- Eamon
McLoughlin, Carol Young
- & Kym Warner
- "The Greencards"
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- The Greencards are included in
the prestigious lineup at this years 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts
Festival. Major acts include: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Willie
Nelson, Kanye West, Jack Johnson,The Bluegrass Allstars feat. Luke
Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan
Sutton plus many more!
The Greencards take to the "Blue Room Stage" on Sunday June 15th @
5:15pm.
Further information can be found at
www.bonnaroo.com .
Thanks for taking the time to get to the bottom on this newsletter.
Hope to see you at a show in the near future!
Cheers,
Carol, Kym + Eamon
- Grammy Nomination 2008
- The Greencards on the Grammy Red Carpet
- The Greencards received a Grammy nomination in
the "Best Country Instrumental" category for "Mucky The Duck", a
track from their current album, Viridian. The instrumental was
penned by Kym Warner, mandolin player for the band and was named
after one of the band's favorite venues in Houston Texas, The Mucky
Duck! The awards will be held at The Staple Centre, Los Angeles on
February 10th, 2008.
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- Eamon's
September Jounal
- September 6. 07
The elements up here in Boise have been causing a lot of trouble for
the locals – forest fires along the Idaho/Oregon corridor have
caused the air to become smoggy and thick. Shortly after we arrived
at our hotel on Main Street, I took a walk and noticed the air smelt
like Ireland – when they burn peat and turf it heats the air and
fills your nostrils with a warm smoke. On a search for lunch, I
walked a couple of blocks and when I was too far to turn back the
heavens erupted with a downpour that had the locals thankful (they
would douse the fires, and me soaked from head to toe cursing my
luck. All this for a carton of egg-fried rice…
Our outdoor show was moved to a great venue called The Reef, a
swanky Tropical bar where the patrons order drinks called ‘Breeze’
and chomp coconut shrimp. Whereas we were expecting over a thousand
people outdoors, a few hundred people slowly crammed into the club.
By the time of the show we were faced with a hungry crowd who went
wild when we tossed them morsels of fast tempo music. The staff was
great and re-filled our glasses with lovely red wine. After the
encore the crowd’s appetite had finally subsided and we chatted with
folks and signed their CDs. All in all we had a great show in spite
of the rain!
We relaxed afterwards with a little more red wine, and yes, we had
to order some of those shrimp to see what all the fuss was about. A
great singer, James Orr, armed with just a guitar and a loop
station, entertained the club for the late show. He would create a
groove on his guitar by banging it, and then loop it so it created a
rhythm track for the song. He did the same with vocals and guitar
lines – how he kept aware of all that was going on I’ll never know.
Fans of K.T. Tunstall maybe aware of this technology and how fun it
can be – when it is used to great musical effect it is no longer
just a novelty.
We’re now on our way to Oregon to play the Three Sisters Folk
Festival, but we have a long drive through small towns to get there.
This month has some great festivals including Winfield in a couple
of weeks – can’t wait for that! There’ll be little sleep for us that
weekend, and lots of late night jamming with old friends.
Hope to see you
guys at a show sometime soon.
Eamon
- August 21,
2007
Driving Ourselves Crazy!
We’ve done
some arduous drives in our time, but last week has to make the top
5: Lake Placid NY to Nashville TN non-stop. That’s over 1000 miles
and 18 hours in case you’re wondering. Kym took the morning shift as
he always does, and quite frankly I don’t know how he does it.
Rarely drinking coffee he somehow manages to keep perfectly alert as
the sun comes up. The rest of the band goes straight to sleep and
perhaps it is our snoring that keeps him awake.
I slept most of the morning due to an extremely late night spent
with our guitar player Andy Falco, cruising the Main Street of Lake
Placid - a gorgeous town with plenty of cute restaurants and bars.
Andy and I got back to the rooms and got a little sleep before the
van left, but no way could I have driven six hours on such a short
amount of sleep. So, I snoozed and snored my way into Pennsylvania,
taking over the wheel around 2pm. My iPod being broken has left me
with an over reliance on XM Radio, which is fine, but I am awful for
changing the station every five minutes. That is not only dangerous
and distracting but also annoying for everyone else I’m sure.
Luckily, Andy presented his iPod when he could take no more and
launched us into some classic George Strait country music!
“Somewhere In Texas” is a great example of modern country music, and
it got a CMA award for its duet with Lee Ann Womack – proof they
still make country music in Nashville, even if they’re singing about
Texas a lot of the time! Le Ann’s album “There’s More Where That
Came From” was up next (also great!), and by the time we finished
Alan Jackson’s “Red Like a Rose” we had restored our faith in
Nashville’s country music credentials, and I had also finished my
six hour shift – phew!
I swapped seats with Carol who was working on setting a new world
record on longest time spent sewing. She has recently taken to
making her own clothes with nothing but some fabric and a few
needles. The results are great and she has even offered to re-work
any of our old items hidden in the closet. Keep looking on
late–night infomercials as you may see Carol introducing her own
fashion line…
The van finally shuddered to a halt in west Nashville as a bunch of
tired and shaky musicians fell out the door. We have driven worse
trips, but this one had really taken a toll. Fortunately we now have
a week off to recover, and our gigs in Urbana IL and Philadelphia
Folk Fest were easy travelling. We can now relax, knowing that it is
a few days before we have to worry about the impending drive out to
Colorado – ouch!
- August 2007 Newsletter
We are very pleased to announce The Greencards will make
their first appearance at IBMA Fanfest (International Bluegrass
Music Association) on Friday October 5th. For more information on
the event running from October 1st - 7th in Nashville TN, including
ticketing, go to: www.ibma.org or phone toll free: 1-888-438-4262.
Other performers at event include: Emmylou Harris, Mountain
Heart (with Adam Steffey), Cherryholmes, Infamous Stringdusters,
Nashville Bluegrass Band and more.
If you'd like to check out new live footage from a recent
performance at a great venue, The Ark in Ann Arbor MI you can go to:
www.myspace.com/thegreencards where we feature 3
tracks from "Viridian". This is definately one of our favorite
venues in the country and always a lively audience.
Other news... Eamon is now a "specialty writer" for a CMT Blog. You
can head over to blog.cmt.com or
www.thegreencards.com/journal.html
and catch up on our tour and festival reviews... check it out!
Further show info can be found at
www.thegreencards.com/tour.html
or contact the venue.
See you soon!!
Cheers,
The Greencards
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- Eamon's Journal
- July 31, 2007
I climbed up the stairs to my apartment yesterday, my suitcase
trailing behind me. We’ve just returned home after a weekend in
Lyons Colorado, where we played the RockyGrass Festival. Throwing my
suitcase onto the bed, I realised how frustrating it is to unpack a
suitcase that will be re-packed again in a matter of days – with
much of the same stuff, only freshly laundered! Still, the
travelling wardrobe is emptied and stowed under the bed at least
until Thursday when we leave for Idaho. My place is starting to feel
unfamiliar and more and more like a temporary stopgap until we get
on the road again - a place to clean up, pay bills and prep for
another tour. Having kept this schedule for a few years now I know
that it will be like this until the end of the year; the key is to
keep your energy up and play the best music you can.
Nickel Creek played the last
night of RockyGrass, and proved the highlight for many fans. This is
their last year together before they take a break (of undetermined
length…), so expectations were high when they took the stage. They
seemed very relaxed together and played off each other in a jovial
way – made for a really enjoyable show! That seemed to be the mantra
for the whole Festival – Enjoyment! RockyGrass is set in a beautiful
campground surrounded by high red rocks, and everyone seems to relax
and enjoy the festivities. As a little reward for ourselves, we took
the whole weekend to hang out with all the other performers and
simply enjoy the music.
Highlights for me were Peter Rowan with Sharon Gilchrist and Bryan
Sutton, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, and an impromptu
set between The Biscuit Burners and us! We only had an hour before
the show to figure out our program and there was a nervous energy as
we filled the stage with eleven musicians all wondering if this was
going to work – and it did! Just before we kicked off, Casey
Driessen (Red-Headed Fiddle Supremo!) wandered so close to the stage
that we grabbed him and told him he’d be playing the set with us!
Thus, The Biscuit-Cards (as we were billed) were armed with triple
fiddles and we charged confidently down the set list. Sarah and
Odessa joined Carol on fantastic harmonies and together the three
singers sounded amazing on songs like Kentucky Girl and Bury Me
Beneath The Weeping Willow. At times it was chaotic as we arranged
the songs on the fly – but that’s what makes those events so fun for
both the audience and the musicians! Special thanks to Casey for his
help and endless creativity!
Festivals really celebrate music and they make all the long miles
and difficult sound checks worthwhile – now back home in East
Nashville I feel rejuvenated and re-inspired after such a great
time. I have a whole list of tunes to learn after hearing all the
young musicians picking backstage; there’s a new cast of players
just waiting to join the party! Hope to see you sometime this
summer!
Eamon
- Casa di Falco
There are many ways to find
good accommodation on the road – Priceline.com, loyalty accounts,
paying through the nose – but we have just left the place that
trumps everything else. You won’t find it on any website, and it’s
certainly not in The Lonely Planet Guide. Nestled in the heart of
Garden City, amongst the well kept lawns of beautiful detached
American homes lies the Casa di Falco, distinguishable only by a
f-hole style character above the front windows. This is not a
restaurant or Inn, but in fact the home of our guitar player Andy
Falco who kindly invited us to stay with his parents for a few days
whilst playing in the area. Jack and Franny invited us in when we
arrived at midnight, gave us our own air-conditioned rooms, and
fried up some eggs and ham for these errant musicians. The band was
happy!
We played some great shows in the area, including The Turning Point
in Piermont NY, and the Gild Hall in Delaware. Thanks to all who
came and made both shows so enjoyable – special thanks to the folks
on the street team for these shows. It makes such a huge difference
to the show and hopefully the street-teamers are happy with their
free tickets! Let us know if you can help!
Andy Falco has played guitar with us on and off for a couple of
years, and is an incredible addition to any outfit he works with.
The son of Italian-Americans Jack and Franny, Andy carries with him
a sense of history and tradition that has been engrained by his
upbringing. Mama and Papa Falco have a home that carries a strong
sense of family and charity. Many picture frames around the house
are filled with smiling faces from the past, telling stories a
newcomer to the house can only guess at – smiling babies who have
now have become adults, newly wed couples in blissful happiness now
marking decades together. Faded photographs really do tell a
thousand stories.
Jack Falco is a retired Architect who designed the sunroom where he
can often be found digesting a book – that is, whenever he is not in
the kitchen cooking food for anyone who even mentions they might be
a little peckish! On our last night, he and his wife Franny cooked
up the most incredible Italian meal I have ever had. I could go on
forever about the incomparable chicken cutlets, the eggplant
Parmesan that was in a class of its own, or the peerless lasagne,
but even as I write my mouth is watering… To be honest though, good
food is only one half of a good meal. The more important part of the
experience is the company, and this was a table overflowing with
companionship and affection. Franny has raised some lovely kids and
they all came from all over New York City to eat at Ma and Pa’s
place (except Thomas on holiday in Paris), and visit with their
brother Andy.
They made us all feel very welcome, and as we went to bed we
wondered if we would ever be hungry again, or if we would ever eat
food that good ever again. I doubt we will – at least not until we
feast again at the table of Casa Di Falco! Thanks for the
hospitality Jack and Franny!
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- THE GREENCARDS STILL ON
CMT!!
With your help, we've continued to stay "on the list", which
means we're still in rotation on CMT. We thank you for voting so
well and ask again if you get a minute or two, continue to vote for
The Greencards video, "Waiting On The Night". And while you're there
vote a few times. It's super tough for a little, bitty acoustic
band, with a bunch of foreigners as members to keep up with the
likes of Toby Keith, Keith Urban and those big Nashville guys! We
certainly do appreciate the help. Go to
www.myspace.com/thegreencards (click on the banner), or
directly to CMT.com.
STREET TEAMERS...
This is a quick note to say thanks to all of you on the
street team. People who post flyers, email friends and generally
spread the word on upcoming shows. Without this kind of assistance
it would be almost impossible to stay out on the road and do the
amount of shows we do each year. This line of advertising and
promoting a show on a grass-roots level has proven very successful.
To those of you on the list, and those of you that just pitch in
anyway, we thank you.
See you soon!!
Cheers,
The Greencards
- Collaborations and Cross-Pollination.
As we drove out I-70 for the umpteenth time this trip,
looking out into nothing but desert, our guitar player, Matt
Wingate, announced he was officially bored of driving out west. To
be honest, it was hard to disagree with him. This was our third week
of the tour, and while the shows were going great, the driving was
beginning to take its toll – the stark scenery often makes you feel
like you’re on a tour of Mars. As far as the eye can see, there is
nothing but harsh, arid desert. Only a handful of bushes stand in
futile protest to the infertile sandy ground. Rock cliffs stretch
high into the air forming a corridor on either side of the freeway;
you feel like you’re driving on the bottom of a long deserted
canyon. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as we pull into a city
and find civilisation once more.
- The show last night was in Layton UT, just north of Salt Lake
City. It was a beautiful amphitheatre, the night was cool and the
audience was rapt. The only blight on the evening was the
interruption by several F-16 jets as they flew overhead and headed
into the desert for nigh-time training before being posted in
Afghanistan or Iraq. New York City this most certainly is not…
Tonight we play once more with the incomparable Jake Shimabakuro –
incredible Ukulele player who has redefined his instrument. For the
uninitiated, we are not talking of someone in a large Hawaiian
shirt, adorned in silk lei, singing traditional Island songs. Jake’s
repertoire includes original material inspired by Flamenco, The
Flecktones, as well as covers of folks like Chick Korea. Jake has a
very commanding and modern stage presence, and cradling his Ukulele
in his arms, plays beautiful ballads as well as high-energy mind
blowing material. Luckily for us, Jake sticks around to play with us
at the end. He suggested the unlikely cover of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time
After Time’ – actually a highlight of the evening for me. And then
we all blow a gasket on the ever-reliable Orange Blossom Special.
Fun stuff!
Hopefully we’ll do some more touring with Jake, we’ll keep you
posted as and when dates are confirmed. I have a few more journals
to post in the next few days so keep checking back when you have a
free minute – now we have a few days off I can type up my scribbles
and post them online.
See you guys soon,
Eamon
- THE ROAD GOES ON
FOREVER…AND EVER!
Can you believe it…we’ve clocked up almost 6,000 miles on the
van since June 6th!!
This tour started out in the other Nashville in NC, about 30 minutes
east of Raleigh NC and somehow we’ve ended up on the west coast..now
as I’m writing this we are making our way through beautiful
Colorado.
Yes, it is festival season and we’ve played some brilliant ones so
far. Early on in the tour there was Hiawassee Roots Fest. in
Georgia. It was our second time at this one and I think it’s one of
the best sounding festivals out there….indoors and air conditioned
as well…what more could you ask for!!! Had a good set, packed our
stuff up and drove overnight to Wakarusa Festival in Lawrence KS.
Now this was not your average festival. Not only a great line-up of
mega proportions which included Sam Bush (one of our personal
favorites), Michael Franti, Martin Sexton (who absolutely blew me
away with vocals like you don’t hear to often), The Waybacks and The
Avett Brothers, the highlight of the day for the guys had to be a
group of young and vibrant girls walking around the festival
topless!! Yes, you heard right, topless with their chests painted in
metallic colours with butterfly designs and hearts etc…very
liberating for them I’m sure and very entertaining for the male
members of The Greencards!!
One would think it’s all downhill from there but not so. We decided
to hit the Reno NV Casino circuit for a couple of days on our way
out west. The gambling thing is not really for me so I headed into
town on that search for good coffee. Not only did I find a good
roast in the centre of town, I found the Truckee River running right
through the town, rapids and all…you could even hire tubes or
kayaks. This was me for the entire day.
Next was Grass Valley Festival in California…This is said to be a
more traditional festival and I have to admit I was concerned our
music might not be received too well, being that we plug our
instruments in, I play electric bass, not to mention we don’t have a
banjo in our line up….Not the case at all. This festival was a
surprise for all of us. The people were very welcoming and
accommodating with ears and hearts open…it’s in a first rate setting
with loads and loads of camping and facilities…hope we get to do
this one again sometime.
Cave Creek Coffee Company in Cave Creek AZ…our second time to play
there. Great food, wine. A couple of hundred people packed the
outside venue on a Sunday night (Father’s day). We had a blast even
though it was an outdoor show and the temp reached 109 that day!!
Highly recommend you stop off if you’re heading through Phoenix
anytime soon.
Then came Jake Shimabukuro, this guy is a genius on the Ukele.
Thanks to the powers that be we have been on tour this week with
Jake playing Flagstaff AZ, Durango CO, Layton UT and tonight
Palisade CO. We then hit Albuquerque NM, then Aspen CO together
before heading back to Nashville TN. There are no words to describe
this guy’s talent, it has to be seen to believed. He goes it solo,
no effects, just him and his Uke…and he’s adorable!!
More to follow soon when I get out of this van!!!
Cheers!
Carol
p.s…sorry if I’m late in responding to emails and myspace…it gets
tougher from the road when we have crazy drives....promise I’ll get
back to you soon as I can.
- Hello Cardholders,
June will be one of our busiest touring months of the year.
We're excited to be hitting some really cool festivals and seeing
some great shows ourselves. Then we get to do a bunch of dates with
our friend Jake Shimabukuro. For those of you who have never seen
Jake be sure that you make it there in time if he plays first (some
shows on this leg of dates with him, he plays first and sometimes we
do, and you can usually count on us doing a couple of songs together
at the end of the evening). He is really one of the best musicians
and exciting entertainers that we know. Here's the list of dates:
June Tour Dates
6/7 Nashville, NC Nash Arts Center
6/8 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theater (w/ Jake Shimbukuro)
6/9 Hiawassee, GA Georgia Mountain Roots and Music Festival
6/10 Lawrence, KS Wakarusa Festival
6/14 Grass Valley, CA Grass Valley Festival
6/15 Grass Valley, CA Grass Valley Festival
6/17 Cave Creek, AZ Cave Creek Coffee Company
6/18 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater (w/ Jake)
6/19 Durango, CO Community Concert Hall (w/ Jake)
6/20 Layton, UT Kenley Centennial Amphitheater (w/ Jake)
6/21 Palisade, CO Grande River Vineyards (w/Jake)
6/22 Albuquerque, NM Rio Grande Zoo (w/ Jake)
6/23 Snowmass Village, CO Snowmass Village Mall (w/ Jake)
You can pre-purchase tickets at our site by clicking the link below:
www.thegreencards.com/tour.html
KEEP THOSE VOTES COMING!
Thanks to you guys, we've been consistently in the CMT Pure Country
12-Pack countdown. Currently, we're at #5! We sincerely appreciate
all of your efforts. Here's a link to where the voting happens, and
if you have a second, make sure that they hear from you:
www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/cmt_pure_12_pack_countdown/series.jhtml
Cheers!
The Greencards
- “You Can’t Handle The Tooth!”
Picture if you will, a scene from the old black and white
movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” – specifically the one where
Quasimodo clasps his head in agony and cries ‘The bells! The bells!’
You now have an accurate likeness of yours truly this past weekend
as I suffered through two aching teeth that have caused my jaw to
swell up like a balloon. Popping Advil like they were Smarties has
not really helped, so I have had to adopt the diet of a two year old
and eat all my foods on a no solids basis; I am the soup king of
East Nashville!
We played some new venues this weekend – the 930 in Louisville is a
multi function venue that includes an art gallery amongst other
things. The show was great despite my physical homage to the great
character of Victor Hugo. We stayed plush as we journeyed to the
great arch of St. Louis and played for the first time at the Lucas
School House; these folks are clearly putting money into this
venture and the place looks and sounds great! They also have a
fantastic chef who wooed us with his pasta linguine, artichoke soup,
deli tray par excellence, and finely crafted strawberries. After
that kind of treatment we are anybody’s!
The last show was at the end of a very long and very boring drive
through the endless cornfields of Iowa. The M-Shop is however a
really fun venue in the style of The Cactus Café in Austin, and sits
on the edge of ISU campus in Ames. Our XM radio is on the blink so
we hooked up our iPods and ransacked our old record collections to
amuse ourselves. Unfortunately, the next day we had to turn around
and drive the twelve hours back to Nashville so we were utterly and
completely bored by the time we arrived. Somebody please provide us
with a bus and a driver, please…!
A few folks wrote in and suggested some new releases worth checking
out – Andrew Bird, Tom Brosseau and Rachel Harrington are on my list
for this week’s shopping. I was quite impressed with the sophomore
effort from Brandi Carlile whose passionate and soul aching
performances reminded me at times of Patty Griffin, but with a
harder sound. If anyone has any other recommendations, please let me
know! I am looking forward to the new Paul McCartney album next
month, on which he plays all the instruments, a la his first solo
record which may be my favourite thing from him post-Beatles.
Right now I’m off to call the dentist and await his verdict upon my
Hampsteads – not looking forward to the bill either… My days of
eating steaks are far behind me these days and unless I start
bringing my own food processor to restaurants, I fear it will be a
while before I can do anything other than dream of chomping on a cut
of sirloin. So, I guess it’s true what they say: abscess really does
make the heart grow fonder!
Aaargh!
Eamon
- On this CD Carol, Kym and Eamon have
special Guests - Jedd Hughes, Bryan Sutton and Andrea Zonn
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- The Greencards at
Joe's Pub New York City - 21st April
- Courtesy of Kerry Carter
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- A Nashville Moment
From Carol
- It's been a long time since I've had full-body chills.
Around 10:30pm last night a weather front came through bringing
heavy rain, temperatures dropped a few degrees but nothing major.
Still nothing was going to stop me from purchasing a $15 ticket to
see The Dave Rawlings Machine in an unannounced appearance at The
Basement in Nashville.
I handed over my money to the door guy and went straight to the bar
to order a top-shelf vodka and grapefruit juice, my drink of choice.
Not only was I pumped about seeing DRM for the first time, this was
my first night off after a 3 week north east tour which just
finished up with a rockin' show at Joes Pub in NYC with the
Everybody Fields (also rockin').
I ran into fellow aussie, Jedd Hughes and his girl, Katherine and
gabbed for about an hour until Dave and Gill casually strolled onto
the 4 inch high stage. This meant only one thing for me, grab a
chair and stand on it or I'd have no hope of seeing a thing!
Now I know I'm a "sound snob" but I just expect clear
sound...unfortunately it wasn't as clear as I would like but this is
a tiny room (about 80 capacity) so there was quite a bit of quality
tone coming directly from the stage...and quality it was, those two
together is something special to witness. Dave did most of the
singing but Gillian sang harmony on almost everything. GORGEOUS!!!
About midway through the 60 min set Dave made an announcement that
they would like to bring up a friend..."please welcome Norah Jones
to the stage". Norah came prepared. She had her wonderful Neumann
KMS 105 microphone already plugged in, and dragged it to centre
stage between the two. They spoke briefly about Dolly and The Ryman
show they recorded together a little while ago and then Dave kicked
off the intro to the Townes Van Zant song, "Loretta"...all sung in 3
part harmony. Truly a Nashville moment.
By the time they finished the set, which included 2 encores, the
rain had stopped, I drove home and had some vegemite on
toast....excellent!
Try to catch some live music...it's wonderful for the soul!
Carol
p.s. Great Aussie guitar player alert. Mark Punch will be playing in
Nashville May 2-7 with Jackie Bristow, try and get out to hear them
if you're in town. Nashville Scene + Rage should have show details
next week....or
www.myspace.com/jackiebristow
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"Movin’ On"
song samples
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- Vote for Keith’s and The
Greencards’ New Videos on the CMT.com Weekly Countdown
Here's your chance to show your support for new videos by
several Australian artists or singers who recently have performed
here. CMT.com’s
Pure 12-Pack Countdown presents
a list of video links each week from Friday to Wednesday allowing
you to pick up to twelve favorites each time you vote. This week’s
list includes Keith Urban, The Greencards, Fred Eaglesmith, Dale
Watson, Jim Lauderdale and Elizabeth Cook who co-wrote “Sometimes It
Takes Balls to be a Woman” with Melinda Schneider. So please visit
the link above to vote ..... and to vote often!!
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- The Greencards new video on CMT.com
The Greencards video "Waiting on the night" from their
new, chart-topping CD Viridian is featured in this week's "CMT
Loaded" rotation on the US Country Music Television network's web
site:
http://www.cmt.com/loaded/player.jhtml?id=1556581 (use of the
Internet Explorer browser is required) - click on the video to see
it in full screen mode. Also in this week's rotation is Miranda
Lambert, Little Texas and Elizabeth Cook who performs "Sometimes it
takes balls to be a women" which she co-wrote with Melinda
Schneider. You can also find the "Waiting on the night" video by
going
http://CMT.com and entering "The Greencards" in the search
field. For those using a different browser, the video can be viewed
at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxfib782N0A
- VIRIDIAN Release Show in Nashville 3/24
It was an honour for The Greencards to have Gillian Welch and Dave
Rawlings come and join them for a couple of
songs at the release party at The Belcourt Theatre.
- They were also joined for an encore by
the female string band Uncle Earl.
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- Eamon's
Journal
- If you have a fancy for Sailors and live music then you
should be sat here with me in Annapolis. Home to both The Ramshead
and a Naval Academy, these streets should be lined with stumbling
sea farers arm-in-arm with women named Molly or Rosie – at least if
folk songs are to be believed. The reality is substantially more
serene; cute little shops, coffee shops and boutique stores create a
relaxed atmosphere. The venue itself is a great listening room and
one of the finest venues in the northeast. We’ve performed here on
our own and with people like Tony Rice and The Avett Brothers, and
we all look forward to performing. We also get to stay at the
luxurious Loews Hotel where the pampering is far above our normal
Super 8 standard – all in all this is a happy band!
The first few days of this trip were hectic due to a private show in
Chicago that involved flying in and out the same day. Logistically
it was a bit of a nightmare, but with outstanding efforts from
Andrew Falco (our guitarist), and our great new friend Andy Rubin we
were able to complete our schedule without any disasters! We stayed
at Andy Rubin’s house in downtown Baltimore (a literal stones throw
from the Orioles Stadium), and he took us out for our first Korean
culinary experience which involved eating a lot of pickled cabbage.
All of which was on the eve of him opening his brand new
bookstore-coffee shop – in fact he dropped us off at midnight, then
walked to his store to price the entire catalogue of books!
Andy may appear like a sedate and relaxed chap but his schedule is
far from it. He left behind the dizzy heights of Oklahoma TV News to
sell specialised baseball books, open his own bookstore, co-own a
glass-blowing factory and recently got involved with a Nashville
record label. During all of which he manages to smile more than most
people I’ve ever met! Leading me to the conclusion he is either a
top-notch guy or completely batty - definitely the former!
Our two-week run takes us to New York City again where I will no
doubt express (again) my unflinching desire to move to the Big Apple
- you’ve heard it all before… In the more immediate future, we have
a show with Sam Bush coming up so I had better go and practise my
fiddle playing. Sam is such an energetic and rhythmic player; I
can’t wait to see him.
Hope to see you at a show,
Eamon
- The Greencards Make History
Our new CD, Viridian, was #1 on the Billboard
Bluegrass Albums chart last week. Billboard called us to let us know
that we are the first international act ever to top that chart. It
gives us a chance to say thanks to you, our most loyal fans, for
providing the support that was so important in making that happen.
-
- Being the first international
act .... This makes them the first Australian act too!!
-
- Listen to The Greencards sing
Slim Dusty's song "Camooweal"
on the Grand Ole Opry
Archives
http://www.wsmonline.com/onair/archives.shtml
Click on "Friday Night Opry." March 23rd. After the program begins to play, pull
the
progress bar to the right until the 46 minute mark is reached and
then
release. You should hear Little Jimmy Dickens tell a joke and then
introduce the band.
-
- Spring Has Sprung!
Friends and Fans alike,
Hello to you wherever you are from yours truly here in sunny
Nashville, where spring has been bypassed in favour of an early
summer. The trees are full again and the butterflies are fluttering
all around. We are enjoying one more week of hanging low in Music
City, before heading out again on another tour which this time takes
us back to New York city and many other venues in the eastern part
of the US; looks like a fun tour!
Our album release tour culminated in a double bill show with Uncle
Earl at The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. We played to a packed
house and were joined on the encore by all the ‘Earl Girls’ and
special guests Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings! We weren’t expecting
Gillian and Dave at all, and it turns out they had been hanging with
Uncle Earl backstage unbeknownst to us. It made for a fantastic
climax to the night as I stood beside Rayna and Laura for a death by
triple fiddles extravaganza – now that’s what I call music!
www.myspace.com/uncleearl
Laura:
www.myspace.com/lauracortese
All in all, the album release fanfare was very successful and
eclipsed our ambitions. After playing three sold-out shows in Austin
and Houston, the album placed in the Top 5 Folk downloads on iTunes,
hit Number 2 at eMusic, and rocketed to Number 1 on the Billboard
Bluegrass Charts!! Not bad for a bunch of foreign reprobates – in
fact, we are officially the only foreigners to have reached the
top-spot, EVER! Surely that deserves a cookie?!
This is the season for new music and lots of our friends have music
scheduled for release in the upcoming months. I’d be interested to
know what new music you guys have been enjoying, it’s always good to
get recommendations – and since ye are (I presume) fans of our music
I will certainly take on board your suggestions… I have not found
much in the new release section to flip out over, and instead looked
back in the catalogue rather than forward. Rather predictably I have
uncovered two great Paul McCartney albums – ‘McCartney’ and ‘Ram’,
currently on constant rotation in my house! Have you ever heard
‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’? Or ‘Junk’? If you ain’t, then I
suggest you shell out the cash and add them to your collection –
classic records!
www.amazon.com/Ram-paul-Linda-McCartney/dp/B000002UC7
- We’ll be back on the road again in no
time at all and hope to see ye at a show; there are some really fun
venues (and a show with Kym’s hero Sam Bush!) on this trip so try
and catch us if you can!
Take care now,
Eamon
- The Greencards' Viridian CD Hits #1 on the US
Billboard.com Bluegrass Chart
- March 23, 2007 NASHVILLE: In addition to maintaining a top
position on the Americana Music Association's radio play charts (#4
for week of Mar 19), The Greencards' brand new CD "Viridian" has
garnered the Number 1 spot on this week's Billboard.com's Top
Bluegrass Albums chart as compiled by the Nielsen market research
firm.
The Greencards are in good company sitting above bands like Nickel
Creek, Cherryholmes, Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent and Ralph Stanley.
This ranking came on the eve of The Greencards' third appearance on
the Grand Ole Opry tonight where they sang "Camooweal" in tribute to
Slim Dusty. Replays of the the Friday Night Opry can be heard at
http://www.wsmonline.com/onair/archives.shtml . The
Greencards appeared in the second 30 minute segment of the show
along with Little Jimmy Dickens and The Whites.
From
- Bill Aldacushion
- Viridian went to # 1 on the
Billboard Bluegrass Charts
-
The Greencards' new album, Viridian went to #
1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts this week. This is a first for the
band having had Weather and Water reach the # 3 position in 2005.
This weekend in Nashville TN, Kym, Carol and Eamon will celebrate with
a Friday night appearance at The Grand Ole Opry and the release party
at The Belcourt Theatre on Saturday night.
Friday Night Opry can be heard at
http://www.wsmonline.com/onair/archives.shtml
-
The Greencards latest CD Viridian
is charting very well
-
- To win a free mandolin, an
iPod and other cool prizes and to learn more
-
- How Coming
Full Circle Can Sometimes Take You To An Entirely New Place.
Ten years ago I played The Star Bar in Atlanta for the first
time in my life - after a giddy post-gig celebra-tion most of the
guys in the band ended up getting tattoos in questionable places.
The same ink parlour is still open today, and I glanced in the
window as we drove past it on Saturday afternoon. I thought of all
the water under the bridge since then, thousands of shows, and too
many notes worth remembering – af-ter all that, here were The
Greencards in Atlanta per-forming at The Variety Playhouse with
master guitar-ist Tommy Emmanuel
www.tommyemmanuel.com
. All those miles may have brought be
back to the same spot, but my, how the scenery has changed!
Tommy is the king of Winfield Festival in Kansas, and that’s where
we first met him last year. His gen-erosity, energy and spirit
create an undeniable musi-cal presence – each string on his guitar
makes as much music in one night as the average musician. Together
we sold-out the Variety’s 700+ seat, and af-ter performing
individual sets, we joined Tommy on-stage for ‘I Saw The Light’ and
a Bill Monroe tune called ‘Old Dangerfield’. We were all buzzing
with the energy we created and afterwards many folks in the audience
told us they thought it was an incredible show. I hope we’ll get to
play with Tommy again; it was an excellent evening!
Yesterday we opened our road-trip account for 2007 in fine style by
leaving Atlanta and heading to Boise, Idaho – all of 2200 miles! Sat
here on the back seat of the van with my computer on my lap, we are
just over halfway to our destination. Lifting my head oc-casionally
to stare at the flat and frosty landscape that is Nebraska in
winter, I can find only the incentive to turn my thoughts back to
this journal. Trans-Continental journeys like this used to freak me
out, but perhaps now because we are so fresh into the year I have
now come to see this time as highway purga-tory – you just have to
sit your time out. We pass the time listening to new music – Carol
has brought the latest efforts from Norah Jones and Patty Griffin,
both fantastic! I haven’t really done any music shop-ping this year
and I am still waiting for my first great-unexpected discovery of
the year. With the wealth of new releases due in the upcoming months
I’m sure it won’t be too long.
While the ears are a little under utilised so far this year, the
eyes have been devouring some great writ-ing! ‘Oliver Twist’ by
Charles Dickens is a classic for good reasons, and I have made it my
mission this year to read some of the great British author’s work.
Dickens has scared me for years, and though I knew the various film
versions of ‘Scrooge
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv5W6sKepYg
’ and the musi-cal ‘Oliver’
www.amazon.com
, I
had never been able to get past the first twenty pages of David
Copperfield or Nicolas Nick-leby. So, I went with the familiar Twist
and entered the streets of Victorian London to meet such charac-ters
as the Artful Dodger, nasty villain Bill Sykes, Mr. Grimwig and of
course the innocent Oliver
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orwgm5_nKc8&mode=related&search= him-self.
- Such great names for such vividly drawn
charac-ters have lived on for years in our vocabulary but I won’t
pretend that Dickens is for everyone. If you can find a good in-road
like ‘Oliver Twist’ and adjust to a different reading pace then you
will find beauti-ful and fantastic treasures. You may well find
your-self asking for more…
There are still no rolling hills outside my window, and the flatness
of mile-marker 232 looks remarkably similar to that of mile-marker
252… Still, we have great shows to look forward to on this trip
including Texas, California and Wintergrass in Tacoma, Wash-ington
for the first time. Carol just informed us there is a Hawaiian style
party with The Infamous String-dusters
www.thestringdusters.com
and Uncle Earl
www.Uncleearl.net–
Uncle Duster! Should be great fun!! I’ll have to improvise with the
costume…
It might be stating the obvious, but it’s a long way from Atlanta to
Tacoma – thousands of miles and al-most ten years for me. We only
get to enjoy our des-tination for a couple of days before heading
down through Oregon, California and our old home Texas. So I guess
it’s true that some journeys really do come full circle – but
thankfully in this business they never stay there for very long.
Eamon
- Eamon's Journal -February 2007
- As the clock ticked down to show time of our first gig of the
year, every member of the band retired to a different corner and
frantically rehearsed their most troublesome part of a brand new
show. It brought me back to the time I took my A-Level University
entrance exams at the age of 17: a normally jovial bus journey was
replaced by a nail biting ride; students could be found anxiously
clutching their notes trying to learn that last piece of information
that could get them the result they needed to enter University. But
when your anxiety level is so high, it’s very difficult to digest
any new information – as the student realises this, so rises the
anxiety level, creating an awful Catch-22 situation…There’s not much
you can do at this point but rely on your preparation.
Last night was not a University entrance exam, but it was the
culmination of writing and recording a new record, weeks of
intensive rehearsal and individual preparation. We are entering a
solid two months of touring in support of our new record ‘Viridian’,
and that means new songs, new set and new gags! We are all enjoying
the challenge of keeping everything at the high standards we expect
from ourselves.
That’s not to say we didn’t have some scary moments last night; at
times I was staring horridly in the face of embarrassment. I hit a
screamer of a bum note during Carol’s rendition of ‘Waitin’ On The
Night’ (for fellow fiddlers out there, it was a shift from first to
fifth position – I’m still slightly scared of it!). Kym and I played
a new instrumental slightly faster than we were both comfortable
with but managed to get through it. To top it all off, amid
switching back and forth between stringed instruments in the second
set, I stepped back too far and almost did a double backwards
somersault over a chair I had forgot was there! Somehow I kept my
balance, but I don’t recommend doing this in front of 200 people…
We shall continue on our quest for a great new show, and after only
two shows it feels like we are close to having it all together. We
can’t wait to visit all the towns on our tour schedule – we are
going everywhere between New York, Texas and California! Be sure to
look at our tour page to see when we will be close to you. Right now
I am off to eat dinner, watch some of the Super Bowl and catch
Prince in the half time slot!
Take care,
Eamon
- Ambitions and Goals.
If you are reading this, then you have obviously noticed the
new website that surrounds this journal. Gone are the last vestiges
of Weather and Water, replaced by colours of the new era – Viridian.
It’s a smashing website with lots of new features and new photos.
Have you checked out the new music yet? Go on, don’t be afraid…
Theme of the month has to be ‘refresh’. We’ve been rehearsing all
week, preparing new songs by throwing out the old and ushering in
the new. It’s a little daunting since we had a lot of staples in the
set we knew really well - but we have to make room for the new young
upstart songs from ‘Viridian’. You’ll have to see the show to find
out which oldies are still in favour – don’t worry though, we still
have your favourite songs in the set (I’m talking specifically about
your favourite song, not the thousands of other people who read this
page, honest…). Truthfully though, it is really exciting and
musically we are buzzing with the challenge!
Next week we start rehearsing with our new guitar player – David
Grier. Dave has his own career as a unique and unstoppable force in
the guitar world - I remember buying his first record “Freewheeling”
when I lived in England, and was blown away by his version of
‘Alabama Jubilee’. Dave can play anything he desires and has an
enviable imagination – I can see I’ll be doing a lot more practising
this year just to keep my head above water.
My list of objectives this year includes a bunch of fiddle material
that I want to learn, so having Mr. Grier will definitely feed the
fire for knowledge. My resolve is still holding up my other
resolutions – more swimming and healthier eating. I’ve been at the
YMCA (not the camp 70’s disco band) doing my stuff, and cooking lots
of healthy food at home. Living on the road as we do, I eat at
restaurants more than any man needs to. Steaming my own vegetables,
preparing fresh salmon, and sitting down to my own concoction is a
divine pleasure in my life - unlike eating at one of the many chain
restaurants that adorn America’s highway system…
I cannot leave this journal without bringing up the subject of
soccer. The hot topic on everyone’s lips is the impending U.S.
arrival of David Beckham and Victoria Beckham – in a five-year deal
with L.A. Galaxy worth over $275 million!! My compatriots in the UK
have given Becks an incredible drubbing for his Stateside ambitions,
but at $1 million a week, he’d have been crazy not to. How does all
this relate to The Greencards? I am considering taking part in the
open try-outs the LA team is holding, hoping my latent football
talents will blossom in a series of events that will see me playing
alongside Becks in the Home Depot Stadium. I can see it now: “
McLoughlin plays a beautiful ball to Beckham who returns with a
cheeky one-two, playing McLoughlin into the box with the only the
keeper to beat. The crowd thinks it’s all over – it is now! A
thunderbolt of a shot into the top left corner as Macca and Becks
celebrate their new dynamic partnership!” Folks, you may never see
me onstage again…
Happy dreams,
Eamon
- The New Year
Happy New Year to you, my faithful readers! No doubt your Christmas
was fun filled and packed with festive cheer. I am writing from a
very English lounge, in the very English seaside town of Brighton,
East Sussex. It’s only 4pm but the sun is rapidly declining and the
cold wind is blowing in from the ocean. I am a long way from
Nashville, and to be honest I am looking forward to returning to the
Country metropolis and seeing all my friends again.
I arrived in England on New Years Day and have since played a few
shows with my old Brighton friends, performing country and Americana
music, would you believe? These January reunions have become
somewhat of a tradition in the Brighton music scene and I love
starting the year this way – playing swing and honky-tonk songs to
large groups of very grateful folks.
Christmas is a very important family holiday in our house, and all
four ‘kids’ made the trek back to the small town of Swinford in
County Mayo, Ireland. Of course, none of us are kids anymore – two
are married (brought their partners along) and one is engaged. My
sister also brought her 11-month-old son, Jonathan, to his first
Irish Christmas and he was undoubtedly the star of the show. This
little tear-away smiles more than any human I’ve ever seen and can
crawl across a room at a top speed of over 30 mph – not a joke, this
kid is fast!
As usual I drank far too many pints of Guinness – but I blame it on
the little pub ‘Melletts’ which serves what I believe to be the best
pint in the world. If you don’t believe me I’ll give you directions
and you can taste if for yourself… Christmas time never seems like
the time to be overly self-concerned and self-conscious. It is more
about being concerned with how many pounds of roast Turkey one can
eat (or To-Furkey for all you veggies out there…) I also could not
afford to insult my mother who cooks what may be the best roast
spuds I’ve ever eaten. Oh, what a selfless character I can be
sometimes…
Some of you may be living your life according to your New Year
Resolutions. As it stands, I have only resolved to have some
resolutions by next week – I hope I can at least keep that one. If I
can’t, there may be little hope for any other ambitions… Check back
here next week to see how it’s going.
Happy New Year to ye all! Auld Lang Syne should be reverberating all
around cyberspace at this minute.
Bottoms up, and here’s to new beginnings!
Bye now,
Eamon
- Thank Evans For That!
This band has a bad track record when it comes to driving in
the snow – so when we left Nashville late Thursday night in the
middle of a storm I was having flashbacks of that awful night last
December. Driving towards Chicago, the wind was blowing so hard it
really didn’t matter if I was steering the van or not; we were being
blown all over the road, and on wet tarmac this was enough to make
my heart jumpy. To avoid catastrophe, we grabbed a hotel an hour
outside of Louisville and rested till morning.
We were booked to open the first of two shows for Sara Evans in
Merrillville Indiana, and simply getting there was proving to be the
hardest part. Kym took the wheel in the morning as we skirted around
Indianapolis into even colder conditions. Traffic slowed down as the
wind picked up, and it seemed only a matter of time before accidents
would happen. There are many terrible things you can see on the
sides of highways, but an upturned semi-trailer in the median is a
sight that will take anyone’s breath away. The truck had its
contents strewn everywhere, and while it seemed the driver had
walked away, it reminded everyone on the road that there really was
no guarantee we would make it to our destination.
All told, we passed three upturned semis on the road that morning.
Skid marks and tracks in snow were all that told of a futile
struggle against the power of Mother Nature – mankind must never
forget its place. There were times when it seemed we would meet the
same fate as our elongated friends, but our cautious approach served
us well and we pulled into town at around 3pm.
As we loaded in our gear, we learned that Sara Evans and company had
not been so fortunate. Travelling from Kansas, they were stuck
behind two upturned semis on the freeway! Traffic had backed up over
50 miles, they had been sat on the tarmac for at least four hours,
and they still had over three hours of good driving time to go –
nobody knew if the show was even going to happen. Having gone to all
this effort to get there, we would have been really gutted if they
had to cancel the show. All we could do was sit in our dressing
room, play a few tunes, and wait for the word from the top.
They say it’s who(m) you know, and this night certainly proved that
to be true. The Illinois State Highway Patrol gave the Sara Evans
convoy a police escort through the mess on the freeway, allowing
them a chance to get to the venue. The show was pushed back half an
hour, and as we went on for our opening set, the crew had just over
one hour to set their show without making a single noise behind the
black curtain. The audience of course had no idea, but behind us,
there were men and women running around like headless chickens,
racing against the clock; doing in one hour what they would normally
do in three. Fair play to the crew though, I never heard one single
noise and by the time we finished our set there was a whole new band
set up behind the curtain and an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity
pervaded all.
There were even more surprises in store as we learned that Sara’s
extra special guest that night was none other than Jerry Springer!
By all accounts, they have become friends on “Dancing With The
Stars”, and Jerry decided to drop in as Sara was on his home patch.
I have to admit no one else seemed to be quite as happy as I was
with this news, and a few people giggled as I set off to shake the
hand of Jerry Springer. How could I not? This is Jerry Springer! The
God-Father of reality TV; he has single-handedly cast a magnifying
glass on human nature’s narcissistic tendencies as people humiliate
themselves in order to get their fifteen minutes of fame. At the
same time Mr Springer has created a form of post-modern theatrical
masterpiece. Granted, you may not agree, and I imagine I may have
one or two people who write in and castigate for my views. But I
will wave my Jerry Springer flag any day of the week. Did you know
there is a highly successful musical in London’s West End called
“Springer” which puts a fictional Jerry Springer episode to opera?
Can I use the term Television genius? I think it is highly deserved
(my tongue is ever so slightly in my cheek as I write this,
friends…).
Jerry turned out to be a lovely chap (born in London he told me!),
and I’ll proudly show his autograph to anyone who wants to see it.
By the time we turned in that night we were exhausted from the
on-off stress of the day. The wind shrieked and howled as I closed
my hotel door and blocked out the day’s anxieties. It was time for a
well-deserved rest!
So, until next time, take care of yourselves - and each other!
Eamon
- Ties That Bind
My brother and I have always been close, and there are a lot
of similarities between us: We listened to a lot of the same music
growing up, we think George Jones is a better singer than Merle
Haggard, we love the steel playing on Randy Travis records, we both
like to think we have the gift of the gab, and perhaps more
importantly we are both Arsenal fans
www.Arsenal.com
This fact may be lost on many U.S.
readers, but I can assure you that a rivalry in the soccer
department can destroy many a kinship, while the union of our
support for The Gunners creates a tighter bond than blood itself
(slight exaggeration!). Our sisters look upon it with a sort of
condescension that at times borders on pity, but still, we continue
to fly the flag and I doubt that will ever change. We only meet up
once or twice a year, and last weekend I took a trip to Branson
Missouri to share a pint with him and discuss the latest football
results…
Ray (five years my big brother) has been living in Ireland as a
professional musician for over 15 years. As the piano player for the
Irish artist Daniel O’Donnell
www.daniel-site.com
, he has travelled all over the world
and performed in venues such as The Point in Dublin, and The Royal
Albert Hall. Twice a year they come to the States and this was the
first time I was able to visit them, in Branson Missouri, where they
have a month-long residency at the Tri-Lakes Theatre.
It’s a long drive from Nashville, so I rented a black Mustang
convertible and decided to take a road trip on my own. Feeling very
empowered by the twelve million horsepower beneath the bonnet, I
popped in my CD of Squeeze
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/squeeze
and floored it! I must have knocked a whole hour off the 8 and a
half hour drive – not because I was speeding, it just corners really
well…
Branson is renowned for its collection of theatres and having never
been before I really didn’t know what to expect. It offers an
endless avenue of concerts and shows – everything from Beatles
tribute shows to Eastern magic shows. There are also endless coaches
bringing people from all over the world to this strip. We didn’t get
to see any shows ourselves but we managed to visit quite a few bars
and pubs, allowing us to catch up on all the gossip in each other’s
lives.
Every time my brother and I sit down for a pint and a chat, we seem
to remind each other of things in our childhood that we can only
remember when we are sitting together and chatting – anything from
TV shows like
- ‘Chorlton And The Wheelies’
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUt5PV9EQ0
, to funny characters we used to encounter
playing in our Dad’s band – like the old man in Tilbury who threw a
fit if anyone brought chips into his club. I believe they call this
collective memory: recall is better when two or more people are
asked to recall together a particular memory; when on your own, your
recall proves less effective. Family get-togethers are great for
this, and we often find ourselves howling with laughter over
somebody’s impersonation of a long forgotten character. Similarly,
we are all reminded of embarrassing moments from our youth, designed
to knock you off your perch a little and bring you back down to
earth; it usually has the desired effect!
Family time is a precious thing in this world, and as everyone
prepares to cook their Thanksgiving turkey, I hope we all appreciate
time spent in the company of people we care about. Thanksgiving is
another uniquely American experience, and it’s lovely to see
families and friends celebrating this all-inclusive holiday. You
don’t have to be of any religion to celebrate this holiday; you just
have to want to give thanks for where you are in your life. I think
we can all find something, even on our worst days.
For the rest of my family, tomorrow is just an ordinary day – they
don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe. But I’ll be sure to give my
brother a call up in Branson, find out if he has eaten any turkey
and no doubt discuss the upcoming football games this weekend. It’s
nice to know there are some things in this world you can count on.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Eamon
- Eamon's Journal -Leaving The Harbour
November 11
There’s an old sailor’s superstition that it’s bad luck to begin
your voyage on a Friday - to do so will bring peril and danger to
your ship. Adhering to this principle, the good ship ‘Greencards’
left its Nashville harbour on Saturday morning for a short trip up
to Illinois and Ann Arbor, Michigan. We were scheduled to play in
Macomb for a Public Radio show, and at the Ark - one of our
favourite venues in the U.S. For those of you interested in how we
live our life on the choppy high seas of Entertainment - fleeing the
storms of economy, relishing the sail-bolstering winds of packed
houses – this is a blow-by-blow account of one day on the road. Read
on my inquisitive friends…
5:45am – Alarm goes off, is quickly hit by my fist and shoved under
the pillow. I became a musician specifically to avoid this kind of
abject torture.
6:00am – Wake up with a start, realising I have overslept and the
van will be pulling in the driveway in fifteen minutes! I shriek in
a manner that resembles Munch’s ‘Scream’ painting. Luckily, last
night I packed and I’m fully prepared. Wash my face, brush my teeth,
don my woolly hat and drag my suitcase downstairs. It’s cold and
dark, feels like England. Brrrr…!
6:15am – Kym and Carol arrive in the white van that is all too
familiar to me – I’m on intimate terms with every inch of this
vehicle. No sign of our guitar player Andy Falco yet, but a quick
phone call tells us he’s just around the corner, and can’t find my
street. Within a minute or two we see him pulling into the driveway.
There’s a light load on the van since we’ll only be gone four days.
We shut the back doors after loading our gear and we’re on the road
by 6:25am – ten minutes behind schedule, but nobody’s panicking.
That’s how professional we are folks…
9:30am – Kym successfully drove the first shift while we all slept
and probably snored. Our journey has taken us west on I-24 for
roughly 200 miles, now it’s time for me to take the wheel. Nothing
exciting to report here, just miles and miles of interstate. I tune
into the BBC World Service to follow Saturday’s football matches,
and settle into my driving shift.
1:45pm – I missed a turn somewhere north of St. Louis, so we spend
half an hour doing U-turns, checking our maps and getting directions
from a policeman. Finally we get back to where we should have taken
a right instead of carrying on straight – frustrating, but we are
back on track. I drive for another 45 minutes before handing the
wheel over to Carol. Time to put on the headphones and listen to
some music – aaahh! Listened to the Ricky Gervais podcasts, which
feature the hilarious mind of idiot savant Karl Pilkington; click on
the link to check it out in iTunes. Brilliant stuff!
4:00pm – After taking a nice kip in the van, we picked up our hotel
keys and quickly drove to the venue. It’s an unassuming little
space, tucked in behind a pizza joint. Nice inside though, and we
load in our equipment. Unfortunately, sound check takes the best
part of two hours; we spend a lot of the time getting electric
shocks and we have to put windsocks on the microphones, which seems
to cure the grounding problems. It is past 6pm by the time we finish
so there is no time to eat dinner – show time is 7pm, so just have
to drink some coffee and get on with it. Oh, the demanding rigours
of show business!
11.00pm – The end of the day has finally arrived; I took a shower
once I got back to the hotel and now lie in bed listening to The
Wallflowers on the telly. The show was really fun, about 100 people
crammed into this small room, all ready to be entertained. The band
seemed really energised after two weeks off, and I could really feel
the benefit of time at home spent practising. We met a lot of the
folks in the lobby afterwards and there were some really nice
people, many of whom drove hours to be there. We were all tired by
the end but we had fun, seems like the audience did too!
Before I switch off the lights I resolve to go for a run in the
morning, but it’s so bleedin’ cold out there that I may lose my
courage in the morning. It’s been a long day so I am going to turn
in now – hope you enjoyed this little blog, see you at a show
somewhere.
Goodnight!
Eamon
- Scaling Your Fears
Eamon's Jounal -
November 6, 2006
Nashville is not normally the kind of town where I expect to find
people in drag walking in and out of bars, but Halloween was quite
out of the ordinary. Freakish outfits, cross-dressing and gay Elvis
impersonators seemed to be the norm. This certainly adds a touch of
irony to hanging out at The Station Inn, the great mother-church of
bluegrass music… Halloween is a huge holiday this side of the pond,
and I have to admit I can never truly enter the spirit of the day,
whereas many of the natives (!) here regard it as one of their
favourite holidays. Halloween in my house in the U.K. involved a few
ducking apples, an apple on a string that would knock your two front
teeth out if you weren’t careful, and the odd trick-or-treater – to
which my Dad always demanded they sing a Christmas Carol before they
got any sweets. I guess it’s the fact that adults are so fascinated
by Halloween in the US that I find so interesting – I love to watch
it, I love the costumes, I love the parties, but I will always be an
observer and not a participant. So, Tuesday night, I put on my best
blue jeans and headed out into the night to explore the occult…
The Station Inn was the hot spot in town: The Infamous Stringdusters,
a fantastic young bluegrass band, let it be known they were dressing
as their heroes, and the cast assembled thus:
Jesse (mandolin) – Sam Bush
Chris (Guitar) – Tony Rice
Jeremy (Fiddle) – Stuart Duncan
Travis (Bass) – Kenny Rogers
Andy (Dobro) – Jerry Douglas
Chris (Banjo) – Bela Fleck
The wild card was definitely Kenny Rogers on bass, and truth be
known he looked pretty good with his grey hair and Father Christmas
beard. The Stringdusters kicked off the set with a few tunes from
the classic Bela Fleck album “Drive”, and the lads tore it up with
some great solos. The show stealer surely had to be Kenny Rogers
however, who stole our hearts with his aching rendition of The
Gambler. Who needs the correct lyrics when the singer has such heart
and soul? We all felt the pain of that gambling man, and the
audience roared back: “When to hold ‘em!” Oh, to stand in the
presence of greatness is a humbling thing… We all retired to a party
in west Nashville, enjoying this freakish holiday, and admiring
everyone’s costumes. By four in the morning we were still picking
and grinning, and to be honest I think some of the playing and
singing became just as scary by the end!
Moving on to more mundane developments, my challenge for the rest of
the year has been to quit smoking – I have been choking down the
tobacco sticks for the best part of the year now. But I smoked my
last one in Florida, so that means I have now been smoke-free for
over two weeks. It has been fairly easy I am happy to say, even
though the real test will come in a few weeks or so when temptation
hits hard and you feel you can afford a cheeky toke because you
“don’t smoke” anymore.
So I have kept my mind (and stomach) off the great discovery of Sir
Walter Raleigh by exercising. It is such a great thrill to run
around East Nashville after being stuck in a van for the best part
of a year. I also discovered rock climbing – there’s an indoor
facility here and my friend took me after raving about it for
months. Having no experience of this sport, I was very nervous to
don the harness and clip on the safety rope. First task was to
‘belay’ my friend Michael as he scaled the 40 feet wall – basically
I had to take the slack off the safety rope as he ascended. It
looked easy and fun, so we swapped places and I began to climb. My
mistake was looking down when I got into a tricky spot about 20 feet
in the air – my bottle smashed completely and I froze stiff! I could
no longer move any of my limbs… “ I can’t move!” I shouted down,
much to Mike’s amusement: “ Okay, just let go and come down”. Now
this proved even harder as I had to overcome my instinctual feeling
that jumping off a wall 25 feet off the ground is not the safest
thing in the world to do. After realising there was no other way, I
simply let go and slowly descended to the safety of the ground. My
heart pounded and the adrenaline rushed throughout my system. But I
wasn’t prepared to give up…
With the encouragement of climber extraordinaire Mike, I took to the
wall once more, determined to reach the top. 30 feet up it seemed I
had become stuck once more, but I somehow figured out the right foot
hold to take me to the top. Putting my hand on the top of the wall
was a fantastic thrill, and I took a deep breath as I descended! I
was completely out of breath when I hit the ground and the
excitement was so overwhelming I couldn’t speak! In fact my arms
were throbbing and aching to the point that I couldn’t even unclip
myself! I needed a breather after that!
So I am off to climb this weekend as well, hoping I will be more
confident and able to scale a few more walls. I don’t think I will
be able to incorporate this skill into my musical career, but for
now I am going to enjoy the challenge.
Take care, and stay in touch!
Eamon
- Hard to Believe
Mag Fest
Nashville in autumn
The trees in Nashville are shedding their leaves, suffocating the
green lawns in my street on the East side. The cold winds are
blowing this morning, and there is no doubt that winter we will soon
be with us when the temperance of autumn fades. I flicked the switch
on my heater yesterday for the first time in months and it shuddered
into life, groaning and aching as it slowly warmed the living room.
For the first time in what feels like years, the band is off the
road for essentially three months; we have some selected shows in
Michigan and West Virginia, but for a touring-crazy band like
ourselves it is hardly a dip in the pool. Time to actually ‘live’ in
Nashville and settle into the community a little more, what a
concept!
Our October tour was a great run; we covered the distance between
here and New York City, and as far south as Florida. We were lucky
enough to play the much loved MagFest, which being in Florida, takes
place in what feels like mid-summer heat and humidity. I forced
myself to run in the afternoons, and came back to the hotel drenched
from the sweltering humidity; felt like running in a sauna! The
line-up for the festival was a mix of Americana, folk, and a touch
of reggae thrown in for good measure. Our friends
The Duhks were on hand to get
the party in full swing, playing great tunes with tremendous energy
and soulful songs from the ever-impressive Jessie. They are somewhat
regulars there and it was really nice to hang with them and share
some road stories!
The defining moment of my festival experience came right before our
set. We had loaded all our gear backstage with ample time to spare,
so we had time to listen to the band before us. The schedule
declared them to be “Bluegrasstafari” – a mix of reggae and grass
(no bad jokes here people…). This lively crew from Jamaica was made
up of about 7 or 8 people (never got a reliable head count), -
singers, guitarists, percussionist and a banjo player who had his
head in both reggae and bluegrass. I stood close to the stage and
felt their groove and spirit – it was all about fun, heart and
moving the body. Incredibly infectious, the whole audience was up on
their feet in a trance, grooving to the beat. It really opened me up
to the spirit of the festival, making it clear that we were all here
to enjoy each other’s company. Our set went really well and the
crowd was lively when they needed to be, and pin-drop silent on the
ballads – I have no doubt that our performance and their reaction
all owed a great deal to Bluegrasstafari. I need to see those guys
play more often…
Now as I write from my favourite coffee shop in Nashville (Bongo
Java East), I can’t fully grasp the lightness of our schedule for
the rest of the year. I spent the first day celebrating with
friends, and this week managed to catch up on a lot of errands and
practising that I needed to. I have a recording session today for a
fantastic artist called Garisson Starr, a powerful singer/songwriter
living here in Nashville. So I had better head home and play a few
scales before I head into the studio.
I promise I’ll keep writing even though we are off the road, though
not sure what I’ll be telling you about…might have to switch it up a
little! Keep checkin’ in!
Cheers,
Eamon
- October 13, 2006
New York Nights
We now have an established routine when we play in New York
City: stay at our hotel in New Jersey, drive through the tunnel, get
to Manhattan and immediately FREAK OUT! There’s nothing quite like
your first minute on the island; your eyes instantly notice a change
in the fashion, people look very striking and I have to say it,
incredibly good-looking! You can feel the buzz in the air, people
darting in all directions, moving very quickly. Usually within the
first five minutes we all declare that we are moving to the City,
right to the heart of it all. About five hours later we concede that
we couldn’t even afford one month’s rent here…
New Jersey gets a bad rap from some, but it’s a great place for us
whenever we need affordable accommodation close to the city. We
pulled in after a long nine-hour drive up from North Carolina, the
last two hours of which was absolute highway madness; cars careering
from lane to lane and overtaking all around you. As a driver you
have to realise you must get a little mean and stake your claim on
the tarmac – otherwise you become a liability for being too slow and
cumbersome on the road. As luck would have it, we had local boy Andy
Falco playing guitar with us, born in St. Vincent’s Hospital right
in Manhattan. Andy, or ‘The Falcon’ as we like to call him, has a
wonderful Long Island accent just like something from The Sopranos,
and looks remarkably like Adam Sandler. The Falcon regularly plays
with Alecia Nugent who records for Rounder Records; we were lucky
enough to nab him when he had a hole in his schedule – thanks
Falcon, it was great!
I felt a rush of adrenaline as we pulled out of the hotel and headed
towards the Holland Tunnel. This was our first time to not use the
Lincoln Tunnel right beside our hotel. It seemed to make better
sense to head south in New Jersey, and then emerge in the city
closer to where we needed to be. Truth be told, the journey turned
out to be a piece of cake, and we turned onto Lafayette Street just
half an hour later stopping outside Joe’s Pub all happy with
ourselves!
We loaded in the equipment and as we were early I went for a walk to
see what was around us. On the other side of the street I could see
the impressive Astor Theatre, home of the Blue Man Group, an
incredibly successful stage production. The Falcon’s Mum was on hand
to explain to me that this impressive pillared structure had once
belonged to Jacob Astor, who went down on the Titanic many years
ago. A multi millionaire who donated much to New York City, his
legacy lives on today. I could see Greenwich Village to my right,
and headed towards the clothes shops to my left. It might be
expensive in New York, but they have great stuff!
Returning for a quick sound check, we met Liz Tormes, our co-bill
for the night. Just before we went on I nipped outside to find my
old friend Aileen who was coming to the show, although there was no
sign of her, I did find Academy Award Winning Actor Phillip
Seymour-Hoffman. You might have seen him as Truman Capote recently,
or in the great independent movie ‘Happiness’. He was just hanging
with some friends and looked like a regular guy – much more than a
lot of folks in the City. It’s funny that we should think of famous
people as anything other than regular people, but it was very
grounding to see someone who has achieved such wonderful things in
Art, who looked, well, just normal.
I felt slightly nervous for the show; I think it was the adrenaline
that was in my system from being in the City. Regardless, we had a
really fun show and a great crowd. The band played really well and
we turned some of our nervous energy into music. I met some folks in
the audience who seemed really appreciative of hearing this kind of
music in their bustling metropolis. As Joe’s Pub emptied out and we
loaded the van again, we felt the irresistible urge to explore the
nightlife. The Village was within stumbling distance as stylish
well-dressed people made their way to and fro. But we know better
than to leave our van somewhere while we went partying, especially
in New York City… So, Kym and I jumped in the van and raced toward
the Holland Tunnel, fully adopting the Manhattan code of driving –
‘Get out of my way you bleeping bleep!’ Sat behind the wheel, I
quickly discovered the secret to driving there is a mix of
fearlessness, confidence and obnoxiousness. It’s 'do or die' out
there folks, and I make no apologies if you were one of the cars
that blew your horn out of me. It was me or you I’ | |
Tamworth
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