Christmas in Boston 2017

One unexpected "perk" of being Haley's mom is the amount of travel we get to do together.

These trips lead to meeting wonderful people, making new friends, and amazing opportunities for music collaboration for Haley. For me, the opportunity to watch entire shows put together from the moment the musicians meet until the last run of the show is the best and always fascinating! Though so much work and planning goes into a show before we even arrive, I will never cease to be amazed by what can be accomplished by talented musicians who enthusiastically work together. They go from not knowing each other to putting together an entire show in a few days.

Last spring, Brian O'Donovan invited Haley to be part of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn 2017. These Christmas shows are larger with a much longer run than the St. Patrick's Celtic Sojourn Haley did two years ago...three days of rehearsal followed by fifteen shows in various venues around the Boston area all within a two week period!

Haley and I arrived in Boston two days prior to the start of rehearsals. We decided to do a couple college/conservatory visits while we were here. So we came up on the train and stayed with our friends, the Coynes, for a couple days. Brian knew we were arriving a few days early so he also asked Haley to participate in a fundraiser for the Summerville Homeless Coalition at the Burren Backroom on Wednesday evening when we arrived. It was a fun night with singers, storytelling, and instrumentalists in a variety show format.

We had scheduled one college visit for Thursday and one for Friday but at the last minute Brian asked Haley to do a short interview/performance slot on WGBH Boston on Friday so we rescheduled Friday's tour for Thursday and got them both tours done in a day. The schools were within walking distance to each other so it worked out perfectly.

Friday morning we checked into our hotel early and were delighted with the beautiful room on the 17th floor with an amazing view of the city!

We didn't have long to take in the view because we had to walk to the Boston Public Library (whoa, what a fabulous library I hope to someday have longer to visit) for Haley to do the live radio broadcast on WGBH.

We spent the rest of the afternoon stocking up on groceries and shopping...it was Haley's day to do what she wanted because the next two weeks will be very busy for her! She finished up her Christmas shopping then we found a vegan restaurant and took food back to the room to veg out the rest of the night...literally.

Morning came and along with it...a snow storm!!! Thank goodness we had only a 10 minute walk to the rehearsal venue.

They began the day with introductions then started right in with learning and putting together the music for the show. They had provided some music ahead of time but most of the numbers were assembled and arranged the first couple days of rehearsal. They rehearsed each number on separately and in no particular order.

The show opened in Rockport, MA on Tuesday. The entire cast was transported to the Shalin Liu Performance Centre early in the day where they rehearsed, sound checked, and blocked each number then performed two shows. I watched the shows from a balcony seat and loved seeing all their hard work come together. The music was incredible. The singing heavenly and the stories beautiful and heart-felt.

A few pics of rehearsals in Rockport...

Wednesday was another day of rehearsals but because everything had gone so well in Rockport, the call time was 4pm for rehearsal, giving us most of the day to ourselves. In the morning, Haley finished up the last couple assignments for the two college classes she had finishing that day. Haley's friend, Quinn, had seen a post on social media about her being in Boston where he goes to school, so we met up with him in the middle of the day and they had some tunes in a pub  then Haley and I picked up some groceries. It was sooo cold and windy that day. Rather than walk back to the hotel, we called an Uber to take us back with our groceries.

The production staff had watched the shows in Rockport, which was a sort of dress rehearsal, and decided to rearranged the order of the show for opening night at the beautiful Cutler Majestic Theater. (Each night of the show, Brian likened the theater to being inside a Faberge egg...a perfect analogy.)

They performed shows at the Cutler, Thursday, Friday, and two shows each on Saturday and Sunday before going on the road for shows in Worcester, MA, New Bedford, MA, and Providence, RI. Each day on the road, we'd have a late morning bus call, arrive early at the theater with a bit of time to take a walk around the town, then sound check/rehearsal, dinner, and the show.

Haley and I found a number of funny signs during the run of the show...

Haley was treated as trash accordingly.

Someone was very confused when putting up this sign in New Bedford.

We never did see a tiny kitten...or find out his purpose.

After the three days of travel, they were back for four shows in two days at the Cutler Majestic in Boston. I watched all the shows from backstage or on the television in the green room until the very last show.

We had invited our friend Kira to come to Boston to see the final show. She arrived mid-morning on Friday the 22nd. We all took a walk to see the Christmas Village put up near the Boston City Hall and get lunch then we dropped Haley off at the theater for the matinee show while Kira and I did a little more shopping, walked through Boston Common to dinner at an Irish pub, then went to see the final performance.

I had not seen the performance at the Cutler complete with lighting and the sound (what you hear backstage is nothing like what is sent out to the audience)! It was amazing and brought tears to my eyes! Every part of the show was just perfect and beautiful. Here's Haley's solo from one of the nights I watched from backstage.

After the show there were heartfelt goodbyes and a small after party where some of the musicians just had to get in a few tunes together...

It snowed Friday during the day and then rained with ice through Saturday. Kira drove Haley and I home through the icy mess. We were sad to be leaving after such a fun couple weeks with incredible people but happy to be heading back home to the boys and the pups.

I posted a photo of the icy roads in Connecticut as we drove through and our dear friend, John Whelan, messaged asking if we were close to his home (he recently moved to Seattle but was "home" for Christmas with his boys). We stopped by his house for a quick break, a cuppa tea, and some tunes then finished our journey home for Christmas.

New Collaborations...

Last spring, Haley played a couple "pick up" gigs with two different groups of musicians. Both were kind of unplanned and just worked out the way they did based on proximity and necessity but the two groups kinda worked and this fall Haley had a chance to get together with each again for gigs.

Mothers' Pride first performed together last St. Patrick's Day at a lovely, well-attended gig at the Philadelphia Art Museum. They received two standing ovations and decided they might like to play together again. The group consists of Gabriel Donahue, who plays about every instrument known to man and does it well...he even uses loop pedals and puts on his own rather impressive one-man show. Gabriel's wife, Marian Makins, is the voice of the group and also adds some bodhran percussion. Jonathan Srour is a fabulous flute player and an even better dancer. His time is a bit limited as he is currently doing his medical residency. There is a lot of talent in the group and they work well together with very little rehearsal...which is always a plus when time is limited. They have performed a couple festivals in unlikely sounding places...The Seagirt Festival where they performed in a shooting range and the Maryland Irish Festival where they were in the Birthing Center of the Cow Palace.
Oh, the stories Haley will have to tell.

Shared Madness is Haley's other new collaboration and they came together last April at the Ormond Beach Festival. Haley was invited to perform and knew Don Penzien would be there with Megan Irby as their band Beirt le Chéile so she asked him to back her on guitar. Don and Megan then invited Haley to do their sets with them and Shared Madness was born. (The name came about because of a man in a very large, ornate chicken suit at the festival.) Don is a very talented guitarist and Megan has the voice of an angel. When Haley's cousin Thomas scheduled his wedding in October, we asked Don and Megan, who live in North Carolina, if they would like to do a few gigs with Haley on our way. They rehearsed for an afternoon to put together their program then did a few gigs together. They have a lot of fun together!!

They are scheduled for a number of festivals and other filler gigs through this coming spring throughout the southeastern United States. If you live in the south, they may soon be performing somewhere near you! Check them out at sharedmadnessmusic.com.

Catching Up…

Before life gets really hectic for the next five weeks, I thought I would catch up on the things that have been going on around here.

I don't often get a photo of my oldest son but since he was headed to his girlfriend's prom, I was afforded that opportunity. So here he is looking handsome with his beautiful girlfriend and prom-date, Madysen.

 Dylan has been festival-hopping and recording a CD with his band Poor Man's Gambit and in his spare time, gigging with Haley or Haley and Keegan. They did a house concert to help fundraise for our trip to Ireland in a couple months. It was a "double-header" house concert with the Kane Sisters playing a set, followed by a delicious gourmet dinner, then Haley, Dylan, and Keegan for a set, ending with a session.

Haley did her first ever Scottish ceili…

During a local film festival, she played at a screening of a short documentary film she was interviewed for by a friend's son who is a very talented young film maker headed off to college in the fall…

This past weekend, she and I headed up to New York. Friday we shopped 'til we dropped. Haley always likes to save up her money for a few months then do a NYC shopping trip for her "birthday." We also had an appointment to meet with someone at NYU to learn about the Mick Moloney Irish Collection housed there. Unfortunately the floor housing the collection is currently under construction but Haley received some tips for researching online and we will go back to view some items later this summer.

Haley searching for the best place to eat lunch.

Saturday she had a fiddle lesson then a house party/session at her fiddle teacher's home. She said it was most fun she's had in awhile. She played until late into the evening. She and her accordion buddy, John Whelan, were the last ones playing….

Sunday we drove back south to Philly to see Riverdance. Haley knew a number of the dancers and the fiddler and had a lot of fun watching them do their thing. We met them at the stage door after the show.

Haley with Pat and Natia Mangan and the other Russion dancers.

After the show, we walked back to Old City for dinner and a session at The Plough and the Stars. Pat and Natia joined us for some tunes for awhile, the entire McGillian family was in attendance, and my friend Maria and her sons stopped by to listen and talk so it was great fun!!

March Madness 2016

March is the best month to be an Irish musician! St. Patrick's Day brings out the Irish in everyone. This year, both Haley and Dylan had a full calendar of events with everything from small performances at a school or nursing home to huge concerts with well over 1200 people attending.

Here's a quick summary of our March fun!

The first weekend of March, Dylan headed off for a weekend long festival in West Virginia with his band, Poor Man's Gambit. They played five shows and Dylan taught a Irish guitar workshop. It was his first group teaching experience and he received a nice note afterward from one of his "students" saying how much he enjoyed the class and that he learned a lot.

A few weeks before Dylan's trip, I had to do some quick thinking and juggling because he was supposed to perform with Haley that Saturday night at the local community college. I remembered Haley's buddy, John Whelan, was performing close to us the night before so asked if he'd mind staying over and helping Haley out with the performance. He agreed!  The concert was an "onstage" concert where they had the musicians with the audience onstage sitting on chairs in bleachers around them with a house concert-like vibe. The two of them had a blast working out a set list Saturday afternoon then performing it that night. They always sound great together!

Afterward Haley went out to meet the audience and autograph CDs. The little guy below was so enthusiastic throughout the concert, clapping and dancing in his seat!

That Sunday, Haley was part of a recording project with other Philadelphia area Irish musician then we made a mad dash back across the bridge where she performed for an area nursing home. The next two days were spent working on completing a recording of Miss Kathy's second audiobook project Bugaboo Bee's Bop with Haley doing the music and sound effects on her fiddle. The book and audiobook will be released on April 4th.

On Wednesday March 9th, we all piled in a stuffed full car with Keegan and his mom, Lynette, for the drive to Long Island to begin a mini-tour. Méara Meara had four gigs in two days out on the end of Long Island all arranged by our friend, Kira McLaughlin, who was also kind enough to put us up and feed us.

We were up bright and early Thursday morning for a gig at the middle school where Kira is librarian, Pierson Middle School in Sag Harbor, NY. Haley worked with the school strings students on a tune she had sent them previously to help them make the tune sound "Irish." (They will be performing the tune as part of their spring concert.) Afterward we took a walk around Sag Harbor then later went back to the school where the band performed a concert and answered questions for all the middle school students.

That night they joined more musicians to perform for the residents of beautiful Peconic Landing. 

Friday morning, Haley, Dylan, and Keegan were part of a group performing for the workers at  Southampton Hospital. They performed during lunch in the cafeteria. After the hospital, Haley and I took a walk with Kira on the beach looking for sea glass while Lynette and the boys stayed back at the house to rest and catch up on school work.

Then we took the ferry over to Shelter Island where they performed for a full house at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. 

Saturday morning Haley, Dylan, and I were up very early to catch the 7am ferry over to Connecticut then we drove up to Burlington, VT for the next leg of the tour in VT. Haley and Dylan had been looking forward to going to Burlington, VT because they were teaming up with Studio2Stage vocalist Gerlisa for the gig and they hadn't seen her since last summer! We met with Gerlisa shortly after arriving and they worked out their set, mixing songs and tune sets with a little dancing by Gerlisa. We checked into our hotel and settled our luggage then it was time to head over to the venue. The concert was a fundraiser to send the Young Traditions Vermont group to Ireland next month. Haley, Dylan, and Gerlisa performed in the first half then the Young Traditions Vermont Performance group performed. Everyone did a great job and it was an enjoyable concert.

The next morning we took a walk around Burlington to see the shops and Lake Champlain then had some lunch at The Skinny Pancake where they had a Bluegrass band playing live. We then drove to Montpelier where Haley and Dylan performed a house concert hosted by Donna and John, two wonderful people with the cutest pups! There was a nice crowd with a number of young people attending. We had fun talking to and meeting people after the concert then we went to the small cottage in their backyard for the night. (Dylan wants one.)

Monday was an early morning followed by a meet-up with Mark from Young Traditions Vermont then a drive to do two different school programs. The first was at Randolph Elementary School where they played and talked to a gym full of kids and the other at Braintree Elementary, a much smaller school, where after the concert, Haley sat with the 5th and 6th grade girls and Dylan sat with the boys for interviews. They students came up with some great questions and follow-ups and they had some nice discussion…the students will write up their interviews for a class assignment.

After the school programs, we drove through snow to Boston…if you've read about any of our other trips to Vermont, you would know we have not yet been to Vermont without snow involved. We drove straight to the North End, looking forward to home-made pasta at our favorite Italian restaurant. We were not disappointed!  After dinner we drove to Haley and my "home" for the next week with the Coyne family. They are an awesome family of musicians and it was nice to spend some time with them and get to know them better. There were tunes before bed.

Tuesday we sent Dylan on an Uber to the airport where he flew home for five days of gigs with his band Poor Man's Gambit. Haley and I hung out for the day…did a little shopping and spent some time at the Boston Science Museum where we enjoyed the butterfly garden, a talk about astronauts, and a movie about dinosaurs in the huge theater.

Butterfly photos courtesy of Haley…

Wednesday was a very long day of rehearsals for the show A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn. Haley loved every minute of it. They started at 10am and, I think, we left some time after 5pm. They worked out the show order, multiple different collaborations, and ran through everything until it was ready for tomorrow's performance.

The show ran Thursday night in Worcester, Friday night in New Bedford, two shows on Saturday in Cambridge, and the final show Sunday afternoon in Cambridge. We had a blast! The show was awesome! There were little surprises (the dancer in the green dress for instance), lots of silliness, and instant friendships! The show host and his wife were amazing, the music director was on top of everything, the musicians were all wonderful, and the dancers were fabulous! I never get tired of seeing Haley collaborating with other musicians and sharing her music with an audience. She is completely at ease and her love of the music and fun she is having are so evident! She amazes me!

The photos below are from sound checks...

Haley starting the show.

Irish traditional music…session band.

It will be an experience Haley will never forget!!

Catching Up Post...

Wow! I cannot believe I have neglected my blog for so long! I had a couple posts started then got busy and never got back to them. Life has been a roller coaster ride for the past few months. I feel like I have taken on a second full time job trying to manage the kids' schedules. 

Here is a bit of what we've been up to the last few months…

Around the time Haley and I went to Ireland last fall, Dylan was invited to become the guitarist for a new-ish Irish band/trio called Poor Man's Gambit. They are based about 90 minutes from our house in the Bethlehem/Allentown region and many of their gigs are up that way so Dylan has been doing a lot of traveling back and forth for gigs and rehearsals and the other band members have spent a few weekends in our basement recording tracks for their website and a demo CD.

It has been a wonderful opportunity for Dylan to hone his backing and recording skills. He's started singing a bit and playing more of his other instruments (banjo and bouzouki). It is nice for him interact musically with other young musicians besides Haley, though sometimes keeping schedules straight is like walking a tightrope…this is also complicated by the fact that he's an 18 year old male who doesn't always make his schedule known until the last minute.

They have a lot of gigs booked so looking forward to watching the band grow!

Poor Man's Gambit.

Poor Man's Gambit

Among other things in November, Haley helped out with a fundraising concert at the New York Irish Center with Mick Moloney, Donie Carroll, James Keane, and Gerry O'Sullivan for the Mercy Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. We made a long weekend trip to North Carolina to visit family for Thanksgiving. It was wonderfully warm and we rented a house at the beach so we enjoyed long walks to watch the sunrise and sunsets.

Mercy Centre fundraiser.

In December, Haley was invited by Mick Moloney to perform in his An Irish Christmas shows at Symphony Space in NYC. She has done these shows for the past few years and enjoys the variety of music and the guests. Mick always has performers from other cultural traditions perform. 

Haley and Mick before the show.

One of Haley's favorite parts of performing with bands like this is the pre-show preparation and hanging out with other musicians. She worked with the other fiddle players to come up with a "fiddle" set for the show, learned a couple new tunes from Billy McComisky, the accordion player, and had a great time.

Haley with the fiddlers, Athena, Donna, and Liz.

She got to meet Bill Whelan, the man who composed the music for Riverdance, and hear him play a beautiful composition, on piano with Athena playing fiddle which I think they collaborated on.

Haley with Bill Whelan.

The Irish Christmas Show from backstage. This photo looks like a watercolor painting.

We had a wonderful, quiet Christmas at home. Our family was alone for the holidays so invited some other people spending the holiday alone...our friend, Kira, from Long Island and our neighbors down the street who Dylan helps out now and then. It was a perfect Christmas with food, family, and friends!

Haley and Kira

Between rehearsals, sessions, performances as a duo, Poor Man's Gambit performances, and the holidays, the kids' band, Méara Meara had a number of performances including the one below at Swarthmore Library. The place was packed with over 100 people in a not very large area.

Méara Meara at Swarthmore Library.

They also donated their time and talents to help raise money for the Heart of Camden project. Some other musicians were unable to perform so we invited sisters, Emily and Livia so play and at the end all the kids played a set together.

Celtic Spring at Sacred Heart Church.

The last two nights have been the best. Our friends, Altan, were in the area (kind of) so we were able to   be at two of the concerts on their current tour. Friday night they performed at Longwood Gardens. Haley's friend and bandmate, Keegan, lives close so we went to his house for dinner, went to the concert, then stayed over. What a gorgeous venue!! Haley was able to play a few sets with them and at the end of the concert, they invited Keegan and another wonderful flute player from our area, Paddy, onstage as well.

Haley with Altan

Paddy, Keegan, and Haley with Altan.

Martin having a powwow with Haley onstage…telling her how the song she happened to be onstage for went.

Keegan and Haley with Mairead

That was going to be our only chance to see them. Mairead invited Haley to come to their Saturday night show but it was two hours away and we had a lot to do…the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy so Haley and I went home from Keegan's, stopped at the gym to workout, but on our way to the car after, Haley received a message from her friend from Studio2Stage, Mackenzie, asking if she could come up because Mackenzie was dancing for Altan that night. Haley really wanted a chance to see Mairead's daughter, Nia, who would be at the show, and Mackenzie so we decided to make the two hour drive.

What a great night! We stayed backstage with the band after soundcheck. Sat around talking and eating…I am constantly questioning different musicians about life "on the road" to try to get an idea of what this life my daughter is determined to have is like…good, bad, and ugly. Haley was able to interview Mairead for her blog (www.tunefuljourneys.blogspot.com) and she got to see Nia and her dancer friends.

Ciaran told Haley this would be his signal for her to take her solo during the finale set.

Altan finale

Haley and Nia after the show.

Haley with her Studio2Stage friends.

March Madness begins next weekend…it's the busiest month for Irish musicians. Haley and Dylan have so many really neat opportunities for performances coming in the next few months! I feel like I need a secretary to keep track of everything and talk to all the people we need to talk to to make arrangements and do publicity but it's all worth it. I am so grateful for the people we've met who have taken an interest in spending time with Haley and Dylan and helping them. We have an awesome musical family!!

I love seeing my kids having so much fun doing the things they love to do most! They are getting to the point where they only need me to be the secretary, for Haley the chauffeur, and occasionally as a sounding board when they want help with certain decisions. It is amazing to watch them mature and take control over their musical journeys, discuss and arrange music with other musicians, advocate for themselves, and make decisions on where they want their lives to go.

Stay tuned!!