Totally Missed Rockaway

We played at a great place in Rockaway yesterday called The Bungalow Bar... on B92nd street on the bay side, literally in the shadow of the Crossbay Bridge. A great spot all you Brooklynites and Queensies should check out. They have the coolest outdoor deck overlooking the bay and great food...

It was also cool that Rockaway is the home town of Walter Ensor (our guitar player). We don't get down his neck of the woods often... so I am sure he enjoyed not having his typical 2 hour plus commute to our shows around the area. Plus, I think he knew everyone in the bar last night.

But personally, it felt so good to cross that bridge again and to drive through Rockaway... and play our new material for many folks who came out to see us. In spite of the T-storms... a great evening. We will look forward to getting back to the Bungalow Bar.

Rockaway will always be a familiar and fond place for me. It was my first beach! I have such vivid kid memories of the bridge traffic, looking for parking spots, and sitting on the hot vinyl seats of my parents car with no AC... couldn't wait to get on that boardwalk and see the ocean. Then there were many fishing adventures off the bridge. Think we even rented a boat once...

Even remember staying down there in those little bungalow shacks. My wife Kerry too... she recalls the light bulb fixtures hanging from the ceiling with a twine cord switch. I can close my eyes and remember those sunburned nights in a bed too small, prevented from sleeping by the sound of the surf and the lights and clamor from nearby Playland.

And then there was the Q53 bus... from 61st & Roosevelt in Woodside directly to B116st in Rockaway. On hot summer days, that bus was teaming with kids looking for fun, sun, loud boombox music, and showing off for members of the opposite sex...

Under the boardwalk

down by the sea

On a blanket with my baby

That's where I'll be...

or so we all hoped.

And then the Irish Circle... one of those party spots where I am sure I have played 100+ gigs over the years. Loved that place. Had the pleasure of having Micky Carton up to sing on many occasions... he'd kill me with his one-liners off the mike. Anyway, the place looks better than ever on that corner of B101st.

The Irish Festival every July was one of the best around... John Vesey actually wore a kilt there once during a Celtic Cross performance. I played there with Pat Roper, Celtic Flavor with Dennis Gallery, Tippling Way and of course Celtic Cross.

I am sure I could come up with more, but would love to hear your own Rockaway Irish stories... so please comment below.

The Script... love a Dublin accent

I am such a sucker for well played pop with great lyrics. That is why anything by Taylor Swift stops me dead to listen...

I am also a total sucker for a Dublin accent singing those lyrics... a la Bono.

Found a new one to fit this bill last week while on vacation... on Twitter of all places. Then started hearing them on Sirius... and I expect you will start hearing a lot of them.

This new band is called The Script, and they deserve a listen. The Dublin trio opened for Paul McCartney last week in Citifield... a nice feather in the cap to share a stage with a Beatle.

I specifically recommend the iTunes Live: London Festival '08 - EP but their self-titled debut album is good top to bottom as well.

Let me know what you think...

Cool Celtic Bands at Sailfest This Friday

Looking forward to our show this Friday night in New London, CT at Sailfest. This is a free outdoor show at a very cool festival venue right on the water. We headline a cool celtic music bill that day on the Custom House Pier Stage...

(5:00) Craig Edwards (Traditional Celtic & Folk)

(6:30) Shellbacks (Celtic Band)
(7:00) The 7th Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps
(8:30) New London Firefighters Pipes & Drums
(9:00) Celtic Cross (Celtic Band)

Come on out if you are along the Connecticut shore on Friday... should be sweet.

P

Need to get blogging again...

so... its been a while since our last blogpost, so I will make up with a few tidbits.

• This weekend we played three shows at Gavins in East Durham, NY. Was great to be back there for a whole weekend. It was "reunion weekend" up there, and we got to see a lot of old faces, good friends... and the kids of those good old friends. The weekend culminated with a great outdoor Sunday afternoon show... reminicent of those old Erin's Melody gigs 15 years ago... We will be back at Gavins this fall for their big Guiness Festival...

• My son Connor, played with us all weekend on acoustic guitar and fiddle. Was great to have him up with us... reminded me of when I started playing on stages in East Durham around his age. You will hear more from him as he is getting better everyday...

• New songs... are coming. We sorta debuted one at Gavins on Saturday night... one I wrote entitled 'Whirl Spin Girl'. We are working on lots of new material this summer to followup on last year's Shores of America... gotta get Kathleen to write a blogpost on a few of the other titles in process. Maybe fall in the studio??

• Twitter... got a good Celtic Cross song idea? Tweet it to us @celticcrosstunz.

• Good shows this month... we are headlining this Friday July 10th in New London, CT at Sailfest, the Rockland County Feis on Sunday July 19th (our favorite show of the year), and Hartford Irish Festival on Saturday July 25th.

• Got a new bass... I bought a new bass for myself. A Fender Jazz American Deluxe... black with a gold pickguard, maple unfinished neck... very cool active electronics. It is the four string I have been needing for a while... cuts through the thick Celtic Cross mix really well.

There is a quick catch up... hope you are all having a great summer. Comment on our blog here, visit us on Facebook, and check our website schedule for all our details.

P