The Weekly... Volume IRELAND

WARNING – This is two weeks worth – so it’s a looooooong one….. might want to attempt it in several sittings!

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Ok so as I type this I am sitting on a Bus Eirann service from Dublin to Wexford in Ireland. “Eirann”, as I have recently discovered, is in fact pronounced “Airann”. If you pronounce it “Iran”, as I did this morning, then the taxi driver could well mistake you as a fundamental Islamic terrorist plotting to blow up the Capital. Fortunately for me some smooth negotiating skills (“Ah… Sorry mate”) got me to the bus station instead of the Garda depot. The “Garda” are the police you see – at least I am assuming that is the case because of the blue lights on top of the cars... they could potentially be something else entirely. I am quickly discovering over here that quite a lot of things in Ireland are, funnily enough, Irish. Perhaps this bus doesn’t even go to Wexford…. Well at the very least it’s a chance to give you all a bit of an update.

Tues 29/7 – RUBY SESSIONS, DUBLIN
Great songwriter night in the heart of Dublin. Something like this would never really exist in Sydney. The closest thing I can think of were the Woojam nights at Bar Me, but there were more performers there. The Ruby sessions showcase 4 songwriters every Tuesday night, and you could hear a pin drop for the whole time. Small room, but a nice crowd who are there to listen. A great gig first up, but also a pretty tough one when you’ve just had a monster weekend as best man at your mate’s wedding. A few more nerves than usual courtesy of the alcohol still trickling out of the system, but managed to negotiate the first gig in Ireland OK. Pint of Guiness to reflect – awesome.

Wed 30/7 – THE JOHN HEWITT, BELFAST
I had never been to Northern Ireland before, and I’m not really up-to-date on the history (this is something I have since rectified…). But I figured as long as I didn’t say anything remotely religious or political I would be OK. That plan seemed to work, as I am still here typing this blog. As fate would have it, my good friend and bass player from Sydney – Pat Savina – happened to be in Ireland at the same time and negotiated a role as the “tour manager” for my first week here. Good to have some company for the trip!

The drive up North from Dublin is unspectacular at best. Some friends in England had warned me that driving in Ireland will take you twice as long as you expect, mostly due to the tractors / slow-moving lorries that end up in front of you from time to time. And sure enough, we did in fact end up behind 2 tractors on the way to Belfast. Hence making “driving” a tourist activity in itself, before you even make it to any of the tourist “attractions”. Bearing in mind we were travelling between two Capitals. No-one seems to know how long any particular drive takes either. Estimates for Dublin to Belfast ranged from 2hrs to 5hrs. I think we allowed for something in the middle and were near enough to the mark.

We did manage a stop on the way up in the not-so-picturesque seaside town of Ballbriggen (I think that’s how it was spelt…). For future reference, this is better avoided. Unless you are looking for a terrible coffee (worse than the average over here, which is not great), possibly the world’s worst bagel, a poorly-stocked salvation army thrift store and groups of 12-yo kids in Adidas tracksuits smoking cigarettes to while away the summer vacation. There was also a large section of the main street which had been blocked off for road works, but which advertised “business as usual” nonetheless. This despite the fact that the businesses were completely inaccessible, even for the people working there! OK so maybe I am being harsh – we didn’t bother stopping at the “tourist centre” because the first impressions didn’t bode well. But Ballbriggians if there is something I have missed, then please by all means send recommendations to info@rennyfield.com. (I’ll even put you on the mailing list for your troubles).

Belfast seems to be a nice sort of place. An industrious town, harsh in places, but overall I got a decent vibe off it. (Not that my “vibes” are tremendously meaningful min you…). It’s always a bit difficult when you’re on tour, because invariably you end up spending your time either at the hotel or the venue, with maybe a restaurant or two in between if you’re lucky. Fortunately I did manage to run up a fairly large hill (forced exercise after a week of nothing….), and there was a pretty nice view of the town and the coastline. Also I saw a pretty cool school playground where the students were fortunate to have some football posts for their amusement… in the middle of the asphalt…

The John Hewitt was a great little pub. In fact it recently won the “best beer pub” award for the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. Which is no mean feat I tell you, because there is no shortage of pubs in these parts. At times it feels like there is one for every household (slight exaggeration sure, but not too much of an exaggeration!). Somehow in the midst of all that great beer though, we managed to find one that had been brewed with Coriander. (?!). Suffice it to say, there is a reason that beer is not normally brewed with Coriander.

The gig itself was great. Small crowd, but the tunes were well received. Mr Savina had managed to find himself a bass guitar at the local cash converters for 100Pounds, so we played as a two-piece for the evening, which was a nice change. Also this was our own show, so I was able to get through a couple of sets. Finished up around 1am, chocked full of Coriander, satisfied with the Northern Irish debut.

In case you were wondering, the owner’s name was Gerry. Not John Hewitt. I don’t know who John Hewitt is. Cousin of Lleyton?

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NEWFLASH – I am now on a different bus heading to Cork… the Blog was taking too long…. I really should be trying to write a song instead of these rambling travelogues… but they are a good way to pass the time.
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Thurs 31/7 – DRIVE TO GALWAY, BACK IN THE REPUBLIC
Again the time estimates varied greatly – from Belfast to Galway we were looking at anything in between 3 and 7 hours. How could you not narrow it down any more than that?! Anyway I think it took us around 5, with plenty of stops. Including one at a place called Sligo. I have no reason to include that, except for the fact that it’s the only place I can really remember.

If there was one thing that has never changed ever since I got here, it’s that EVERYONE in Ireland tells you to go to Galway. And sure enough, it didn’t disappoint. As luck would have it, I had timed my visit in the same week as the Galway Races. Aside from the horse racing each day, imagine a small town with pubs every 5m transformed into a massive outdoor beer garden for an entire week. Madness. Not quite as mad as running of the bulls in Pamplona, but getting pretty damn close. People from all over Ireland come for this week – one of the biggest festivals in the country. The first night we got there, it was raining, so the tiny little pubs were JAMMED – so much so that I think I remained in the same section of the same pub for about 4hrs. Purely because I couldn’t move anywhere else! Crazy stuff. Fortunately in Galway an old work mate offered to put us up for a few days, so it was good to have a local to show us around a bit. Not that we felt like doing much each day on account of the late finishes…. Anyway… Managed to also catch up with an old friend who I worked with in Mammoth Mountain California – a ski season I did way back in 2001! How about that. We’re both from Australia, met once in America, caught up again 7 years later in Ireland. Go figure. Gotta love travelling.

FRI 1/8 – CAFÉ LUNA, GALWAY
Tiny little café in the heart of Galway. Great sandwiches, good coffee, but probably the smallest place I have ever played. No amplification, just acoustic. Not sure if anyone was really listening, but I was chatting away in my usual rambling fashion that I tend to adopt when I have a guitar in my hand, so at the very least I was amusing myself…

The highlight of this show had to be the Jehovas Witness (what did they all witness?) who walked up to me in the middle of a song… Yes in the middle of a song…. and asked me if I’d “like to read something?”.

“Sure mate – as soon as I have finished playing my song here then sure…”

“But do you read?”.

“Um… errr…. Yes mate I read – but as I said I’m just in the middle of something”.

Eventually he got the message, and must have realised that I was in fact going to finish my set before I read any Jehovas Witness promotional material! So he left a flyer for me on the table next to where I was playing. Now I am not privy to the training techniques of the Jehovas Witness organisation, but surely if you are going to “sell” a religion, then this is not the way to go about it. Because not only did they lose my vote (so to speak), but I dare say they’ve probably lost the vote of anyone else who is reading this at the moment (if you made it this far…). One of the more ridiculous things I have ever witnessed. Possibly even more ridiculous than whatever has made all these people “witnesses” in the first place….. And he didn’t even buy a CD! Jackass.

Interestingly enough, the girl who was playing after me, Niceol Bleu, had helped me get this gig. She was on her way to a few more that night – all paid shows. Seems to be a fair few opportunities around to make a living as a musician here, as long as you’re happy to play the occasional café and do a spot of busking. (And as long as you don’t mind a Jehovas Witness flyer or two coming your way…). But I reckon that’s better than being chained to a desk in the city somewhere!

Caught up after the show with an old friend from Sydney, Siobhan, who used to work in Bar Me when I played a lot of my shows there last year. Some of you may remember her… Nice to see yet another familiar face on the other side of the world. Hadn’t lost any of her famous personality either. “Sound”, as they would say over here.

SAT 2/8 – THE ROISIN DUBH, GALWAY
A brief wander round Galway on the Saturday morning – this town has got character. I suppose it’s got a lot to do with the way the place is laid out. The narrow cobbled streets, the tiny old shopfronts, bars/cafes extending out over the footpaths. All of this accentuated by the increase in population as a result of race week. So the place has its own energy. There are buskers on every corner – something I should have been doing, but instead I had agreed to a highly competitive (?) game of squash against Mr Savina. Field victorious 3 sets to 1. I’d like to thank my fans….

Plenty of people had told me to try and get a show at the Roisin Dubh if I was going to Galway. The place was awesome. I guess the only thing I could compare it to back home is the Espy in Melbourne, mainly for it’s dedication to live music. The Roisin Dubh is a lot smaller however – very much a pub atmosphere with 2 performance spaces – one up and one down. Successive emails to the Roisin Dubh had produced very little response (these sent in my all-night email sessions when I was trying to book this tour…), but fortunately an Irish guy by the name of Peter Doran offered to let me do a short set to open up for him in the upstairs bar. A really nice little room that had a capacity of about 80 people (versus the downstairs room with a large stage that can hold around 300…). A Saturday night, and there was a healthy crowd in there to check out the music for the evening. This would not happen in Australia. I mean, I love my country I really do, but to think that a crowd of people would sit around drinking beer on a Saturday night listening to two acoustic acts they had never heard of before…? It just wouldn’t happen. At least I haven’t found those sorts of places otherwise I would be playing them more often. Yet over here, this is quite normal. People enjoy new music, and seem a lot more willing to take it on board.

A great note to finish on in Galway – I am hoping to get back over here in a year or so. Peter Doran is worth a look if you have the time – do a search on myspace and he’ll come up on that. My thanks also to Pat Savina who once again provided some bottom end (that’s the Bass guitar folks… minds out of the gutter please….). Back to Dublin we go…

SUN 3/8 – THE PURTY KITCHEN, DUB LEGHAIRE (DUBLIN)
Just in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced “Dun Leary”. Not “Dun Legare” as I first thought. A subtle difference yes, but handy to know if you’re stopping to ask for directions and you want a helpful response rather than a look of confusion. Dun Leghaire is about 20min drive south of Dublin - a nice spot on the coast. The drive across from Galway was around 3-8hrs as per the usual Irish time frame – not so many tractors, but an enourmous number of roundabouts. For some reason, a highway in Ireland is not complete without a roundabout every 5km or so. Seems the traditional “intersection” (ie smaller road gives way to bigger road) is not so popular round these parts. So by the time I hit Dublin, I’m a little giddy, and it’s not only because I am excited about the show.

The Purty Kitchen is a great spot for dinner. Mind you, having the word “Kitchen” in their name, they really should know what they are doing… On that front, I am reminded of a wonderful little chain of Pizza Shops over here called “4-Star Pizza”. A very clever name indeed, as they are not claiming to have the best Pizza, just decent enough to be 4 stars. So really the customer will always be content – even if it’s not completely up to scratch, they wouldn’t dare complain because, after all, it’s not meant to be perfect. Genius.

(I have been challenged to write a song with “4-star Pizza” in it somewhere. It will happen!).

Pizzas aside, the gig itself was a good laugh, and I got to see a few other great local songwriters. Pretty rowdy sort of crowd as it was the Irish bank holiday the next day, so no-one had to work. As far as I am aware, a bank Holiday in Sydney is, as the name suggests, a holiday for the banks and not the rest of the working population. Seems the rest of the population in Ireland weren’t too happy about that arrangement, so they’ve all decided to take the day off anyway. This was the last show with Pat Savina, who departed for London the following morning. Was great to have him along for the trip (plus I looked like some sort of international rock star of course being able to afford to bring my bass player half way round the world with me! Ha ha…). Anyway thanks Pat!

Pat also made the necessary arrangements to enable us to stay in Dublin with an old family friend of his – very nice of her because they hadn’t seen each other in a few years, notwithstanding the fact that I was a “bonus” guest who more or less came unannounced. Fortunately there was a spare couch… Phew. Thanks Kim!

MON 4/8 – REST DAY – DUBLIN
Dropped Pat to the Airport, then took it easy. Decided to ditch the hire car in favour of public transport for the second week of the trip. Incidentally it seems to be going Ok to this point (I have made it to Cork, transferred buses, heading towards Limerick now. I am going to watch Paul Kelly and Holly Throsby tonight. It is my patriotic duty). Kim (Pat’s friend) proved to be a superb tour guide, taking me for a drive out to Sugar Loaf – a mountain (generous…?) peak just south of Dublin. Great view back up to the city and down the coast in the other direction. And I am a person who loves my great views! Worth a look if you can get there. Figured I didn’t really need to see the Guiness factory – I seem to be doing an autheintic personal Guiness tour of sorts anyway!

TUES 5/8 – WEXFORD SONG CLUB
Well the first leg of the bus trip went ok. Again however, those driving times are never set in stone over here. For example, the last 24km to Wexford took us 45min. That is no exaggeration… How does that happen on the highway? And why the traffic jam at 2pm on the way in to Wexford town? Where is everyone going? I don’t understand.

The Wexford song club had to be the highlight so far in Ireland. A really nice space, and a really nice crowd on hand who listened to just about every word. It’s worth remembering that this was a Tuesday night. On a Tuesday night in Sydney, there are very few places that would bother to do live music outside of Scruffy Murphy’s, featuring the best of Coldplay, U2 and Robbie Williams – being performed, funnily enough, to an audience of Irish backpackers… Anyway down in Wexford, about 3(?)hrs south of Dublin, it turns out there is a superb original music venue that runs every Tuesday night, and gets a good regular crowd each week. There was actually a couple of travelling Aussies in the audience – which meant someone could understand what I was saying! If ever you’re passing through, check out the Wexford Song Club at The Sky and Ground Pub. You’ll be guaranteed a selection of great original artists – both from Ireland and abroad.

Here are a couple of the guys that played last Tuesday:
www.myspace.com/jimicullen (Ireland)
www.myspace.com/felixsonnyboywilson (USA)

WED 6/8 – NEW MUSIC CLUB, BRAZIL’S CAFÉ, CLONMEL, TIPPERARY
Ok the buses are not too bad – as long as you’re not in a rush. I am getting used to them anyway. The most exciting thing about this show? It’s in Tipperary! Try telling me 5 years ago that I would be playing my own songs in Tipperary! Ha!! It’s funny the way life works… As the song suggests, it’s a long way to Tipperary my friends, especially if you are coming from Sydney, Australia. Fortunately for me on this particular occasion, it’s only 2hrs on the Bus Eirann from Wexford.

On first impression, Clonmel seems like a nice little old town – nestled in amongst the surrounding hills. This was until I was greeted at the bus stop by a 30-something year old mother with no teeth telling her 13-14yo daughter (who was smoking) that she was going to “Smack her in the head” because they’d just missed the bus. Hmmmm.

There’s something that I am starting to realise here… ALL the Irish towns can be classed as “Nice little old towns”. The features of Clonmel are characteristic of all the towns I have visited so far this trip. The same narrow cobbled streets, the same old style pubs, the same stone walls, clocks, churches, and not forgetting those one way streets! (Not that there’s often enough room for 2 directions of traffic mind you, but even the locals seem bemused by the number of one way streets…). Anyway, I suppose a lot of the towns in Australia are similar to each other as well. As are the smaller towns around America. I think I notice the cobbled streets more though, as I am pulling a wheelie suitcase, so my entire trip has been accompanied by a fairly annoying series of “click, clack, click, clack” noises as the bag makes it’s way across the uneven surfaces. Fortunately no blow-outs yet – if one of those wheels dies then I am stuffed! The backpack / wheelie suitcase dilemma was a tough one… but I have no regrets! At least that’s what I keep telling myself when I am dragging it over the cobblestones.

Brazil’s was a fairly small bar, but again filled with a good crowd of people all interested in hearing new music. It’s enjoyable playing to these sorts of crowds. Sure it wasn’t The Colosseum, but it was still a lot better than the Fairfield RSL! Interestingly enough, Jimmy Cullen (who also played the night before in Wexford – see above) had also made the trip across for this show, so we had become brief touring companions of sorts – random, but cool. I am starting to feel like a local!

More random and more cool – an Irish girl called Lou who used to live upstairs at the Excelsior in Sydney but had recently moved home (due to her Visa running out) drove 100 Miles with a friend of hers just to see the show! (On account of her promising that she’d come see me play if I ever made it to Ireland). Full Credit to her for being mad enough to follow through on the promise! Plus the two of them took me on a nice drive through the Irish countryside the following morning. No doubt about it, this country is blessed with some beautiful scenery.

Thanks to Liam at the New Music Club and Brazil’s for another enjoyable night. Can you tell I am warming to Ireland? (Not that it’s warming to me much – still haven’t seen a lot of sun…but that’s OK).

THURS 7/8 – REST DAY- CLONMEL/WATERFORD
In case you’re ever in the area, there is a decent Gym in Clonmel right next to the Bus/Train station. The body needed some physical activity… Travelled by bus to Waterford, and checked in to the most bizarre place I have ever stayed. Ask me about it, I’ll tell you so you can avoid it on your next trip to Ireland. For future reference though, best not to check into a hotel that looks like it is falling apart. And certainly not one where the hotel “sign” has detached from it’s mounting and sits at a 45 degree angle – lights out.

Waterford was a lively little town by night, but I decided to take it easy. Ate the biggest Irish Stew I could find. Put on 10kg. Barely made it back to the hotel. If you can call it that…

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NEWSFLASH AGAIN - Location Update – I am now in Scotland…. Typing on the train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh… nearly done with Ireland. This blog is as much for my amusement as yours!
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FRI 8/8 – McCARTHY’S (THE INVISIBLE PUB), YOUGHAL
A spot of busking in Waterford to start the day, followed by the obligatory couple of hours in the Internet café trying to book more shows. The joys of the solo tour... Anyone know a good booking agent?! Actually the busking wasn’t too bad – I managed to pay for my lunch, the Internet, and the bus fare to Youghal! It could have been so much better if it wasn’t for the French brass band that started up just around the corner…

Youghal (pronounced Yaawwwl”, not U-gal as I originally thought…) was a nice sort of place. Another one of these historic Irish towns with nice old buildings and churches and quiet little streets. This one felt a bit nicer than the rest though – probably something to do with it being right on the coast. Checked in to a B&B and had a wander round – found a “Field Printers” which I thought was pretty cool. Also saw some of the smallest fishing “trawlers” I have ever seen. I don’t know what they are catching, but quite obviously they are just trying to feed a family of 4. There wouldn’t have been room for anything else!

The “Invisible” pub got its nickname due to the layout. There is a front bar right near the entrance, but there is a larger bar/room “hidden” in the back of the pub – actually I had to ask where it was when I walked in, so they had in fact done a pretty good job of hiding it. As it turned out, the “Invisible” pub appeared to be, as the name suggested, pretty hard to find for the residents and visitors of Youghal on this particular Friday night. I think the average crowd size was about 4 people. At times I was even playing to nobody at all – as the people who were there had all gone outside to have a cigarette! Funnily enough though, I didn’t really mind to much – because after all, it’s all part of the story isn’t it?! And in the end I did meet a few other decent folks that night – including a couple of local musicians.

“McCarthys” is run by a guy called Tom…. McCarthy! How about that. There are about 25 other shops run by “McCarthys” in Youghal – so either it’s a very common name or there’s something else going on that is better not spoken of… But Tom McCarthy was a great bloke, and if any of you are ever looking for a gig in Youghal as you are passing through, he’d be more than happy to have you. In fact, it’s not always as quiet as that – turns out I just got a bad night. Not to worry, I still enjoyed myself.

SAT 9/8 – PAUL KELLY LIVE AT DOLANS, LIMERICK
I had noticed Paul Kelly was on tour when I was first planning this trip, and whilst my appeals for a support slot had fallen on deaf ears (or at least ears that were more attracted to Holly Throsby… fair enough….), I decided nonetheless to jump on a bus for 3 hours and head to Limerick to see the great man himself.

Limerick was, to be fair, a fairly industrious sort of town. Nothing immediately appealing upon exiting the bus station – aside from the “Station Hotel”, which did me Bed and Breakfast for 35 Euro. And not so far to walk the next day! Again it’s a bit hard to get a good idea of what it’s like when you’re only there one night, but I wasn’t there for a city tour, I was there to see Paul Kelly! The gig was held upstairs at Dolans – a great little room – and it was one of the highlights of my two weeks in Ireland. The last time I saw Paul Kelly it was with about 10,000 other people at the Sydney festival. In Limerick, there were about 80. So to see him in such an intimate setting was a great opportunity and, as you can imagine, pretty inspiring stuff. Here is a man who has dedicated his life to being a songwriter – and here was proof that if you remain committed to the path you choose, then good things can happen.

He was joined on stage for the set by his nephew Dan, who was actually a superb guitarist himself. Hadn’t ever seen him play before, but I will definitely go and check out a show next time he is in Sydney. All in all a great night – helped along of course by the Pints of Guiness I was being fed (and I use the word “Fed” deliberately…) by the Irish couple I was sitting with. Thanks!

Drinking Pints of Guiness watching Paul Kelly at Dolans in Limerick. There might be a song in that somewhere… A drunken Irish shanty perhaps…

SUN 10/8 – THE SLATE BAR, CORK
Back on the bus again in the morning, and spent a fairly uneventful day in Cork… One of the interesting things when you’re on tour is the fact that you quickly develop the ability to find a great number of mundane ways to pass the time. For instance, going on a wild goose chase for a Gym in Cork…. What I can tell you is that if you are looking for a Gym, it is impossible to find one in the city centre. Actually I lie – there is one in the bottom of a hotel, but they only offer a 1-month temporary membership for 120 Euro. Which I thought was a bit much even for rock stars on European tours like myself… I would have gone to a park to play my guitar, but you can never be too sure how far away the rain is. So it’s safer to stay indoors.

I did manage to watch the hurling semi-final between Cork and Kilkenny – which I thought was a very Irish thing to do! That hurling is a mad sport, but oddly enough quite entertaining. Still one thing puzzles me… Hurling is an amateur sport, yet they have 60,000 people watching a match in Dublin. So I don’t understand what happens to the money… Irish people can you help me out? I tried to ask the audience at the gig about that, but I think they were still a bit pissed off about Cork losing the match, and on account of them having been drinking all day, I figured it was best not to pursue the line of questioning in favour of keeping my teeth for my next meal.

The “Cheeky Sunday Social” runs each Sunday night at The Slate, and was another great night for songwriters. Really enjoyed it. Funnily enough, it was run by a New Zealand bloke (Mike) who had relocated to Cork some time ago. I have to confess – I am having thoughts about doing a similar thing. Maybe not to Cork, but to somewhere in Ireland for sure… There is more live music, and the distances between places are shorter – hence making touring to earn a living a more realistic possibility. Certainly a lot more cost-effective than back home. Anyway, I will figure that out in time – have to finish recording the new album first. This tour is turning out to be another grade-A stalling tactic, but at least it’s giving me a few places to go when the thing is finally finished. I am going into lock-down when I get back to Sydney!

There is a good hostel in Cork which will take you at late notice if you fail in your bid to find a couch for the night – The Bru.

MON 11/8 – BLARNEY STONE, RING OF KERRY.
Big day in the car, but the first time I have had the chance to do anything really “touristy”. Definitely worth the trip! Apparently kissing the Blarney Stone was meant to make me more eloquent… I’ll let you judge whether or not it worked. Certainly it must have had some effect, because the two Spanish girls who decided to come with me on the trip seemed to understand most of what I was saying despite not really speaking English. At least I am assuming they understood some of what I was saying – either that or they were just very good at laughing and nodding. Hmmmm….. The Ring of Kerry was one of the nicest drives I have been on. Small travel tip however – the distance / time thing is again all over the shop. This is on account of the caravans and buses, and the narrow one-lane roads. Not to mention the constant overwhelming urge to stop and take photos every 10mins… Also, exercise caution when deciding whether or not to check out the Ring of Beara (next to the ring of Kerry). Smaller roads, and a greater chance of getting lost (hey the Spanish girls were navigating…), but a spectacular drive nonetheless. Wound up back in Cork at 10pm after driving 750km at an average speed of … not much…. Certainly wouldn’t have made Craig Lowndes all that proud. But hey it was worth it!


TUES 12/8 – CORK
Another gig-free day – and a big thank you to my old Rugby mate Eoin and his wife Aideen who were kind enough to let me stay an extra night. The coastline south of Cork is also worth a look if you’re in the area – Ireland is certainly blessed with some beautiful stretches of road.

(WOW! I just went past a cool old Scottish Fort on the train… no idea where I am mind you… maybe getting close to Edinburgh now….anyway that was a random “on-the-go” observation…)

WED 13/8 – THE SONGROOM @ THE GLOBE, DUBLIN
And so after two weeks travelling around Ireland, it was time to bid farewell. The bus from Cork to Dublin was fairly uneventful, but at least no crying kids to deal with. The Songroom is run by a bloke called Hamlet Sweeney. (Real name!). A nice sort of night that runs every Wednesday at The Globe – right at the bottom of George Street, a stone’s throw from Temple Bar. Usually there are around 4-5 different acts each week – about 30mins each.

As luck would have it, several days earlier I had met a girl (Rachel was her name… not Venus… I don’t know why I just put that….the Blarney Stone was full of sh….!) at the bus stop in Clonmel (of all places!) who was actually from Dublin… are you following? Turns out she was a classically trained violinist, and upon hearing this, I promptly suggested that she should come and play a few tunes with me at The Globe – this whilst hurriedly passing her a copy of my CD as she ran to get on her bus! To her Credit though, Rachel did in fact show up to play with me for my last show in Ireland, and it was an absolute pleasure sharing the stage with her. I really enjoy collaborating with other musicians in Sydney, and it was great to do it with someone in another country. Rachel if you’re reading this – great meeting you and hopefully we’ll get the chance to play together again in the future. Thanks for being mad enough to give it a go!

It was a shame that the crowd for the final show was fairly well loaded by the time we hit the stage, and therefore making a pretty good racket… but still a good gig to finish the tour of Ireland. Actually had a few people come and watch the show who’d seen me in Galway the week before – thought that was mighty nice of them!

A big thanks to Kim again – who I didn’t know prior to arriving in Ireland – but who didn’t mind me occupying the couch for several nights whilst I was in and out of Dublin throughout the course of my trip. Much appreciated!

My final thoughts on Ireland? Well, I’ll leave it in the capable hands of their favourite national phrase – it was GREAT CRAIC!! (Pronounced, perhaps unfortunately depending on the way your mind works, “Crack”). Anyway “Craic”, I have decided, is a bloody great word – generally referring to a damn good time. And that, my friends, is what it was – looking forward to doing it again soon!

And so with Ireland out of the way, it was time to head to Scotland and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – and to the next Blog. Finally!


Still can’t promise a regular “weekly” for the time being, but hopefully the next one won’t be as long coming….

Must make tracks – I am off to Amsterdam. See you again soon. Well done if you made it this far!

Renny

PS – Keep an eye on the gigs because there will probably be a few more added before I am finished in Europe…

PPS – Sydneysiders – looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks. I’m doing a final “tour” show back in Sydney at The Fringe Bar on Sunday 14th September. From around 6pm. Would be great to see you there!