"Always Believe"

"You have to believe to receive," was all I ever heard when asking about Santa. Christmas Eve was the big night in our house. The fancy china, Waterford crystal and long stemmed red candles would appear on the table, for our special family dinner. After dinner, our house would fill-up with music, friends and family. Inevitably, the dinner table would clear and the cards would come out, for a game of 25.

I have only seen the card game, "25" played in Irish households. Growing up, we learned how to play and it has been a family tradition ever since. It has also been the cause of many an argument, especially between my Dad and Uncles, over "poor card playing!"

For more information on how to play the card game 25, click here.

Christmas Eve would not be complete without a trip to the Bronx. We would load up a car or two and the "Jersey gang" would head into Sam Maguires! I can recall many great Christmas Eves there, singing and dancing the night away. There may have even been a few Santa sightings leaving Sams...or maybe it was an over indulgence in holiday cheer!

All these memories and thoughts were put down on paper as Patrick and I started writing, "Always Believe." It was late September and on a whim, we decided to write a Christmas song. One of our goals was to write the song without saying "Christmas." Once we had the lyrics and a melody, it seemed like the parts just fell into place. Frankie came up with the opening hook and John and Ken played just the right parts to make it sound like Celtic Cross. Within a month, we were in the studio recording.

While in the recording studio, we thought a tin whistle would really add to the song. Ken's 10-year-old son, Kenny Vesey, was more than willing to take a 1/2 day off school to come in and play the tin whistle part for us. He is an amazing talent and was able to record his part in one take. The same week he made is recording debut with Celtic Cross, Kenny was asked to share the stage with Eileen Ivers during her upcoming Christmas concert in Ramsey, NJ, this December. Wow...what a week.

You can hear the new song at CelticCross.com.   Stay tuned for more infomation about how to buy it on iTunes and CD Baby.   

Merry Christmas to you!

Cheers-Kathleen

Is Irish Music on the Decline? Wow... Not In My Circles...

Read this...

http://ramblinghouse.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/downbeat-trend-for-irish-music/

This is an interesting blog post I came accross... suggesting a "downbeat trend" in interest in Irish music over the last few years based on Google web searches on "Irish Music."

I would not have guessed this at all based on the ever expanding number of and attendance at Irish Music festivals and the increasing attendance at Irish music classes and arts groups that I have seen over the last few years.

While the data don't lie... maybe people aren't searching for it cause they have already found it?

P

  

A Song I Wish I Wrote...

Check these guys out... currently overplaying them on my ipod...

Biblecode Sundays, Bottle Slammin London Irish Rock... fun and good. Ronan MacManus, Elvis Costello's brother is in the band... how can you not like an Irish Rock act with Elvis in the family?

The song is Boys of Queens... written by Andy Nolen, the band's accordion player. Won't top the charts, but it made me smile with all the mentions of the neighborhoods I grew up around... Woodside, Rockaway, Breezy... and it is the 9/11 song that perfectly fits the New York Borough.

All you Queensies... give it a listen...

Just one final look around this bar lie a million broken dreams
But I ask this time will I ever get to come back home to Queens

New CDs From Two of Our Favorites... Solas & The Duhks

Two very cool groups... favorites of several of us in Celtic Cross... have recently released new CDs that are must listens for folks who love Celtic/Irish music.

The Duhks are a cool folk funk Celtic playing group from Manitoba that have put out several great records over the last year. Awesome songwriting is their hallmark... especially in "Dance Hall Girls" & "You and I" from a previous release... both of which remain in my iPod most played tracks.

Their new release is called Fast Paced World is a great listen... grungy and tough and well played, and so well written. The track "You Don't See It" has literally been played dozens of times on my iPod already. Very very cool trad playing on this... groundbreaking stuff in a time when so much new Celtic stuff is so so neopunk influenced. This is much more New Orleans funk meets Seattle grunge meets Nashville folk.

And the masters themselves... Solas also have a brand new record out called "For Love and Laughter." No one plays Celtic or Irish traditional music better in this writer's humble opinion... and Solas is at the top of their game in this new CD. The harmonies played between Winifred Horan's fiddle and Mick McAuley's accordion actually send chills up my back. Interestingly, members of the Duhk's actually played with Solas on several tracks... and you can hear essence of these two groups dovetail elegantly. An awesome pairing of two great styles.

Both are must have records... and both are on iTunes or available through the band websites above. Enjoy...

Shores reviewed on celticmp3s.com...and what a cool review it is!

We really love this one!!

http://www.celticmp3s.com/free/2008/08/review-shores-of-america-by-celtic.shtml

A great review from Catherine Tully... and a great website for celtic music lovers... make sure you check them out.

P

Shores of America reviewed in Shite-n-Onions!

Visit and read....

http://www.shitenonions.com/

Happy Friday...

P

Our Frankie McCormick at Catskills Irish Arts Week

A nice story about the recent Catskills Irish Arts Week which features our mandolin/banjo player Frankie McCormick.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200808030230/LIFESTYLE01/808030316

Attaboy Frankie...

P