I had a enjoyable evening evening at “Carm’s” last night and met some wonderful people. It’s a friendly pub with no TV, so conversation in paramount. Since I was doing sea shanties in my second set, that means singing along on the chorus. One side of the pub was bashful, but those at the bar weren’t. Encouraging a competition for their vocal salvation, I eventually had a stereo chorus. And in the end, the bar side was overpowered by the other group in their enthusiastic singing. Ending with “Leave Her…

I had a wonderful evening last night at Carmody’s Irish pub in Duluth, MN. A large crowd was there to enjoy Irish music and sea shanties - and sing along! Linda Crumpton dropped in to join me on the concertina for a few songs from our annual “Sea Shanty and Singalongs” we do in November at Wussow’s Concert Cafe in Duluth. I wish I’d filmed part of the evening! I would have loved to put a clip on the site! It will remain forever in my heart!

I'm sorry to announce that all my St. Patrick's Day gigs at Dubh Linn's and Carmody's Irish Pubs in Duluth, MN have been cancelled due to Minnesota's governor Tim Walz' directive to limit the spread of the Corona Virus. I found out only this evening from the venue owners that I was not playing, so it is short notice. It was a hard decision for both owners, but they decided not to entice people out to their businesses with music and festivities. Hopefully we can reschedule another date soon and for sure in…

Went to the Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, Wisconsin to hear their “Shanties and Shipwrecks“ show with the Big Top Band. Wonderful show that repeats again on September 15th at 7:30 (www.bigtop.org.). Two of the evening‘s many highlights was baritone Phil Anich’s interpretation of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and a traditional shanty “Damn You All!”. His heartfelt singing drew you into the music immediately. His version of Gordon Lightfoot surpassed the original! 

Afterwards I went to nearby…

Yesterday afternoon I played at Carmody's Irish Pub in Duluth, MN before an audience of Irish music-loving folks. They were such a great crowd that loved to sing or clap along. It was an added treat that my nephew was able to there, too, to celebrate his Irish roots - and enthusiastically participate! Even one of the owners of Carmody's, Ed Geeson, played along on the Bodhran on a few tunes, which was an unexpected delight. One of the touching parts of the evening was having a young man hand me a pint out…

I had a wonderful time again at Dubh Linn's Irish Brew Pub kicking off their St. Patrick's Day celebration with Irish ballads. This year I and my nephew were interviewed by WDIO TV as part of an evening news feature. I was very happy that my nephew got the day to come and hear me. His words about me were very touching. Also interviewed were a couple of my fans, a very sweet couple, Paula and Kent Mathews.  Click here for WDIO's link: 

I started out making music for St. Pat's weekend at Amazing Grace in Canal Park in Duluth, MN. The audience was so attentive and appreciative. That is a nice thing about playing an evening show there is that you have a listening audience, so you can ride the aural energy as you perform. Having a good sound engineer is a blessing and Ron Ayers always does such a fine job. Being a musician himself, he knows the needs of fellow musicians! I'll be playing there again on May 24th from 6-8 p.m. and again for the…