Dear Reader –
An uplifting week! I hope it was similar for you…
The Big Thing
People often ask - “How’s work? Are you busy?”
And usually they are genuinely interested, so they deserve an honest answer. Recently however I noticed myself regularly saying that thankfully work is great, but I’m just not playing enough.
So this month I decided to change that.
Put aside an hour a day for just myself and the piano. Learn new tunes. Write. Play with friends - like Gerry last night and Niamh/Felip/Eddie Mac later in the week. The big one with Francie this Sat. Fun gigs too with Sinéad and Mike Nielsen (see below).
And I’m a new man. Happy out!
Musicians need to play. What do you need to do?
Where else but Sligo?
Summer 2005. My first residency. Tuesdays in The Strand with Dublin classmate Peter O’Grady. Finish training, pick Peter and his guitar up from the train and head to Strandhill. Glory days.
One week Mike Nielsen came in for a pint. He even got up for a tune. And we couldn’t believe it. Mum reminded me this week that I wrote her a note to tell her about it - that’s how excited I was.
Because Mike was one of those names. He taught in our college and people spoke about him in whispers. He had studied in Berklee and had played with everyone.
And so I couldn’t help but think of my younger self when last Sunday, just up the hill from The Strand, Mike and I played opposite each other for the first time. We had done bits and pieces over the years - with Seamie, and on a few Sligo Jazz gigs, but this was just the two of us.
And it was magic. I have been smiling since. Trading solos. Listening. What was that chord he played?! Over and back. The buzz of trying a new song. Messing. Playing a few of my own tunes. Mike making everything sound better. And the hush for Over The Rainbow at the end. One of those moments.
Thanks to all of you who came. And for everyone else, Mike is in The Dunes every Sunday from 5-7pm and has a great line-up of guests for the summer. I’m back with him on July 16th - and I’ll try and remember to bring some paper for our setlist that day…
What’s New?
FRANCIE: More playing this weekend - an all-star line-up in the Hawk’s Well this Saturday to celebrate the career of the Boss himself - Mr. Francie Lenehan - who by the way showed Mike Nielsen his first guitar licks in the Baymount many years ago. Well deserved.
SERVING THE SONG: A concept of which I was reminded this week. A great question for any musician to consider. Is what you’re playing serving the song?
PERGOLA: I also learnt a new word this week - congrats to the Sligo Park Hotel on their new (sometimes) outdoor area! Sinéad and I had great fun at a wedding there on Saturday and the state-of-the-art sliding roof played its part when the blue skies changed to thunderstorms in a matter of minutes.
Finally…
Mike Nielsen does a great version of this - we had a laugh with it on Sunday. It also features one of the great keyboard parts of all time. I’ll always remember the man who approached me at a gig in Castlebar in 2007 and told me I wasn’t bad but needed more Ray Manzarek in my playing!
Till next time - Kieran.
