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

Dyin to play...

We have had some good rest, great times with our families, a little travel here and there, time to attend to our jobs and such... and even some good music writing time... but now Celtic Cross is back in time for the March Paddy's Day run!

New things are coming... a few new covers of things we love, brand new Celtic Cross originals, and a revisit of some of our tried and true live favorites.   

Just posted our current 2009 calendar on CelticCross.com.   We also have launched a sites on Facebook and Twitter... so make sure you connect with us there to keep up to date.

Can't wait to play... and see you all soon...

P

Celtic Cross is on Twitter!!

If you are on Twitter... follow Celtic Cross @celticcrosstunz and get off the wall updates from Sean Ruane our manager.

Also, follow me @patrickdineen and Dave @davebarckow while you are at it...

Happy twitting...

P

Shores of America is Irish Voice Number 1 Record of 2008!!

http://www.celticlounge.com/news/templates/?a=283&z=0

Mike Farragher's Irish Voice Note about Always Believe

Read Mike Farragher's nice note in the Irish Voice & IrishCentral.com about our new Christmas tune Always Believe...

Hear it on our Facebook fan page, and streaming on CelticCross.com.

Or download from a secret MP3 download page as a special gift from Santa... shhshh!!  

Merry Merry, Happy Happy....

P

"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