Ferndale

Local musicians, families get ready to sing 'Danny Boy'

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

FERNDALE — For the Donnellon family, St. Patrick’s Day is more than just a day to relax and fill up on green beer: It’s an annual celebration of their Irish heritage.

Every year, they attend the holiday parade in their hometown of Port Huron, but this year they decided to try something different. Instead of celebrating on the streets of Port Huron, they’ll ring in March 17 at A.J.’s Café in Ferndale by joining in the world-record attempt at a 50-hour marathon of the classic Irish song “Danny Boy.”

“We’re very proud to be Irish,” said Ginny Donnellon, 73, who will be bringing along more than 20 additional relatives and friends to the event. “It’s a long way to come to sing ‘Danny Boy,’ but it’s a great thing to do in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day.”

Not only does Donnellon have an especially large Irish family, but quite a few of her family members — six, to be exact — share variations of the name Daniel. That includes her husband Daniel Thomas; her sons Patrick Daniel and Daniel Harold; and her grandchildren Danielle Marie, Griffin Daniel and Daniel James.

“We just love the name Danny,” she said.

When Donnellon found about the “Danny Boy” marathon, she was immediately excited to get involved. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to do this. It’s just electrifying what (A.J.’s Café owner A.J. O’Neill) is doing.”

For the marathon, Donnellon and her family plans to have three separate performances of the song. First, Donnellon’s son Daniel Harold will sing “Danny Boy” while accompanying himself on guitar; then, the whole family will play the song on kazoos they ordered especially for the event; and finally they will all join together to sing it one final time.

“We were meant to be there,” Donnellon said. “The name has gone through our whole family.”

Also participating in the marathon will be 31-year-old Marcus LaPratt of Dearborn, who just so happens to be the world record holder for the longest singing marathon by an individual. On Aug. 31, 2007, LaPratt broke the old record of 72 hours by singing for 75 consecutive hours at the Heartland Health Care Center in Allen Park.

Though LaPratt modestly assesses his record-setting feat by saying it was “just something fun to do” to raise awareness for his international singing group, Singers of United Lands, he admitted that the process left him feeling thoroughly exhausted — to a point.

“After I finished singing, I went to sleep for 20 hours straight,” he said. “But then the next day, I got up, went to church and sang in the choir again.”

LaPratt said that although his singing voice held up strongly throughout the endeavor, his speaking voice was completely shot. Still, by far the hardest part was staying focused while depriving his body of sleep for more than three days.

“I was most concerned about staying awake that long,” he said. But in the end, he joked, “I did pretty well — I only hallucinated two times. And I had witnesses there to keep me from going insane.”

When he found out about the “Danny Boy” marathon at A.J.’s Café, he didn’t hesitate to jump on board.

“I think it’s a great thing,” he said. “I wanted to support another world-record attempt. I know how much preparation it takes to do something like this, so I wanted to be a part of it.”

And he offered a few words of advice to O’Neill, who is trying for a similar goal by keeping his eyelids pried open for the entire 50 grueling hours of the marathon: “Drink lots of Mountain Dew.”

Another eager participant in the event is 33-year-old Christina Morgan of Oak Park, whose band, Bricktown Station, was the winner of the 2007 “Ferndale Idol” contest.

Morgan believes her group’s unique blend of all-original rock, funk and soul tunes was the key to their victory, as it helped to separate them from the pack.

“We just figured it was another gig,” she said. “We signed up just to see what would happen — and we ended up winning.”

Morgan is a frequent customer of A.J.’s Café, and she stumbled across the “Danny Boy” sign-up sheet when she stopped in one day to buy some coffee. “I’m part Irish and I love to sing any chance I get, so I could not refuse,” she said.

For her performance, Morgan is planning an appropriately rockin’ version of the song featuring loud electric guitar accompaniment. “I don’t want to do it like everyone else,” she said. “I want to wake people up.”

She’s also happy to participate in an event that she feels will garner positive exposure for the city of Ferndale and shine a spotlight on some of the area’s most talented musicians.

“It’s so cool to be a part of this,” she said. “These are the little things that make history.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.