tradition of its own

Playing together for 14 years, Kindred Spirit performs classics and new tunes, By Cindy Weightman Vernon — Two friends with a love of music and Irish tradition have spent more than a decade performing around New Jersey. Dean Dobbs of Vernon plays the guitar and writes the songs while the multi-talented Tim Smith of Blairstown plays mandolin, banjo, flute and Irish whistles. Together they are Kindred Spirit. Dobbs says the band really came together in 1996 at Sullivan’s Gaslight Inn in Franklin when he was a solo act. “Smith showed up with his whistles and Sullivan offered to pay Jim to hang out and play a few tunes with me every night. Tim couldn’t sit still and so began the duet that has lasted 13 years.” Then Sullivan’s closed its doors and a bank now stands in its place. Dobbs says there’s no venue like it with the restaurant, bar and travel agency to boot. When Kindred Spirit performed at O’Reilly’s Pub in Newton on Nov. 1, it was the first time the band had played a Sussex county venue in a long time. “By the second set, they had to close the doors,” Dobbs said. Not just traditional music The band tries to blend a mix of the old and the new and that’s a big part of what makes Kindred Spirit unique. “You can’t go anywhere for this stuff,” Dobbs said. “We’ll do things that normal Irish cover bands don’t do.” That includes ballads, love songs, rebel songs and political songs. The biggest request, Dobbs said, is “The Fields of Athenry,” a folk song set during The Great Irish Famine. “Finnegan’s Wake” is another favorite. That song pays tribute to the fabled Iris love of funerals and whiskey, according to a lyrics Web site called thebards.net. The song also “supplied the theme for James Joyce’s famous novel of the same name,” the site notes. “Wherever we go, we have that fan bond. They just want to keep seeing us,” Dobbs said. Requests are common at Kindred Spirits shows. One fan brings a whole list of requests in big print and Dobbs will sometimes devote an entire set to those requests. Other fans come prepared to dance. An elderly couple from Dublin recently complimented the band for playing rebel songs that they don’t get to hear all that often. “Wherever we go, we have that fan bond. They just want to keep seeing us,” Dobbs said. That wide mix of age groups and traditions among the fans is important to Dobbs. He enjoys the fact that people who come for the old favorites get a chance to keep up with the new. Giving people more than they expect is also vital. The band performs about 60 songs an evening, broken down into four sets of 15 songs. Kindred Spirit performs at O’Reilly’s again the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. That’s when things get really hectic for the band as it transitions from playing two nights a week to nine appearances in seven days around the region, including venues in Clifton, Woodbridge, Lake Hopatcong and Pompton Lakes. That’s 36 hours of singing but Dobbs isn’t complaining. He’s just happy to be performing in a niche that he loves. For a full list of appearances go to http://www.kspirit.info. Several CDs are available by e-mail request to dean@kspirit.info. The newest, “Live at the Sussex County Fair” is due out in March.

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For a full list of appearances go to www.kspirit.info.
Several CDs are available by e-mail request to dean@kspirit.info.
The newest, “Live at the Sussex County Fair” is due out in March.