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Barry Mc Cabe



Last Updated: 10/31/2009

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Status: Single
Country: IE
Signup Date: 11/7/2005

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Sunday, December 20, 2009 
Just recently I decided to wear a waistcoat I hadn't worn in ages. In one of the pockets I found a piece of paper with Arthur Conley's address on it. I must have worn this waistcoat the first time I went to visit him. As you might be aware Arthur passed away from this world a few years ago.

Arthur was a very friendly man and he did a lot to help young musicians. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of his kindness and help on several occasions.

Yesterday I was sending out a few e-cards and around the same time I got an e-mail from a good friend of mine, Bluesy Willie. Willie was also a very good friend of Arthur's. I mentioned to him about finding Arthur's address in my pocket. Willie told me he'd had a very vivid dream the night before about Arthur but it felt more than just a dream. It felt real. I said, well it's obvious Arthur is showing us that he's still around and looking out for us. 

Then I got a mail a few minutes later from Willie to say he'd just heard "Sweet Soul Music" on the radio. 

Merry Christmas Arthur, you sweet soul man!!
10:26 AM 
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Friday, October 30, 2009 
For the final phase of the tour we hit the road back up to MA to connect with our US promoter (Louise). She lives well off the beaten track in a very pretty wooded area and even though we were already quite rested from our few days off the atmosphere and pace there would certainly keep you from getting too stressed, let's put it that way. She cooked us a lovely meal (1st steak of the tour) and some very sweet corn (grown locally). Meeting up with her gave us the opportunity to report on how the tour was going so far and to finalise a few details for the upcoming leg. On Thursday, we headed over to WMUA 91.1 FM as we were scheduled to appear on a show called Rhythm & Blues and the host was a guy called Dave. We had a nice time chatting about blues and music in general and we got to play two songs live - The Peace Within and Talkin' Woman Blues.

After that we hoofed it over to Ashfield to play the Community Hall there. What can I say - Ashfield is your quintessential New England town. Very charming! We had a lovely meal in a local restaurant called "Elmer's", right there on Main St. Again, the food was organic and grown locally. The lady who runs/owns the place happened to be visiting friends in the area when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and she lost everything down there (house, business, the works). She decided not to go back and to open this restaurant/store instead in Ashfield. She certainly seems to know how to make things work because it was a hive of activity all the time we were there. They all knew about our gig and wished us the very best of luck, which was really nice.

The hall itself was an old wooden building and you could hear straight away that the sound was going to be good. It's a group of local people who run it, including input from our promoter, and they are trying to build up a steady following and have it as a regular stop for touring musicians. I hope it works out for them.

We headed up to Elmer's again for breakfast and they were all enquiring about the gig and how it went. It made us feel like locals. They couldn't attend as they all had to work the evening before. After a hale and hearty breakfast we headed off for Oxford Town. Again, we had a beautiful drive across upstate New York and we arrived at our motel in good time. It's nice to be able to chill a bit in your hotel room before the soundcheck/gig. The room was very well equipped - fridge, microwave, coffee percolator, ironing board (didn't use that! :-)).

The venue was exactly what we'd been hoping for - a very nice room and obviously a place where people came specifically to listen to the music. The promoters were as sweet as sweet could be and we just knew we were in for a good evening. After soundcheck, we decided to check out an Italian restaurant we'd seen just across the square. After all, what tour is complete without at least one pizza? The food looked great and I was tempted to order something else but no, we decided to go for a pizza. We ordered a small one each. Shortly after we'd placed our order the waitress came and put these sort of high, foldout stools beside each of us. I said (as a joke) to Danny - "maybe those are for our pizzas". Well, they were!! They brought us these two huge pizzas (can't imagine what large must have looked like). There was no way we could ever get through them but luckily enough they boxed them for us so we could bring the rest with us. I managed one slice (about half the size of a 'normal' pizza) and Danny managed two (don't know where he puts it because he's as skinny as a rake!!).

We headed back to the venue to tune up, etc. and shortly after that we recognised some people coming in who'd also been in the restaurant. They were laughing about our pizza story. One old lady said to me - "looks like they caught you by surprise with the size of those pizzas, huh?"  She was certainly right about that.

As for the gig - what can I say? It was perfect in every way. There was a good crowd in and you could tell they were connoisseurs. They knew what they liked and they gave us their full attention and appreciation. Gigs like this are a dream - especially if you're playing an acoustic singer-songwriter type show. Some of my introductions and stories had grown slightly longer during the tour but I'll tell you, I gave them an earful that night and they lapped it up. It was one of those gigs that you hoped would never end but of course we had to at a certain point. We were more than happy to do an encore for them and at the end of our encore they gave us a standing ovation. I do believe that's the first standing ovation I've ever had. I guess they had as good a time as we did. So we drove off to our motel that night very, very satisfied and with a headful of brilliant memories, a box of CD's that was much, much lighter - and of course our pizzas!! 

The next morning we had to be up early as we needed to get to our final gig, which was way out on Long Island (Hampton Bays), NY. It was about a six hour drive but luckily enough we could stop off at Paddy's place, have a quick shower, a bite to eat and then Paddy would drive the final part of the journey (from West Orange, NJ to Hampton Bays, NY). Before we left the motel we microwaved a slice of our pizzas and actually when we arrived at Paddy's place we heated up another slice. OK, that was enough pizza for me for the rest of the trip!

The weather was threatening to take a turn for the worse, which would have been a bit of a shame as we were scheduled to play outdoors, but it was forecast for around 11pm so with a little luck we'd beat it. We arrived a little later than expected but everything was in place when we arrived and we were met by Ray, his wife and their co-hosts. Ray is definitely one of the good guys (we'd met several times earlier in Ballyshannon at the Rory Gallagher tribute festival) and it was lovely to meet up with him again. His wife is a sweetheart and as expected all his friends and co-workers couldn't have been nicer to us (water finds its own level). We decided not to hang around too long as it was getting a little nippy and windy so we did two longer sets rather than three shorter ones (as we often do). During the break I was introduced to a guy called Dermott, who came from Dundalk of all places! He mentioned that he could play guitar and sing and asked if we wanted to jam. I wasn't sure if he was pulling my leg or not so I said - "why don't you grab my guitar now while I'm off and play a few songs if you feel like it". He did - and he could (sing and play guitar, that is). He did a few Beatles songs and a Paul Simon tune.

We went on after that (telling Dermott in a joking manner to get his own gig and get his butt off our stage, which he did reluctantly as he was having a good time) and I said, maybe we can do something together later. We finished off our set and thanked everyone for making the final gig of the tour such a fun experience. I went off to grab a beer (hey, the job was done, right?) and the next thing I heard was Dermott giving it loads again. Slowly but surely we all gathered in a circle and had ourselves a merry ol' sing-song. He sure knew a good few tunes. As soon as one was finished he'd launch into another. If it ran out of steam after awhile (with no one knowing all the lyrics, for example), then he just kicked off another one and on it went. It was great craic actually and a brilliant way to finish up the night.

We stayed in Ray & Rose's place and the next morning she made us the mother and father of all breakfasts. That would have fed a football team for a week!! The weather had turned nasty (the rain finally came at about 2am). We had hoped to take a stroll on the beach (just the other side of Ray's back garden basically) but that wasn't on obviously. We had to meet up with Louise (she'd travelled down for the gig with a friend), so we met up in a local Irish bar (where else) and said our goodbyes. As with most tours, as soon as it's over you allow yourself to relax so I could feel the tiredness creeping up on me. We headed back to NJ to have a final meal together with Paddy (who was also such a big help in making the tour flow so well).

The next morning we went off to fill up the car before bringing it back to the airport. We'd been up to this guy's place before and the last time we were there he said to me - "you smile a lot. I like you!" This time as we were heading off he said to me - "have a nice day, nice Sir!". Of course every time we heard "have a nice day, Sir" after that, Danny and myself had to laugh and say to each other - "no, it's have a nice day, nice Sir!!" :-).

...and that's about it. I'd just like to add that it was a wonderful experience and I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to do it. We had lots of help from lots of people (they all know who they are) and I hope we can do it again. As you play your songs night after night you end up digging deeper and deeper to get more out of them and that's always a great feeling when you find a new way to sing the same song or be able to add something new to it. It was wonderful to get such positive responses to our music and it was nice to meet some US musicians as well. I've always said it - music knows no boundaries - and this tour proved that once again. I'm a blessed man!! 
6:37 PM 
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 
Phase two of the tour saw us down in Greenwich Village, New York City, and what a beautiful part of the city that is! For those of you unfamiliar with 'the Village'  it's where a young Bob Dylan checked out The Clancy Brothers in his early days and where artists such as Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor & Jackson Browne could be found playing in their early days too, so it was a big thrill to be playing here as part of our 1st US tour. We played in a place called The Red Lion, which is one of the premier music venues in the Village right now. Again, we had a strong Irish contingent in the crowd and again I caught up with some people I hadn't seen in years. Our gig was followed by a Doors tribute band called The Soft Parade and those guys took themselves seriously (they certainly looked the part)!

On Friday we headed upstate New York to East Durham (the Catskills area), which had a very strong Irish population for years and still does. We were playing at the Blackthorn Resort for two days at a big biker's rally. Now to tell you the truth I was slightly apprehensive as to how two guys with only two acoustic guitars were going to keep a bunch of biker's happy but as it turned out I needn't have worried.

The biggest problem was trying to get us a suitable time slot to play. There were two young guys doing all sorts of mad jumps, etc. on two 'dirt bikes' but they could only do it when the weather conditions were right (not too much wind, etc.) and then just beside where they were doing their thing (which was close to the stage area) was a guy called Rhett Rotten who was doing his Wall of Death thing every hour. Anyway, we got an opening and started belting out our bluesier and rockier numbers, we kept the chat to a minimum  and served up quite a powerful set (considering it was only two acoustics). I think what stood to us is the fact that I play very much on the one beat (probably comes from listening to Irish music all my life) and as Danny loves Rory and a lot of British blues he's quite on the beat too, so there was nothing laid back about our set (unlike some of the other bands who were playing because American drummers play very behind the beat to my ears), so we got' em where we wanted them fairly fast. Sometimes it was a little difficult to hear ourselves- or know if they could hear us properly - as we had to contend with guys revving their Harleys all the time but it seems we certainly did get our music across to them because as we walked around the grounds later I don't recall ever having so many people come up to me after a show telling me how much they enjoyed the set and would definitely be checking us out again the following day.

Later that evening we went to the bar area of the resort to check out two bands who were playing - one was a country-rock type band (sorry, can't remember their name right now) and the other band was a rockabilly band called The Razorbacks Both bands were perfect for the occasion and had the crowd rockin' and having a good time all evening.

To be honest, the second day was very much a copy of the first day - bikes and bikers everywhere, Rhett doing his thing, the young guys doing their thing and a guy called Mikey MC'ing a variety of biker activities. We did our thing as well and then headed off to eat one of the best Shepherd's Pie's I've ever eaten. Someone sure knew how to make that old Irish recipe. In fact, the food was excellent for the complete weekend - and plenty of it.

We stayed in the resort for the duration and the whole place kept reminding me of the film set for "Dirty Dancing". It looked very like the setting for the film and then just today I read in an obituary to Patrick Swayze that that film was indeed filmed in the Catskills area. I never knew that.

After that we had to head over to Boston to play a gig in a place called Bull McCabe's. What a beautiful drive that was, across upstate New York and on into the state of Massachusetts, with the trees just starting to turn golden and a kaleidoscope of many other colours. Absolutely beautiful.

It was an intimate affair at Bull McCabe's as it's a nice little Irish Bar located in Sommerville, a suburb of Boston. Again, the Irish living over there did their bit to support the cause and it was a slightly surreal situation to find myself in a major US city talking about the All-Ireland football final (which had taken place earlier that day) but then again I suppose it shouldn't have been as Boston has been home to a host of Irish people over the centuries.

That's it for part two of my report of our US tour and I hope to finish if off in the next section.    
5:03 PM 
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Friday, October 23, 2009 
I hope I'll be able to remember all the wonderful experiences I/we had on my/our 1st US tour and report it all here in my blog. I'll try to do it by breaking it down into different parts (the tour had roughly three phases).

Day one obviously involved getting to the airport on time and all that jazz and everything went smoothly and according to plan so nothing to report there. The flight was very comfortable (one of the new Airbus aircraft) and we arrived at Newark International Airport, New Jersey around 6.30pm (local time). Going through customs/security involved having your photograph and fingerprints taken. I still think it's a weird situation because for me I still associate having your fingerprints taken with being in the police station and you having committed a crime or something like that. I don't like it but if that's the only way to get into the country then I have to accept it, right?

So, first I had to do the four fingers of my right hand and then my right thumb. Next he asked me to do the four fingers on my left hand and my right thumb. I wasn't sure if he was also testing my mental abilities so I said - "don't you mean my left thumb?" and he chucked a bit and said - "you're not to slow".

He then proceeded to ask me a few questions like, have you ever been in the US before, etc. and then he asked me if I'd ever been arrested. I just had to laugh a bit at that and answered - "no, I haven't had that pleasure yet".

After that it was bang, boom, bang and my passport and all the various forms we had to fill out were stamped and he said - "welcome to the United States!"  Danny had no problems clearing customs either so the next job was to meet up with my old high school buddy Paddy, who was waiting for us on the other side. He went with us to help us pick up our rental car and it's a good job he did because they wouldn't accept the credit card I had (my girlfriend's) as the card holder had to be the same person as the one picking up the car. Paddy took care of that by charging it to his credit card and naming me as an extra driver. That little 'mistake' cost us $77.81, not really the best way to start a tour, right? :-)

So, the next 'problem' to sort out was driving without a gearstick. Oh, oh, that was fun the first few times. I kept stepping on the brake every time I wanted to use the clutch (that wasn't there). We found our faces up against the windscreen a few times on the first few days!! All in a day's work, right!! :-)

The next day was the first gig - Swing The Teapot, out in Floral Park (Long Island), NY. This show was sold out in advance of the tour, which was a really great way to start the tour. Obviously, there was a strong Irish contingent among the crowd, including a few high school pals I hadn't seen in well over 20 years. It was a bit like a class reunion at times. We had decided to add a few 'Irish' songs to the setlist just to give the set more variety and it also gave me the opportunity to talk and tell a few stories about growing up in Ireland and what music I heard growing up and they went down well with the 'home' crowd. It was a great opening to the tour and it was all over in no time. Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

We had the next day off, which was a good thing as it gave us a little time to get settled. That evening we decided to get some Chinese food so we hit the local takeaway. We placed our order and as she was bagging it for us she said something to us. I had no idea what she said (she had a heavy Chinese accent and I was only half-awake) so I asked her to repeat it. I still couldn't get it but there was a rather large black man (or whatever the current politically correct term is) standing beside us and he explained that she'd just asked us if we wanted some free Won Ton soup. We didn't feel like soup so we just thanked her but said - "no thanks". She then said something else I didn't understand so again our 'brudder' explained  that she was asking us if we wanted a free soda. We didn't really feel that that either so again we said  - "no thanks" and as quick as a flash our 'translator' said - "I'll take it!!"

Paddy took us to a library in Montclair as I wanted to check my e-mail. They were very kind and helpful and gave us a guest pass which allowed us to use the computer for 30 minutes for free. I like this country already - free Won Ton soup, free soda and free access to the internet!

We were in Montclair, NJ on Saturday night, which wasn't all that far from where we were staying. We got in early enough to set up but there didn't really seem to be anyone in charge of the sound equipment, etc. Danny likes to muck around with the sound so he got stuck in and got us a decent sound in the end. Nice one Danny! Again, there were some people at the gig I hadn't seen in ages so it was catch up time again on what everyone had been doing over the years. I also had the very pleasant surprise of meeting several people face-to-face that I'd ever only 'spoken' to via e-mail. Some of them travelled several hours just to catch the gig, which always amazes me when someone does that and I was very grateful for that. Again, we felt in the company of friends and the gig became quite a cosy affair and again was over all too soon. So far, everyone seems to be really enthusiastic about the music/show and their favourite statement seems to be - "you guys are awesome!" I can live with that!! :-)

We were scheduled to appear on the Gene Shay show on WXPN radio in Philadelphia, PA on Sunday. Shay's been around a long time and is a very well-known name in the folk scene in the US. We talked briefly before going on air and he certainly knew quite a few names from the Irish folk scene. There was another duo on the show - Beaucoup Blue - who are a father/son team. We walked in as they were soundchecking and my first thought was - boy, these two guys sure play it tight, which of course makes sense when you realise they've been at it for ages. It was a real pleasure to meet them, very sweet guys!

On Monday we headed back to NJ to record a 30 minute special for the TV show "Horses Sing None Of It". They're based in Randolph, NJ. The show has been running for over 20 years, can be seen in 10 to 15 states, depending on a few variables. Our show will probably air in about three months and will then run for up to three years! It was quite a laid back affair and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. They're going to send us a copy on DVD.

We had a day or two off after that so we used the opportunity to spend a day in New York City. I won't take up your time here by describing our day out or what all we seen/did while we were there but if you've never been to New York City then I can highly recommend it as a great place to visit!!

Ok, that sort of describes our first week/phase of the tour, so I'll write more in Part II as soon as I get a little more free time.
3:25 PM 
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Monday, September 07, 2009 
I know some of you come here to get the news/updates (and not my own website www.barrymccabe.com) so just wanted to alert you to the following.

The first show in New York city is completely sold out so you will now need to go to the Red Lion gig if you want to catch a live show in New York city on this tour.

Also, we just heard that U2 will be in NYC that same week getting ready for Saturday Night Live Season premier. With the Red Lion NYC being a premier music listening setting don’t be surprised if the unexpected happened.
8:42 AM 
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Thursday, August 13, 2009 
Hah Hah, that's the question, right?

A recent article in The Sunday Times has proved to be a conversation starter due to the following piece; "As the interview neared its end, a member of a fellow northside band phoned in with a question that Bono read out: "Do U2 think that their musical ability or their publicity got them where they are now? From a future rival: Albatross"

I have no idea who it was who called in and obviously never knew about it until now. So, let back up a little and put all this in perspective. The date is Monday 25th February 1980 and U2 were being interviewed on Pat James' rock show on a Dublin pirate radio station. On the night Bono diplomatically answered that he had heard of Albatross and that they were apparently quite good.

OK, let's take a ramble down memory lane here. U2 started off rehearsing in Mount Temple school, which was just the other side a wall that bordered onto the garden of a house we owned in Dublin at that time. I remember listening to them from our back garden and because the bass is the instrument that travels loudest outside the walls of a rehearsal room I only had Adam's bass lines to go on. As they weren't standard rock 'n' roll lines I actually had quite a hard time working out what they were up to and consequently sort of wrote them off as just another school band who'll probably go nowhere!! Boy, was I ever wrong there!! :)

My next 'encounter' with the band was the following. I remember seeing them in Kevin Street College, Dublin when I was studying there. The college had lunchtime gigs and again being interested in music I used to always check out the bands. The first time U2 played there they had a problem with their equipment. They finally managed to get it running but only had time to play about 3 songs. Again, it wasn't my style of music but I have to admit Bono certainly had that X factor even then. I just remember being very impressed with his stage presence. They apologised and said they'd come back and do another show asap!

The funny part of that story from my perspective was that someone came around with a bucket to collect a few bob for the band. Being a student at the time (hence no money) I refused to pay as it wasn't a full lunchtime concert. There wasn't much the guy could say so he just gave me a dirty look and passed on. The band did come back to do another show in a few weeks and I'd been intrigued enough from the tiny bit of the first show I'd seen to go back and check them out again. I hadn't crossed the doorstep till the guy shoved the bucket in my face with great delight. I asked him if we were going to get a full show this time. When he answered 'yes' I forked over my few bob and caught my first full U2 show. Bono was a real livewire and in your face but as a rock 'n' roll guitarist (raised on Rory Gallagher and blues) I just couldn't work out what the Edge was up to. I don't think anyone was aware at that time that we were witnessing the birth of a new style of guitar playing. Exciting days indeed!

My mate Steve (Iredale) went to work for them shortly after Horslips split (which would have been 1980), so in fact Bono was probably answering quite truthfully when he said he'd heard about us because I'm sure Steve would have spoken to him about me and Albatross. Steve and myself were sharing a flat around that period and I ended up meeting Bono many times in the early '80's.

Funny how an article can bring back so many memories. Take it from me, there was no way U2 were going to be stopped from making it all the way to the top. Bono had an energy about him that was infectious (I always felt better after meeting him), he had a real drive about him and in fact all the members knew what they wanted and how to get it (not to mention the additional advantage of having Paul McGuinness in their camp as well).

So, thanks to whoever phoned in that night to the Pat James show and mentioning the name of my band at that time - Albatross - but apart from the fact that actually we were on quite friendly terms with U2 (and hence weren't in any way a rival) we were also in a completely different league as regards the need to 'make it'. I think the most important thing is - we're all still playing music to this day and still enjoying it. Now that's something to celebrate!!
1:09 PM 
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009 

I just have to tell you about a very funny situation that happened to me last weekend. I was in Melderslo, a fairly small village in Limburg, Holland because they were having their annual Fair, and as Suzanne comes from there we try to make it for things like that whenever we can.

One of her friends mentioned that there was a band playing live music in one of the pubs so we decided to go there. They were just going on stage the minute we arrived. They kicked off the first song and it sounded good from where we were (out in the main bar, they were in the back). I thought to myself, I know this song and then could hardly believe my ears when I heard the singer begin - "I'd climb any mountain you ask me to, I'd even swim the seven seas..."!! I turned to one of the guys and said - "I actually wrote that song."
It was a very pleasant surprise to hear this band start with one of my songs, and so in the first break I went up to the guitar player and and said - "I really enjoyed your first song" and he answered - "thanks, we usually open with that song" and I in turn answered by saying - "I'm the guy who wrote it" and that knocked him for six I think.

Later the lead singer and I got talking and it seems he seen me play with Albatross way back (when we played in the Canix in Lottum) and he obviously bought the record after the gig. He said he'd also seen me in De Splinter in Venlo when I did that War Child tour a few years back. He also mentioned that they start the gig with "Feel So Good" as it's a real rocker (and they play quite a few biker's parties). I told him I'd written it in Scandinavia many years ago when we were also playing quite a few biker's parties.

So, if you check out the attached setlist for yourselves (www.barrymccabe.com/blog) you'll see that "Feel So Good" is in very good company with these guys (Rosalie, Feel Like Making Love, Kids Wanna Rock, etc.) and if you have the time check out their website

Who knows - they might just be coming to a town near you soon (and you wouldn't want to miss them playing "Feel So Good" now would you?

Just as a matter of interest - if you happen to know some other band(s) or musician(s) who play some of my songs then I'd love to hear about it. I do know that a few bands are playing my versions of some cover songs I've recorded (Fine, Fine, Fine, for example) and another band recorded a demo of "Someone I Used To Know), which was interesting to hear.
1:49 PM 
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 

I had the
'experience' of playing with Mitch in May of this year when he was one
of Mick Taylor's 'special guests' for the gig in the Queen Elizabeth
Hall in London. Impish is probably the word that springs to mind when I
think back to those few days we spent together.

We
all met up a day or two before the gig to go through the various
material that might be used for the final set. Mitch's drum roadie got
in before Mitch did and he proceeded to put together a very nice
vintage kit for Mitch to rehearse on. When Mitch showed up later he
ended up telling a whole bunch of stories before even sitting in behind
the kit. The man sure had some stories to tell.

To
cut a long story short, we went through every emotion imaginable in
those few days - not only because of Mitch and his playing, his
interjections and his impishness, although they certainly contributed
to it. Mind you having Mitch Mitchell, Terry Reid and Mick Taylor all
in one rehearsal room at the same time was surely going to lead to some
laughs, great musical moments and stories to be told.

On
the night of the gig itself, Mitch's more free approach to the show and
the music seemed to work at odds with what Mick was trying to do and
perhaps it's fair to say they didn't bring out the best in each other,
which was a pity. However, in true British style, cordiality was the
order of the day in the dressing room afterwords and my last impression
of Mitch is him bouncing on his toes and in Mick's face and laughing
and still telling stories and being so Mitch that all you could do was
shake your head and laugh.

I
hope the tour in the US and his last gig brought him some joy. I know
he brought a lot of joy into other people's lives through his playing
and I hope he's happy now - and maybe even jammin' with Jimi again!!
Now there's a thought... 

2:05 PM 
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Friday, November 07, 2008 

I was going to say a 'quiet' weekend in Holland but that wouldn't be quite right...giving the interaction between ourselves and the audience in Oss! lol

However, I can say I had a great time playing a few acoustic shows with Danny Vlaspoel (former guitarist with the Rory tribute band Laundromat). I first met Danny when we played on the same stage in Ballyshannon (Rory tribute festival) and then he jammed with us one time when we played over in Holland and we kept in touch after that.

When Danny suggested doing some acoustic shows together his suggestion came at the exact right time as I was busy with something similar at that moment, so we got busy with it straight away. We didn't want the show to be just two guys strumming two acoustic guitars and singing a selection of our favourite songs or a list of well-known songs, so we drew up a list of my material that Danny would feel comfortable with and augmented that with songs we both liked or thought would suit our styles/the idea we had for the set. After sending MP3's of ideas back and forth we finally got together a few times and put the finishing touches to everything.

The first show was in The Rose, in Beverwijk. The owner is a guy called Jan, a big Rory fan, and it's a great place to visit if you're into music. There was a very good crowd in and they were there to listen,which kinda helps when you're playing acoustic! lol.

We decided to split the show into three parts. That gave the people enough opportunities to go to the toilet, buy a beer, go out for a smoke or whatever. Like I said, they were very attentive and interacted and responded brilliantly.

The next day we headed further South, to a place called Oss. I'd never played this venue before but they knew Danny from his Laundromat days.We thought the gig was supposed to start at 4pm but it was 6pm instead.That was a bit of a pity because some people had travelled from as faraway as Germany just to catch the show and they expected to be able to travel home earlier. That's life!

So,showtime. It became very obvious from the git-go that these people had their own stories to tell and so the whole evening turned into this fantastic battle between us and them. Don't get me wrong, they were a lovely audience, really nice people and a lot of fun to play to. It's just they weren't that intent on keeping too quiet. We adjusted our playing style accordingly and dropped some of the subtleties and went for a more in-your-face approach. It was a lot of fun actually. When they recognised a song they sang along and for the rest they listened,answered questions when asked, responded to funny lines or comments,whooped and hollered, danced and drank and had themselves a merry ol' time!

The owners were really nice people too and told us we could come back anytime. I threatened to bring the band the next time and play as loud as I could. They all thought that was very funny - and I might just do it you know!

All too soon it was all over. I thought overall everything went really well and I would have no problem doing it again. I grew up playing acoustic gigs and I've always loved to play acoustically. It gives you a real chance to show other sides of your songs and as a songwriter it brings its own rewards. There's talk of some people wanting to organise some 'house concerts' with us and I'd be certainly up for doing those too.So, watch this space as they say...
10:59 AM 
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Friday, July 25, 2008 

Current mood:  focused

Well, who've have thought it when we all said goodbye to each other in Italy about a month before that we'd all end up playing together again in Holland? Unfortunately, Mick was not up to appearing/playing at this moment in his life so Snowy was kind enough to say "I do" for a second time! A glutton for punishment, isn't he? 

We had the chance to rehearse the day before the festival this time, which gave us the opportunity to work out which songs might sound the best or best suit Snowy's style of playing. It all fell into place quite quickly to be honest, so keeping in mind that wise old saying - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - we didn't labour too long in the rehearsal studio. I'm not a great lover of rehearsing myself so it suited me fine to be in and out of there asap! Get the job done and leave is my motto when it comes to rehearsing.

We decided to get to the festival ground quite early because it just puts you in the position of being on top of things when you get there in time. Bospop is a big ol' festival and so just getting from point A to point B can take time on a day like that. We had a nice lunch when we arrived, which was great because that meant I could eat lightly for dinner (always a good idea if you're the singer!!). We got a chance to listen to some of The Bangles set and shortly after that they trouped into the dining area. Yep, that was them alright - looked quite like I remembered them from those TOTP appearances.

We shuffled on over to our dressing room after that and they were all laid out in two long lines, facing each other. Mick Hucknall was there already so we said hello to him. One of the guys from Crowded House came in as well and then I spotted Steve Lukather and you know after that you just sort of gave up on everyone coming up to you and saying "how's it going, Barry?" lol.

I decided to go for a ramble and check out the stage that we would be playing on. Danny Bryant was playing at that moment and it sounded powerful I must say. After that I heard a little from Crowded House's gig and a little bit of Mick Hucknall's gig.

Then it was our turn to take the stage. Everyone working the gig (in all areas) had been really friendly and helpful and professional up to then so I had no worries that something could go wrong in that area. The sound was spot on, monitors were good and they even had two cameras rolling at all times, which meant the audience could also watch the show on two big screens on each side of the stage.

Sixty minutes can be a lifetime or a blink of an eye, depending on whether you're enjoying yourself or not, and all I can say is as far as I was concerned it was all over before you had time to say "jack rabbit". I reckon we must have done alright because after I said 'thank you' and turned to put my guitar on the guitar stand this almighty roar erupted from the crowd and to be honest I had to turn back around to verify that it was for us!! That was just amazing and it sure gave me goosebumps. We had time to do another number real quick, which we did.

Shortly after our set, Snowy and myself went to a designated area where people could get their CD's, T-shirts or whatever signed and it was also an opportunity for people to have their photo taken or ask questions. After that I had to go backstage to do a few interviews.

With all the work done, I decided to go back over to catch Buddy Guy's set. Buddy is a real trouper and he had them in the palm of his hand. It was fun to watch a master at work. People came up to me and they all had really nice things to say about our gig. There were people from Spain, people from England, Australia and lots of Dutch people of course. Some of them knew me and some of them didn't. They all thought the combination of Snowy and ourselves worked really well, so that was nice to hear. After that, I took some time to catch some of Santana's show. It was just amazing to see all these great artists doing what they do best - play good music. At this stage we decided to head back to our hotel and chill a bit for the rest of the night. It was about a 30 minute drive from the festival site.

All in all, I think you could say it was a job well done. I certainly enjoyed myself and it was a real thrill to play with Snowy again. I hope we can do it again soon. For those of you who we met for the first time, welcome and for those of you who've seen us before, hope you enjoyed the show!! 

12:42 PM 
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