April 16, 2014

Hello,

It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve updated Ramblings, but not really…it’s just been a long winter. It’s mid April and still the winter refuses to give way. Snow on the cherry blossom trees, snow yet again in Chicago, flurries in New York City and freeze warnings down through Georgia and Alabama. Boy oh boy…and we’ll probably move straight into the furnace of summer without the benefit of a pleasant spring. Climate change is upon us it seems.

As I look back on the first few months of 2014 I’m reminded of just how lucky I am. The Joanie Madden Folk Cruise in February was a tremendous success and I really enjoyed my performances and spending time with some wonderful people, passengers and musicians alike. I have been invited on Joanie’s next cruise in May 2015. It’s quite a way off, which allows plenty of time to reserve your cabin and put monies aside for the cruise. There is nothing like it. You get to see and hang out with so many internationally renowned musicians and the Norwegian Gem is one of my favourite ships…and she sails out of New York City…a fantastic and emotional experience in and of itself…sailing past the world’s most iconic skyline.

The Savannah Irish Festival, the Beaufort Irish Festival, Tara Feis and the many annual concerts with which I’m involved all went off without a hitch and I am so thankful to all who helped organize, volunteer and support these events. My ongoing shows in Kevin Barry’s, Katie O’Donald’s, Shannon Pub, Chateau Elan, The Villages, Meg O’Malley’s and Nolan’s are also going well and I offer my thanks to those who support  live music.

I will join the Norwegian Dawn on April 27th for the first half of her repositioning cruise to Boston. I’ll sign off in St. Maarten and fly home to Savannah from that notoriously dangerous airport…it’s all an adventure I suppose, but I probably won’t think that when my palms are sweating as we roll down that short runway !!

On June 20th I’m scheduled to fly to Corfu in Greece, to join the Disney Magic for four nights. I’ll sign off in Venice and return from there. I’m looking forward to being a part of the Disney entertainment, short though it may be.

Our Ireland Tour in July was closed but due to some unforeseen circumstances three seats have now come available. Please get in touch as soon as possible if you would like to join us as we tour the Southwest of Ireland.

On September 12th I will again join the Norwegian Dawn as she sails from Boston to Quebec and back to Boston…with stops in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Cape Breton, Gaspe, Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine. These cruises can be booked as 7 or 14 day cruises.

In November I will sail on the first half of the repositioning cruise from Boston, as the Dawn makes her way to New Orleans for the winter.

It seems a full schedule with a whole lot of water involved but again I understand how lucky I am to perform with NCL, Disney and all the other venues.

Carroll Brown, Mike Murray and I will once again tour in December with our Celtic Christmas Show. We are currently accepting booking for the Tour. Please contact any of us for information.

The Terra Nova project is almost done. We are completing the art work and the project will then be sent to the duplication company.  It should be available by the end of June. For you who don’t know, Terra Nova was what we called ourselves when we first came to America in 1980.

My hearty congratulations to Peter and Quynh Shannon of the Savannah Philharmonic who are now U.S citizens.

Many changes have taken place at Georgia Public Broadcasting but we are still producing the Green Island Radio show on a monthly contract. It’s such a pleasure working with producer Eric Nauert and we are very proud of the show.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this, please leave a message on our Guestbook page and have a browse around the site to see what we’re doing. You can also leave me a message on my Facebook page if you wish.

See you out there,


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