May 9, 2012 - So Maire and Darryl asked me to come down and sit in on a few sets with Sin E Ri Ra at the Nine Fine Irishmen pub at the New York, New York. Wow, it was fun playing trad tunes with a rock band! Supported by thumping drum kit and booming bass, it was hard to play because I couldn't stop smiling! You guys are amazing, brilliant, and lovely people.
May 1, 2012 - This week, legendary Fermanagh flute player Laurence Nugent came to Las Vegas with the band Cul an Ti. We all hit it off and they invited myself and Maire Egan to get up and play a few sets with them at the gig, and we had a RIPPING good time! We sat in with the band 3 nights out of the 7 they were booked and just had an amazing time. Thanks, you guys. Can't wait to have you back!
April, 2012 - Maire and I have been playing together a lot lately! Anyone who passes through Las Vegas, NV who likes Irish music would be well advised to come listen to her play with her band, Sin E Ri Ra, at the Nine Fine Irishmen Irish pub in the New York, New York casino. They definitely do not disappoint!
April 18, 2012 - So here I am with my new best friend in all of Las Vegas, fiddle player Maire Egan. Really, Maire is one of the absolute best musicians I've ever met in my life. She played in all the different Flatley shows for 10 or 12 years, and she's absolutely unstoppable. I am so lucky to know her!
January 19, 2011 - Absolutely heartbroken. Lost my dear friend Linus on Tuesday. Buddy, I will never forget you. Thanks for being there for me all these years. Dad is gonna miss you, pal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLp-NUo_Ces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLp-NUo_Ces
December 18, 2011 - So I'm back at my favorite Irish session in the entire state of Arizona! Love playing at Rosie McCaffrey's Irish pub with my buddies, who really are elite players and lovely folks. Here's a shot of two of my favorite musicians in the whole word. Sheila and Sven, who's having a go on my boxwood Olwell and doing a fine job of making it holler.
October 13, 2011 - Lucky me!
October 13, 2011 - Pure class
October 13, 2011 - Got to go to a house concert tonight with Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely. Totally pure drop stuff. These lads have the nyaahh! Nice of them to stick around and have a few tunes afterwards too.
September, 2011 - So, I'm hearing some really nice things about the instruments made by Francois Baubet, who relocated from France to Co. Clare and is apparently making some *really* nice flutes. My oul' Gramps has this one and says it's remarkable. I would love to try one... Loves me those wide bands too.
August, 2011 - These 8 keyed Olwell flutes have been in R&D for a long time. I am officially on the list for an 8 keyer! Never owned one before and never actually had much luck operating the low C# and C keys on the ones I've tried. Well, I'm on the list now, at any rate, and have high hopes that I'll eventually get the hang of it when it gets here.
July, 2011 - This was one for the history books. Red letter day all around. Cheers Matt, and thanks for the tunes and the pints!
July, 2011 - Good times in Westport! Brutal players, lovely souls.
July, 2011 - I was not disappointed!
July, 2011 - Oh, man. This was a fun day. Up in Westport, Co. Mayo. I didn't know if the big man himself was going to be there but I had high hopes!
July, 2011 - Playing with the locals in Ennistymon, Co. Clare. Marrinan's pub
July 12, 2011 - One of my favorite people in all of Ireland! Roz McLean.
July, 2011 - The Wilkes hype is very well deserved!
July 11, 2011 - Playing a session in Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare.
July 10, 2011 - Back in da' Wesshht.
July, 2011 - At the Guinness storehouse in Dublin. Now I get it!
July, 2011 - The real story of the Norman Conquest? Find out more at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin IE
July 8, 2011 - So now I'm back in Ireland. I'm at Trinity College in Dublin and I had to go see the Book of Kells exhibit. And they tell you not to take any photos, but I think they were just kidding. So I guess I will anyway.
June 6, 2011 - Oh yeah, we're cool. We play Irish music in parking garages in LA. The coolness is overpowering!
June 6, 2011 - Deadly piping from Z-Daddy.
June 6, 2011 - Here I am in the studio with about 65% of my buddy, Zac Leger. Long, long days. Oooh. Long hours in this studio. I am ready to go HOME.
June 5, 2011 - So here I am, getting ready to play something. Oh, another thing I learned: a boxwood instrument may not the wisest choice if you're going to record a flute album in humid LA. Very swelly stuff. Lesson learned.
June, 2011 - Well, my friends have been bugging me forever to record an album. So, I guess I will. We're in LA, at Mt. St. Mary's College with Blake Pullen and engineer extraordinaire, Professor Kelby Thwaits. Professor? Wow. Seems like yesterday we were all undergrads, and now Kelby's a college professor. Tempus fugit!
May 22, 2011: Armed to the teeth! Boxwood Olwell Nicholson and fully keyed Olwell Pratten, plus a rake of whistles. A man'd be a fool not to take every tool in the shed to Rosie McCaffrey's Irish pub in Phoenix, AZ. Sheila, Sven, Iain, Me, D-Mo, Machine Gun Willy, and all the hard rockers in Phoenix! Good times!
May, 2011 - Learning from the very best. Distanced learning via Skype with the mighty Eamonn de Barra.
April 19, 2011: Gig with Arizona-based Irish group Aris (pronounced "Ah-rish" - Gaelic word meaning "again" or "encore"). Good times, lovely people. Myself on flute, Eric Wilson on uilleann pipes, Ryan Leary (the DEADLIEST fiddle playing doctoral geology candidate who has ever existed, I suspect), native Irish Mairead Eller on vocals and bodhran, and Richard Choquette on the guitar.
December, 2010 - Some random session at Rosie McCaffrey's pub, Phoenix, AZ. Oh my god, what was so wrong with my finances that I couldn't get a haircut?... Jeez.
December 14, 2010 - Session in Tucson, AZ with friends. Gramps is visiting from Ireland and Leary in fine form, as usual.
October, 2010 - HARDWARE! Sessions with Sven and Iain at Darcy McGee's pub, Phoenix, AZ.
September 20, 2010 - Tunes with Zac
September 20, 2010 - Sometimes the best thing to do is just LISTEN.
September 20, 2010 - House session after a concert with the John Whelan Group. Killer stuff.
August 6, 2010 - Sven's toes are very happy to receive his new butter boxwood Olwell C flute! Nice nice nice!
May 20, 2010 - Chunes with Leary and Bob. Where's the flood? Expecting high waters there, Bob? ;)