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

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. 2

Hey look at me one week later and I am still keeping my word! Of course there is still time for me to fall off the consistency wagon 😉 This weeks Music Monday is a musician recommendation! Drum roll please

*drum rolling* * cymbal crash*

Imelda May! The woman is a goddess and is my serious girl crush 😉

I first came to hear Imelda May was when my mother turned to PBS to watch a tribute to Les Paul. Imelda was performing in the most fabulous orange and gold dress I have ever seen, and her look is what got my attention initially, but then I heard her sing! Oh wow, I typically do not get terribly enthusiastic over female singers, because more often than not they sound the same as all the others, and do not impress much. Imelda has a signature sound and her vocals are KILLER! Seriously she sings with so much passion and attack you can not take your eyes off of her, and certainly cannot tune her out! I mean in order to preform next to Jeff Beck and still be the one getting the attention you have to be a powerhouse, and she is just that. Imelda sings several styles of music Blues, Jazz, and of course Rockabilly. She is not to be outdone, and I feel she is bringing rockabilly out of the underground and into the mainstream. I would highly encourage you to go out buy one of her albums because she is amazing. I own her album Mayhem and positively love it. Here is a music video of hers that I adore so check her out and let me know what you guys think. Have a Happy Musical Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HStk3qT82w4

Music Monday.

Hello blog readers. I thought I might try my hand at a new regular, scratch that make it semi regular (this is me we’re talking about after all) blog post series, titled Music Monday, this can be about my favorite cd, song, musician, music video, or whatever else I am currently digging that relates to music. So for today’s post I thought I might give you a cd recommendation. I bought myself Keith Harkin’s debut album through Amazon, it arrived last Monday, and I have been unashamedly playing this single cd all week.

Fabulous album cover 😉

OK so I can hear what some of you are thinking, “uh huh sure it’s great, whatever you’re just one of those fan girls, who would buy his cd even if he sounded like a dying cat”. Well you my dear are wrong, very rarely do I buy cd’s. Most of the time I wait for it to hit youtube or pandora cause I’m cheap like that. I also don’t just get the sudden urge to buy whatever music, since I work hard for my money, I want to know that what I am buying is going to be great! Well I hadn’t any doubts, cause I have been to two of Keith’s shows and each time I was blown away by his beautiful vocals, and killer guitar playing skills. Seriously even if Keith wasn’t as good-looking as he so obviously is, I would still be just as much of a fan. Because you cannot argue with raw talent! Honestly I feel like that is the best description I can give Keith…Raw talent! His cd has finally been released and I would highly recommend that you go out and buy yourself a copy, and then buy a copy for someone that you like, because music this great deserves to be shared with the masses.

 everyone with the ability to hear would love this album!

Keith has some of his own songs on this album which are sublime, as well as compilations and some fabulous covers of classic songs (Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me is my favorite cover). Every song knocks it out of the park though. There is truly a song for everyone on this album, so no matter what your musical tastes may be you will not be disappointed. I have placed the links below to where you can buy his album. Hope all of you have a very Happy Musical Monday!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/keith-harkin-keith-harkin/24997900?ean=602537115488

http://www.amazon.com/Keith-Harkin/dp/B008N5UX8S

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/keith-harkin/id559958870

http://www.celticthunder.ie/content/keith-harkin-keith-harkin-cd