The nÓg is Closing…

I was just informed of some sad news by old band mate and fiddler extraordinaire Damon Leibert. Evidently the Tír na nÓg in Sommerville, MA is closing at the end of this month.

nog

Many a session I played in that alley-sized-smokey-joint back in the 90’s. I seem to recall one gig where Damon jumped up on the bar with his fiddle, wirelessly hooked into the PA and lit the place up. Good times.

As a last hurrah the nÓg is bringing back the Johnny Come Latelies, a house favorite featuring Damon’s fiddle playing, for a couple of shows (3-8-07 & 3-15-07). I’m sure it will be a fitting farewell.

Ancient Mariners to Perform in Switzerland in 2007

The Ancient Mariners are heading back to Switzerland to perform a concert with our brothers, the Swiss Mariners in the village of Augst on August 14th, 2007. Augst, Switzerland’s oldest city, was built by the Romans in 44 BC and was home to roughly 20,000 people. We had the pleasure of performing in the amphitheater in Augst, back in 1990. Since then it has gone through a lengthy excavation and renovation. We are really excited to be heading back to this great location.
Augst

In preparation for our concert, we have been working on some of our old classics as well as thinking about new music. I have been trying to convince the Mariners to play the well known slip jig ‘Kid on the Mountain’ on fifes and drums. Dan, one of our drummers asked me to send him a recording of the melody so that drumming could be written. I was going to send him a simple penny whistle track but I got a bit carried away.

New & Improved

The old baconworks wasn’t working. So, it has been replaced with this new WordPress powered site with all the modern amenities.

I plan on using the site to serve two primary purposes:

  1. Publish music I write and to talk a bit about the tunes, their origin and evolution. As always music notation and midi files, as well as mp3’s, will be posted.
  2. Highlight tunes that I have learned and that I want to share.

Also, in the near future I am hoping to incorporate accompanying music written by others, features on individuals that have, in some way, contributed to traditional music and discussions around great recordings.

As I have been playing, writing and recording quite a bit lately I expect to have plenty of things to share. So, please stay tuned!