This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #102 (October / November 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription.

It's the end of a cross country trek, and Larry Kirwan of Black 47 is glad to be home.

"It's always a very special feeling to return to New York City," said Kirwan, who has recently returned from a tour opening for Billy Bragg. "I have to say I love the very stones on the street here. It's an ever-changing city. It can be brutal and hard, but all that is tempered with great kindness and humanity. Besides, it's home."

The Irish immigrant landed on the shores of New York in the 70s and has made his home there ever since. After working as a playwright and musician for many years, in 1989, Kirwan formed Black 47 with NYC police officer and uilleann pipe player Chris Byrne, who has since left to focus on his own band, Seanchai. With Kirwan on guitar, Black 47 combines pipes, drums, and a horn section (led by Geoffrey Blythe of Dexy's Midnight Runners). That foundation lets the band build songs with influences not only from Irish culture but also from rock, rap, and reggae. These are the sounds that make up the background of Kirwan's life in New York.

The story of Black 47 spans two EPs, four studio recordings, and a retrospective (10 Bloody Years of Black 47). While the band has remained a New York City favorite since it was founded, it first found radio play with 1993's Fire of Freedom, produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars. Two moderately successful albums, Home of the Brave and Green Suede Shoes (which Kirwan said contains some of his best writing), followed, and the band's most recent studio performances are found on Trouble in the Land. The band has also released two blistering live recordings. Live in New York City, recorded on St. Patrick's Day 1998 at the famous Wetlands, has become a favorite on college radio. Its most recent live disc, On Fire, was recorded in 2001 while the band was working on new songs. At the same time, Kirwan was putting the finishing touches on Kilroy Was Here, his solo project, as well as Liverpool Fantasy, his first novel, which imagines a world in which the Beatles never crossed the Atlantic.

The band has drawn criticism for its outspoken political and social ideals. Irish icons ranging from revolutionaries James Connolly and Michael Collins to hunger striker Bobby Sands appear throughout Black 47's songs. Others, such as "Maria's Wedding" and "Funky Ceili," are fictionalized moments from Kirwan's own life. Kirwan points to the Clash, Otis Redding, and Bruce Springsteen as his own key influences.

Despite some weariness from the road, Kirwan reported that the tour went well. "It was good for the band to play in places where we rarely go," said Kirwan, who expressed his delight in meeting fans across the country. "It's almost like bringing home long-lost members of one's family. There's always such joy in their faces as they watch and listen to us play. It's thrilling and humbling at the same time."

This is an excerpt from an article in Dirty Linen #102 (Oct./Nov. '02). Read the full text in the magazine, available via subscription or on newsstands and in bookstores.