Keith Harkin 2017.

So its been a hot minute since I’ve done any sort of blog post…I am sorry. Weddings, travel, back injuries galore, ya its been a tad hectic around here. But for those of you who have stuck with me I have one seriously fun post!

I had the pleasure of getting to see Keith Harkin in concert yet again. Basically if the guy is in town I am trying my darnedest to go see him. Essentially the only time I’m not there in the audience blown away by his talent is if I absolutely could not miss work. That’s just about the only thing that’ll keep me away.

I never tire of seeing Keith, because he is the musical equivalent of fine wine, he gets better with age. I had a particularly wonderful time at his last concert in Dallas at the historic Poor David’s Pub. Keith has really honed his style and is uniquely himself, a true artist’s artist. He cares about his music, he’s not out to please people and do what’s popular at the moment. His evolution of art is not to keep up with others but to nurture his own individual voice both literally and figuratively.

Please tell me I’m not the only one getting serious Stevie Ray Vaughn vibes here.

I cannot encourage you enough to check out this class act. Keith is by far one of my favorite artists out there. He manages to bring all demographics together with his art, music that everyone from the grandest babies to the greatest grandparents can enjoy. True art is timeless and knows no boundaries, this is something Mr Harkin truly exhibits. You can find more info, buy merch, etc through his website and be sure to follow him through his twitter and instagram

Merry Keithmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Boy oh boy are you guys in for a treat.

The Sunday before last I had the great pleasure of seeing the incomparable Dave Bakey and Keith Harkin in concert at Poor Davids Pub. You may be asking yourself why is this good news for you? Well I didn’t go to the concert by myself, my wildly talented photographer friend Amanda of James Seip Photography came with and took PHENOMENAL pictures of the gig. Seriously this girl is  a photography God! Bow down to her greatness!

These guys were my last concert of 2014 (as far as I know none of my other bands are coming back through Dallas in the next few days) and what a way to cap off the year. Honestly there is nothing I enjoy more than going to gigs, I may have zero musical talents of my own but being surrounded by incredible music and real musicians is my idea of heaven on earth.

*angelic lighting for heaven on earth reference*

I know I say this every time guys, but seriously this show was even better than the last. Keith is a real artists’ artist, his vocals are nothing short of amazing, his stage presence is undeniable, and his lyrics are pure genius, and Dave, well where does one even begin with Dave? Dave is hand to God one of the most incredible guitarists I’ve ever had to good fortune to hear. So when he’s inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame just remember I called that one coming from a mile away 😉Awe that smile. Now if you were unable to see Keith this year fret not, because tomorrow he is having an online gig on Stageit that everyone is invited to attend. So if you need a last minute gift idea, or to make up for buying a not so well received gift, or want to buy yourself something nice simply buy a ticket to the best online concert ever. Also be on the look out for Keith’s second album next year. Anyone who listens to this gentleman’s music has been excited for the long awaited second album…but I don’t know that anyone’s more excited than Keith himself.

Clearly excited 😉 and with good reason. After an er… um…less than ideal experience with a record label, Keith found he works much better without restraints and busted out to produce an album that is 100% him, and I for one could not be more thrilled by this. You cannot put this man’s talent into an “appeal to the masses water down your artistry kind of box”. So let’s stick it to the record labels and buy the hell out of Keith’s album the minute it drops, ok?

Again I want to extend a huge thank you to my dear friend Amanda for taking such incredible photos, to everyone at Poor Davids for being total sweethearts, and to Dave and Keith for filling our lives with incredible music and joy. I’m very excited to see what this next year holds in store for you both. Come back to Dallas soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! XOXO

An Evening with Keith Harkin

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to attend/work the merch table for the Keith Harkin gig at Poor Davids Pub.

The night started off with a stellar performance from The O’s (sorry I didn’t take any pictures I was manning the merch table at that time). I must say Poor David’s certainly knows how to pick talent, not once has there been an opener that I was unimpressed with. But I have to admit The O’s particularly blew my mind. They are true performers, their music is absolutely spectacular, and their between song banters are priceless. Lucky for me The O’s are a Dallas based band so they have lots of local gigs coming up, but they also do quite a bit of expansive touring so if you’re not a local fret not. Check out their site http://wearetheos.com/ listen to their music, go to a gig, and have a blast!

Now for everyone who bought merch thanks for being so sweet and patient with me, I’ve never worked in any form of retail (I’ve always been on the creative side of work) so this was quite a new experience for me. Despite being “out of my element” I had an absolute blast, interacting with everyone was quite a fun experience, and I hope I get to go it again soon! I think I met just about everyone who came out that night, you all are excellent shoppers 😉

Here are some pictures my sis took of me looking like the least helpful merch worker in the world. To be fair though these were taken after the show when less shopping took place.

I swear I did more than just stand around with my hands on my hips. 

Keith you sir are a joy to work with.

After the O’s Keith took the stage and delivered an incredible performance as per usual. After seeing an artist perform live several times suddenly their shows can seem a little less exciting, but I’ve seen Keith on multiple occasions and I still walk away saying “That was the best show yet”. I think its because Keith has found the perfect balance to his gigs. By playing his own original songs, Celtic Thunder favorites, and classical covers like End of Innocence and Heart of Saturday Night Harkin has insured that no matter your musical taste there will be something that you will absolutely love. You can check out his site here http://www.keithharkin.com/ and keep up to date on touring and find all the links to his other social media platforms that are full of good craic!

Now Thursday was a good night, but it was a very emotional one too. Just the night before, fellow Celtic Thunder performer George Donaldson passed away. One particularly touching moment of the night was when Keith performed Caledonia as a beautiful tribute to his dear friend. George is a great man and will be sorely missed.

As you can imagine everyone who knew George is incredibly shaken, and his friends and family would really appreciate that you respect their privacy as they go through the difficult grieving process. Should you wish to make a gesture to George’s family you can make a donation to help further his daughter’s education through the Celtic Thunder site https://www.celticthunder.ie/content/george-donaldson-0

Let us remember to tell those in our life how much we love them, we never know long we have on this earth. God bless you all and Rest in Peace George.

Music Monday 9.

What do you know? I still feel like being lazy and merely sharing a song today. Thanksgiving wore me out, there was a LOT of cooking. So enjoy this song that has been stuck in my head the past several days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThRVUcmSa0

Happy Music Monday!

Music Monday 8

Well I’m feeling rather lazy…So I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. I am going to share one of my favorite songs of the incomparable Johnny Cash. I think one of the main reasons I like this song, other than the obvious fact that Johnny Cash is one of the greatest things that ever happened to music, is that in the song Rockabilly Blues Johnny names a lot cities here in Texas. Nothing like a bit of Texas pride to win someone over to a song right? Anyway here’s the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Vk9gVxjWo

Happy Music Monday guys!

Music Monday No. 7!

I think this Music Monday should more than make up for my rather lazy post last week. Today’s post is about a concert I went to on Saturday…But not just any concert, I went and saw Keith Harkin! Fangirl if you wish 😉

The opening act was Aidan, a wonderful Irish music ensemble from Austin. The group consists of Jeff Moore, Christopher Buckley, and Jon Milton.  Jeff has been playing guitar for 35 yrs, is known as one of the Southwest’s most notable Irish musicians, and has performed alongside notable Irish musicians such as Cluan, Gilmer & Moore, and the Sarah Dinan Band.  He has also played with internationally touring musicians like James Keane, James Kelly, John Williams, Johnny B Connolly, Joe Burk, and Jerry Holland.

Jeff Moore.

Christopher began playing violin at 3 years of age then 9 years later he began learning Irish fiddle. In 2001 Christopher moved to Austin and soon after he and Jeff started playing together as a Texas Irish group Cluan. On top of that Christopher has performed with the Blaggards, and continues to play with The Tea Merchants, who won the Austin Music Award for Best World Music.

Christopher Buckley.

Jon has studied Irish music, culture, and history for over 15 years, he was greatly inspired by the great piper, music collector, and story-teller Seamus Ennis. Jon has been a regular at Celtic Festivals as well as session musician in the United States and Ireland. He has become a fixture of the Southwest traditional music scene, and has been performing with Jeff since 2010.

Jon Milton.

I was greatly impressed with Aidan, the moment they started playing I felt as though I was in a great little pub in Ireland listening to one of the local bands. So if you are craving a bit of Ireland but cannot manage a trip just yet, might I suggest going to see Aidan perform? You will not be sorry. You can check out their website for future tour dates here http://aidanmusic.com/

After a short intermission Keith took the stage. This guy is such a rock star, you could feel how excited everyone was to see him. Keith is no stranger to large crowds of adoring fans, after all he has been performing with the musical phenomenon Celtic Thunder since it started. However just this past year his solo career has skyrocketed! Keith was one of the very first musicians signed with Verve Records, whose new chairman is none other than David Foster. As well as releasing his first album back in September. The album quickly shot to number one in newest releases and number two in bestsellers on Amazon! Talk about successful.

I have been to a few of Keith’s gigs and I find myself having an even better time than before. During this show Keith was playing with Barry Kerr (flute player) and Dave Bakey on guitar.

 Great guitar playing!

The set consisted of some classic Celtic Thunder favorites such as Lauren and I, some covers Everybody’s Talkin at Me, and some of Keith’s own songs Nothing But You and I. Every song was fabulous. As someone who has gone to her fair share of concerts I have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly. There have been times where I absolutely loved a band’s album, then saw them live and was so sad, because they sounded like a terrible cover band of themselves. I can tell you that Keith sounds just as incredible live as he does on his album. Which is saying a good deal. If you have the opportunity to see him live do not hesitate! Buy those tickets, because he does not disappoint.

Killer vocals!

During the concert Keith said something rather exciting. That come the end of of February he will be touring with a band! I’m crossing my fingers that he will come through Dallas! Because his shows are just too good.

Not only is the music top notch, but the interaction with the audience is really funny! In the picture above he was teasing someone about recording the show.

Looking through my viewfinder only to see Keith staring me down was rather startling. Whoops I’ve been caught 😉

Rather pleased with how this shot turned out.

Not only did Keith put on a stellar show he even stuck around to sign poster, cds, and pose for pictures. Seriously he is such a good sport, I have no idea how he does it. I would’ve been far too exhausted for all that. But I suppose thats why he is a rockstar and I am a photographer/blogger 😉

I’ve met a few musicians but I must say Keith is one of the nicest I have ever met. I mean the guy remembered me from a previous show of his and from my blog *swoon* Talk about a sweetheart haha. You can find more out about Keith on his website http://www.keithharkin.com/ or through the Celtic Thunder website http://www.celticthunder.ie/

I hope you all enjoyed this Music Monday post and that you all have a Happy Musical Monday! CHEERS!

Music Monday 6.

I had planned on writing a full on blog post about a great band today…I also planned on getting more than 4 hours of sleep. Since neither of those things happened, I do hope you will forgive me for this rather lazy post. I will merely give you the link to one of my very favorite songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY

Relaxing no? Perhaps I will go back to bed haha. I do hope you all have a very Happy Musical Monday. Cheers!

Music Monday No. 5

Yes yes yes I know, last Monday I did not post. Shame on me, all of that bragging about how consistent I was being then…BOOM! No post. I do however have a good excuse, the internet was down. See a very reasonable excuse indeed ;).  Anyway today is a recommendation for an incredibly talented singer! Drum roll please…

Emmet Cahill!

I’ve made it well known that I am quite the fan of all the Celtic Thunder men, every guy is extremely talented and brings so much to the table. But today I thought I would focus on the classical singer of the group Emmet. I was so fortunate as to see Emmet perform alongside Keith Harkin at one of Keith’s solo gigs. I must say I was completely blown away, Emmet is a surprisingly strong singer for someone as young as he (I believe he is 22). Of course one does not need to be middle aged to be a great singer, but you can almost always hear a notable improvement from someone who is older. Well Emmet is quite the exception to this, he voice is so strong and pure that you would believe you are listening to a well seasoned man, of shall I say… advanced age 😉

I did a wee bit of research on Emmet and it is no wonder why he is so talented. From the young age of 5 he was learning to play the piano, and by 7 was taking voice lessons. When I was that age I was just trying to avoid soccer practice 😉 I wasn’t very disciplined haha. From there Emmet went on to win a music scholarship for highschool. Then he continued his studies of piano, organ, violin, and vocal training for the next few years. Another impressive accomplishment was the fact he earned a degree in Musical Performance from the rather prestigious Royal Irish Academy of Music, talk about dedication to ones craft.

Paul Byrom left Celtic Thunder in 2010 to pursue a solo career, so auditions were held in June of that year, and it isn’t any surprise to me that Emmet was chosen to fill the void, and to become the classical singer of the group. Emmet is winning over more and more fans with every performance. Singing the likes of ‘Kindred Spirits’ written by Phil Coulter specifically for Emmet, the beautifully haunting ‘Isle of Hope’, and the giggle inducing ‘My Irish Molly’. As well as singing Celtic Thunder favorites like ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ and many others with the rest of the Celtic Thunder guys. So that is why Emmet is the topic of today’s Musical Monday Post.

You can check out some of Emmet’s music on his youtube channel and I highly encourage you to subscribe to it.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn0PIUMHZwycQj8-Jd2g_yg/videos?view=0

You can also like his page on Facebook and keep updated there

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emmet-Cahill-Official-Music/158928754151170?fref=ts

Or you could even follow him via twitter

https://twitter.com/EmmetcahillCT

Whatever you do, I highly encourage you to check him out. I hope you all enjoyed this post, and be sure to let me know what you all think, I adore hearing from you guys. As always have a very happy and Musical Monday! Cheers!

Music Monday No. 4

Wow a whole month and I have yet to miss my Music Monday deadline, I’m so proud of me, not really of course, because I did almost miss it entirely. Any who… today’s post is a musician recommendation, the musician is Grant Lee Phillips.

Some of you may perhaps recognize him from a little Television series called Gilmore Girls, in which he was the town troubadour, I would very much like to be all hipster right now and say that I knew him before I watched the show…but alas I am no hipster, and hadn’t any idea who he was til I watched said program. His unique voice and lovely guitar playing skill were enough to capture the attention of my mother, sister, and myself, to the point of doing a bit of research on him and buying a few of his albums.

Town troubadour.

Troubadour is defined as one as “one of a class of lyric poets and poet musicians”. I honestly feel that is the best way to describe Mr. Phillips. He is a brilliant singer/songwriter/musician, everything he does, he does full on. Every song has a strong story and beautiful sound to it. Thus making him the perfect topic for today.

After preforming solo for a few different clubs in the Hollywood area Phillips put together the band Grant Lee Buffalo in the early 90’s, the band consisted of Joey Peters, Paul Kimble, and Phillips himself. The band did quite well for about another 8 years, their debut album Fuzzy received high praise from Michael Stipe of R.E.M, he said it was “the best albums of year hands down.”More accomplishments include Phillips being named Critics Choice for best male vocalist of ’95. Other albums of Grant Lee Buffalo are Mighty Joe Moon, Copperopolis, and Jubilee. Grant Lee Buffalo disbanded in ’99.

Sadly we were only able to hunt down their album Mighty Joe Moon.

I am actually currently listening to this album, and I feel as though this cd is contradictory and consistent all at the same time. Their is a noticeable 90’s grundge rock vibe to it, yet their is a soft folksy melodic quality to it all. So you could honestly say it is a versatile album, or that they stay very true to their style. Honestly the description is up to you. It is hard for me to pick just one song of off the album as my favorite…but I must admit I am quite fond of Mockingbirds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVnWAkOGxK0 If you can manage to find yourself a copy I highly encourage you to purchase it.

After the disbanding of Buffalo, Phillips signed with the indie label Rounder Records, continued furthering his solo career, and released more albums of brilliance; Ladies’ Love Oracle, Mobilize, Virginia Creeper, Ninteeneighties, Strangelet, Little Moon, and released just this year Walking in the Green Corn.

I would very much like to give you my opinion of every album, however we only tracked down Virginia Creeper 😦 so I will give you my opinion about this album. Virginia Creeper is a good deal more melodic than Mighty Joe Moon, yet still just as powerful. There is a definite country influence to Virginia Creeper, yet not so much that if you are not a fan of country you wont still enjoy it. My mother is not a fan of country (she makes faces) but adores this album so that should say something. Every song hits it out of the park, and buying this cd should be on your to do list if you happen to be someone who enjoys wonderful music. Whereas every song is lovely Mona Lisa is holds a special place in my heart so give it a listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCBLJyIrMik I will probably be searching for more of Grant Lee Phillips’ albums after I finish this blog, and hope that you all do the same. I also hope that you all have an incredibly happy and Musical Monday!

 

 

Music Monday No. 3

Look at me still sticking to my new blog series! I’m so proud of me 😉 Well today’s musical Monday recommendation is for a rather epic music video! As some of you may know, during the summer I was able to take part in a music video of Family Force 5’s through Kickstarter. The music video is Cray Button, and it was released a couple of weeks ago. Isaac Deitz was the videographer/director for this whole thing, and let me tell you he absolutely out did himself, the music is without a doubt one of best I have ever seen! So give it a watch/listen and prepare to have your mind blown 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlkDcrxi1YQ

also I thought I might as well throw in the link to the behind the scenes footage. Nathan Mowery was the behind the scenes videographer, and I feel compelled to tell you all that the behind the scenes footage truly captures the awesomeness of the shoots, and I love it just as much as I love the actual music video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpdyNmANA_I

If you ever have the opportunity to take part in a Family Force 5 music video do it! It could very well be one of the best decisions you ever make. You get to brag that you took part in something positively epic, and you will walk away with some amazing new friends, I know I did. I hope all of you enjoyed this post and that you all have a happy musical Monday!