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!

Concert Photography.

So the other night I went to a concert, with some of my favorite people. It was a really great venue…for being up close and doing a little photography! We got their shortly after the doors opened, so I was able to position myself quite close to the stage. Added bonus though, was that I brought my 300mm lens, so I could get right in their face all from the comfort of my seat. This was my first time photographing a concert, with all the equipment I would normally leave at home, because of rowdy concert goers. But since the setting was really relaxed I was able to get some great pictures of Elizabeth Wills, Emmet Cahill, and Keith Harkin.

Elizabeth Wills was the opening act for Keith, now I will be honest my expectations for an opener are always pretty low. But in this case was pleasantly surprised with Elizabeth. She has an amazing folksy sound and pretty much everything she preformed was her own. So be sure to check her out http://www.elizabethwills.com/!

After Elizabeth, Keith Harkin of Celtic Thunder was up, a nice surprise though was that Emmet Cahill came too. Emmet is new to Celtic Thunder he joined in 201o, and I must say is immensely talented for someone so young (21) he has a beautiful classical voice and winning personality. You can check him out at http://www.emmetcahill.com/ There is much more information about him on his website, including a long list of musical accomplishments, that would take quite a while to list on my blog, so be certain to pop on over and check him out.

Emmet Cahill and Keith Harkin. Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how adorable these two are? 

Keith Harkin, the main reason everyone came. Keith has been with Celtic Thunder from the beginning, 2007. His musical style is sort of hard to define, some of his influence include Tom Waites, Neil Young, The Beatles, and Bon Iver, so there is a little something for everyone when he performs. Keith not only tours with the world-wide phenomena that is Celtic Thunder, but he does individual tours, rocking out with his McPherson guitar and wonderful vocals, and winning hearts all along the way. All of his fans are currently waiting on his solo album, it has taken a good bit longer than originally thought, mostly because he has signed with someone new, just a little somebody known as DAVID FOSTER! Color me impressed. David has discovered house hold names like Michael Buble and Josh Groban. So I am certain even bigger things are in store for Keith. http://www.keithharkin.com/

Keith Harkin. Good grief! The way he plays guitar is like nothing I have ever heard before! So much talent.

His hands just fly when he is playing his guitar!

He was just killin’ it. and I loved every minute of it. When the concert ended, the guys stuck around to pose for pictures and sign things, so naturally I had to say hello, how much I love their music, and of course have my picture taken with them. It’s not everyday you get to be around gorgeous Irish musicians is all I am sayin’.

Keith was real sweet, even though just about every woman in the place was clamoring for his attention, he managed to give real attention to his fans individually (myself included) *swoon*.

Then I went and said hi to Emmet. He was such a sweetheart, great people skills, and really down to earth. He and I actually talked for a little bit, so that pretty much made my night. *swoon again*

All in all I had an amazing time and can’t wait to see these guys again. I hope everyone enjoyed this post! Happy Tuesday!