òran mór

You’ve probably noticed that we haven’t be typing too much this summer…and we apologize to those loyal readers of our humble blog…but it’s been a busy summer with both music and non-music commitments alike:

• I bought a house that needed some work,
• Dave’s been taking a guitar building course (where he’s building a bouzouki — clearly off the curriculum),
• we both are maintaining excellence in our respective day jobs (hi boss),
• and we’ve had a few gigs that we’ve tried to keep you informed about, (and where we’ve been happy to see many of you.)

Great session at Rory O'Connor's, with the Coyne Bros and Tony Giblin, proprietor.

The summer music definitely has been fun. I’ve been enjoying the Sunday session’s at Rory O’Connors, the new pub in Georgetown, MA that’s owned by our friend and fellow troubador Tony Giblin. He and Eamon Coyne host a nice session there on Sunday’s from 6-9 p.m., which was just featured in the local paper. Good food, a nice pint, and music with friends…is there any better way to get mentally prepared for the torture of the week ahead? (hi boss.)

Other highlights from the summer included:

• playing some tunes with Terry Coyne (Eamon’s brother) who was visiting from Liverpool…a fantastic flute and whistle player who has a fair number of songs up his sleeve,
• my getting a chance to meet and sing with THE Johnny McEvoy (I’ll write more on that later),
• Dave headed out to see on the Lannon Irish Music Cruise around Gloucester,
• making some serious headway on our first CD, as well as a CD for Mudhook (the maritime group we’re part of),
• and gearing up with some new songs for the 11th Annual Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival (more on that to come as well).

Dave at the mike, laying down tracks

All in all, it’s been a great summer. We’re wrapping up the summer with a gig up in Wells, ME this Wednesday, Sept. 1…the last show before Labor Day!

Mike Jeanneau -- our Mudhook cohort -- and Jim Prendergast, friend and sound engineer extraordinaire

July has come and gone, and summer is flying by…but we’re looking forward to the Monday’s in August.

The Mad Fisherman's gonna be a daddy!

We were fortunate to kick off this month on Monday with our friend Mike Jeanneau joining us. His wife is expecting their first child (come on, Jacque!), so Mikey figured he’d better sit in while he had the time…’cuz lord knows he ain’t gonna have time soon. It was a great night and we were able to play a few of the maritime songs we’ll be performing together (as Mudhook) at the 11th Annual Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, on September 25 & 26. More on that to come.

Of course, we’ll have other guests dropping by during the month. Personally, I won’t be able to make the 16th, since I have a conflict with the day job…so Dave will likely be joined by our friend Terry Weir.

Regardless, we’re at RiRa every Monday, so feel free to stop in for a half-priced burger, great brews and a song or two.

The pub we love so well

Normally, I like to warm-up the reader with a joke or a tale, but today I’m getting right to the point…NO TIME TO WASTE! Dave and I are going to be blessed with two guests tonight (6/28) when we play RiRa’s in Portsmouth.

The Lovely and Talented...

First up, our long-time friend and talented musical companion Sue Young will be joining us at the table tonight. She’s one of our favorite bodhran players to play with, and she’s got a lovely selection of songs with the voice to match! Tonight, it’s not òran mór…it’s su and mor!

Also, there’s a lad from Clare named Mark who is working this summer at RiRa, and by all accounts he’s quite the fiddle player (apparently he tore up the Sunday session a couple of weeks ago). He promised to bring his fiddle tonight to sit in for a bit…and we can’t wait for some savage tunes!

So come on by, get out of the humidity and have a jar…should be a rare auld night.

So you’ve heard us mention our friend Terry Weir several times…both for his session at Harringtons in Wakefield MA and because the three of us used to play regularly in Newburyport as the trio ‘Sligo Road’ …

And we’ve mentioned the session at The Press Room in Portsmouth NH…the session that’s a 25 year institution, and where Dave and I first met.

Well, tonight (5/14/2010), the two will get together for the first time. Terry is coming north from County Wakefield and is headed to The Press Room session to join in the craic…and then he’s is going to join us for the gig we have at Kate O’Shea’s in Seabrook. (We go on at 7:30 pm.)

I’m really looking forward to seeing his reaction to The Press Room. It can be wild and wooly sometimes, but the singing is always great and everyone there is like family. It will kind of be like introducing a long-lost cousin to the clan.

And, of course, Dave and I are really excited that Terry will be playing with us at Kates…he’s a terrific mandolin player and he’s got some great songs as well.

Hope you can join us for this special treat!

Reagh Greenleaf, of Wandering Tree Arts,  organized the music for this year’s Earth Day celebration at the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorn Point State Park in Rye, NH.  He invited a few of us local folk to join him under the tent and we had a great time  It was a beautiful Saturday morning.  After a race that ended on the point we — that would be Reagh, Bill Perry, Rocky Rockwood and I – started in on some tunes and songs.   Families and many energetic kids were about – so we had instant dancers.   I had a chance during the break to check out the latest exhibits at the Science Center.  That’s grown to quite a place, and a visit that I’d recommend when you are in the area.

Thanks again to Reagh for setting things up, and to Eva Powers for snapping these shots!