The good news is the album is finished and it’s going to be called Breath of the Universe. This is a name that I thought up 18 months ago and as the album has progressed it has become more relevant. I’m thrilled with how the album sounds and hope you will be too! …….it is currently in the hands of the gods and they are putting the finishing touches to it as I speak. So the bad news is it won’t be complete this month   It’s taken so long to get this far and has been a monumental effort.  A month ago I was faced with the prospect of rushing things just so I could get it out there and globetrot but then felt I wouldn’t be doing the album any justice. Especially as most of the songs are 2/3 years in the making and one of the tracks I even started writing 12 years ago!! 

However I have put up a demo of a track that will be featured on the album called ‘Astoria Dreams’ and there will be more to follow in the coming weeks.…..enjoy

X

p.s Im off to Poland.again this weekend to play at another festival but this time it will be a bit bigger…….20,000 people……..!!!

My most recent tour started where it usually does - Ireland. One of the highlights was playing at a venue in Clonakilty called De Barra’s, a spot for many a wandering Minstrel. A grand old rustic building steeped in musical history. I was humbled to learn that many illustrious folk acts have graced this venue, Roy Harper and Christie Moore to name but a few.

Next stop - Poland and the city of Warsaw to meet a friend I first met in Vienna 3 years ago. In the evening we headed into town and on the way stopped at a local shop. I was amazed that about half of this little shop was Tea!!  I decided to take a picture which was followed by the shop owner’s colourful use of the Polish language! It wouldn’t have taken a genius to work out what she was saying but I got the impression she thought I was working for the KGB!! I was shown around the city but to be honest I found it a bit depressing. Hitler’s orders were to completely and utterly annihilate the place and that it was to become nothing more than a name on a map, so even the "Old Town" isn’t old. We went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where 2 guards are ordered to stand still for 5 hours and can’t even blink even if its 30 bellow! I saw the statue of the great Copernicus, a man who 500 years ago had the balls to say the earth wasn’t the centre of the universe……that’s balls of steel! 

I was due to play a gig in the city but they wanted me to play 4 hours for what equates to…..errrr lets just say not very much! So I headed south and briefly stayed in a place called Radom which was like going back in time. Shell suits, thick tashes, and 80’s music blaring from the radio!

My last stop was the beautiful city of Krakow. If Prague was the new Amsterdam then Krakow is definitely the new Prague....….how long it will stay this way remains to be seen.  Like most places in Poland (Krakow in particular!) there is definitely “Something In The Water”…..if any guys have been here before you will know exactly what I mean  The cities most celebrated son John Paul II is still so popular in this part of the world, it seems to me that he is almost as big as the man he was representing! 

At the moment I feel more like a travel writer than a musician  but I will be back to Poland in May to play and this time with a full band and hopefully it will be for a few more Złoty!

Finally the most important thing of all…..my album! I’m back to Ireland tomorrow to work on the arrangements of 5 songs. So half of the album will then be complete! I will have some demos up on here next month…..promise!

After coming back from the Med my feet hardly touched the ground and I was off again……to ........Ireland to start recording my first album. To be honest I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing but what was awaiting me was to by far exceed my expectations!!

I was in the idyllic setting of Killaloe in a big house right on a lake, the perfect setting to create some magic. I must have taken the weather with me as I had 2 weeks of glorious sunshine! The house was right on the marina, not the floating palaces of ........Monaco but fortunately it just so happened that the producer I was working with had a speedboat! YEAHHHH….Every day I thought "we can't be in the studio on a day like this hmmmmm…..lets get in that boat!!! 

Most important of all the magic that was created with my music!!!!  Each time before a vocal take there would be 'Whiskey in the Jar' to clear the pipes and some Port to coat the voice box! However on more than one occasion I would start tweeting like a canary but if I left it too long……. So I had to do some of the vocal takes straight away before the walls started moving  bottle the magic quick!

When the first part of the recording was finished I headed to ........Dublin to play a few gigs but also to visit my local haunt, the W.B. Yeats museum. It's difficult not to be inspired when here as the creative juices always seem to flow. 

I went home but once again my feet didn't touch the ground and with less than 24 hours I was off to ........Spain. It was arranged for me to do a television interview before my gig. Thankfully it wasn't live because half way through I started to get the giggles!! I have seen this type of thing on out-takes but stopping the hysteria is harder than it looks….the more you think about not laughing…….the more you laugh!

So im back and my feet have touched the ground (just!) and now im off again for the second part of my recording and to ........Northern Ireland to play to my biggest audience yet, 1000 peeps…here goes….....again!

Only meeee! I have just come back from travelling and performing in France and Italy.  At first I was due to have a mini tour of Italy but then it was called off. Then it was on again and then off again. So I thought about doing some travelling and booked a flight to the south of France…..and then it was on again!! 

I started out in Nice, a city with plenty of glitz and glamour but it has a gritty underside that keeps it grounded. I played a couple of gigs but the music scene in this part of the world isn't up to much….its more about drinking good wine and having good conversation.  Took many trips to the stunning coastal regions and it became obvious why Julian Lennon, Bono, Eric Clapton and Elton John all have homes here.

I also managed a return trip to Monaco. The last time I was here I was too young to grasp the concept of how much money this little principality actually has! This millionaire's playground has more cherry red Ferraris than you can shake a stick at! When I walked down to the harbour to see these amazing floating palaces, at times it was difficult to work out if they were yachts or commercial cruise ships! I walked round the Formula 1 circuit and of course the casino, I tired looking for a rich Grace Kelly but couldn't find her anywhere ; )

I then headed to Italy and the northern industrial city of Genoa. First stop was the coastal town of Camogli. A beautiful quaint fishing town and very romantic….however unfortunately I was with a guy so not an ideal situation : (

I took a visit to pay homage to the birth place of the cities most famous son, the king stargazer himself Christopher Columbus. I played a gig in Serra Ricco which was a success! So much so that I sold all the CD's I brought with me and could easily have sold twice over!

Some Italian friends took me to the opening game of the Italian football season between Sampdoria and Inter Milan in the cauldron of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. What an amazing experience if a bit scary, especially when Sampdoria scored! The atmosphere was incredible…...it was one hell of a Hotbox ; )

Then to Milan to meet an Italian friend I was in Dublin with at the end of last year. Supposedly Milan is a city that's obsessed with looks and glamour….. only problem….in August everyone is on holiday so the place is almost closed! I visited the city's most important landmark, the Duomo Cathedral. While I was wowing over this amazing structure I had a random bloke place some bird seed in my hand. Within a second I was mobbed by pigeons and beggars wanting 2 euros for this pleasure!?!?! They were so aggressive in their quest for my money but I kindly told them to $%&£ off and eventually they got the message!!

We took a road trip through the heart of Italy to a beach resort on the east coast called Marotta. One gig was cancelled which meant more time on the beach!! However I played a gig on the Friday which was on the beach. It was a success but towards the end got lost in translation with all the Prosecco consumed by the locals!

I then headed to Bologna and where better to sample some Bolognese than the very place where it began. After my meal and more than a few drinks I heard loud music coming from the piazza. It was a huge open air concert of local artists so the drinks started to flow as did the broken conversations! After the concert finished I was faced with the prospect of walking home….hmmmmm???? Whenever I have been inebriated in large cities in the past I totally perfect the art of walking in the wrong direction and this time was no exception…….almost 2 miles to be exact!

With just 4 hours sleep I got the train to my last stop of Pisa. I was only there for a day to catch my connecting flight home…..quite lucky because other than the tower it's a bit of a one horse town and not much to do.  At Pisa airport I was at the check-in-desk and I turned round to see a guy from home that I used to play football with……I am now convinced its 3 degrees of separation for me!

So now I am back recharged and ready for the challenge that awaits me….recording my first studio album tomorrow…..here goes!!!

xxx

I was deep in the land of the unconscious where I saw John Lennon in a room standing by a window wearing a long white robe, his hair bellow his shoulders and the same circular glasses he always wore.  A massive bright light was shining into the room, he looked at me and said "Cast a blinking eye at the golden beaming sun"

I wonder what Carl Jung would have said?  Anyone good at dream interpretations???

Ello…..apologies for my slack blogging of late! I have been working hard and of course….playing hard too ; ) Also I have been performing and writing loads in preparation for my debut album that I am going to be recording in September….yay!!! 

Been spending lots of time in the Emerald Island. Managed 5 gigs in 5 days over St Patricks day……which im still recovering from! Also managed another small tour to the Iberian peninsular….lots of sun & sangria…plus….got home, unpacked my bags and realised I accidentally took home a small "Moroccan souvenir"….oops!

I returned this week from a hugely successful tour of Ireland. The highlight was definitely the concert at Glenstal Abbey and my performance with Moya Brennan….. 

I arrived at Stanstead Airport all set for Spain but I suppose it wouldn't have been right unless I had some kind of a small world experience. I was about to go through passport control and I saw a face I recognised from myspace and someone I had only ever met in cyberspace. I was sure she was travelling in Russia but decided to call her name and risk making a fool of myself…... It turned out to be her and we had a brief embrace in front of a long line baffled passengers! 

I arrived in Jerez on the Friday evening and as soon as I landed I headed for a place near Cadiz called El Puerto De Santa Maria to play my first show. The sound tech guy was from Cuba and a really nice guy but didn't seem to know what he was doing. Then with the audience waiting with anticipation my guitar (for the first time!!) decided not to work!! After 15 minutes and some "gentle" persuasion it decided to work and the show was under way. I was trying to remember all the Spanish I used to know….one word I was never going to forget…..cerveza. The next day I played my second show this time my guitar was behaving itself, the sound guy found his form and everything clicked! At the interval I even had one local girl say "I want a C.D from you and dinner with you" obviously as you can imagine I turned a lighter shade of Rojo ; )

After a day of rest and some sunshine I headed to Gibraltar. On the way there, there were "NO" sign posts for it anywhere even at the boarder which is a subtle reminder that Spain wants "The Rock" back! Gibraltar is a bizarre slice of Blighty in the med. The locals speak a strange sort of Spanglish or as the locals call it "Gib-Spanish". One of the great sights of The Rock are the other locals….the monkeys! They are last primates in Europe and some say when the monkeys leave Gibraltar the British will follow.

After visiting The Rock I headed to Morocco. Two things it has in abundance: Men and Mercedes, but a real gem of a country just waiting to be discovered! One of the highlights was a visit to the famous Café Hafa and like when I was in Ireland sampling the local black velvet…but this was a slightly different type of black velvet…; )

So back to England on Sunday and I was welcomed home with delays at the airport, delays at the train station and a London cab fare of £22!!! The next day I had my gig at the Half Moon in Putney which was a success and it was toped off by the seal of approval from a Mr Newton Faulkner : )

1st: The amazing experience of recording with Moya Brennan from Clannad.

2nd: At the Oxygen Festival walking towards the beer tent and bumping into a guy called Patrick I first met at a hostel in Sydney 3 years ago. 

3rd: At the Kings Head in Galway bumping into an Aussie guy that I first met at The Cell hostel in Slovenia 2 years ago.

4th: At a place called Glendalough just south of Dublin I was with my guitar in the smoking area of a local pub and a guy said "there is a musician that lives nearby…his name is Ciaran Brennan from Clannad".........I ended up back at his house drinking till 4am.

5th: My last night in Ireland I went to a random restaurant in Dublin and saw a guy that looked just like the guy I saw at the Oxygen Festival. After staring for 15 minutes I decided to ask him if he had a brother called Patrick "Yes…..how do you know my brother……?" he also said "Oh you're a musician…my best friend is a musician…….he plays keyboard for Moya Brennan from Clannad".

".......Its a small world after all"

I was lucky enough to be given a ticket to go to the Oxygen festival in Kildare. I have never seen that much rain and therefore mud in my life!!! An amazing experience none the less! On the way in I joked that there is only 100,000 people there of course I will bump in to someone I know! Low and behold…walking towards the beer tent me and another guy lock eyes…. "hmmmm you look familiar???" AHA!! We met in the same Hostel in Bondi on the other side of the world 3 years ago!!!!!

Great experience to see Muse who are the best live band on the planet and quite possibly the galaxy!!  The highlight for me was being able to see the living legend Brian Wilson before he becomes totally non compos mentis …..my life is now complete!!