LOCAL GLASS BOTTLE TAPPER TO FEATURE ON NEW FLEADH TELEVISION SERIES

A local man who is infamous for tapping a glass bottle along to Irish music sessions is to feature on the new Fleadh television series.

The new series, which starts tonight, will follow the same format as previous Fleadh TV shows of giving people a view of Irish music as a melting pot of crusty buskers, precocious kids playing bad music and bewildered tourists, with the glass bottle player at the forefront.

The man says he has been tapping bottle for years now and has featured and every Fleadh series for the last 10 years however he firmly believes that 2015 will be his big break.

"Ah yeah this is really it for me now. The years I don't think people were quite ready for it, they found it a bit to avant garde. But I think they've warmed to the idea. People used to shout at me 'Shut the hell up ye big tappin' bastard ye', but now they only shout 'Shut the hell up', which is a bit more endearing."

"I've perfected my technique now too! I use a proper bodhran tipper, the Tipper-Tron 3000. I used to use only beer bottles too but now I've moved onto wine. They're much bigger and have a much wider range."

The man says he has no background in the music and says he was drunk in a pub one night and heard some music and suddenly felt the urge to pick something up and tap it. The nearest thing was his trusty beer bottle.

"Ah yeah I've tapped with all the greats. I think they really appreciated what I brought to the music. I give it real texture ye know. They must have liked it they kept starin' at me, probably trying to figure out how I get such a good sound out of it."

Cult-Ass has praised the show for keeping people in line with their view of Irish music as a 'bit of a free for all' and for promoting hidden talents such as the bottle tapper. A spokesperson went on to say that bottle tapping is the future of Irish music and plan to introduce it as a category in the competitions from next year.

Actual musicians are apparantly disturbed by the news and have likened the new trend to the infestation of spoons players in the mid 1980s:

"It's happening all over again. At least with the bottles you can smash them over the head. The spoons do nothin'!"