Songs of Healing and Stories of Hope set to come to Dundalk's Spirit Store

Songs of Healing and Stories of Hope with Miami Showband legend Stephen Travers and multi instrumentalist Mo O’Connor is set to come to the Spirit Store.

The evening of music, stories and inspiration will take place in the Spirit Store on Sunday, May 17th at 7pm with tickets costing €15.

From an early age, it was obvious that Stephen Travers was a gifted musician and, by the beginning of the 1970s, he was one of the most admired bass guitarists in Ireland.

In 1975, having played with some of the most respected bands in the country, he joined Ireland’s legendary Miami Showband.

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But, just two months later, in the early hours of July 31st, on their way home to Dublin from an engagement in the north of Ireland, three members of the band were murdered by British security forces in collusion with the Loyalist terrorist organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force, and Stephen was shot with an explosive dum-dum bullet and left for dead among the terrible carnage that will live forever in Irish history as The Miami Showband Massacre.

Stephen Travers has lived two lives. His first was as a young bass player, immersed in music, friendship, and the thrill of gigs on the road with The Miami Showband.

But on july 31st 1975, that life shattered at Buskhill, Co Down when a Loyalist gang ambushed the band, murdering three of his friends.

In the quiet aftermath, in a nearby field, Stephen awoke to his second life—as a survivor.

This second life led him down unexpected paths: as an author, composer, producer, and international speaker on peace and reconciliation.

Over decades, he worked to support other survivors, challenge suspected state collusion, and seek justice in a landmark case against the British Ministry of Defence.

Yet, despite these achievements, Stephen found himself drawn back to that field, revisiting the young man he had been moments before the massacre—searching for closure, a reunion with his former self.

Now, fifty years later, he has written The Bass Player, a love letter and eulogy for that first life.

This book is both a deeply personal reckoning and a song for all those silenced by conflict, offering a path toward healing and, finally, peace.

In 2019, Netflix released a major documentary based on his book, The Miami Showband Massacre; A survivor’s search for the truth, as one of eight films in the Netflix ReMastered docuseries.

The other seven films, released at monthly intervals, tell the stories of Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Jam Master Jay, Victor Jara, Sam Cooke, Robert Johnson and Solomon Linda and how their musical careers influenced society.

The series began in October 2018 with Who Shot The Sheriff; an investigation into the attempted assassination of Bob Marley.
Stephen Travers’ story, The Miami Showband Massacre, was released on March 22nd 2019 and immediately began trending all over the world. It was Emmy nominated in 2020.

Songs of Healing and Stories of Hope with Miami Showband legend Stephen Travers and multi instrumentalist Mo O’Connor takes place in the Spirt Store on Sunday, May 17th .

Doors open 7pm and tickets cost €15 plus €1.50 booking fee and are available on www.spirtstore.ie