July 17th Each summer, Warren Wilson College conducts the Swannanoa Gathering - seven weeks of summer workshops in various folk arts. The band had the good fortune to attend Celtic Week and, in doing so, had one of the times of our lives. In addition to taking some great classes, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of some wonderfully talented teachers and friends - Jack Beck, Ed Miller, Margaret Bennett, Meighan Carpenter, Gerry O'Beirne, Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, and Paddy League (to name a few). The days were long and busy, each evening brought a different concert or dance, and the nights abounded with sessions. It was difficult to tear ourselves away at the end of the week. (And we're already looking forward to next year.) July 1st The halfway point of the season found the band spending the weekend at its most consistent venue to-date - O'Malley's Pub. And just when it seems that doing a regular gig couldn't get any better, Sean turns around and surprises you by beginning to carry Newcastle Brown Ale by the bottle. Friday night was rather subdued - evidently the CAC (at Ft Leavenworth) was cycled out. Saturday night, however, more than made up for it. Kenny (volunteer sound-man and bassist for Shenanigans) was there and joined the band on-stage for a few numbers (as well as doing a solo number on his own... any guesses?). A great weekend. June 25th Another big performing weekend began Friday evening with a house-concert in Indianapolis put on by Meghan and Dani. These two folk-music aficionados open their home to folk music perfomers and fans from around the Great Lakes area. The band had a pleasant evening performing to a living-room jammed with over two-dozen eager listeners, converting a couple handfuls into fans we'd wind up seeing later in the season. After the show, it was on to Cincinnati to spend the evening with our friends at Chez Fox. Dennis, Mary, and dearest Ellen open their home to the band whenever we're passing through the area, and this time came all the way up to Indianapolis to see the show. The next morning, we took the road to Olmstead Township, OH to join a few dozen other bands for the Ohio Irish Festival. The festival is held at the West Side Irish-American Club on the southwest fringe of Cleveland (and it is the humble opinion of the band that every city needs an organization like the Club). There was great entertainment to be found, including some personal favorites like Silver Arm, the New Barleycorn, Changeling... some new friends - Roger Drawdy and the Firestarters... and some old friends - Shenanigans - who virtually made the trip out there with us and were featured performers as well. June 2nd Going on six year's now, at the first hint of summer, the Lawrence Brewers Guild conducts the Lawrence BrewFest. Homebrewers from all around eastern Kansas, get together at Clinton Lake for a day of food, fun, music, and beer-tasting (of course). The band had the chance to play the festival this year, courtesy of Richard Deviney - a friend that they made at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival the previous Fall. A good time (and some darn good beer) was had by all. May 28th Memorial Day Weekend was one of the highlights of the season. The weekend began with a lively Friday evening at O'Malley's Pub, and Ft Leavenworth's finest were there in force. Saturday was day one of the third annual Westport Irish Festival. Traditional greats Connie Dover and Roger Landes, and Celtic-rockers Seven Nations shared the stage with a handful of other regional favorites like Tullamore (of course), Eddie Delahunt, Shenanigans, The Elders, Gabriel's Gate, and the talented youngsters from the O'Riada Academy of Irish Dance. From Westport, it was back out to Weston for another night at O'Malley's Pub with all the friends and fans who managed to tear themselves away from Midtown to come out and spend the evening at the pub. Sunday morning came bright and early as the band headed downtown for a fun-filled appearance on Kansas City's own Celtic Crossings radio show, hosted by Joe Farrell and Pat O'Reilly, at 1190 AM, KPHN. May 21st The Oklahoma Renaissance Faire is one of the band's longest-running gigs. This year, the band was the main attraction at the Black Boar Pub, the Castle's indoor, air-conditioned pub. The three weekend run gave us time to touch base with our friends and fellow performers - To The Hilt, Smee and Blogg, Terry Elton, Bob, the Incredible Juggler, Red McWilliams and Russ Doden, and The Bilge Pumps. And we were also able to hook up a bunch of our Oklahoma friends and fans. April 9th This year's run of Norman Oklahoma's three-day Norman Medieval Faire was the best in a decade. The weather was a bit on the breezy side but was, otherwise, fantastic. And the crowd was huge. The weekend at Norman has become our most reliable opportunity to get together with The Rogues (as it has become a regular stop for them as well). And as if they couldn't be more entertaining onstage, they went out of their way to be doubly entertaining offstage - ask Lars about his antics that weekend... We also had the opportunity to share the stage with Harmless T Jester and The Bilge Pumps. We were quite pleased to see that Ron DeLuca, a good friend and one of the founders of the Glengarries, was 'promoted' to King. And a lot of our Oklahoma friends turned out. It was, overall, a great weekend. April 1st Eventually, you get to the point where you've said all the good things you can say about a venue, and then you start sounding like a broken record. Being as how the band plays O'Malley's Pub eight or nine times a year, this record is plenty broke. O'Malley's is also our proving-ground for our sound system, so Friday night started out slowly while the kinks were worked out of some new toys. The small crowd turned into a pretty rowdy throng by a quarter til ten, and stayed that way until just about midnight. Saturday, the old reliables showed up, and the entire evening was quite grand. March 26th One of the most rewarding weekends in the band's three years together began with a performance at Java 101 - the coffeehouse venue in Pearson Hall at Beloit College. What appeared to be a converted faculty lounge was filled to capacity with students (and others) who came ready to listen to appreciate good Celtic music, and their enthusiasm was greatly appreciated by the band. The night flew by, and the band drove into Mount Prospect (a northwest-Chicago suburb) to enjoy the hospitality of friend Curt Duval. The next day, it was over to Curt's gaming store, Games Plus, for a tour and some shopping (of course). Lunch at Geno's East (the home of Chicago deep-dish style pizza) preceded sitting through a showing of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (a must-see). Then it was a shourt jaunt to the home of Brian and Diane Leo to perform for their house-concert series, Molly's Place. Among the few dozen people in attendance were a few handfuls of friends we haven't seen in quite some time, which made the evening that much more enjoyable. The long drive back to KC was saved for Sunday, after crashing in Mokena. March 18th St Patrick's weekend turned out, once again, to be a big bash. It all started Friday evening with a performance at the High Noon Saloon in Leavenworth KS. A private party for the officers with Combined Arms Center (CAC) at Ft Leavenworth quickly turned into Irish karaoke night. Host John Durnin came up to the stage, at the beckoning of the band, to lead the party with a rousing performance of 'The Wild Rover'. He then immediately went about the room drafting 'volunteers' to sing their fair share. The die-hards stayed late, the band later still... and a little later the next morning, it was down to the Hallmark Building to meet up with the O'Malley's float for the Kansas City St Patrick's Day Parade. St Patrick's Day was a beautiful day, and riding on Sean's float was a hoot. The weekend's festivities concluded with an early evening performance in the upper cellar at O'Malley's Pub. The rabid St Patrick's Day partiers were doing the sardine-can scene in the bottom cellar, while the folks who wanted to hear and particpate were upstairs. It was a large, friendly, vocal bunch, and they made the evening a lot of fun. February 25th The lowest cellar at O'Malley's Pub is open, and is officially the 'main room' for the music. It's a very handsome venue, kudos to Bill Hull and Sean O'Malley for their craftsmanship. If you haven't had the opportunity to take it in, you should make one. This was the band's first performance in the bottom cellar since last season's St Patrick's Day bash. And Friday night's turnout was nearly as big... and loud. After wrestling with the PA and the dynamics of the room, the music got into a groove and all was forgiven. And the sound was perfect for all the regulars who showed up Saturday night. February 21st 'Out of the ordinary' would be the words to describe our latest coffeehouse concert. Springfield MO's Drury University played host to the band for an unusual Tuesday performance on an uncommonly mild February evening. Good sushi at Haruno's preceded an even better evening at Drury's coffeehouse. A few dozen students and handful of friends turned out and made this evening of good music that much more enjoyable. February 5th The band reached its first milestone this week with the addition of a fiddler to the band. After a few weeks of incessant dialogue, meetings of minds, comparing of notes, and a few practical jokes, Amy Weeks agreed to round out the line-up as the band's fourth member. Amy is busily working herself into arrangements, and the band is enthusiastically looking forward to her debut performance at the Westport Irish Festival on Memorial Day Weekend. January 29th The 'official' start of the season came early this year with a fun weekend at O'Malley's Pub. The January weather was uncommonly pleasant... up to the day of our visit to Weston, at which point Old Man Winter reared his head and and did everything he could to keep people home. But the crowd was undaunted and showed up in scores both evenings. Friday evening, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of an Irish army officer, John Durnin, who came up and sang for his buddies (and the rest of the crowd). And half of our regulars from Saturday night showed up on Friday. All in all, it was a really fun weekend.