Wow! I was looking at my calendar, and it was this time last year that I did my last show at Things Celtic. Last time, I had a theme--summery visions. I don't remember what I played though.

This time, I am releasing my... um... third solo CD, Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. Okay, I'm a little slow since I officially released the album in June. But better late than never, eh?

Sat, August 11, 2007
Things Celtic @ 2PM
1806 W. 35th Street
Austin, TX 78703

Some come out and sing some Irish songs with me!

Yesterday, I was listening to an audio book by Seth Godin. He talked about living the marketing message you want to share. I realized that's probably the reason Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers has done so well. I love cats!

Last night, I was watching a movie and Torre climbed up on little fold out table and stood there like an Egyptian God. He stared off quietly as cats do, looking off into a parallel universe or something.

When he saw me staring, he took a careful moment measuring the distance to the sofa with his eyes. His legs flexed, and he leapt onto the sofa and climbed on my lap. He looked at me to see if I would object. Of course, I didn't. And a couple minutes later, he circled and lay down quietly to nap.

I love when cats do that. I love the way they love. It's so different and yet similar to the way we humans love. My cats are extremely loving and faithful to me. They know their daddy and show it all the time. Sure, sometimes it's a bit stand-offish, but that's just the nature of the cat. If you try petting him when he doesn't want a petting, he shakes you off and walks away. Torre hates it when I kiss him on the forehead. Sometimes he bares it. Sometimes he struggles away. But he's always back with more love to give and share.

That's the amazing thing about love. I'm working on a CD called "A Tribute to Love". Admittedly, I'm far from an expert. I am single, after all. But I do know that love is two-way even if I can't always adequately balance it.

In order to receive love, you need to give it.

But too often our pride gets in the way. We let it hinder our ability to receive by not giving it to others. It works in many arenas too. That's one of the reasons I try to help indie bands so much. It's to receive that feeling of respect that I so greatly desire too. Love is the same way. You have to give it to receive it.

I was thinking about this as I was driving home listening to that Seth Godin audio book, thinking about it in terms of my Love CD. I don't just want to release another CD. This feels like it should be something different. The album is mixture of love songs. Some are traditional Celtic, but most are original songs that I've written over there years that express different aspects of love that I've experienced.

Yesterday, I was thinking about even raising the price on this CD while donating a significant portion to a loving charity. I've thought about limiting the release to only people of a certain loving disposition who want to love and be loved. But I'm not sure either of those things really get to the heart of what I want.

I want something that shares my love with others. I want something that you can share with people you love. I want to hear hearts beat rapidly throughout the world, all in the name of love.

Maybe it's a little hopeful since I still need finish recording and mix the album. Maybe it's too big a dream to expect from one little album, but love is important in life. And with any luck, I hope to bring a little bit more into the world.

Graphic artist, Molly C. Loar, finished the CD cover Marc Gunn's upcoming CD, Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. The result is a stunning piece of art.

Well, the reviews are pouring in for my new CD of Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. I've gotten a LOT of fantastic reviews, everything from women wanting to mother my children to fond recognition of my stylistic differences between The Bards and solo work to blissful enjoyment of traditional Irish songs. Come to think of it I don't think I gave everyone warnings when I sent out those CDs. I always consider myself more a balladeer than a comedian. I think this CD does a good job of reflecting that.

It's actually kinda interesting to see what happens when Andrew and I get together and play music. We have a style all our own. It's always fun. But how can it not be with Andrew there. He's got amazing wit and comedic timing, plus a helluva musician who puts me to shame. I'm much tamer than my old rock music days.

I've also decided I'm gonna try to put together a special release to see if I can top some charts on iTunes. But all that's another month away.

Meantime, here's the first of the reviews:

• You gotta check this out!
• Celtic CD Review
• Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion
• My Review of Marc Gunn's new Irish CD
• Irish Drinking Songs Review
• Marvin's CD Review 001&002 The Cat Lover's...
• You Can Never Have too Much...
• Marc Gunn's New CD
• Yay Irish Music!
• Arikla's Ramblings
• Review of Cat Lover's Companion
• CD Review
• Dianna

Well today, I received the final master of Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. It sounds great. Ari Koinuma did a great job mixing and mastering this CD.

So if you like Irish drinking songs, this song will be a treat... Although I should point out, this CD is for the cat lover. You'll hear kitties talking throughout. This means the CD will be available for sale next month. Keep an eye on my Celtic Music CD Store to pick up your copy of the album.

I know. I know. I don't need to start any more podcasts, but this is something that's been dear to my heart for a long time. So I thought I'd go ahead and start officially promoting it as such. It's called the Irish Songs & Lyrics Podcast. It began as just my Celtic lyrics directory on The Bards website, but kinda exploded outside of that.

Every Tuesday (or so), the podcast will feature one new Irish or Celtic song that you can download for free through the podcast and share with your friends. All the songs will pretty much be me solo on the autoharp. That's the easiest way to stay consistent with it.

To start off, I'm gonna duplicate songs from the Irish Stout thingy, but my Irish Drinking Songs: A Cat Lover's Companion CD is almost complete. Once it is all start releasing some of those songs and start recording some more.

What's the reason behind this? I'm sort of returning the favor to all those Celtic artists who I listened to and learned songs from. I'm a big proponent of keeping traditional music alive. So this is my chance to do just that. If you like, please share with your friends.

Meantime, you can subscribe by posting the following RSS feed into your podcatcher:
http://www.irish-song-lyrics.com/podcast.rss

Yesterday, Andrew and I were back in the studio working on Real Men Wear Kilts. It was a lighter workday than usual. Gigs are forcing us to take a step back. In April, we'll jump back into the studio with fervor, but too many gigs in March to do just that.

This weekend, we fly to New York for I-Con. The following weekend, we'll perform at Four Winds Renaissance Faire. With all the gigs, I can barely keep up with many podcasts. Heck! I can barely organize all my blog entries to find out which one to link to. hehe. Ah well...

Yesterday, I booked my flight to Ireland with a return trip via Rome. I also listened to more mixes for my Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion CD that Ari sent me. I'm still hoping that I'll have that done by the end of April. But we'll see. Still lots to do. Heck! I don't have a CD cover for that yet. Hmm...

Other things on my list to do:

• Order more copies of The Secret World of Celtic Rock
• Book some gigs in Italy and possible in England
• Book gigs in San Diego and near Costa Mesa, California
• Contact the Saxon Pub, Tipperary Inn, Cactus Cafe, and Mother Egan's about gigs
• Start looking into Colorado Tour and Tour to Shakespeare Festival in Tennessee
• Promotion for Bedlam Bard Shindig Tour
• Finish this week's Renaissance Festival Podcast shownotes
  
• Austin Celtic Meetup Tonight
  
• Pack CDs and clothes for trip to New York this weekend
• Listen to new Cat companion recordings
• Update Bards Shows on the website
• Update Cat Lovers T-Shirts
• Record Cat Lovers Podcast

I'm sure there's more to do, we'll stop there for now.

The new millennium marks the 36th anniversary of the birth of the Irish Rovers. These incredible musicians have charmed and entertained people around the world, and continue to delight audiences with their exciting stage shows. The Irish Rovers have never lost their timeless ability to deliver a rollicking, rousing performance of good cheer, that will soon have you singing and clapping along.

The group began in 1963 in Canada when George Millar and Jim Ferguson, both new emigrants from N. Ireland, met in Toronto at an Irish function. They ended up singing together 'til dawn; and so the Irish Rovers were launched. They performed as a duo until George's cousin, Joe Millar, immigrated to Canada the following year. Joe, who played button-key accordion and harmonica, and also sang traditional ballads, was recruited as he stepped off the plane. After several months of engagements around Ontario, the trio made their way to Calgary, Alberta, where they joined forces with George's brother, Will Millar. The four Rovers then headed off to "Americay"...

At the famous folk club - "The Purple Onion" - in San Francisco, they ended up headlining for an unprecedented 22 sold-out weeks. The folk clubs of California became the learning grounds for the young Rovers, and (through old-fashioned hard work and a wee bit of Irish luck) they were offered a recording contract with Decca Records.

In 1966, "The First Of The Irish Rovers", a live album recorded at "The Icehouse" in Pasadena, was released. It generated enough excitement to warrant another album, and from this release came the million selling single "The Unicorn", the band's signature song to this day. Wilcil McDowell, an old friend from Ireland, joined the band at this time, enhancing their sound and rounding out the group.

In 1980-81, The Rovers once again soared to the top of the pop and country charts with "Wasn't That A Party". This real-life celebration was written by their friend, U.S. folk singer Tom Paxton, after he witnessed one of the band's famous post-show parties. It went on to become an international anthem of good cheer. The band recorded "Grandma Got Run-Over By A Reindeer" in 1982, which has become a seasonal hit.

The Irish Rovers continue to perform in theatres around the world, with original members George Millar, Joe Millar and Wilcil McDowell. Will Millar retired from the band in 1995; and sadly, Jimmy Ferguson passed away in 1997. Completing the Irish Rover line-up today is Kevin McKeown, who has been with the band since 1984, and John Reynolds and Wallace Hood, who both joined in 1995. Sean O'Driscoll, a multi-instrumentalist, accompanies the band on many of their tours, and plays on new Rover recordings.

The Irish Rovers are still passionate about performing and will continue to tour and entertain their legions of fans. Like the Unicorn, the Rovers are legendary and magical, and a good time is guaranteed for all.

Find out more about the Irish Rovers.

Similar Artists: The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Brobdingnagian Bards, Marc Gunn, The Dubliners' Tabby Cats, Irish drinking songs

It's that time of year again--St. Patrick's Day. People are getting ready for and searching out the wazzoo for everything Irish. So Irish drinking songs are popular once again.

That's good news to me because Irish drinking songs is what I do. Whether it be Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion, The Holy Grail of Irish Drinking Songs, A Collection of Irish Pub Songs, or even the Pub Songs Podcast, this year I practically have a monopoly on Irish drinking songs... or at least the term.

Because exit the internet, and no one has heard of Marc Gunn or the Brobdingnagian Bards. They're still hung up on The Dubliners, the Irish Rovers, The Clancy Brothers, The Wolfe Tones, and other groups who've given a name to the drinking songs of Irish music. And with good cause. Those bands are awesome. Those are the groups from whom I learned many of the Irish drinking songs I sing today. So raise a glass to them.

Yet where they made a name for Irish music in middle of last century, I'm trying trying to do the same in the digital era. No one is out promoting Celtic music. That's why I started the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine and the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. My goal is to keep Irish folk music alive. So I have all those CDs above, plus, I have a traditional Irish music compilation CD and try to promote Celtic groups as I am able.

That said, St. Patrick's Day is almost here. And you can bet I'll be doing a lot for the Irish holiday. Keep an ear open for podcasts and MP3s and magazines and of course new CDs of Irish drinking songs, because that's what I do when I want to promote St. Patrick's Day music.

And why shouldn't I? It's my birthday after all.

Productive day. Ari finished all the guitar parts for Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. That means there's just his backup vocals and mixing to do for that CD. Well, that and I need to come up with some graphics for the album. He did another great job. There's some more tasty solos. Ari is awesome.

While he was recording, I worked on graphics for Victims of Irish Music. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the album cover yet. But Roy Janik sent me links to a lot of Ireland photos that I was able to use for the rest of the CD. Now I just need to finish mastering the album.

And I need to record my Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I'm a wee bit behind on that one. Though the shownotes shouldn't take long. Maybe once I get back from my Italian Language meetup.

Back in high school, I was huge fan of Weird Al. It was a natural progression because my dad was a fan of his comedic predecessors. When I grew up, he sang lots of comedic songs. He'd parody songs and write songs on the fly while playing his banjo. So it was natural for me to hear Weird Al's parodies and become a huge fan.

I bought Weird Al's albums and listened over and over again. But I had one small problem. Not all the songs were parodies. And those that were I wasn't entirely sure what the original songs were because I lost the cassette jackets or the jackets were incomplete. So in my senior year of high school, I made my own compilation tape featuring the Weird Al song, followed by the original version. It was neat to hear the differences.

It was this desire to hear the original that inspired me to record a new CD: Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion CD. This album features all of the original songs found on my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD. You can hear how a song evolved from a fun Irish song into a purrfectly fun song about the cats we love.

While the production isn't nearly fancy as on Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, it still has all the energy and fun that you enjoy from that CD. All the music comes from my producer Ari Koinuma and Marc Gunn.

Find out more about Irish Drinking Songs:
The Cat Lover's Companion

Here are the songs you will find on this CD:

1. Finnegan's Wake
2. Black Velvet Band
3. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
4. The Moonshiner
5. I'll Tell My Ma
6. Patriot Game
7. Black Is The Colour
8. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
9. Gypsy Rover
10. Wild Rover
11. The Barnyards of Delgaty
12. Fiddler's Green
13. Lord of the Dance

If you enjoy Irish drinking songs, then this is a delightful album for you, full of feline vitality, and also a nice compliment to the Brobdingnagian Bards latest CD, The Holy Grail of Irish Drinking Songs. These are the CDs you will want for St Patrick's Day.