December 24, 2006

Christmas is here, and the year is almost over... At least musically it's been a good year. I started my own internet radio station and had a lot of great gigs with The Great Egress. Unfortunately, the current lineup of the band won't be together too much longer, but we're going to make the most of it while we can (details coming soon). I plan to keep playing with the remaining guys for as long as I can though, it's a great band.

Lots of changes coming up in 2007, including a new band in the works that will hopefully start to take shape soon. I plan to travel a lot more now that I can come and go as I please with my brand new student visa! In October and Novemeber I visited Antonio in Milan and Edith in Vienna, and next week I'm off to Portugal. This afternoon after work I'm going to my usual Christmas home, with my cousins Bill and Nora in the Old Mill in West Limerick! I hope you're going somewhere as nice as that for Christmas!

September 16, 2006

Surprise! I've started my own internet radio station!

Paul's Cork and Beyond Radio is my new creation which features the best music from my favorite musicians in Cork, who also happen to be my friends since we're all so friendly around here... It's free to listen to so check it out! It also features some famous musicians from around the world that I've seen play in Cork or just like. Hope you like it and let me know if you do!

In other news, I'm off on a mini vacation to Spain in a couple days. It's my first time there, anyone want to come along?

September 14, 2006

Well, lots has happened. The Great Egress had our worst and best ever gigs on back to back nights, a few nice solo gigs in Kilcrohane and Clonakilty, lots of Hospitality Club guests coming and going, and I even bought a nice old mandolin! More changes to come, as I go back to college full time starting next week and, uh, I'll probably shave off my beard in the next day or two...

Oh yeah, and on Monday I had pints in Laios, Kildare, and Westmeath, which means I only have three more to go before I conquer Ireland! Check out the map!

August 9, 2006

Just got back from a great trip in America! Had a couple of good gigs while I was there, thanks to all my old friends who turned up to the Kansas City gig and sang along! I'll have some pictures up soon.

Speaking of America, I'm proud to say my song The Other People On The Plane is number 134 on Neil Young's Living With War Top 200! If you haven't been to his Living With War page then go check it out. My song's not a complete anti-war song but a mix of travel and political commentary I wrote after a couple of plane journeys in America a few years ago. Go have a listen, there's a lot there to hear, and you can even listen to Neil Young's latest album in full!

July 18, 2006

The new and improved Great Egress web site is now up! It's designed by Kalle, who obviously knows a lot more about making a web site than I do. New videos and pictures are up and you might even recognize yourself in some of them if you've been to our gigs! Oh yeah, and the band bought a real PA. Now we've got everything!

Got a text from Niall Connolly yesterday inviting me to play a short set before him next week in New York! If you don't know Niall, he's the best singer songwriter in Cork and is giving New Yorkers a treat by spending the summer there. If you don't live in New York, you should book a flight immediately!

June 20, 2006

Paul and Me is finally available on iTunes for all the people who are into that sort of thing. Had a few gigs lately with the band, everything's going well, hope to start making plans to record a CD with the guys soon.

Oh yeah, and in other news I'm going back to America for a couple weeks in the summertime, so if anyone still lives in Kansas City send me an email if you want to meet, not sure what I'm going to do that whole time! Have a solo gig while I'm there on August 5th at the Westport CoffeeHouse, hope to see you there! Any fans in Ireland making the trip!?

May 1, 2006

Well, we had another great Vetivers reunion, but this time we just played a short three song set and spent the rest of the time visiting the many pubs of Cork and even checked out some of the festival in Dungarvan. I even entered the Bucket Singing Competition! Here is a sample of our mini-gig, as recorded by the always helpful Denis Le Gourrierec. I'm not sure what song it is because I can't listen to it on this computer...!

April 29, 2006

Great news for all the fans of The Vetivers back in Kansas, Ben Champion is coming over for another reunion! This time we'll just have a mini gig during Hank and Ray's break at Charlie's, home of last year's triumphant reunion concert! Make sure you check out the Vetivers web site to learn about the band, and good luck finding cheap plane tickets from Kansas!

In other news, I've had a pint in Wexford now, leaving only six to go!

The Great Egress is really going strong now, make sure you check out our next gig! It's a Drop-D party, so that means free CD and T-shirt giveaways, free pizza, and three bands (including us!), all for free! Did I mention it's free? The action takes place this Wednesday, May 3, at Cyprus Avenue in Cork. Hope to see you there!

March 18th, 2006

Well, I finally did it. My lifelong goal has finally been realized. On Friday, March 3rd, 2006, I finally visited Liechtenstein...!

Oh yeah, and the band's now officially great.

January 29, 2006

I've always traveled around as much as I can, and recently I've noticed that I've had pints in a lot of counties in Ireland. I went on another road trip this month and got four more, and now I have only 7 to go out of 32 total on the island. I've been to every county except Wexford, so I've decided to make that my last destination as soon as I've had pints in the other six. Here's a map, you can click on it to make it bigger. The counties in black are the ones I've had the pleasure of a pint in. I'll keep you updated...

In the meantime, myself and The Great Egress are playing a few gigs in the next couple weeks, and we've got bad news for acoustic bass fans: we've gone electric! Got a new bass amp too, one that you can see without a magnifying glass! Only one toy amp left... We're almost a real band now! Kalle even bought some cymbal polish! Woo hoo!

January 3, 2006

I've now been living in Ireland for three years! Last year was pretty eventful with the new cd and the new band, but this year is going to be even better. There's going to be several great new things in 2006, including a Great Egress album, the A Young Girl's Guide To The Vetivers collection, and much more. I hope. Anyway, I've got a bunch of new songs and so does the band, so we'll concentrate on playing live as much as possible this year and conquering the musical world.

Oh yeah, and check out Denis Le Gourrierec's great painting of The Great Egress at my CD Launch gig on December 8th! He painted it from a photograph Ankica took. You can find other masterpieces here!

January 1, 2006

Before and after... A new look for a new year!

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