Along with St. Patrick’s Church, the Irish Festival proceeds benefit many local organizations. As always, there will be live local music, food provided by St. Patrick’s Church, vendors and local craftspeople, Irish beverages, kids games, Irish and Highland Dance, and Bagpipers!
The Church Hill Irish Festival
Free Show!!
Venue Info
Name: The Church Hill Irish Festival
Address: Patrick Henry Park Richmond, VA 23223
Phone: 804-356-1093
Website:
www.facebook.com/…
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Eric Anderson
Lead Vocals, Guitar
Eric Anderson is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who grew up in Boca Raton Florida. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and also achieved his Audio Arts Engineering Certificate at Full Sail University for the recording arts in Orlando, Florida. After relocating to Richmond in 2001, Eric worked professionally in Audio Engineering as well as gigging extensively in both the greater Richmond area as well as the greater Mid Atlantic region. Eric brings the passion of being a lifelong Rolling Stones fan to all of his performances.
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John Leslie
Saxophone, Backing Vocals
John Leslie has enjoyed a successful career as a professional saxophonist. Having graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, John went on to perform on scores of arena stages throughout the world. He has made numerous television network appearances, including NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, MTV’s MTV Music Awards, and NBC’s The Show Formerly Known as Martin Short, and has participated in numerous recording sessions. He has worked with the likes of The Monkees, The Righteous Brothers, Eric Carmen, Wilson Phillips, Debbie Gibson, and Merry Clayton (Gimme Shelter), among others, earning multiple gold and platinum records along the way.
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Dave Hess
Drums, Backing Vocals
Dave Hess is a 30-year veteran of the Richmond music scene who is known for his hard-hitting grooves, tight pockets and tasty backing vocals. Dave has played with many bands over the years, including Glue, Fabled Automatic, Workhorse Blue, the Trailer Court Marshals, Rob Williams, The Atkinsons and Paulo Franco and the Freightliners. Dave has long admired Charlie Watts drumming and sound and seeks to recreate his parts with authenticity while still putting his own spin the songs.
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Dean Berry
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Dean began taking guitar lessons at the age of twelve. It didn’t take long to see that this would be his identity for the rest of his life. Almost immediately he began playing in a band, forming a partnership that would last for eight years.
Studying classical guitar at Marshall University was key in giving Dean the discipline to bring his abilities to a professional level. His band The Change was a well-known name that people would anxiously come out to see what songs they were writing next. They were a fierce entity.
Upon moving to Richmond, Dean immediately joined a new band and hit the local scene. He would join many different groups of various styles over the next few years ranging from 80’s metal, to speed metal, to southern rock, to blues and country. Here is a brief list of bands that he has played in: Stretch Tracy, Hot Trigger, Kyle Davis, Undone, Ruby Jones, SNAFU, Sin City Revival, B-Side Electric Blues Band, Dawg Mama, The Fuzz, Honkytonk Heroes, Sportsbar Rockstar, and now he has the privilege of playing in the ultimate line-up of Mother’s Little Helpers, taking Rolling Stones music to the next level.
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Doug Thompson
Bass
Originally from NOVA, Doug started playing bass guitar at 16 in a local band with high school friends. He moved to Richmond to attend art school at VCU and liked it so much he stuck around. He has been playing gigs throughout Central Virginia with variety of bands for over 25 years.
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Larry Nelson
Keyboards
Larry Nelson is the keyboard player for Mother’s Little Helpers. He’s been the keyboardist of the Grass Roots since 1984.
Songs From The Show
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Brown Sugar – The Church Hill Irish Festival 2025
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Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – The Church Hill Irish Festival 2025
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Gimme Shelter – The Church Hill Irish Festival 2025
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Heartbreaker – The Church Hill Irish Festival 2025
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You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Church Hill Irish Festival 2025