Danny's Blog

25 Mar 2008 15:44|
After a hectic Paddy's weekend I had the pleasure of playing with Carel Kraayenhof last Sunday in Den Bosch. A terrific experience and a gig I hope we will be doing again some time soon. It was a new one for me, hardly playing guitar at all and sitting down while singing to a rapt audience. Thankfully we had put a lot of work into it beforehand so it all went swimmingly in the end. Many thanks to Carel, his band and people behind the scenes for a mighty time.

On the John O'Gods front we've got a grand weekend set up in Ireland in June. Gigs in Dublin, Tullamore and Shannonbridge, should be great fun. Check the giglist for details.

The American trip is also confirmed for between May 18th and 28th. I'm really looking forward to that. Colorado is supposed to be really beautiful and we've got some really great gigs lined up

All in all some lovely stuff to look forward to!


29 Jan 2008 22:08|
Fair enough, three months later...but I did promise that. Don't know about this blogging business. I only feel like writing into this Blog when I feel like I've got something to say and if that takes three months then so be it.
Well, feck it, I'm glad to leave 2007 behind me, hasn't been the best year of my life to say the least. But, by God did we finish it on a high note. First Onno and Mariet's wedding on the 28th December, what a might party, and then offf to Ireland to ring in the New Year. It couldn't have ended and started again any better.

I miss home, there's no doubt about that but Ireland has changed so, so much...

And then I went back again two weks later to see my brother Diarmuid eat the stage up in his role as Mack in 'Mack & Mabel' in Tullamore. Great stuff from the brother.

Highlight (already) this year - the gig in Utrecht in Vredenburg on the 16th of January. I was sick with nervousness all day but as soon as we hit the stage everything fell into place. Thank God.
In the audience was one Mr. Carel Kraayenhof, that marvellous box player, who has asked me to join him for a gig in the Koningstheater in Den Bosch on March 23. I'm only delighted to do so! If you want to come along...sorry, sold out.
But there's plenty of other opportunities to catch us, including the forthcoming Irish Pub Festival in Deventer on Feb 1st. Loads and loads of great music all over town.
Finally, for the mo, I'm delighted to be playing in De Waag again on Feb. 24 - Be there early!!!

29 Jan 2008 21:51|
ehm...

21 Nov 2007 19:30|
22nd August, my previous blog entry...time flies when you're having fun...I wish. So I'd been off looking for 'my plug' to get myself recharged again and I'd found it, or so I thought. Apparently I've been using somebody else's 'plug' for the last while because I simply haven't been myself. Decharged everything instead of the other way around. Weird, weird, weird. No need to go into the ins and outs of all that but suffice to say that I found the charger I should have been using and can feel the spark again. That's a real, real good feeling.
To begin with, a marvelous gig in 'tEy in Belsele, Belgium last Sunday with a host of magnificent musicians, all organised by Helen Flaherty for a very good cause. I finally met up again with many people down there who are dear to my heart and at their insistence (helped by my own willingness!) we're going to go and play a lot more in Belgium in the coming year.
And next weekend back to one of our favourite haunts, Theatre De Purmaryn in Purmerend. Come along if you can, we may have a surprise or two in store...

Ok blog you all in 3 months time again...

22 Aug 2007 16:44|
Here's the more I promised

Part 2…

…Things return to normal in the afternoon when we gather up our instruments and head off for our gig in ‘Trio’ on the outskirts of Beijing. Beijing….hang on a minute…

“Kng Wu was the first to declare Beijing the capital city in 1057 BC. Subsequently, the city has gone by the names of Ji, Zhongdu, Dadu, and finally Beijing when the Ming Dynasty Emperor ChengZu chose the name in 1421. Before 1949, Beijing was known as Peking by the Western world. After 1949, the city's name returned to Beijing, as it is known today.”

…Just needed to make sure we are in the right city…

And why is Beijing not Peking anymore?

“The Chinese capital did not change its name but Chinese words became spelled in English differently. In Chinese, the name stayed exactly the same and most Chinese people are not even aware that some Westerners think that there has been a name change.” Go to www.logoi.com/notes/peking-beijing.html if yiz want to know more…

Anyway…

The outskirts…, that means a good taxi-ride of about an hour until we arrive at at the kind of place that one can find in every corner of the world. The good old Irish pub.
What’s the story with us Irish actually? Did somebody come up with a cunning plan many, many years ago to let most of us emigrate from our green isle so that in the late 20th century there could be an explosion of Irish pubs all over the world to rival the hegemony of McDonalds? The Irish pub continues to be set up so quickly and so everywhere that you would think that there’s something sinister going on. Ireland may be only a fledgling nation but between Guinness, The Dubliners and Riverdance we’re having a good stab at making a new entry into the average thesaurus under the word ‘colonialism’.

Beijing’s Irish Pub, Trio, turns out to be a mighty fine place. Loads of shamrocks and leprechauns as you’d expect but for the music tonight they have erected a marquee outside where all and sundry can come and listen to what we have to offer.
Poor Ed is immediately stymied by a Casio keyboard which limits him to playing ‘The Tweetie Song’ all night so away with that and it’s the accordion for the whole show. No harm and no bother. With a mixture of ex-pats and natives jigging it up it’s no problem keeping the place rockin’ til the early hours.





21 Aug 2007 15:23|
more to come...

21 Aug 2007 14:51|
Friday March 16th

Part 1…

Normally I can sleep for Ireland no matter the hour nor the circumstances but the jet-lag is really kicking in now. I awake at 6 in the morning to the horrifying realization that there’s not a hope of me getting back to sleep. Back in our usual time zone it is 11pm and I’d only be getting meself going at that hour. So what to do? I consider my options. A long bath? Not me. A long and lazy breakfast? I’m still full to the gills with Peking Duck. So I choose the inevitable – shopping. I can tell you now for nothing that I hate shopping for ‘things’ and I am not at all prepared for the coming assault on my senses.
Welcome to Silk Street. Shopping hell or shopping heaven depending on your disposition. I’m trying to think of the best way I can describe this place and the best I can come up with is the spaceship that The Borg travel in on Star Trek. For the uninitiated this means a very, very large square block and in Beijing it’s crammed with every sellable item under the sun.
We had a quick run through the place last night by the way but now I’m here on my own and after about five minutes I know I’m in trouble - big, big, trouble. At home I’m pretty useless at shopping because when I see somebody approaching me with that well-meaning ‘Can I help you sir?’ look on their face I inevitably just bolt for the door (consequently somebody else buys all my clothes).
But here in Silk Street the option of running is not available. I am literally Daniel in The Lion’s Den. Once I’ve stepped in the door I’m buggered. Duncan has warned us that shopping here means haggling. Get them down to about 10% of their asking price and you’re doing okay. I’ve entered the building with a steely determination but I’m already at a distinct disadvantage on three points:
1 - I don’t look particularly oriental
2 - I’m really, really tired
3 – I can’t, for the life of me, haggle

Fortunately I do know what I am looking for (computer games and Chinese T-shirts) so I look for some directions. Amid all the “Mister! Mister” and “Special morning price for you sir!” I quickly become so disoriented that I cannot even follow the signs (in English…) telling me where I need to be. This is truly ridiculous now. Like shopping in a maze when all you want to do is get out. I feel like crying and spending all the cash I have on the next thing I see – fake golf clubs, fake Armani suit, fake Sony this, that and the other, an elephant.
By some miracle I stumble upon what I’m looking for and try to compose myself. I immediately start knocking the zeroes off the price tags and try to hand over pitiful amounts of money to the sales-girl. She smiles – just great, not that “Who the fuck do you think you are?” look that you’d expect – and pits her 450 yuan against my 45. I don’t know how but we managed to meet about halfway which leaves me with the feeling that I have struck a bargain (definitely not) and her secure in the knowledge that she’s just made a killing (absolutlely, definitely, no doubt about it).
I make my escape from Silk Street vowing never to return and go looking for somewhere where I can sit down, have a drink and sort my frazzled head out. I’m determined not to not to slide into any café or bar that looks remotely westernized so it’s time to get lost in a few side streets in search of the real thing.
I finally opt for a tiny place (bar? restaurant? café? somebody’s house?) that has three tables and six chairs. Empty, luckily, until I walk in. No sooner have I sat down that the whole ‘family’ converges upon me in profuse welcome and gratitude. After some futile sign-language one of them runs out and comes back with a girl who speaks English, well who understands ‘yes’ and ‘no’ anyway. A menu is laid in front of me (more spinach) and I do a lot of ‘no-ing’ before finally being able to tell them what I want. “Pijo!” I pronounce triumphantly having located the word in my scattered brain – and everybody erupts into uproarious laughter. They start clapping me on the back, messing with my strange red hair, shaking my hand unendlessly while all the time saying to each other (I’m sure) – “Oh would you look at him, the poor feckin’ eejit. 11 o’clock in the morning and he lookin’ for a drink! Oh, would you look at his rusty hair and pale, ould freckly face, haha! The jetlag gets them every time, hoho, haha, heehee!
Never drank a beer so quick in my life.


20 Aug 2007 14:49|
Hello all...especially those wondering just where I've been these last few months. For reasons that are too long and uninteresting I won't go into explaining the details, suffice to say that I kind of plugged myself out for the last while, took a back seat and had a good look around the inside of my head to see what exactly was going on up there.
Anyway, I'm 'on-line' again so to speak and will try not to run away again soon for so long...

Cheers.D

17 May 2007 16:43|
Somehow managed to forget this bit...

To China and back, Day 2


Wednesday March 14th

11am local time and we touch down in Shanghai. Nothing remarkable yet. Airports are just the same all over the world it seems. Great though to finally meet the mighty Duncan Stirling, our man in China. Duncan, John and I have spent the best part of the last 5 months putting this little trip together....more work than any of us had envisaged but Duncan pulled out the stops when needed in Beijing. Fair play.
We're all a bit dazed considering the time difference so it's straight into town to throw our gear in the hotel, no quickpint here just because we're on terra frima again....ah but then via the fastest train in the world! 30 km in 8 mins at 430 kmph. Great stuff.
Mark and Erik are there to meet us all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not. Despite their journey yesterday they still managed to have a few beers in downtown Shanghai last night, end up 'unwittingly' in a knocking-shop and watch two Germans get accosted by twelve ninjas for not paying the 'girls' for talking to them. Oh, and they went to the toilet in McDonalds. Toilets in this part of the world are a different kettle of smelly fish altogether.
Off to 'The Ark', one of Shangahi's premier live music venues for our sound-check. The place is of course very empty at 2 in the afetrnoon but you can't turn around in the room without knocking over a chair or table. The Chinese are not into dancing I can only presume.
Mark and Erik were here last night and saw some local band performing. Great musicians apparently but with all the charisma of a cardboard cut-out of a cardboard cut-out. Having cleared away their twenty Marshall stacks we struggled through a sound-check made none the easier by a dodgy sound systeem, jet-lag and the incongruous sight of people from Bord Bia hanging up shamrocks, leprechauns and other green stuff....in Shanghai...
Somehow we sneak in an hour or two of sleep and go for a quick dinner in the hotel. This is just mighty. 'Spinach' is – celery, french beans, brussel sprouts, anything green you can think of except spinach. Left us worrying about when our 'chicken' would turn out to be yesterday's Lassie or Garfield. Mind you it was bloody delicious.
First Chinese words: Ni Hao (Hello) and Pijo (Beer)...we'll get places with those two...

9.30pm and we take to the stage. The place is full and the only non-Chinese in the place are the two worried looking girls from Bord Bia who are running the gig. After two songs I am fairly sure that our audience have never heard anything like us before. But hell, we go for it and hell, so do they. The evening turns out great despite having to take a break every half an hour to let local celebrity 'Candy', or 'Cindy' as Mark insisted on calling her all night, do a lucky draw. Lucky in this place would be a free drink. European prices when a beer in China normally costs 80 euro cents. 18 euros...euros...here for a bottle of Guinness.
China is running away ahead of itself in economic terms. The result is an ever-widening gap between the extremely rich (25 million millionaires at the last count) and the extremely poor (everybody else give or take a 100 million or so).
Our first gig safely tucked underneath our belts it's away to bed – even hard dogs like us get too much of the road somtimes. Mark makes an attempt to throw an after-party in his room but we all eventually wimp out. Saving ourselves for Beijing it seems.
So I retire to bed still trying to figure out one thing. In a separate dressing room to ours at the gig Mark and I came across some gorgeous Chinese girl dressed in a Budweiser mini-skirt suit, putting on her make-up and generally looking like she was getting ready for some serious stuff on 'our' stage. Mark's attempt to elicit some information – "howya, what,s your story there missus, are you havin the craic or wha"-left us no more enlightened. Maybe we were just some kind of support act after all.

17 May 2007 16:41|
To China and back, Day 3

Thursday March 15th

Breakfast at 9. Spinach. Great stuff. I wouldn’t say no to rice and noodles and ‘spinach’ for breakfast every now and then. By the way, while I’m on culinary matters – don’t drink the coffee, the tea is just great, don’t drink the wine, stick to the beer though Duncan told me that the beer used to have/has (?) a high formaldehyde content. Jesus.
Two great things coming our way today: we’re off to Beijing to be pampered in a 5-star hotel for five days and…we’ve got the day off. I’ve done my fair share of touring and there’s nothing like a day off, especially when you’ve only got one gig behind you.
Having seen more or less nothing of Shanghai the taxi ride to the airport is amazing. This city just goes on forever, they are building skyscrapers here for sport. It’s just immense, huge, sprawling. The tallest building in the world is here. We couldn’t even see the top of it. Need I say more? Oh yeah…there’s a whole neighbourhood of shops selling nothing but spanners and other haberdashery. Handymen come on down.

At Shanghai airport I finally realize why China is a ‘communist’ country with full employment and all that. Everybody has a job, or rather, everybody has a place to be and something to do which makes them look like they have a job. For example, at the gate for our flight from Shanghai to Beijing there were three attendants. One took your boarding pass, one marked the teary0ff bit with his pen and one had some kind of a gadget to count the amount of people getting on the plane. 100 yards further before stepping on to the plane there were two more doing exactly the same again, except for the ‘counting man’ who must have been off getting new batteries for his gadget.
The flight to Shanghai is uneventful apart from the dodgy noodles (Shep again?), lovely stewardesses, the Chinese ‘Hall’s Pictorial weekly’ on the video and the row the two behind me had about whether one may take their shoes off or not in the plane. Personal hygiene in China leaves something to be desired.

We arrive in the great carpark that is Beijing airport and take a fleet of taxis to the hotel through more grey and dusty brown and concrete. They’re revving up for the 2008 Olympics here and are building things at an awesome pace. And not without taste. I’ve seen some half-finished buildings that would put downtown Manhattan in all it’s splendour to shame.
And then we enter a different world, a different China altogether. The China I suspect the powers that be here like to show to the world. We’re staying at The Kerry Centre Hotel, part of the world-famous Shangri-La chain. 5-star with knobs on. If I was amazed in Shanghai by all those flight attendants and their non-jobs then I’m flabbergasted here. There’s a lad to open the door of your taxi, a few more lads to look after your baggage, a lad to open the front door, a lad to open the door that actually gets you into the hotel, a veritable host of well-dressed girls to smile and welcome you…and…before I got to reception I was half-expecting someone to pick me up and carry me to my room, take my shoes off, run me a hot bath, tune my guitar and pop an afterdinner mint in my mouth before I could say ‘Ni hao’.
Now installed in our new home it’s time to check out Beijing. Looking at the map we figure we’re fairly central and should be able to have a good scout around until Duncan informs us that an inch on this city-map is not a 20-minute walk but a 20-minute taxi ride. Unfazed we make our way to Tiananmen Square where I can’t help but feel underwhelmed. It is essentially a big, big carpark with a lot of history. Considering what happened here in 1988 I’m a little disappointed that I can’t conjure up the feeling of being in a famous or historical place and can’t escape the feeling that those dramatic events back then have been neatly swept under the carpet.

Duncan has us lined up for Peking duck in a very fine restaurant and so we dutifully take each other’s photo in front of the Forbidden City and go looking for another fleet of taxis. What unfolds in the next few hours is something akin to culinary heaven. I’ve always been more the kind of lad that likes to feed the ducks, not eat them but Peking duck in Beijing is an absolute must for anybody fortunate enough to travel here.
And it’s not just the duck. We get the whole shooting match (pardon the pun). A personal tour of this very old restaurant by the manager (who knows his history), superbly prepared food, great service, great pijo and to top it all off some Chinese poitin, guaranteed to blow your head off. I know I’m happy when I find myself sitting here smiling to myself because I’m in such good company, in such a good place, enjoying such good food. This is the life.
Our company, by the way, has been greatly enriched by the arrival of three Irish dancers from Dublin, Deirdre, Caroline and Lisa and also the lovely Fiona, resident and teaching the locals here. Nine lads out together for dinner is grand and all but you have to mix up the sexes to complete the picture.
Here’s a little aside for the superstitious among you. In Chinese 13 is a lucky number. Thanks to the mass murder of the Templar Knights on a Friday the 13th in 1307 in France we in the West have lumbered ourselves with all kinds of ghoulish associations with that unfortunate number. Here it’s completely the other way around. In bygone times in China every house had 13 bricks up to the windowsill for example. Just for luck. I’ll say it again – the world is a very big place.


17 May 2007 00:14|
Just a quick aside for the moment. If the current situation in Iraq interests you get your hands on two books and read both of them twice: Journalist Richard Downe's very pesonal story of his experiences there in the early years of the ongoing 'war' - "In Search of Iraq" - and fellow award-winning journalist Thomas E. Ricks' in-depth account of the mess that has been made by the current US administration in dealing with something that was never a problem for them in the first place- "Fiasco" -.
Merely a suggestion....but believe me worth the read.

16 May 2007 22:05|
Hell, why not put the China episodes up on this blog as well. I've had fun writing it....still am...it may take some patience to read through it! New newsletter on the way...anybody mail their radio stations yet??

Here ya go:

To China and back


Monday March 12th

While I was winging my back from my brother’s wedding in Ireland Mark and Erik were settling into their scouting mission of a flight to Shanghai via Beijing to prepare the ground ahead of the rest of us. A good 14 hours it would take them to get there and no doubt they’d be quickly in bed and well rested by the time that the rest of us followed on the next day….

Tuesday March 13th

A comfortable start to our Chinese adventure with a flight at 17:20 and all the time in the world at Schiphol airport. Time enough anyway to find out that we have €300 worth of extra baggage. Quick thinking results in Ed’s accordion becoming his make-up case, my bag of leads something to perplex the x-ray people at security and Siards’s bouzouki a mandolin or some other acceptable form of hand-luggage. With the profits from the tour secured what could we do but have a quick pint and board our jumbo.
Ajumbo/747 is an extraordinary thing. Think about it, it should not be possible to get something as big as that off the ground. This sort of thing still amazes me, great to feel like a kid again.
And we’re off….

The idea of being in China in 10 hours or son is a bit weird. How often one hears how small the world is or has become. I won’t have a bit of it. It’s huge, mind-blowingly so, no smaller now than when St. Brendan went off to discover America. For all our high and mighty ideas about our ‘global village’ and how on top of everything humanity is, it is still too easy to forget how diverse all the places on this planet really are. And 10 1/2 hours ina machine that flies at 550 mph means to me that Shanghai is very, very far away and thus in all probability very, very different.

10 1/2 hours in a machine is also pretty boring


19 Apr 2007 12:02|
I sent out a newsletter yesterday and apparently some people have trouble opening it or it is coming in as Spam. If you are one of those experiencing this problem please mail me to let me know so I can try sort it out. Thanks.
Also the first installment of our China story is up now on www.myspace.com/dannyguinan

18 Apr 2007 22:04|
Oh Lordy...the story I'm writing of our trip to China is to be found on www.myspace.com/thejohnogods....first installment anyway...it's gonna take a while to get it all down

13 Apr 2007 13:23|
Those of tou interested in a nice living room gig in Amsterdam why not come along to the Live in The Living session next Sunday April 15th. Details of location and tickets etc can be found at www.liveintheliving.nl.
And....get your hands on Brownie Guinan's new cd while it's still hot! www.brownieguinan.com for details.

27 Mar 2007 14:36|
Right....what a couple of weeks we've had in all repects. First a bunch of great gigs in Harderwijk (becoming like a hometown at this stage) and De Barg in Boskoop - check it out - and then it was off to Ireland for Diarmuid's wedding. I don't need to tell you how much craic that was. Back home on the Monday night, a few spins of the washing machine and then packed again to go to China the next day. Where do I start with that one? Needless to say it was a terrific experience and the gigs in Shanghai and Beijing were just great. We may be opening up doors for ourselves over there...For the whole story check out www.myspace.com/johnogods, I'll be spilling all the details there shortly.
Despite the jetlag we managed two mighty gigs at the weekend in Mulligans and De Waag - lordy me, that place just gets better and better.

20 Feb 2007 20:09|
What a mighty weekend. We got drafted in to play instead of Mary McPartlan for the last 3 gigs of the Irish Unplugged tour cos Mary was sick...get well soon M....and we had the time of our lives chasing aroud the country with The Fureys & Davey Arthur and Beoga. Mighty musicians and wonderful people one and all. And then to cap it off I was delighted with the performance of Juno and the Paycock in Heemstede on Sunday night. My hat goes off to each and everyone of you JJ Cremers!
Off to catch a breath....

08 Feb 2007 12:37|
Dia dhaoibh, off to Ireland tomorrow for Ciaran's cd launch, promises to be a great night out for all of Offaly. Ciaran is getting great airplay in Ireland so he may just be the new kid on the block over there. Have a look at the site for more info - www.brownieguinan.com.
Gigs are rolling in for the China trip so for those of you with sheckles to spare why not spend Paddy's day in Beijing?!

31 Jan 2007 16:55|
That's 'buy' not 'but'...

31 Jan 2007 16:52|
Important info for youze up north. The gig in Hoogezand's theatre 'tKielzog that was cancelled in January due to inclement weather has been rearranged for March 30th. See yiz all then.
And...the new cd is up on iTunes for those of you who like to but their tracks separately!

18 Jan 2007 16:49|
GIG IN HOOGEZAND TONIGHT IS CANCELLED! Due to the stormy weather conditions it's been decided not to travel up north. A new date will be arranged as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

05 Jan 2007 16:19|
For those of you who spend too much time behind the computer, have already got the new cd and are bored now and again...go to www.cdbaby.com, look up the new cd under Danny Guinan and write a review...every little bit helps! Thanks

05 Jan 2007 12:13|
Just a quick note to say that I won't be playing at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht next week. Sorry!

25 Dec 2006 15:29|
Merry Xmas one and all and looking forward to seeing lots of you in 2007

18 Dec 2006 16:32|
My thanks to everybody who came along to the Patronaat yesterday to launch the new cd. We enjoyed it tremenduously....many thanks too to the Patronaat, great to play in such a fine venue. For the moment the cd can be ordered by mailing me from the website....details of further distribution, iTunes etc will follow soon.

07 Dec 2006 14:00|
Just in case nobody believes me...the cd is in the factory getting pressed as we speak...the cover is being printed in Ireland by the brothers as we speak....
For those of you thinking of coming to the cd launch in the Patronaat I'd advise you to book in advance...it may get quite busy on the 17th! Tickets available at www.patronaat.nl...only 5 euros for God's sake!
PS...watch out for an article in Haarlems Dagbald next week....

07 Nov 2006 14:41|
I'm sitting here with a dose of the flu twiddlling my thumbs so what better time to reacquaint myself with my blog. We've finished the cd....I'm sure there were many of you who thought you'd never get to read that sentence in this blog in 2006. Mastering has yet to be done and the cover designed and printed but work is underway on both of those already. We did a splendid photo-shoot with top photographer Nick van Ormondt last week so we're all going to be looking lovely from now on! The plan is to redesign the website along the lines of the new cd so that there's some kind of line running through everything. Anyway, all will be revealed at the cd launch on Dec 17th in the Patronaat in Haarlem. Do come along!
I'll be putting out a regular mailing too so if anybody would like to receive that please mail me saying so at danny@dannyguinan.com.
I want to take the opportunity here to thank a few people for their work on the cd - namely Barry and Dominic whose patience and talents know no bounds. We are extremely indebted to them both; Ed and Erik for their musical contributions....great stuff!.... And not forgetting Gareth and Sara who endured our noisy presence in their house for far too long!

03 Aug 2006 16:38|
Got back on Monday from a week in Ireland with Siard working on Ciaran's cd. It'll be great when it's done and hopefully he'll be over this way in 2007 to do a few gigs. Our own cd is in the last stages of production so we're looking at a launch and tour in October/November. There'll be a general mail going out to all when the plans are definite.
Things have been very quiet on the gigging front as you may have noticed, there seems to be a lot less work around this summer according to many fellow musicians. No harm, we'll be saddling up again good and proper come the Autumn.
Oh, and a date for your diary: November 12th, singer/songwriter Eugene Brosnan from Cork in De Waag in Haarlem. Check him out at www.eugenebrosnan.com

20 Jun 2006 12:41|
A huge thanks to everybody who came to Mulligans for the charity concert last Thursday. A whopping €1350 was raised which is now on it's way to Rwanda. A great night of music was had and your generosity knew no bounds. Fair play. Keep track of further developments at www.victormonroytrust.com

22 May 2006 15:35|
Here's a bit of news pertaining to something other than our gigs or cd. And a lot more important.
A few of us have got together to organise a benefit gig for orphans in Rwanda. June 15th in Mulligans with Daithi Rua, John O'Dreams, Elastic Band, John O'Gods and ourselves. Please come and support if you can. We've been in contact with Voctor Monroy in Rwanda who has his hands full trying to single-handedly run an orphanage there. He needs help.
I'll try and get a link set up on this site and on www.mulligans.nl so you can find more information.
Hope to see lots of you there.

03 Apr 2006 13:10|
I swear I've been too busy to keep the blog updated! Sure what could I tell you only that we're still at the cd. Got to the mixing stage finally. Now if I can only remember the recipe...

10 Feb 2006 13:40|
The end is nigh...or rather the end is in sight. Dangerous thing to say I know but the new cd is nearly there...
Gig just came in for all of you in the Haarlem area. Sunday Feb. 19th in De Waag at 17:00. Always a treat to play there som come on down for the craic


18 Jan 2006 16:39|
Yiz had to be there to see and hear it. Last Sunday in the Arsenaal theatre in Vlissingen. With the seven of us on stage including Onno who had a gap in his mad tour schedule and our three wonderful 'Dutch Divans' Hanneke, Anneke and Judith. The buzz out of playing with the whole lot of us together was palpable. We'll certainly be doing it again when we can so watch this space.

11 Jan 2006 14:50|
Welcome to 2006. With the cd nearly finished I'm looking forward to a good start. Beginning with Vlissingen on Sunday Jan 15th. Come on down. Gig is at 15:00 and not 20:00 as I had written on the giglist!

23 Dec 2005 14:42|
Happy Xmas one and all....looking forward to 2006 and the arrival of our new cd!

13 Dec 2005 10:37|
Christmas 'round the corner already and still no new cd in the shops for yer stockings. Not to worry, it would only get swamped in all the usual Xmas stuff that comes out anyway. We're ploughing ahead and considerable progress has been made. Early next year....whatever that might mean.
Had the great pleasure of playing in Theater De Steeg in The Hague on Sunday. Wonderful small and intimate venue. Thanks to Frank and all at Acoustic Alley. Also on the bill was Martin Hutchinson and you've got to check him out, great stuff. www.martinhutchinson.com if I'm not mistaken.
Right, I'm off to write a christmas cracker...

14 Nov 2005 10:21|
Ara, don't you just love it when a plan comes together. Despite a bout of flu which had me floored all week we still managed to have one of the gigs of the year in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam last Friday. A fabulous place to play, many thanks to all who turned up, there's nothing like playing to a full house like that. Our three 'Dutch divans' (no - that's not a mis-spelling) Hanneke, Anneke and Judith played a blinder...that's something we'll be repeating no doubt. Tis onwards and upwards.....

08 Nov 2005 15:06|
Only a couple of days to get your tickets for The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. After two really enjoyable gigs in Vredenburg and Brasschaat we're ready for one of Holland's finest stages. Surprise guests lined up for yiz as well so get on down to www.concertgebouw.nl. See y'all Friday....

07 Oct 2005 10:46|
For those of you with an interest in folk music in Holland and further afield: I've just read that the only folk magazine in The Netherlands, New Folk Sounds, is going through difficult times. The 'lifeboats' are being readied according to an article in the Volkskrant. So, those of you who'd like to see this magazine carry on it's great work, log onto their site www.newfolksounds.nl and subscribe, it's only €21.75 a year for six great and informative reads. It will be money well spent.

30 Sep 2005 15:32|
Last wednesday was kinda a big day for us as we got to introduce a new musicianer to the fold. The mightily talented Janos Koolen on guitar and mandolin has joined the set-up so good times are in store for us ahead I hope. We will be without the services of Onno for a while as he's got a hectic tour with The Berinis. Good luck to him, we'll have him back on-side asap. The wednesday gig was in CC De Maalbeek in Brussels and a fine night it was. Thanks to all their for their support and enthusiasm.
Two very special gigs (for us anyway!) coming up soon - Vredenburg in Utrecht and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Hopefully we'll see a good scattering of you at one or the other of these terrific venues.

01 Sep 2005 15:12|
Blogspace hasn't been receiving much attention lately as personal matters have taken precedence over musical ones. After a terrific tour in Ireland I came back to hear that my father-in-law was seriously ill. The time since then and now was taken up with dealing with the inevitability that we would have to say a last goodbye to him. A warm, humorous and unselfish man he fought to the end to stay with his loved ones. May he find the peace he so deserves now. I'll be dedicating the gig in De Waag in Haarlem on Sunday 4th September to him. Come along and raise a glass in his name.

29 Jun 2005 19:41|
Whaaaaaaa! Crazy stuff the last 10 ten days or so. Last Sunday a great performance by Leoni Jansen in De Waag. Da girl can sing. Siard and I joined her for the last two songs and the house came down. All preceded by the legendary Mark Gilligan's birthday party in Mulligans, a blisteringly hot gig at the festival in Hoorn (thanks Ron), a solo performance at an exclusive whiskey-tasting party in Zeist (36 bottles of Scotch whiskey put away neatly by 30 lads and lassies!), a sauna-like gig in Ede and a mighty four and a half hour marathon in Oosterleek.
And oh yeah...got some recording done on the new album.
Where does the time go?

09 Jun 2005 16:29|
Beck is back with a vengeance. Gig of the year so far in the Heineken Music Hall last night. Not even sold out. Unbelieveable. Don't miss out on his new cd 'Guero'. Ther's no end to his inventiveness.

07 Jun 2005 12:22|
So...have yiz booked yer holidays in Ireland yet? We're staying on for a week after the festival in Kinnity so we can tip around the country for a few gigs. It's been four years (!) since we played the old sod and I can't wait to get back. Darren Byrne has kindly invited us to do The Wexford Song Club which by all accounts is a mighty session every Tuesday in the South-East. A gig in my old local, Hineys, is of course a must. More gigs will be added to the tour in the coming days.

18 Apr 2005 12:17|
Important date for your holidays! Make your way to lovely Co. Offaly for the festival at Kinnity Castle with a great line-up including The Chieftains, Mundy, Sharon Shannon, The Sawdoctors, John Martyn and....Ourselves! We may even tag on a few extra gigs in Ireland so keep an eye on Da Gig List.

01 Apr 2005 14:21|
Happy St. Patricks Day! Yeah, I know, late as usual but the thing went on for so long it feels like it only finished yesterday. Someone in officialdom has sneakily changed it to St. Patrick's week now which means that everybody into the green will be taking the whole month of March off next year. Where will it all end? It got so out of hand this year that the gig I had on Paddy's day itself I completely forgot to put on the site. Twas in a new Irish Pub in Ede, Flannagans, and a mighty spot it is too.
The real work on the cd has started but I'm setting no deadlines. It will be ready when it's ready - the only way to approach such things.
A word for our Belgian friends: we haven't been down your way much recently, sorry, but if you've the time come along to the Celtic Colours Festival in Leopoldsburg which we are playing on April 23rd. Comas are also on the line-up so it should be a great night.

Slan go foil (sorry, no fadas on my computer...could somebody send me one?)

09 Mar 2005 12:02|
A big thank you to three great audiences recently in Harderwijk, Oosterleek and Beverwijk and of course the venue's respective owners and staff. Gigs like these keep the life-blood running, that's for sure.
I recently saw that Freddie White is coming to Holland for a tour in May. A legend in my book and definitely worth checking out. Check the dates at www.freddiewhite.com.
Paddy's Day is looming and it will as usual turn into a couple of days of revelry. Enjoy the wearing o' the green wherever you end up!

09 Feb 2005 13:26|
At long last, a new entry. Where does the time go? Well, this is supposed to be a 'quiet time of the year' but things haven't been panning out that way. Wonderful gigs in the Bellevue Theatre, Lucaskerk in Winkel, De Lantaern in Zevenaar and The Dubliner in Antwerp among others have recharged the batteries fully and given us a great appetite for the rest of the year. Not being too busy on the gig front has given me time to keep writing and try and get everything ready for the new cd. When it's all ready to go Siard and I will be fiddling with buttons for a couple of weeks. I'm still planning on having it ready in May but I'm not releasing anything until it's really right.
Highlight maybe of the year for me personally so far were the gigs with Ciaran in Mulligans and De Waag. We spent a couple of days together getting the songs in order and it all turned out great. The presence of the rest of the family, all over from Ireland for the occasion, just made it all the better. Ciaran is planning to record all the stuff himself pretty soon so Siard and I will have plenty on our hands in the coming months. All going well it should prove a great cd. I'll keep yiz all posted.

Oh and...happy new year!!!


24 Jan 2005 15:29|
Had a little problem with the blog but it's sorted out now...more news later

18 Dec 2004 17:02|
On Thursday evening last Siard experienced the nightmare of having his fiddle stolen from under his nose in Amsterdam Central station. In the case along with the fiddle were bows and whistles and, whatever about the monetary value, their loss is an emotional amputation of the worst kind as any musician would understand. Those of you who read this and have regular contact with the music world please keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for any information that may lead to their retrieval. Thanks.

13 Dec 2004 11:51|
What an amalgamation of forces yesterday in Cafe Luxembourg in Harderwijk. John O' Gods meets John O' Dreams...becomes a mad hybrid called John dreams of Dog or something or other. Truly tremenduous couple of hours of music...and we were booked to go back to do it all again in February. Don't miss it next time round!

01 Dec 2004 12:45|

The new Mulligans cd is out. Great stuff, available at Mulligans itself on the Amstel in Amsterdam. A must for any Mulligans regular in particular or avid fan of Irish music in general!


29 Nov 2004 14:46|
Been moping around the house for two days with a nasty cold, the kind that neither lets you feel like doing anything nor rest. I feel like a heron on the griddle...what to do, what to do. Well the blog needs some attention so here's a bit of news for the outside world.
There are some real nice plans coming together for 2005 but I don't want to let the cat of the bag just yet, suffice to say it should be a great year for us what with the new cd coming up and all. One thing I'm proud to be able to leak now is that we've been chosen by the Bellevue Theatre in Amsterdam to play there on Jan. 10 as one of six bands ajudged to have been the best acts to play there in the last four years. Now if that's not a feather in our cap then I don't know what is. It's a terrific venue, stick it in your diary...

04 Nov 2004 12:56|

Dark side of the moon: What a bleak start to November. Theo Van Gogh brutally murdered in braod daylight in Amsterdam and George Bush re-elected in the US of A. My faith in a large portion of humanity has withered somewhat.

Bright side of the road: I'm rediscovering the intoxication of playing solo these days. Just had two great gigs in Berchem and Geleen. It was a great pleasure to be able to take on the crowd on my own and win...well at least not savagely beaten! I won't be doing it week in, week out however, it's just too good and too much fun playing with Siard and Onno. I also had the pleasure of meeting and sharing a few tunes with Fling. Mighty band, mighty people.

15 Oct 2004 09:31|
We won't for get October 2nd for a long time...while 300,000 good souls poured into Amsterdam to demonstrate against the government's current policies Siard and I attempted to get to Groningen for a gig in O'Ceallaighs. To cut a long story short I left the house at 15:30 and we stumbled into O'Ceallaighs 8 hours later. We just had to laugh. Twas worth the trip and not a bit of bad humour was encountered along the way. Two great gigs since in the Groene Engel in Oss and De (wonderful) Waag in Haarlem, always a special one. The new songs are coming on nicely and going down well which is always a....well...relief!!

24 Sep 2004 14:47|
Nipped over to Ireland last weekend for Ciaran's 40th birthday party, he of 'Never to Part' fame. He knew nothing about it and was for the first time in his life utterly speechless when the lights went on and 200 friends and family members sang 'Happy Birthday' for him. Twas a night to remember with music to beat any band and an 8:30 am curfew. Youze can all savour a bit of the same craic when Ciaran comes to Holland in January 2005 for two exclusive gigs. Details on the giglist. Stick them in your agenda now!

13 Sep 2004 19:57|
Last Saturday, 11/09, we set off for good old Belgium again this time for the Scots weekend festival in Bilzen. Now these guys know how to organise a party. It was one of those nights when everything went according to plan. No trouble with sound and stuff, a line-up of bands that kept the place hopping all night and a gig from ourselves which went down a storm. Thanks to Rik and co. for everything. One bizzare bit...being woken at 8:00 the next morning by the first contestants in the bagpipe competition outside the hotel window. Hardy men those lads in kilts.


31 Aug 2004 20:58|
So where's lazy old Blog been for the last month? On holidays recharging the batteries though there was enough gigging going on as well in the meantime. Spent the best part of August in a caravan as far from the computer as possible. However a lot of stuff had been booked way in advance so I was running back and forth a lot of the time as well. And it was worth it. Festivals in Velp, Dendermonde, Lottum, Zwolle, Solingen and Callantsoog all went swimmingly well. Possibly the highlight of the last few weeks was the gig in the open-air theatre in Deurne in Belgium. Despite the inclement weather it was a magical evening.
Now it's time to get back to the normal run of things which will include work on the new cd. When that might see the light of day I daren't say just yet. Watch this space...



24 Jul 2004 12:29|
Exit radio is to be found on the cable in Haarlem on 91.9 FM...by the way.

21 Jul 2004 14:41|
Meant to add something to the blog a week ago but the computer's been acting funny recently. Back in action now thanks to Webmaster supreme Kees. Thanks man. And thanks to the people of Brosella, Brussels, Belgium. Twas a great festival (more mud!) and a terrific gig. We made a live recording there too...for the archives.
Haarlemers get a chance to hear me mouthing off about this, that and everything next week on Exit Radio. Y'all tune in now.
Currently enjoying the lovely 'Irish' summer in Holland. Makes me feel right at home.

07 Jul 2004 09:48|
Been back in the studio with Siard putting down some new stuff. At this rate we might even get an album out before the end of the year!! We'll see. The songs are still coming anyway which I'll take as a good sign. Now that the footie is all over it's back to business as usual on the gig front. Looking forward to going down to Brussels on Saturday to play at the Brosella festival.
As an aside I'd like to take my hat off to the RTE Washington correspondent Carole Coleman who has been widely praised for her recent vigorous interviewing of George W. Bush. Fair play to you Carole, what a shame so many of your colleagues are unwilling to do likewise.

04 Jun 2004 11:08|
Hungary for your holidays! Believe me you could end up in worse places. Apart from the great gigs and terrific audiences it was a real breath of fresh air to come across such wonderful hospitality and kindness as we did on our wee tour in the south of Hungary. Thanks to Henk and all the gang down there that made it such a memorable trip. For a people who have so little materially it is truly overwhelming to find such big hearts. A lesson to us all. Gonna be quiet enough in June, football will be taking over as the main event for the next couple of weeks. Plenty of time to keep writing which is never any harm. Egishegidra...(slainte).

10 May 2004 12:06|
There's another mad few weeks out of the way. Had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Hank Wiedel, a terrific songwriter from Cork at a festival in Deventer. We played a song together at the end of the show and then legged it off to Amsterdam to do it all again. Mad day. Managed to fit in a few days in a tent before heading for the Labadoux Folk Festival in Inglemunster, Belgium. Our first time to play there and I hope not our last. Great people, great gig, great hospitality and finally some real festival weather. Buckets of rain and plenty of ould mud. Reminds me of home...

10 May 2004 12:04|
Dooh!

19 Apr 2004 17:32|
The new song, 'When we were young', is finally finished. Amazing how much more time these things take up than you would expect. We're really happy with it and hope to have it available as a single fairly soon. Those of you who come to the gigs regularly will probably get the first sniff of it. Spent the weekend playing with Siard and Mark, great craic as usual. By the way, I'm trying to get a session started up in O'Briens in Haarlem every first Sunday of the month in the afternoon. If there's any of you out there possessing anything that resmbles an instrument or a voice-box you're more than welcome to come along.

31 Mar 2004 12:57|
Two weeks gone by since Paddy's day and I haven't told you what went down, silly me. Well Onno and myself had a great night up in The Irish Cottage in Oude Niedorp, all sorts of North Holland fans came out of the woodwork. There wasn't an Irish musician worth his salt who wasn't playing that day and probably quite a few the next day who couldn't really do anything. You know how it goes. Since then I had a mad trip down to the middle of nowhere in Belgium for an 'Irish Night' where all the balloons were green, white and red so we sang 'O sole mio' few times; playing for Miriam's borthday in Mulligans; the pleasure of meeting and playing with Flook in Tilburg and getting around to recording a new song. Have to go and finish that tonight, more news of that anon. Keep yiz posted.

09 Mar 2004 23:58|
Oh, that's been a nice couple of weeks. A lovely interview/live performance on Omroep Friesland and a great gig in Drachten in a tiny wee pub, Cafe Marktzicht, that would put many of it's bigger competitors to shame. Thanks Gurbe, Marc, Christine, Meno and Ronald. We got our first chance to air a new number and it went down superbly. Thanks for coming up with the title by the way Lotte! I think I might start a competition for people who want to try and name the new songs. I don't know why but when I've finished the hard bit, ie. writing the song, I'm frequently puzzled by the idea of having to give it a name. Bit like kids really. Anyway if I get stuck again I'll know where to turn. Spent a couple of days up in Terschelling and dropped in to the Oerol office to see if I could get a gig like last year at the festival. Well, they're not booking anything until April so I'll have to be a little bit patient. Other great festival and theatre gigs coming in at the moment so keep an eye on the giglist.

19 Feb 2004 21:39|
Hello, and welcome to Blogspace, a new addition to the website.This is where I get to go blah-de-blah-de-blah for as long as I like whenever I like. Instead of trying to change the front page every five minutes I'm going to use this space on a regular basis to let those of you interested know about what's going on with the band and stuff. I'll try and keep it short and interesting though knowing how much I tend to talk between songs at gigs I might be promising a little too much. You can always let me know yourself what you think of it all.
The shy and quiet months of January and February are upon us which means not too much gigging and lots of time for spring-cleaning and song-writing. We had two wonderful gigs at the end of January in Hoogezand and Weesp, thanks to everybody involved and to everybody who showed up! Funny, Hoogezand is not a place we frequent that often (once before to be precise) and yet we had a full theatre on the night. Word must be spreading one way or the other.
Another recent highlight was the gig in De Waag in Haarlem. What a place to play and what a wonderful audience. Purely acoustic gig and you could have heard a pin drop from start to finish. There was also the bonus of Mark Gilligan turning up for the last set. Great day, after a great night before tearing the house down in Maguires in Alkmaar...
Friesland fans listen up: Friday March 5th live on Omroep Friesland, myself and Siard on Marc Stallinga's programme 14.00 - 17.00 and that evening a gig in Drachten. Tune in and come on down.
Nice to be able to report that the new songs are coming on great, about time I got around to that. Hope to unveil lots of new material shortly. Keep an eye on the website by the way, lots of new stuff coming up on that also in the near future. Ach, promises, promises. 'Til we meet again...