From Gregory |
| >Jul 28, 2009 |
| Hallo all! Really truly underway with the summer here...not only have we muggy 88º weather here in NYC, but that crazy summer sked has now kicked in! Just got back from a really brilliant weekend in Berea, in the course of which we got to make a simply marvelous oasis visit to our former bass player, Ed Kollar. He now lives in the Ohio countryside, in a simply lovely house, with acres of land around...a wooden bridge over a little stream, trees, birds, flowers, and a garden lush with veggies and fruit. He’s in the middle of Amish country, and there’s the occasional clip-clop on the road as a horse-and-buggy passes by. Sitting around a table in the sunshine, and eating vast (very vast) portions of venison goulash, washed down with homemade wine, and finishing off with glasses of 100º rakia (Croatian grappa), was simply blissful. And then the fest itself! ...really great crowds, weather that was simply perfect despite the [fill-in-the-blank] weatherman’s predictions, and days that went on all night long, in the Las Vegas-style timeclock. Grand finale of that timeclock was the drive back to NYC right after our final gig...one of our members had to be back early on Monday...so had the less-than-dreamlike experience of checking out, packing up the van, and heading out from fest around 11pm, for a 9-hour drive thru the night, stopping at bloody-awful Arby’s for a most bizarre dinner (in a world of ruthless capitalist competition, why does that place still exist??) and arriving just in time for morning traffic jams at the Lincoln Tunnel. Having very happily and gratefully arrived back in one piece, I felt a sudden conviction that the thing to do was to watch the rising sun from the roof of my building, accompanied by Darren and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, and see how quickly it was possible to come down from the hallucinations induced by the nasty orange bottles of 5-hour energy potions I gulped on the drive back home. (The answer, for those curious, is that 4 immense ice-cold gins will indeed have a decided impact, but one that blends with, rather than overwriting, the hyperactive paranoia that settles in around orange bottle number 4 / driving hour number 7. So you end up amnesiac, drunk, and paranoid all at the same time. And very sweaty. Not really recommended.) And now, of course, we’re ready to do it all again! This weekend is a mommy and daddy of ‘em, the brilliant, beautiful mania of the DUBLIN IRISH FESTIVAL! Details right below. Simply unmissable...DO come by if you’re within 800 miles of the stage! We’ll see you very soon. All the very best, Gregory/Prodigals THE SKED! Jul 31: Dublin Irish Festival Dublin, OH 7pm: Singer-Songwriter Circle at the Celtic Music House Stage...acoustic chatting and playing alongside Niamh Parsons, Derek Warfield and a bunch of others. 9pm: Full band! At the Killians Rock Stage Aug 1: Dublin Irish Festival Dublin, OH 1pm: CD101 Big Room Show...if you would like to come, and are certain you can make it, please email me today, and I’ll see about making a guest list! You’d have to be at the station by 12.30pm 4pm: Acoustic singer-songwriter show at Celtic Music House Stage 10pm: Full band! At the Killians Rock Stage Aug 2: Dublin Irish Festival Dublin, OH 5pm: Full band! At the Killians Rock Stage OFF! Aug 5 thru Aug 14 Aug 15: Charlotte Irish Summer Festival Charlotte NC OFF! Aug 16 thru Aug 27 Aug 28: Buffalo Irish Fest Aug 29: Buffalo Irish Fest Aug 30: Buffalo Irish Fest Sep 4: Paddy Reilly's New York, NY, 212.686.1210 Sep 5: Irish Festival at Blackthorne Inn Upperville VA Sep 6: Irish Festival at Blackthorne Inn Upperville VA Sep 11: Paddy Reilly's New York, NY, 212.686.1210 Sep 12: South Buffalo Irish Feis EARLY SET - 1PM South Buffalo, NY Sep 12: Syracuse Irish Festival Sep 13: Pittsburgh Irish Fest EARLY SET 3pm! Sep 18: Paddy Reilly's New York, NY, 212.686.1210 Sep 19: Irish 2000 Albany NY Sep 25: Paddy Reilly's New York, NY, 212.686.1210 Sep 27: Levitt Shell Memphis TN Oct 2: Paddy Reilly's New York, NY, 212.686.1210 Oct 3: Celtic Rock 09 East Haven CT |