These Boys R O C K – plus some stuff on Berea Fest
These Boys R O C K – plus some stuff on Berea Fest
Ray Kelly and Brian Tracey, each formerly of The Prodigals, joined with Matt Mancuso a year plus ago to form Mickey Finns. They put on an amazing energetic show last nite at Stamper’s Grill Pub. Brian left the drums at home and beat out a ryhthm on bongos. Ray went electric guitar free for most of the nite and between the jacked up old classics like Green Card and Spancil Hill, and some of Brian’s new original songs, Stampers was hopping.
Great to see rent to kill, Db and John, greyfish and Kat, pipemajor, Glo & Tim, and mcnuggies who I didn’t get to talk to but did see. AND, Lordy, the women were rate! I saw a WAY old friend, who spent the nite telling folks about an old nickname for me, Naylor. I had completley forgotten about that and therefore thought that had been BURIED long ago. Jimmy Stamper looks good, taking the recovery slow and as Liam Clancy sings, “nice and easy, no need to go faster.” Keep praying for a full recovery for Jim.
We are well into finalizing all the myriad of details for the 24th Annual Cleveland’s Irish Cultural Festival (July 21-23) and have added a few new things too, like Cleveland’s own chapter of the Fighting 69th! The 69th Pennsylvania Irish Volunteer Infantry, Cleveland Chapter will have a camp set up, showing what things were like in the Civil and Mexican War, complete with period clothes, equipment, music and more. We have this really cool picture display on Newgrange, inside and out, which predates the pyramids by at least 1,500 years (yes, one thousand, five hundred years!), Round Towers & Castles, Patrick & Brigid – Ireland’s Alter Egos, and a huge new display on Irish Americans in Hollywood, to just name a few of the more than 200 displays and exhibits in our ever-growing Celtic Heritage Hall. Check out the fest website – www.clevelandirish.org – for details on the bands, workshops, presentations, pipe bands, dance schools, menu and so much more. The entertainment sched will be up late this week there too. For the first time in memory, the displays are all done with 2 weeks to spare – BIG Thanks to Maureen Carr for doing so many of them and giving me such a HUGE break! Words are not enough! If you have any desire to help out at the fest, We start the set-up on Sunday, the 16th, hit it hot and heavy on Tuesday the 17th and do the Cultural Hall on Wednesday the 18th. We could use ANY help for there is much to do to get it all ready for our 35,000 closest friends. Email me if interested or want info (john@clevelandirish.org).
If you can make the fest, make sure to stop by and say hello, I’d love to meet y’all – I roam the upper area of the grounds, the area that goes left to right – the extension of the upside down ‘L”, so to speak, while MCing the rock stage, and facilitate the beer/pop etc… stations that are up there. I’ll also be presenting on the bewk – at 8 Saturday nite and 7:30 Sunday, with bits of poetry, stories from the legends and writing the book, and a few things that I didn’t put in the book, for whatever reason. ‘Course, if you get the book (at the main CD and Merch Tent) and find me, I’ll be glad to sign it anytime.
If not there, I have another signing at:
Barnes & Noble, Crocker Park in Westlake this coming Saturday, the 15th, from 2:00 – 4:00 – hope you can make it – definitely have more time to talk there than at the fest.
I will be on Akron Hibernian Connection radio show on Thursday, the 13th, 8 to 10 p.m. – WAPS FM 91.3. Have a listen, great show, great music.
I am trying to schedule a signing at the Akron (Beldon Village) Borders for either Friday the 14th or Sunday the 16th, but won’t know for sure until Monday.
Thanks for “listening” to my rambles. Have a fantastic week and I hope I see you somewhere soon.
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Currently listening: Performer By Luke Kelly Release date: By 01 December, 2005 |