òran mór

Glowing with the approach of St. Patrick's Day

I always loved that ole bit of poetry that goes “In Spring, a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of St. Patrick’s Day…” or something like that.

Whatever the quote (yes, I know the real one), it is that time of year when we find people really DO want to listen to a variety of Irish songs and tunes…some they know, and some they have yet to discover. Well, we have a bunch of dates coming up that you may want to mark on the calendar…and we hope to see you soon so we can play the stuff you know, and maybe introduce you to a new favorite!

• March 15, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 16, 11:30a-1:30pm @ Brooksby Village Retirement Community, Peabody, MA (as Sligo Road w/ Terry Weir) 
• March 17, 1-4pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 17, 7:30-10:30pm  @ Feile Restaurant, Wells, ME
• March 21, 5:30-8:30pm  @ The Port Tavern, Newburyport, MA (as Sligo Road w/ Terry Weir)
• March 22, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 29, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH

Just a quick note to let y’all know that we’ll be performing with Terry Weir this Sunday (1/24) as Sligo Road at The Port Tavern in Newburyport. We always have a great time, the people are great, and the food and drink are excellent.

However, if you were planning to stop by RiRa’s on Monday night (1/25) to see us, you’ll be out of luck. They’ll be closed for a private function, so we get the night off. We’ll be back the following Monday, of course.

Such is the life of musicians…which reminds me of a joke, which should tide you over until we see you in-person again:

We're not getting in, no how...

A road in Sligo...Terry's family owns the land on the right hand side of the road. Is that authentic Irish or what?

The dust has officially settled regarding McMenemy’s and I’m realizing that, in all the excitement, we only briefly mentioned that we’re going to be back at The Port Tavern with Terry Weir this Sunday (11/8).

We’ll again be performing under the name Sligo Road, but don’t worry…we’ll still have all that tasty òran mór goodness. 

We start at 5:30, so we’d love to see you if can make it!

And if you want to show-up a little early, you can help me cheer for a Pats win over the Miami Dolphins.

<<sigh>>

I was all excited to write a completely positive post today. I was going to start by thanking everyone who came to our show on this past Sunday at The Port Tavern in Newburyport. The support was great and, as a result, it looks like we’ll be part of the regular Sunday rotation there. We’ll be performing again as Sligo Road with our friend Terry Weir on Nov. 8, Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 20.  We’re psyched because the crowds and the staff are great, and they really seem to dig the music we’re doing. Your support helped make it possible…thanks.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately, there’s also some bad news in the world of òran mór.

We just learned that our regular pub, McMenemy’s in Portsmouth, NH, has closed. Kind of out of the blue. Kind of on the one year anniversary of the new ownership. And, considering the place is haunted, it’s kind of spooky that it’s happening two days before Halloween.

We want to thank Bob and Traci Shaake, the owners of McMenemy’s, for being such gracious hosts during the past year. Every Thursday and Saturday, they’d open their doors and give us a table in the corner where we could play music, sing songs, and have a laugh with the customers.

It was nice. I’d have a lovely meal after work (usually the rueben, chicken ceasar, or their amazing meatloaf and mash). Our local friends would stop in and join us. Occassionally, we’d have musicians visiting from Montreal, Tucson, Wexford, or some other far-flung place sit-in because they had heard about our session.

More importantly, we became friends with Bob, Traci, and their amazing staff. It’ll be odd to not see them on a regular basis…I’m hoping they’ve at least bookmarked this site or ‘friended’ us on Facebook so they can stay in touch.

I’m sure we’ll find another home for the session — maybe even a place that can accommodate more than five players. In the meantime we’ve got plenty of gigs lined up, so if you need an òran mór fix, don’t worry.

I just worried about where I’m going to get a good meatloaf dinner…Traci’s kicked butt.

Terry Weir

So a couple of weeks ago, our friend Terry Weir (from Co. Wakefield) asked if Dave and I could would be interested in playing a gig with him in Newburyport at The Port Tavern. It would be a slightly different set-up than usual – normally we play his session at Harringtons or he joins us in Portsmouth — but this collaboration would be more song-focused and a gig instead of a session. We figured it’d be great craic, however, so off we went to Newburyport to play under the name Sligo Road, which is the band name he uses on occasion.

The Port Tavern

As always, it was great fun to play with Terry. His mandolin added a great deal to the songs we do, and we had a blast keeping up with him on his songs. He definitely attacks the songs in a unique way, flavoring the Irish music he loves with hints of bluegrass from his musical past.

If you missed that show, however, and want to see what the collaboration was like, we’ll be doing another Sligo Road gig at The Port Tavern on Sunday, August 30 starting at 5:30 pm. If the weather cooperates, they’ll be throwing the front windows open for a blast of summer fun. Hope to see you there!