Hi friends. Man, that was a whirlwind trip to Europe for us. In
eight days we flew about 20,000 miles, taking 8 flights, 3 different
airlines to 3 countries. The culmination was the Johnny Keenan Music
Festival in Longford, Ireland with our friends Steve Earle, Blue
Highway and Leroy Troy. We flew into Dublin two days early just to rest
and relax and hangout with friends before being driven to Athy for a
live radio show onsite at the "Ireland Ploughing(plowing)
Championships"...Irelands biggest event of the year that draws over
250,000 people every year over a three day period! Amazing! The
producers of the show told us after the live interview and playing one
song that a million people were listening in that day. The Irish
obviously take their 'ploughing' seriously! Tim told the radio audience
as well as the several hundred people standing around watching and
listening by the stage, that the word has a totally different meaning
in the U.S.A...!! After that we were driven to Longford, about 3 hours
away, checked into our hotel accommodations to prepare for the four day
festival. We had a GREAT BIG time with all our Irish friends and fans
as well as the large contingent of American friends and fans of which
for some the trip was spearheaded by the seemingly tireless Alex Counts
president and founder of the Carter Brothers Fan Club
(carterbrothersfanclub.net..).
We returned last Wed. through stops in Zurich, Switzerland and a night
in Boston before returning to the comfort of our beloved TreeHouse. We
had two days to wash cloths and repack for a weekendlong private
gathering and performance in the mountains near Boone, NC.
Things will slow down on the road for us after October 22nd. We will be
very busy in the studio recording our new Carter Brothers album(in 5
years!) and launching our new Tree O Records artist Chris Cook's new
CD. We are also coordinating with our tour planner Paula Templeton as
to our 2010 schedule which will include an almost summerlong swing
through the Pacific Northwest and Northern West Coast from Juneau,
Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Northern
California...heck, we're even doing a performance in Whitehorse, Yukon!
Paula has been and continues to work tirelessly putting together all
the logistics and details for such a massive schedule. We'll keep you
informed.
*Special note. The Carter Brothers will be going to Ireland a couple of
times in the coming months(2010)to begin recording a special project
with some of Irelands best known and very gifted musicians/friends to
record a second Carter Brothers album for 2010 release called "Where
the Bluegrass Meets the Green Grass"...a project we've been talking
about doing for several years. We met with Irish music legend and our
dear friend Gerry O'Connor who will co-produce the Irish sessions with
Tim and Danny. The guys will then bring the recordings back to their
TreeHouse Tree O studio to record their parts as well as the American
guests who will play on the album. This by no means is a small
undertaking as they bring together some of Ireland's finest players
with some of the USA's best! More on this later!
Tim continues mixing Shelton Williams(Hank III)new album here at the
TreeHouse this week and Danny is writing and enjoying a long awaited
weekend off the road. Until the next time...Much Love, Best Wishes and
hope to see you all out on that road sometime soon!
drc