Arrived and in good form, well kind of..... The Take Three Girls Tour has begun! 4/25/2010 Tired and wiped out, but I am in Paris! The last 4 days of the trip were great. Thursday, we played with Edwina Hayes in Wakefield, where we drank Shropshire beer. Thursday we played at a loud and roudy bar called the Cider Shed. It was a lot of fun, maybe way too much fun. It was Ange and my second to last night together party. Cider Shed had it's own homemade ciders and locally made beers, hmmmm hmmm good..... and Brooke Sharkey are third girl had the most beautiful pixie voice. Our last night was at an Irish bar, full of Veronica's Irish hospitality. We played our last night at PJ McGintys. It was difficult not thinking about the whole trip throughout the last night and getting teary eyed. I have had so much fun with Peter and Ange. I love Ange's song and by the end of the tour we were singing on each other's songs. Every morning we would have each other's songs in our heads. Ange had to leave quickly and get a train, which may have been better because long goodbyes are always hard. After Ange left we stuck around with Veronica our Irish host and made cheesy sandwiches and drank gin and tonics. This trip has been really great. I cant believe I made it through 18 days and didn't get sick, well only for two days I ahd a cold, but it was the 5th one I have had this year. Now I am in Paris one of my favorite cities going out today to see the Eiffel Tower, my favorite place and get some ham and cheese crepes and maybe walk to the Sacre Coure. Ou soleil ou le plui. Paris is gorgeous right now, everywhere there are flowers blooming. Tulips everywhere, which remind me of Sumner, WA and my first boyfriend the tulip farmer. 4/21/2010 - Brighton - Prince Albert Pub On the way to Brighton today, Peter took me out for a big surprise. He took me to a farm where you can feed the orphan lambs. I got to feed a baby lamb that was only 4 days old... Peter has made fun of me the whole trip because I get so excited when I see farm animals. He was making a joke to Tonight we played with Amy Hill at the Prince Albert Pub. Our friend William Morris, and old Beat Farmers fan, had booked us. It was a fun gig and Will and I talked about the Beat Farmers and how great they are.... He told me one time at a gig in the UK, they were playing upstairs and the bar was below. And there were so many people in the venue that the ceiling was shaking and the bar started to worry that the ceiling was going to cave in because the band and the fans were going so crazy upstairs that they had to make everyone leave....  4/20/2010 - The Luminaire tonight - opening for Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles and Two Fingers of Firewater Drove back yesterday from Limerick to Dublin, to the ferry, to WAles, drove through Wales. When we got to England we were in Shropshire..... That is where my great grandfather was from. My grandma Jackie's maiden name was Shopshire, they had dropped the first r. It was gorgeous country and wonderful to see where part of family are from, I think that makes me 1/16 English? Woke up this morning and made a mad dash for the Tube, the Underground. Out to see as much as London as possible. Due to the weather I was set back a day, since yesterday we spent 13 hours traveling. I have no clue how many miles I walked today but enough to see the Tower of London, the Parliament, West Minster Abbey and Buckingham Palace and then to arrive in Kilburn for my gig. Gig was exciting I was opening for Sarah Borges, one of my favorite Americana bands in the states..... 4/18/2010 - Limerick - Dolan's Pub Woke up in - home of Siobhan O'Brien.... The show tonight was great! It was our last night with Siobhan and we also got to meet up with the O'Brien clan. Great fun! Now it is off to bed for the journey back to London again.  4/17/2010 - Cobblestone Inn in Dublin and Galway We drove through Wales this morning, absolutely hilly and gorgeous and caught a ferry over the Irish Sea. We met up with Siobhan O'Brien and played the cobblestone Inn to a packed house in Dublin. It was great fun and so were the vodka and tonics. We woke up the next morning and met up with the boys, Steve and tom and did balcony tv. It comes out on the 26th of April, Ange and Siobhan's are on the 27th and 28th. Last night we stayed at Siobhan's after our show in Galway. I think 3 giggly girls may be driving Peter crazy.... 4/15/2010 Green Note Cafe Played the Green Note with Ashleigh Flynn tonight. Please check her out she is amazing  and V-V-V- Volcano in Iceland?  Did you know that pretty much every time I leave the country there is a natural disaster or one of my best mates gets food poisoning or divorced? The Wildfires in San Diego in 2003, I was living in Paris and the 911 I was in Poland. The volcano in Iceland has caused all of the airports in most of Western Europe to close. We were to get on a plane from London to Ireland. We are now waking up early to drive 5 hours to the West Coast and catch a ferry over the Irish Sea to get to Dublin.... Tune in later for my high sea adventures, we are off to Ireland tomorrow. No volcano can stop us! 4/14/2010 Portsmouth - Cellar Bar It was a wonderful night of wine and fun at the Cellar with Aitch. Afterwards we went round to her house for pizza and wine and girl talk. Peter, our tour manager, blushed when we were telling our girl stories. He is used to managing a group of guys, I guess its totally different, who knew? 4/13/2010 Charlies Bar Last night we played a strip club, seriously A STRIP CLUB, NUDIE BAR, a place where girls show there ta-tas. Luckily for us, it was the off night and I guess they rent the venue out for other things. Luckily they liked our songs, no pole dancing for us! I think that venue takes the cake on strange places I have played. There was that night in Arizona where I went to get paid and the bar tender was passed out cold, head on the bar and the cash from the bar drawer was spread out all of over the bar? Night was great, Ange and I played with Ella Edmonson. she was great and funny too, which I think she got from her funny funny parents (Jennifer Saunders - from Absolutely Fabulous)  4/12/2010 I GET A DAY OFF Ventured into Winchester, Stonehinge and Salisbury. Peter, my tour manager, laughed at me, because he said the most excited he had seen me since I have been here was when I saw the pig farm. of course he stopped so I could see them. I climbed the fence and tried to get them to come up to me. The only one brave enough looked like she was carrying babies. I didn't get to see any piglets in that field, but saw some on the way home from a distance.   Peter said he would take me to a lamb farm on the way to Brighton so I can get up close and personal with the baby lambs. He said I might be able to hold one, bahhh.... Peter said he would take me to a lamb farm on the way to Brighton so I can get up close and personal with the baby lambs. He said I might be able to hold one, bahhh.... 4/9/2010 Grub Bar - East Grindstead Nursing hangovers and jet lag, luckily I got the front seat in the car, we headed out to East Grindstead for our gig at the Grub Bar Gig was great tonight. we had another night with Danni Nicholls.... it was a wonderful venue and a wonderful crowd. We said goodbye to Danni and she is off to the Nashville, Tennessee on Monday  Stag on the River Last night was Myself, Ange Boxall and Danni Nicholls at the Stag on the River.  and Danni Nicholls  We had a great gig last night at the Stag on the River. Afterwards we met up with the boys from Two Fingers of Firewater at the studio where they are recording there new cd. Made friends with Woody, a Cocker Spaniel, want to take home with me or at least have him on tour with us. Woke up to a slamming headache, I swear it couldn't have been the wine, I couldn't even see straight. But it is sorted out now, I think for the time being..... maybe it is just jet lag. Tonight all three of us will be play at the Grub Bar in East Grindstead. I think I will be drinking water..... 
|
|
Ireland Blog
October 3rd - Galway
I was up in Galway putting up posters for mine and Siobhan O'Brien's gig at the Crane Bar on the 17th, when I walked in the pub I recognized the song they were playing but couldn't figure out what it was, they were playing my music, it was quite funny. I stayed for a few pints, and had to get out quick after that because they kept trying to buy me more. They turned off the music and made me sing acapella, but I told them that I would only sing if they made animal noises. They made a bunch of clucking noises and I sang the my chicken song called Uncle Irving. "There's chickens in the window, there's a chicken on his head, There's a chicken in the kitchen, 5 a clucking on the bed. I know you don't believe it but Uncle Irving said 'that chicken house is freezing cold!' And now there's chickends in the bed." -J.K. and S.P  October 4th - Limerick Sang at the wonderful White House pub in Limerick on O'Connell Street. Great listeners, and good beer. I recognized some familiar faces, and Siobhan's family came, Olive, Brian, Rhonan and Podraic. Will have pictures soon. Will be hopping a bus to Cork tomorrow to play at Cyprus.  October 6th - Cork
Last night I played the Cyprus Avenue, opening up for Richmond Fontaine. I took a bus back to Limerick. I don't sleep on buses and airplanes and it must have been the time change, but I fell asleep and woke up to an empty bus. Nobody told me when we arrived in Limerick, luckily the bus had taken a 30 minute break or I would have been on my way to Galway. I woke up confused with slobber down my face, the bus was stopped, there was nobody on it, no bus driver and it looked like I was in Limerick (I think), I couldn't figure out if I was still dreaming...... it wouldn't be the first time this sort of thing had happened to me. October 8th - Limerick Taking a break today. Slept in, can't get rid of death dreams with square dancers dancing under fairy circles, but that will soon end I hope. Siobhan and her friend J.D. and I are going to Miltown Milbay and her house in Quilty to record a song for her album. She is doing a folk album. The song we will be doing is the L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore. October 10th - Clonakilty Today I took a bus to Cork and then hitched another bus out west to a town which is boasted to be the 'Tidiest Town' called Clonakilty. I have come down with a sort of flu or cold, don't know which yet, but usually can shake it off in a day. I played a pub with a venue in the back called the DeBarras Folk Club, which is very well known for its music. I played with Gavin Moore, our host and two guys, who are also friends with my friend the Great Hank Wedel, called the Action Boys Tom Clark and Craig Tressler. The gig was fun, but had to really try to concentrate on which chords and which lyrics were going where, the cold and flu medicine had me a bit high. Wil Saar from San Diego showed up in Clonakilty to see the show, he had been fixing a house in Kilanol, it was nice to see a familiar face. DeBarras is such a great venue and the crowd was really great too, I can't wait to come back.    October 11th and 12th - Limerick major cabin fever Still sick, had to stay home and miss Siobhan O'Brien open for Tir Na Nog. Metta the Realist Painter and photographer has arrived in Ireland and is staying with us. Have you ever heard of Bog snorkeling? Bog snorkelling is a sporting event that consists of competitors completing two consecutive lengths of a 60-yard water filled trench cut through a peat bog, in the shortest time possible. Competitors must wear snorkels and flippers, and complete the course without using conventional swimming strokes, relying on flipper power alone. Wet suits are not compulsory, but are usually worn. The pictures below are of Julia Galvin Listowel, from Kerry, and also friend of the Obrien's. She was the 2005 World Champion Bogsnorkeler...     For a You Tube Bog Snorkelling Show go to the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k19QGds3-KA Saturday, October 13th Like three Thelma and Louise's, Siobhan, Metta and myself hit the road for a gig out in Mitchelstown at the Bodrahn. David Murphy, from a band named Murphy Lane, helped set up this gig, he is going to be visiting San Diego when I get back home. Rowdy San Diego Wil showed up with his friend Donie, and Donie was worried when Wil started dancing that it may cause mayhem in the bar. they had never seen moves like that before. I am sure a few bog snorkelers went home and tried to mimic his magical moves in the mirror. Wil is a staple at a lot of San diego gigs, he is usually in front of the band or act dancing up a storm with his own original choreographed moves. it was a good night, of course it was a noisy pub and we had to do deal with some hecklers and do some heckling of our own. But it was fun. Siobhan told me hot whiskey's would wet my whistle and take away the bad bug from my throat but it doesn't seem to be working, but they were sure good! Maybe you ahve to be Irish for it to work. Sunday, October 14th Tonight we were in Miltown Milbay, it is in West County Clare and considered to be the capital of West Clare Traditional Music. We were at a pub named Clancy's. Siobhan was doing a practice round for our show in Galway with her new band. We have just had late breaking news it is one in the morning and the phone rang, it kept ringing over and over again. The baby is coming! Suzanne and Aden, Siobhan's brother and sister-in-law, our on there way to the hospital right now. I can't wait to see the baby, we are headed to Dublin tomorrow to film Balcony TV and to go to the John Prine concert, but hoping to see the baby when we get back. Hope to have some pictures soon! October 15th - Dublin We made it to the Oak Bar to meet our friend Pete Cummins. He has played with Nancy Griffith, the Chieftains and many other people. Siobhan, Pete and I each sang a song on Balcony TV with Tom and Stephen. I will let everyone know when it airs. After the taping we hustled over to the National Concert hall to see John Prine. It was a wonderful concert. John Prine is another person on my top ten favorites of all time list. He played some of my favorites, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, Jesus the Missing Years and She Is My Everything. We even got to meet him after the show. Pete had played on a show with John Prine and Nancy Griffith so he introduced us to him. he was a really sweet guy and let us take his picture with him. We finished the night at Whelan's Pub, which we all ended up dancing like crazy fools, maybe from the drink, but maybe just from being crazy fools! Who knows.......probably a little of both.  October 16th - Dublin to Roscrea to Limerick Came back from our road trip to Dublin to Siobhan's house in Limerick. We were tired so the three of us Siobhan, Metta and I crawled into bed and watched Thelma and Louise.
"We sang Petty, sang the Stones
|
