I'm on the way home after a busy but enjoyable three weeks of concerts on the east coast. The trip began with gigs in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, featuring myself and James Keane. It was a pleasure to see old friends at the New York gig, including Don Meade, Abby Newton, and from Co. Clare the excellent photographer and box player Christy McNamara, with whom I stayed out til the wee hours playing tunes in a bar around the corner from NYU.

The next weekend consisted of solo shows - fiddle and guitar, and sometimes a friend sitting in. I was lucky to have a good friend and first rank musician join me for my Boston concert, guitarist Danny Novek. The final long weekend of this trip was really exhilarating. Coming up from South Carolina to join me was a great guitarist, Davey Mathias. We zipped up and down New England, sharing a lot of music and laughs and meeting some wonderful people along the way, in Meriden and Dover, New Hampshire, and in Petersham and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Many thanks to all of you who hosted us, fed us, gave us shelter and shared your music with us.

Thanks for the emails reminding me to update this page... it's been a very busy couple of months, beginning with the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp in early March. The camp was a great success this year, and we were all delighted with our new location at Roche Harbor resort. One of many improvements was the abundance of great session places, and the sessions were mighty. The rest of March was taken up with various local gigs and a weekend in BC. Many thanks to Frank Metcalf and crew for hosting a fantastic concert and workshop in Kitsilano. April has been quiet, and I've been hard at work trying to complete my solo guitar CD at Soundtrap Studios on Whidbey Island. Owner/Engineer Robbie Cribbs is capturing some very nice sounds from my new Goodall guitar, and I'm starting to think I'll actually complete this project soon.

Just back from a short but exhilarating tour in Arizona and New Mexico, starting off with a FINGAL concert in Phoenix with James and Daithi, then two solo concerts in Tucson and Silver City, New Mexico. The week before that I was in Oregon, playing in Salem, Tualatin and Scapoose, joined by South Carolina's excellent DADGAD guitarist Davey Mathias. Many, many thanks to everyone involved in organizing all those concerts. I feel indebted to you all... couldn't be doing this without your support and encouragement. In Oregon, Tom and Aislinn Adams, Joel Tomlin, and especially Mr. Sam Keator, who put it all together (see below). In the Southwest, Mary Hill-Connor of Four Peaks Irish Arts, the Irish Cultural Center of Phoenix, Jenny Franklin, Roger Sperline, and Eileen Sullivan, who brought me to lovely Silver City, New Mexico for a concert and workshop.

As usual on these trips, I saw many old friends and also met a lot of fine people for the first time, and as usual I had very little time to chat or share tunes the way I'd have liked. I hope you all know how much I appreciate your support and good energy and I'm always very happy to hear from you via email or my guestbook.

Sam Keator has been doing great things for Irish music in the Portland, Oregon area. Besides providing a fantastic space for concerts in his "Wee Ceili Room", Sam has been tireless in his efforts to promote the music and dancing. If you're in the Portland area and you're looking for a way to get involved, have a look at Sam's website.

Many thanks to Beanie Odell, Andi Hearn, Davey Mathias, Ken Mitteldorf and family, and George Phelps, for sponsoring my concerts and workshops in Atlanta, Asheville and Columbia last week. It was great to play for such appreciative audiences and the late-night sessions were fantastic. It's always a pleasure to visit that area and play with some of the many fine musicians there.

On my last day in Asheville I paid a very enjoyable visit to Paul Heumiller at Dream Guitars in Asheville, North Carolina. I'm planning to devote some time over the winter to recording my first solo guitar album, and I'm on the hunt for a great guitar. Paul has certainly got a few in his shop.

Fall is here on Whidbey Island, and the rains are starting to sweep in from the Pacific, which gets me thinking of those great, dark D minor reels, old friends, and late night sessions. After this many years it's almost an instinct... rain, music. I have some interesting musical travels coming up, including a trip to the Southeast where I'll be playing in Atlanta, Asheville, Columbia, etc. Some really great fiddlers inhabit those places and I'm eager to session up.

Recent good news is that the fine people at NewFolk Records are going to re-release my CD with Dave Marshall, "Dig With It". I self-released it a few months back, and didn't do much more than send it to a few radio stations. The NewFolk gang also released the FINGAL CD a couple of years ago and are building up their Irish traditional music catalogue.

Other exciting news is that we have an all-new staff, a new location, and lots of early registrations for the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp. If you're an Irish fiddler, fluter, box player, concertina player, guitarist, whistle player, etc., consider coming up for an amazing week of music and good times. March 8-13,2010 http://www.fridayharborirish.com

Before heading out to East Durham, I spent a couple of days in western Massachusetts, taking my fiddle in for a once-over by the great luthier who made it, Andrew Gaybaryan. Andrew works in the Stamell Strings violin shop in Amherst, Mass., and is a genuine wizard when it comes to violin making and setup. He knows how to get the sound, one of a rare few who have that gift. Daithi and I then played a concert at the home of Susan Ott and Terry Burch in Petersham, Mass. This was in conjunction with the Lá Gaeilge (Irish language day) presented by Ár dTeanga Féin school of Irish Language. Many old friends from Massachusetts were there, and we had a great evening.

June 2007

In early June, Sharon Goldwasser from Tucson, Arizona, came to Whidbey Island to study fiddle with me for a week. Sharon's trip was made possible by a grant from the Arizona State Arts Commission. Besides being an excellent fiddler, Sharon knows a lot about birds and birdsong, and taught me to recognize some of the birds here on the island. Sharon plays with the band "Round the House", based in Tucson.

The other big event in June was the recording of FINGAL's new live album, at a concert here on Whidbey Island. We had a big audience who seemed to have a great time, and I think we captured the spirit of the evening in the recording. We hope to have it available sometime in the next few months.

Fingal performed at the North American Convention of Ceoltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Atlanta, called "Ireland in Dixie". The Atlantans turned on the southern charm and did a wonderful job of organizing everything, so all we had to do was have a good time and play music, a job we know how to do.

In March I was awarded an Artist Support Grant by Seattle's Jack Straw Foundation, the first grant I've ever received for my music. The grant is for a block of studio time at JSP's fabulous studio in Seattle, where I recorded my most recent CD, Katy Bar the Door. I'm planning to use the grant, starting this fall, to record an album that's primarily focused on my guitar work, including some original compositions.