Author Archive for Adam

Well, fall is here. I think that’s noteworthy since I haven’t written since like… last fall, haha. I am super-excited for our upcoming tour of Ireland, as you can well imagine. Things have been pretty busy both with the band and with all the other stuff going on in my life, so I have to eventually sit down and get sorted for this trip! Haven’t even begun to think about it…

This past weekend I got some time off and went back to Pittsburgh for a family wedding. It was pretty awesome. There were over 350 people at this thing! I don’t think it was big enough! ;o) It was great to see my cousins, aunts, uncles and everyone else. I am kinda sad because this was the last family wedding on the books; there is nothing planned at this point to get back and see everyone. I guess we’ll have to figure out how to plan a family reunion! Since I’m the oldest of the generation, I guess that falls to me. Guess what’s not going to get planned? haha

Anyway, much beer was consumed and it was a great time.

Like I said, can’t wait for Ireland! We leave in like three weeks. Ouch. SO much to do! I have to design/order T-shirts for all the travelers, figure out what to bring (well, what NOT to bring really–I like to travel light), and actually look up my flights and put them in my calendar. Haven’t really done any of that.

The Weston Irish Festival was this past weekend. I didn’t go obviously but Cody and Reverse Cowboy were there. I hope the weather was good for them–last time we played that one, it was literally 37 degrees Fahrenheit when we took the stage. That wasn’t a ton of fun.

Let’s see, what else is going on… The Penguins are in town here in Minnesota tonight to play the Wild. Guess who’s going?! That should be a great time, despite the Pens being without Crosby, Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and a host of other good players. Still, always good to see NHL hockey live.

That’s about it for me right now people! Good to be back in MN–we play O’Donovan’s this weekend, and then I play solo at the Dubliner Sunday. Definitely different than WCB so if you’re out and want a change, come say hello! More later; maybe even within the next six months! Haha Cody and I will be doing some video blogs from Ireland, so check those out for sure.

Later gators.

Hi everyone! I guess it’s time to write something! )

I actually got an email the other day (okay, it was like two weeks ago) from someone asking me to write up our Ireland experience! (Hi Brian!) Scatterbrained as I can sometimes be, I forgot that I hadn’t done that yet! And then I forgot about it for another two weeks… But here we are, and it’s probably time I wrote about it!

I don’t know if any of you have seen our video blogs from Ireland, but they are posted here if you are interested in looking at them.

Honestly, I can’t really believe how smooth the trip went. There was not a single major disaster (or really any minor ones) the entire time, and it was just such a great experience. We got to see tons of stuff, meet lots of cool people and played some fantastic shows! Some of Ireland’s most famous bars are now feathers in our cap, like The Quays in Galway and Scruffy’s in Killarney. The pace was kind of killer, as we did tourist-y stuff during the day, shows at night and then had to be up bright and early to start it all over again the following day, but that’s really the only way to do it. Not that I am at all a morning person, but I digress…

I think I’ve probably mentioned this, but when Maria from Celtic Journeys first came to us with the idea of organizing a tour of Ireland on which we could get fans to sign up and come, I was thinking, “oh yeah sure, great idea! Then all we’ll have to do is draft a letter to the five people who actually do show up, explaining to them that we had to refund their money because there weren’t enough people.” How wrong I was! Honestly, we were hoping to get 12. We ended up with nearly 70! I am still floored by how much interest we had, and I really hope everyone thought it was as great as the band did. She really did a phenomenal job. The hotels were FIRST CLASS, the food was WONDERFUL and the buses were great! Our drivers Owen and Paddy were excellent tour guides and provided everyone with history and trivia on the various areas, along with plenty of humorous anecdotes to keep all the gullible Americans guessing as to whether or not they were serious about people having multiple wives in Ireland… Seriously though, they were great.

Let’s see… quick rundown of the places we went and played and all that…

*Flew into Dublin.
*From there we drove to Clonmacnoise in Co. Offaly near Athlone, which is essentially the center of Ireland. It’s a 6th century monastic site and the ruins offer much in the way of stone and moss.
*Drove to Galway (the We-shht is the besssht, as they say). I think it was pouring rain when we got into the city in the afternoon, but really it was pretty effing cool. Galway is my ancestral county (Mom’s family) and it meant a lot to me to be playing there, so no rain was going to dampen my spirits. Or jet lag, for that matter.
*Spent our first night in Galway at the same hotel as the Samoan national rugby side. Made mental note to beat them down to breakfast buffet the next morning.
*Ended up closing the hotel bar down on first night, although my plan was to get to bed by 9pm. Not quite. See first video blog.
*Had a day tour of the wilds of Connemara (where the fam is from) and saw awesome things. Met cousin at a marble polishing shop. Name was Ambrose. Nice.
* Gig that night at the Quays. World famous pub and wouldn’t you know it, the first guy I see upon entering carrying gear was a guy in a Minnesota Golden Gophers jacket. Went all the way to Galway for that. GREAT gig though on a little platform overlooking the bar. Bar manager was thrilled with us, which is nice. I have a feeling we could have just royally sucked, but when you bring in 70 patrons you get some special treatment.
*Next we were on to Kerry, and a gig in Killarney. Ring of Kerry was pretty cool. Much cooler than in summer when it is overrun by Americans who don’t realize people speak foreign languages in foreign countries, I’m sure.
*Met some friends from England there and had a nice lunch and a drive around. It was nice driving in a car and not a bus for a bit.
*Killarney was AWESOME. Again probably America East in summer, but it was off-season and the people there were cool enough. Big group in the hotel from Wisconsin of all places.
*Gig at Scruffy’s was cool. Small bar, massive PA. Did an afterbar at another pub called Sheehan’s down the street, and sat in with the band. We played U2’s “With or Without You”, which rocked. This was a high point for me. Also raining like hell. Signed autographs in the bathroom. Interesting.
*Gets hazy at this point, but I think we were on our way to Waterford at this point, via Cork. Stopped at Blarney Castle for what seemed like two weeks. My parents bought a bunch of crap at the woolen mill shop. I bought Lucozade and water.
*Skirted Cork City, which I would have liked more time in but it was still cool. Funny accent, Corkonian.
*On to Waterford. Played a gig at Dooley’s Hotel. Went to bed immediately after, as I was wrecked.
*Up early and on the bus to Dublin. Refreshed and ready to go. Had a night out in Dublin with the band and Gibbons, and had a pint in the hotel owned by Bono and the Edge. Skip it and have a pint at a Holiday Inn sometime instead. Had lots of fun but my schedule was so whacked that again I was in bed at like 11.
*Up early and toured around Dublin on foot. Most people went home at this stage because the tour was over but I stayed a few days and went up to Belfast. Saw some friends and had some great times, a few music sessions and a few more pints.
*Glad to be home! Can’t wait to go again!

There you have it. A (brief) synopsis.

Not to make this a shill, but we ARE in fact going back and doing another tour! November 6-14, 2011. A longer tour, a different itinerary, and we are going up to the North and the whole deal! I’m excited. We’ll work on posting details soon…

Off for some dinner now. Thanks for reading!

Adam

Sometimes it’s tough to live up to expectations… We played the 2009 Greeley (Nebraska) Irish Festival and had an INCREDIBLE time! We played well to an extremely energetic and enthusiastic crowd–there was stage diving, crowd surfing, encores and the whole bit. It’s certainly one of my favorite memories from our career so far. The only downside was that because of that show, I was really nervous going back to Greeley this year, as I figured there was no way we could recreate the magic that was the 2009 Greeley show. Boy was I wrong!

Once again, Greeley ROCKED. I can’t figure out how such a small little place in the middle of Nebraska could throw such an incredible party, but BOY I can’t wait to go back next year (we are thankfully booked again so woohoo!). The weather was really cold and wet so they moved the music indoors, which really bummed me out when we got there. I was all set up mentally for a let-down versus last year because of this. Why do I always think like that? NO idea. Not really any reason at all for it, as it turned out…

We ended up playing in a gym with a stage at the end of it (very old-school Parochial education vibe. Really brought me back to my childhood. In fact, I sort of felt like Marvin Berry and the Starlighters. This gym had that same feel to it). We did two sets–the first was the more subdued afternoon show, to some older folks who appreciated us I think; we didn’t want to blow them away so we kept to our slower, more “pubby” numbers. Athenry, Far From Home, etc. It was still a lot of fun and a good warm-up for our 10pm set, which would be a bit longer and rowdier song-wise. This afternoon show was pretty good despite the gym lights being up full (we got them turned off for the later show which made things a little more “rock”).

Anyway… So while I was getting dressed “backstage” (in the boy’s locker room) for the 10pm show, it was getting louder and louder in the gym. I came out to see a huge crowd all gathering at the front of the stage! I have played a ton of shows where the crowd comes and presses up against the stage but it is usually for the band that comes after us, and the only reason they are there is because they want better spots for them, not us. THIS time it was all because they wanted to see WCB! It was incredible. They were chanting “WCB! WCB! WCB!” Amazing feeling. We hadn’t even strummed a chord yet and they were all over us. The emcee was trying to tell people to go sit down so the people in the back could see. HA! That didn’t work well for him… These Greeley people were so stoked I really couldn’t believe it!

The show itself was AWESOME–just like last year, they were on their feet, dancing, singing along to songs we wrote, stage diving and crowd surfing! As if that wasn’t enough, we did THREE encores–they just wouldn’t let us go! I am still in a daze from how cool it was. I can’t wait to see some pics or video, so if you have some, let me know…

I thought we played pretty well to boot. ;o)

Hey all! Adam here, just checking in…

Our gigs at the Irish Fair of Minnesota and the Pizza Luce Block Party were AWESOME! Despite some major technical difficulties with our shows on Friday night (amps going down mid-show, no monitors at all, inadequate PA) we slogged it out and got it done. I always want WCB to come off at our best, and sometimes things conspire against us to make that all but impossible. Overall I don’t think it was too bad though–the people there seemed to have a good time. Luckily I don’t think my need for perfection is often picked up on by an audience and we can get away with little glitches and things… ;o)

Saturday we did double-duty at both the IFOM and the Luce Block Party. I was a bit nervous for the latter because we’d be playing a bit outside our “comfort zone”. That has to be done if you ever want to reach a new audience, which of course we always want to do! I think we showed them our best though, even if we didn’t have Tony because of his other gig commitments at the Irish Fair. We seemed to go over well, which was cool–the Minneapolis crowds can be hard to impress. It was a very well-run festival (I had no idea what to expect going in) so that was a great load off my mind–I’m just sorry we couldn’t stick around after our set!

We had to go right back to the IFOM, for our big Main Stage set. I thought this one went really well–no glitches, no broken strings. I hope that in actuality we came off as well I we did in my head, haha. Our buddies the Young Dubliners were up after we were so it was fun to decompress and watch their awesome set–they even had Geno and I up to do Brown Dog! Awesome.

Sunday was more rocking, this time on the River Stage at the Irish Fair. Another great show! We had an incredible hometown crowd, and the whole experience really cemented in my mind just why we drive all the miles and do all the hard work. It was SO much fun! Thank you all who were there!

Let’s see what else? Biggest major news would have to be that I FINALLY had the pins removed from my thumb! Background–a couple of months ago I broke my left thumb playing hurling, and had to have three steel pins put in it to hold it as it healed. I have essentially been unable to move my thumb for this whole time! NOT an easy thing for a guitar player like me to go through! Honestly I would hope that no one noticed, but in case you did, there ya go. Anyway, last Friday I got the pins taken out and can finally bend my thumb at the first digit once again! It’s pretty stiff and a bit sore, but I think I’m doing pretty well for being only five days since pin removal–I can’t quite wrap my thumb around for that D/F# chord, but it’s getting there! This is SUCH a relief. It’s made for a LONG summer. I hate having to feel like I can only give 80%–no one that comes to see us deserves less than our best. Anyway, it’s all academic now!

I’m excited for the coming week–Jake O’Connor’s, The Minnesota State Fair (never played there before!), and a trip to Chicago for hurling. I will wear hockey gloves this time…

Hope to see you all soon!

Adam

Hey everybody! I’ve been told to promise that I’d blog more. So… I promise I’ll blog more…

We’ve been busy as usual in the last month, and most of the interesting points concern the festivals we’ve gotten to play. I always love festival season–If given my choice of what heaven would be like, it would have to be a major Irish festival with tons of people, great bands, free food and drink, and perfect weather (and sound).

Our first festival of the year was at the Milwaukee Highland Games in Wisconsin. This was our first gig with our new drummer Derek (we call him “Big D” or “Hot D” so feel free to jump on the bandwagon with that) and we were a bit nervous, but he did a great job. It’s not easy to learn three hours’ worth of material in a hurry, but he did just that. I know that as time passes we’ll get tighter and tighter. The Games were great fun, and we had a hot sweaty humid good time. Cheers to our fhan Jenni Young for inviting us to play–she did a great job with the festival and we appreciated the beer! Also big shouts out to Mother Grove for playing with us and missing the party! ;o)

The next event on our festival schedule occured just a couple of weeks ago–the Dakota Irish Fair in Sioux Falls. This was our second year back. They run a very nice festival there and treat us incredibly well so we were excited for the trip. Played Friday night at McNally’s and shook the rust off to a very appreciative crowd. Saturday was the festival day in a nice park in downtown Sioux Falls. I have to say, I don’t think we have ever gotten so lucky with weather–it was PERFECT. Clear skies, not too hot, no humidity, slight breeze. Absolutely gorgeous. Real nice crowd, too. The organizers were particularly nice, as they always are. First time stage manager Sean Hanson did a nice job, and his 9-year old daughter Jade made us this nice little Irish cottage in a craft class! Thanks Jade!

Overall we had a fantastic time, and Derek played really well again and is finding the pocket. Not much to complain about there but the hangover! I’ll take it though…

Last weekend was the By the Bay Music Festival, put on for the first time. Great venue right there on Excelsior Bay in Lake Minnetonka, but it was EXCRUCIATINGLY hot and humid. Plus because of local ordinances, they weren’t allowed to serve beer. Big cheers to the organizers Mick Sterling and Cate Fierro, but big thumbs-down to the stodgy city council people in Excelsior. Boo to you. Regardless of the thirst-quench issue though, the crowd received us well. We were a bit apprehensive since it was kind of outside our box genre-wise, but people seemed receptive, and it showed in the CD sales. Can’t ask for more than that!

Next up is the big cleanup hitter, the Irish Fair of Minnesota. They drew over 100,000 people in three days last year! I am hoping for great weather and awesome crowds. I know the craic will be fierce, as this means a reunion with our friends the Young Dubliners. Can’t wait!! Hope to see you there!

Adam