TALES FROM THE ROAD:

This is supposed to be my monthly email blast about my travels. Inevitably the travels take precedence and the time allotted to tell tales slips away. Monthly becomes quarterly and I'm now trying to pack 3 months of eventful touring into a short and entertaining little note. Do I share my first experience watching televised rugby in Galway where I was heard saying "What's the deal with the pile (AKA: a ruc)?" Or maybe you'd enjoy hearing about my new friend Mo O'Connor a brilliant guitar player and "human antenna" living in County Cork. Mo was struck by lightening years ago in Massachusetts. But, I think Mo's story is funniest when told by my tour companion drummer Eamon Murray. He does a wicked imitation of a cork accent. Perhaps I'll get Eamon to record himself and put it on youtube! Or maybe I'll get to play a show with Mo in the future so he can tell his own story!

One of the highlights of the tour was being asked to participate as a guest at the Baltimore Fiddle Fair. No! Baltimore, Maryland is not the home of America's newest fiddle festival. This is The Baltimore Fiddle Fair in West Cork, Ireland an annual festival run by fiddler Declan McCarthy. Like most festivals, Baltimore is a high octane event where old friends, musical heroes and friends we have yet to meet converge to keep each other awake all night playing tunes and singing songs. This years Fiddle Fair line up included some of my musical heroes, Jerry Holland (still up at 9am Friday morning serenading hotel guests at breakfast), Annbjorg Lien and Darol Anger's Republic of Strings featuring my good friends Aoife O'Donovan, Brittany Haas and Tristan Clarridge of Crooked Still who's brand new album 'Still Crooked' is mind blowing.

Alas, I'm only just beginning and I've rambled off topic….I was given a slot at Baltimore opening for Breanndan Begley and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh. When I arrived at the Baltimore Fiddle Fair on Thursday night, Breanndan and Caoimhin were two of the first people I met. They greeted me with fine dark chocolate and whiskey. As most of you know Ice Cream is the fastest way to my heart. But, whiskey and dark chocolate are a close second. What made me love this pair more was their musicianship and general party ethic. You might ask what I mean by 'party ethic'. Well, lets see….Breanndan was seen Friday and Saturday nights dancing and playing his accordion on chairs and tables alternating with canting unaccompanied Irish songs to an enrapt room. I heard through the grapevine that Breanndan has a dinner table made to support the weight of 12 of his heaviest friends dancing a set. If you want to understand what draws me to Caoimhin's stunning fiddle style, begin by listening to the first few notes on his myspace page. Like chocolate and whiskey the good party ethic that these two embody includes understanding both the exquisite and the fiery.

That evening between bites of Ecuadorian chocolate, I was informed that not only would I be opening for Breanndan and Caoimhin but that a very special guest would appear with them. The voice of Scar, Jeremy Irons, would debut his newly honed fiddle skills at The Baltimore fiddle Fair. Yes, actor Jeremy Irons has been learning to play the fiddle from teacher Caoimhin O Raghallaigh. He began lessons 1 year ago though he confessed to have been practicing for only 2 weeks. Oh, and the entire event was to be filmed for an Irish Language TV series to air this December on TG4.

So, after my Sunday afternoon opening slot overlooking the bay and of course after enjoying all the music that followed including a duet between Jeremy and Martin Hayes (Jeremy's favorite fiddler) we ended the night back at the Hotel playing tunes yet again. Only this time Jeremy Irons got out his fiddle to jam. All the cameras were gone and only the bitter end partiers were there to enjoy. Jeremy sat to my right and played along to obscure Scottish and Quebecois tunes he had never heard before. At one point between tunes he leaned over to make sure his "accompaniment" wasn't disturbing me. I explained to him that his rhythmic tones reminded me in spirit of the horn section from La Bottine Souriante pushing and pulling between harmony and dissonance. Jeremy had never heard La Bottine before but thanked me for the encouragement. I told him to check La Bottine out. I wonder if he has?

To see photos that tell all the stories I could not go to my gallery and find my UK tour photos!

How To Make A Video 101:

First you grow up playing celtic fiddle. Then you move to boston for
college. Then you start a crazy ceilidh dance event with your childhood
friend/fiddler hanneke cassel. That band should include one piper and
your friend hanneke should get a reputation for yelling at the top of
her lungs through a microphone at the dance. The piper in your band
should also make bagpipes. And 3 years after meeting this piper, he
should get a crazy idea to make a horror film which marks the beginning
of his film career with the Daemonswine creative collaborative.
Meanwhile you must continue making music and meeting musicians who challenge and inspire you....

But, seriously. The director of Bad Year is friend, uillean piper and
pipe maker Patrick Murray. I have known him for as long as I've lived
in Boston. When I decided to make a video for "Bad Year" I was thinking
about artists I knew who might be inspired to work on a music video.
The engineer for the song, friend, producer and fiddler, Eric Merrill
reminded me that Patrick was making films. I put out one email to
Patrick and he was on board bringing ideas and energy to spare.

Patrick and Neil met in England on Dec 4. I was 4 weeks into a UK tour
that began with Uncle Earl. OH I'm a bass diva, alright! Then I headed
to ireland, which is a story all its own, and flew into London from
Limerick on Dec 4. We had grand plans for a plot involving a tall dark
haired leading man and loads of intriguing extras. We sat in a cafe in
London using the wireless internet and in between cups of earl grey
posted calls for all the characters we needed on craigslist Brighton. 2
days later we arrived in Brighton having zero responses to our
craigslist postings. Luckily our host in Brighton Shaun Whitehouse had
contacted a pub and venue called the Prince Albert to ask if we might
film our music video there. We walked through the door of the Prince Albert.
Low light, christmas tree in the corner, a pub staff somewhere between
hipsters and hippies reaching for crisps on the top shelf flashing the
tops of their bvds to anyone who would look and a jovial bar manager
with rosy dimpled cheeks. He showed us upstairs where a gritty rock
trio belting something between punk and metal began to play. We would
perform in that very room the next night. Across the room at a table I
saw my "leading man." He had short spiked dreaded hair and bright red
plaid coat. I waited for a break in the music and approached him. He
was genuinely interested in being in the video. I found a small piece
of paper and wrote down his phone number and made a plan to call him
the next morning. Patrick and I headed downstairs to get a little
quiet. We scoped the bar for other people with a 'look' and found the
tall, pasty, big lipped, big eared, suit wearing englishman, the petite
blond with wringletts and stylish blackframed glasses. I filled up my
tiny piece of paper with everyone's contact info and we set off to our
guesthouse. We stopped at one exceptionally excellent falafel place on
the way home.

The next morning when I went to meet patrick and discuss our schedule
for the day over a good english fry up, I searched and searched but the
piece of paper that I'd so dilegently filled the night before was gone.
When I told patrick the news he didn't seemed phased. In fact between
calm sips of tea and bites of vegetarian sausage, patrick started
formulating a new plan. A plan based in reality....

Six weeks later the 'Bad Year' video was released at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Check it out on Youtube.com

This month I will drive over 2,000 miles back and forth between New
York and Cambridge. Every week in May Neil Cleary and I are playing at
Arlene's Grocery on the Lower East Side, Pete's Candy store in Brooklyn
and at Toad in Cambridge (check the shows listing
for exact dates and times). We are playing new songs every week. There
will be special guests and strange cover songs. Zack Hickman will play
a bunch of the shows with us too.

With all this driving I am taking a vow right now to write at least one
piece of news a week about the ice cream I consume while on this crazy
tour.

This week we ate dinner before our Arlene's show at Epicerie Café
Charbon, the french bistro at Orchard and Stanton next door to
Arlene's. This is my favorite new place to eat in NY. Perhaps it is the
international wait staff with dreamy eyes, or maybe it is that my
waiters boxer briefs always seem to peek out above his jeans every so
subtly, or better yet, perhaps it is actually the delicious and
modestly priced French bistro style food. So far I have eaten there 3
times in the last 6 weeks. But this week was the first time I had the
chance to try their Ricotta Ice cream. The true desert innovator that I
am, I inquired as to whether I could have a drizzle of creme de cassis
on my ice cream. To this my chocolate-eyed, French speaking waiter
gazed at me and said "Uh Yez, I sink zis is possible." French accents
are so sexy. The ricotta ice cream was thick and creamy topped with
roasted almond slivers. I drizzled the creme de cassis over it. Heaven!

Cassis is one of my all time favorite flavors. Cassis is the French
word for black currant. As a teenager some family friends would take
trips to France every year. On their return they would always present
me with a cassis birthday gift. In the end I received probably 5 cassis
gifts. The most notable were cassis soap, cassis candy and for my 21st
birthday, a small bottle of Creme de Cassis sealed with red wax. I
still have the bottle. It is most certainly the best creme de cassis I
have ever had. I just finished the bottle last year. I used the last 2
tablespoons to flavor some home made Ice cream I made during the
recording of 'Even the Lost Creek.'

Hey Y'all, and this time I really mean Y'ALL!!! We have had four shows so far on the "Even the Lost Creek" Record Release Tour. The best yet was definitely Rochester, NY at Milestones music room. For several reasons...perhaps it was the candle lit tables, perhaps it was the grilled buffalo wings we ate before the show or might even have been the promise of Nick Tahoe's infamous "Garbage Plate" (mac salad, fries, hashbrowns, and hambrugers piled on top of one another and topped with "special sauce"). Eric's drums felt like a heartbeat and the audience smiled! Our show ended early and lobby call was late so after a great gig it meant a night on the town! We started playing mechnical darts and found out the though I can hit a bulls eye on the first throw I have no skills! So It was Zack and me agains our drummer Eric Platz and our new friend, Jill! Jill was really awesome. I wondered how often she had sharked bands coming through town to play. But it was our own Eric PLatz who threw the winning dart. After the defeat we wanted to turn tail and run. So we got a tip on a bar with a mechanical bull you could ride for $2! So we rushed down the block, scrounged up some change to get in the bar, hit the ATM and got in line to ride the bull. There were quite a few guys in front of us in line who must have been regulars because when they got on the bull it would speed up, and go in circles. We almost bailed. But then we got a tip that they go gentle on newcomers! I asked the guy holding the injury waiver form for some tips. He said, "Put your hand in the hair, keep a staright back and hold on." I never knew the arm in the air thing on rodeo riders was for balance. I thought it was just "style". In anycase we rode the bull and we all fell off. Eric who had been having trouble with his back for days woke up the next morning feeling better than ever. SO all is well here now, We are taking a couple days off in the Pittsburgh area. The steelers fans are everywhere! I really am scared of that "Terrible Towel"!