Eamonn Dowd's Racketeering Escapades

New York in the snow

2015-02-11T06:17:00.002-08:00

Tuesday 10 February - New York.....The trip uo to Academy records at its new location on West 18th Street was unfruitful. Not a lot worth buying, and its most classical and pre-classical CDs now, very little viyl. Not the Aladdins Cave it once was. Visited Other Music and at a new store - In Living Stereo on 2 Great Jones Street I picked up singles by Gene Vincent, Bobby Marshan, The Hollywood Flames and The Emotions.

Bitter cold on the streets, snow, slippery ice and wind. Played a show at Bar Chord. Well attended, good crowd, a bit on the noisy side. Photos taken with the bar staff and owners, Jonny and Christy.
Out in Williamsburg at Skinny Dennis's Honk Tonk we caught the first set of Nick Casey, a four piece band. A bit New York Velvets vibe, a bit Americana. One guy is called Nick, the other guy is call Casey. What the drummer and bass player are called remains a mystery. They said they would send me a CD for a spin on my radio show. Then we had to split , collect our gear and go to our gig in 68 Jay, meeting Kevin Lynch along the way. He got up as well to blow a bit of harmonica on a song. All good fun. After a few hours sleep, and some emails and a video chat with Asa we got cultured up with a visit to the MET followed by a drink at Milano's and food at Punjabi on Houston.
Jacks friend Hubby was on the Letterman Show and a get together was organized to watch the broadcast in a bar, but I nodded off and missed it.

Birds singing as the sun comes up, wolves singing as the sun goes down.

2015-02-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

Sat 31 January Goteborg........
Birds singing as the sun comes up, wolves singing as the sun goes down.
These days I manage to catch both sunrise and sunset. Sleep is merely a few hours caught, usually when its dark, sometimes when its bright. No routine discernible.
Boston band The Brigands sent me a package with a few CDs. Their own album as well as Greg Allen and another one...can't recall who it is, but I'll be playing tracks on the radio show.
A fact finding night out in town involved drinks at Vasterhuis where we learnt that they have problems with the neighbours so a gig is out of the question for us. Other bands use an electronic kit but thats not for us. In Hammok bar an interesting trio are playing all sorts of obscure Van Morrison songs and psyched out soul. Good sax player. Last time I was here I nodded off. The owner woke me up and typically said "you can't sleep here" to which I replied, "I've slept in a lot better places".
Hopped on a tram and checked out a huge dodgy sports bar. Andy told the owner we had just flown back from Paris where we'd played to 2,000 people but we don't have a following in Sweden so we're willing to play anyplace. He gave us his business card and we can play anytime we want and take 100% of the ticke sales. I decided there and then that I needed a business card too. As it turned out, the booker for the Atomc Rooster Club wants us to play.....at the very same bar, but this means we don't have to do it all ourselves.

Sitting in the Pomodoro Pizzeria on Welandergatan, staing at the label on a bottle of Mariastad and pondering the wonderful packing on some classocal CD's I had seen in town and should this be the way to go for some future release, a young spotty lad walks up to me (he' was in his early 20s) and gestured to his face saying he liked my sideburns. Weird kid. Obviously doesn't get out much or can't handle his booze, or both. The lady who lives locally and always walks behind the bar to turn down the stereo said 'hello'..

My business cards arrived in the post. They say " musician, recording artist, DJ and rock 'n' roll survivalist". You gotta tell the truth. Took the ferry from Rosenlund to Lindholmen to collect posters from the printers. Slipped on the icy snow on the boardwalk. Landed on my back and I bounced. Could have been worse, could have landed into the water.

After ten years loyal service my Roland / Boss 8 track recorder has died. It took with it the 4 or 5 new songs I was working on, plus the files (individual tracks, required for re mixing) to about 50 or 60 other songs. I HAD gotten most of the stuff mixed to satisfaction. Maybe, just maybe we can extract the files. Either way, I need to get some sort of new recording set - up.
New rehearsal space in Majorna has resulted in much good work being done and although progress is slow, its steady. The bar near the Majvallen tram stop has affordable refreshments and a good window to stare out of as the trams roll by and the snow comes down in a steady fashion.

Post Solstice Weeks

2015-01-13T02:12:00.002-08:00

Tuesday 13 January - Goteborg

Went to the ATM in the 7 Eleven in Järntorget. Plastic card with my autograph, secret magic code - got a fistful of bio-survival tickets printed on crisp virgin paper. Enough to cover food , drink and public transport for three days, take an hour or two.

Girl with bright blue hair (almost DayGlo) was setting off fireworks on the lawn while Dylan sings "I'm in love with the Faery Queen...."
Anna Hedblom Svensson sent photos from a gig last summer. We look good - Dick Tators commanding presence on stage. Moonlight through the pines, sleet coming down sideways.

At Sticky Fingures our set was short and sweet ......and fun . Rickards first gig and he did well. Andy keeping it all together with the backbeat.
A few words with Thomas Silver and his missus Wendela afterwards.

Miguel Ferreras Lopez had asked a few months ago would I write a piece about Nikki Sudden for a book he's compiling. So I finally got around to getting it down onto paper first, and then computer. Sent it off to Miguel in Spain and he swiftly replied saying he liked it. Job done.

Way up north

2014-12-17T02:33:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 17 December, Gothenburg

" I'm not even fooling myself anymore" he mumbled, and I believed him. It was a cold grey afternoon. Bejewelled ladies with delicate features nursed their drinks. The creme de la creme. I had to push on with a half remember song in my head. The tune was in competition with the soul destroying department store stereos. The rumble of the downtown traffic was a welcome respite.

It took five rehearsals with The Last Souls to get the songs in shape. Andy had drafted in Rickard Yxelflod to replace Dick Tator. Andy and Daniel had some sort of disagreement when I was in the US. Andy wanted to keep the band name because of the good reviews for the album and all that goes with it. And so, long hours are spent in a dusty room at Hagabion playing very very loud. A new rehearsal space is being talked about. Less dust hopefully.

At Lucifer Rising noise is being made in front of microphones. Mick Cronin sent over the files of the sessions from Tranmission Studios in Drumlish, and I need to get started on the sessions from Sonic in Dublin.

Trying to write lyrics in the last darkest hours before dawn. The hum of computers, the ticking of the two-faced clock. The odd shuffle of the half awake rabbit. Tea pot on the heat, candles flicker nervously. Lights over the town, waning moon to welcome a spell. Started to read some of Gerald Masseys "Lectures". Might get inspired. I dreamed it all out.

Sweden / USA / Deutschland / Ireland 2014

2014-11-25T22:40:00.000-08:00

Tues 19 August Göteborg - Got a new verse written, an alternative to the last verse on 'Let The Time Slide'. Its already been recorded, but the decision to scrap it has been made and its back to the drawing board. Cancelled a few gigs due to the books not balancing, and booked a few others because the plane tickets were affordable. Recorded harmonica parts for Johnny Stormcrows album. No auto tune, did it for real. Took the Ferry across the harbour to Lindholmn to collect posters from the printers. Things happen slowly in the North Pole.
Visited Gamlagarden, and typically got lost trying to get there. It's a 16th century farm. The original house is still standing, but its a shed of some sort. The 'new' house dates to the 1800's. Three cats, one dog, nine chickens, three hundred deer and a million trout in the lake.

Sat 23 August , Stockholm - Its been a long time. Took photos in the ornate subway stations, but there are better versions by professional photographers on the net. Mark showed me a great painting by Brian Gormely worth $8,000. He was an influence on Basquait and you can see it. In Gamlastan a Buddhist monk approached me with a golden medallion and handed it to me. "Thanks" I said and began to walk on. But he followed, producing what looked like an autograph book and asked me to sign it and write down how much of a 'donation' I wanted to make. I declined his odd offer and gave him back the golden medallion much to his unenlightened disappointment. He should meditate more, beg less, and maybe get a job.

Wed 27 August, New York - Had surprisingly good food in London's Heathrow airport, which doesn't seem as manic as usual. Arrived into JFK feeling sprightly having not burnt any candles at both ends. Hot and sticky as expected, we made our way to Columbia Street Brooklyn and had dinner & drinks in the Jalopy Tavern, chatting to photographer Jack Hirschorn amongst others. The pick-up I had sent via airmail wasn't working properly. Need a re-think on what to do with newly acquired Epiphone dreadnought guitar. Slept for a few hours but spent most of the night awake, jet lagged. Found an old radio in the kitchen. Turned it on....the BBC World Service. In the hallway there's a sign which reads - 'All Madams Must Keep Their Girls Off The Street After Dark.'
Salutation to the sun as it rose slowly over the bay. Played guitar, practising and trying out some half written songs while Freja took photo after photo.

Thurs 28 August, New York - Went to a music store and checked out some pick-ups for the acoustic guitar. The one I wanted was out of stock. Ordered it and off we went. Robert from Toronto was to join us but discoved too late that his passport was out of date. Next time.
Later played a show at Barchord. On the way out in the taxi we spotted Jeananne L. at traffic lights, rolled down the window, shouted out to her, she ran over and hopped in. Onwards we went to 1008 Cortlyou Road. Some old faces, and Jack Hirchorn took lots of photos.

Fri 29 August - Jack reckoned we should take the 'booze cruise' out to Rockaway beach, and that required taking a ferry from Red Hook into Manhattan, hanging around, getting in line, and for then the sum of $3 dollars each we boarded the old boat. Its usually 40 or 50 bucks but the price was dropped following last years hurricane. By the end of the year it will be back to full price. Make hay while the sun shines. Shortly after setting off Jack lost his cap to the elements. Freja and I went inside to get away from the wild wind. The drink was flowing. The boat docked some place in Brooklyn, pulled up alongside a party cruiser. Black girls in bikinis, tiny day glow hot pants, very high heels and obligatory hip hop blasting out of the speakers. Lots of photographers on board their boat. Looked like fun. But on we went and although Im no fan of the beach, Rockaway was a pleasant surprise. Long, wide, clean. If only I knew how to swim. Later I went to Jalopy Theatre to see Jan Bells gig. Nodded off in the middle of it due to a mixture of Jet lag and booze cruise medication. Good show though, the parts I saw.

Sat 30 August New York - Its sometimes wise to not bother ordering food, or order something tiny if you have to. Then eat the left overs of your companions meal. Regular Europeans just can't eat these huge American portions. Played at 68 Jay down in Dumbo. A good crowd in and Jan Bell as usual was a wonderful hostess. Dumbo is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Jonas arrived down and we had a chat.

Sun 31 August, Colt Neck, New Jersey - Took a taxi to Penn Station, but he got lost along the way. Then he blew a tyre. Luckily we didn't crash. It blew as we were slowing down approaching traffic lights. As the driver called for a service truck some weirdo in a huge SUV pulled over and offered us a lift. Yeah...right....
Another taxi arrived in minutes and off we went to Penn Station, got the tickets and bottles of water and boarded the train out to Jersey. In Colts Neck we hung out at the pool and didn't drown. On Monday it was Labour Day. A sort of Bank Holiday. Mike, a guitarist friend of Kevin is conspiring with us regarding gigs in 2015. His missus Christine used to work on the road with Bon Jovi and has plenty of stories to tell. Time drifted by as it does and the hawks were flying over head and the sun slid down the arc of the planet.

Tues 2 September, Ridgewood, New York. - A ramble through Williamsburg, food and drinks and good times at the Alchemist and the same table in Pike Hill as a few months ago. Same waiter too. Never forget a face. (most of the time) Visited a Santeria shop. Back at HQ The Mighty Sparrow's "Village Ram" was blasting out the speakers. Jessy asked me to read her tarot, but I didn't have my cards with me. She produced a deck I'd never seen before. Kim Kran's 'The Wild Unknown Tarot'. I gave it a go and got good results. Jessy seemed pleased and so she read for me and it all made sense. Joined the crew for the session happening in the back garden. Ernie on ancient guitar, Jack on fiddle, Noah on resonator mandolin and the wine was good too. Photos were taking in a windowless room for possible posters and a few more taken in Jacks room, which does have a window. A very big window. Jessy showed me some of her paintings and her book-binding press. I bought her book *Diary Of The Seduced'.
On Thursday morning a phone call brought me bad news from Ireland. I booked a ticket to Shannon to attend the funeral.

Sat 6 / Sun 7 September - West of Ireland

Mon 8 September , Göteborg, Sweden - Arrived in late, way past midnight having read 'Diary Of The Seduced' on the plane. Started searching through the shelves for records for tomorrows radio show., then tried to get some sleep.

Tues 9 September, Partille, Sweden - Radio Show, on 88FM. Fred Eaglesmith, The Stones, Jimmy Read, Ingrid Veerman, Clarence Carter, Joe Ely, The Black Marbles, , The Movements, Hank Williams and many more get a spin.

Wed 10 September, Göteborg - Discover that the Masters of the new album have been lost in the post. The record was mastered at Buddha Sound Mastering in London. (Perhaps I was cursed by that Buddhist monk in Stockholm a couple of weeks ago.) The masters had been sent over to Sweden. All good with that, but the disc got lost somewhere between here and Ireland. Thankfully I had a back-up and got that sent off again. Art work for the album had to be taken care of as well. Most of it was done.....but I re designed one of the pages. Having a meal seemed like a good idea.

Thurs 11 September, Kaiserlautern, Germany - The glamour of taking the tram and the airport bus to Landvetter is something I will never be able to put into words. And of course I had to check my guitar in. Schipol Airport in Amsterdam is unique in that you dont feel youre being ripped off when you buy a beer. Caught the connecting flight down to Frankfurt. The train was late, and I nodded off on the journey and nearly missed getting off at Kaiserlautern, at the edge of the Palatinate Forest . Out the front door of the station, went for a ramble. Saw a poster for tonights gig beside a Ghost Wolves poster in the window of the Clearing Barrell Cafe & Bar. The place was closed. Made a mental note to return later. A phone call to promoter Carsten, had a chat. We'll meet later.

Found a bar called Zack Zack. Looks like it hasn't changed since the 50's. Stereo is on loud. Euro trash pop, the odd good tune. An odd mix. Clientele mostly out of it. A guy approaches me to dance as I sit at the bar. Dressed in a filthy overcoat hes drunkenly yapping away in German, wants to be my friend. Hugs me, I politely push him off. He wanders away and spills his beer all over the floor much to the annoyance of the bar staff who have to get out the mop and bucket. The rain starts coming down. Soft Cell's version of *Tainted Love' comes on. Two ladies and a guy go outside on the street to dance in the downpour . When the song is over, they come back in and order more drinks. After a while I phoned Carsten again. He asked where I was. I told him. "No, you must leave there," he laughed. "Its not a good place". I thought it was lovely. Down the street beside the venue Kokroaches, was an antique store full of ornate oriental furniture, Persian rugs, vases as well as a few rails of second hand clothes and boots. There I met Thurston who would take care of me. We went upstairs. He asked what I would want to eat. I suggested something vegetarian, didn't care what. He said he'd do something vegan. Better still ! . Had a drink and went to sleep for a couple of hours. Dinner was something else. Rise with veg, mostly pumpkin and a magical sauce of ginger, orange juice, cinnamon and peanut butter. Went for a ramble after sound check, finding Clearing Barrell and having a chat with Meike who runs the place. Back at Kokroaches the gig was fun. Two girls from Kilkenny showed up and kept offering me jazz cigarettes. A late night but a good sleep too.

Fri 12 September, Niederschopfheim & Kehl, Germany - Earl Grey tea with Thurston around midday and then visited his friend for a quick shower, more tea and bread & cheese (although bread or dairy products are rarely eaten, but when in Rome....and when very hungry....)
Got the train through the valley, mist on the mountains, deer running through the hay fields, rows and rows of apple trees . Onwards towards Offenburg, The train track high above the towns of Rastatt, Baden-Baden and Buhl. Promoter Stefan met me at the station in Offenburg. Within minutes it felt like we had known each other all our lives. Drove out to his place at Kehl. Had a beer, he produced a bottle of whiskey, but my whiskey days are over and that didn't cramp Stefans style. All the more for him and the US band due to arrive the next day. Tales are told of his days working with Dave Kusworth (solo) , The Jacobites etc. Mad stories....good fun. Loaded up a guitar amp that rolled about in the back of the wagon frightening the dog as we sped down the autobahn in the pouring rain, arriving into Niederschopfheim safe and sound. The place is called Linde. The PA was in good nick. We ordered dinner. Sweet home made white wine arrived at our table. The owner had his own vineyard. The gig was really good. A great reaction from the audience. Quiet as a mouse for every song. Good vibe for sure.

Sat 13 September, Karlsruhe, Germany - Us Lights from Oregon USA arrived with a Swiss band (whose name I cant remember) . Seemed like nice folks, a bit frazzled after a few weeks of touring though. After the left for sound check, Stefan and I grabbed a couple of acoustic guitars and played a few tunes, Stefan singing, me on back up vox. Good fun.
Down in Karlsruhe I set up, ate falafel and hung around. The gig was ok. Hung around with local musicians including one time Pogue Jamie Clarke. His band Perfect had toured with The Racketeers in the Netherlands about 12 or 13 years ago. Nice guy.

Sun 14 September, Karlsruhe, Germany - Woke up in a cosy hotel, paid for by last nights venue. Thank you very much. No affordable flight available until the next day. Booked myself in for another night and went for a ramble around town. A cup of tea here, a drink there. You know the vibe. Grey haze hanging over the town and indeed over Baden - Wuttenberg. Thai food in a little restaurant way across town and then a lie down.

Monday 15 September Frankfurt, Germany - Friendly check - in staff allow me to bring my guitar on the plane. In the queue, a man wearing two hats. One fedora sitting on top of the other. A jacket with '91' emblazoned on the back. Whatever floats your boat. Live and let live.

Friday 19 September, Göteborg, Sweden.- Everything has been finalized for the album, "Down A Hundred Crooked Roads". Release date will be October 3rd. Four songs recorded with The Last Souls, three with the Racketeers, one with Ingrid Veerman and one on my own. Lots of phone calls were made to sort things out for gigs back in The Emerald Isle. Some were possibly a waste of time.....and time is all we have, if we're lucky enough.

Saturday 20 Sept Alingsås, Sweden. - After some frantic calls, a local PA was procured and life is made easier. Out in Alingsås, a big birthday party happening in another bar down the road leaves Two Lads Pub a bit lacking for audience. The people that are there seem to like it. A huge security guy kindly drove me to the station for the 3am train.

Wednesday 24 September, Göteborg, Sweden.- Should have been packing my bag for Estonia and Lithuania, but the folks in Tallinn were slow to respond to calls and emails and the whole venture has now fallen through, but can still be rescheduled for further down the line . Hope springs eternal.

Wednesday Oct 8, Clane, County KIldare, Ireland - Took a bus from Dublin Airport out to Kildare Town and onwards to Clane, Tried to read some of Burroughs 'The Ticket That Exploded', but its getting repetitive and hard work. Should have brought an alternative to read but didn't. Sleep eventually fell down from the ceiling and I slept the sleep of the dead....I didn't dream.

Thursday 9 Oct, Dublin.- In Heuston Station, Dublin, I bumped into Ian O Doherty (journalist with the Irish Independent) having a quick pint before boarding the train for Galway where he's taking part in a debate. Can't remember the details but something to do with Islam. Apparently he's been getting death threats. Doesn't seem all that bothered. We hadn't met in many a good year, and swapped phone numbers but alas on this trip to the Republic, our paths would not cross again due to the hectic nature of things. Rehearsal at Sonic Studios yielded a few good moments. Ken Whelan joined us to play accordion and organ. Had a drink or two with Mr Keye afterwards and then up to Montpelier Hill for songs. I sang a few, so did Les and Jessica sang too. Then Mr Les DJ'd (from a lap top.... as is the fashion these days) until way past the witching hour.

Friday 10 October Dublin - Poster dropped off the the Leeson Lounge and accompanied Paul Thomas on a cash drop to the bank. We drank cold beverages in the company of John Fisher and then hailed a taxi to get to rehearsals. Accordion and keyboard are working out well. Out to Finglas for the night. Al put on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in concert and we ate and drank as the full moon began to wane in the pitch black sky.

Sat 11 Oct Ennis - in Dublins fair city I accompanied friends on the massive protest march against the proposed water tax. A phone call came from Shane Nolan wondering my whereabouts in Ennis town. ( he had already arrived for the gig) . I told him the truth. I was having a pint in the elegant surroundings of the International Bar on Fleet Street. We would leave Dublin at around 5pm and the gig starts around 10,30, but we wouldn't go on til about 11pm. The rendezvous location was Sonic Recording Studios and Al had booked in a hen party. The deal is thus - the ladies hang around drinking champagne and get a bit frisky, then they go into the recording room and put down vocals to a few songs, a mix is done and everyone gets a CD on the spot....or something like that. Must remember to suggest to Al that we have champagne for our next rehearsal.

Loaded up the gear, hit the road stopping off at some roadside petrol station / cafe / restaurant / grocery store. Had a cup of tea. Onwards to Ennis. The place was packed and we had a good gig.

Sun 12 October , Spancil Hill / Lisdoonvarna - after a fine brunch, Al & Mercedes had siesta and I went for a walk, meeting a lady along the deserted country road who said "lovely day" as she passed me by.I lied saying " yes it is". Back at the house we hung around and phone calls were made and photographs were taken and we drove out to Lisdoonvarna.

Monday 13 October , Rockfield - Woke up Montpelier Hill and crossed a few streets down the hill to get to Heuston and boarded a long train westwards arriving into the rocky fields of Rockfield before it got dark.

Tuesday 14 October, Dublin - In the train station a guy approaches me saying he recognizes me ....from Sweden. He's a trumpet player, played with Julio Iglasias for a while. Took the Luas (which is what Dublin County Transport Authority decided to call a tram) Just to make life even more difficult for tourists and foreigners. And of course all the tram stops are announced in Irish....as gaeilge. And so this Irish speaking tram got me to Stoneybatter (and I still dont know the Irish for Stoneybatter) Then walked the rest of the way to rehearsal. Tried out a few new songs. Al gave me two skull hair slides for Freja.

Wednesday 15 Oct Longford & Drumlish - Bright and early in Busaras. Enough time to get a breakfast from the polish waitress. Fried egg, beans and toast, black tea, cold water. Pigeons walked around the place. Nobody cared. A phone text message told me to to disembark in Longford, not Mullingar as planned. I had time on my hands for a quick cold fizzy beverage and as I did so a local gentleman of too many beers engaged me in a rambling meaningless conversation while the grumpy bar tender gave the waitress grief. Johnny and Mick Cronin arrived in a big van and we drove to a remote warehouse full of hundreds of cheap keyboards , guitars and expensive guitar cases and so on and so forth. There we collected Micks drum kit and drove onwards to Transmission Studios near Drumlish. The drizzle was a fine unrelenting spray. WE worked hard and fast and got the bones of four songs down, Mick on drums, me on vocals / electric guitar blasting out through a vintage Music Man amp. Took and break for dinner with Mrs Cronin then back to work.....and photographs. More photogaphs.

Thursday 16 Oct Dublin - Homeless guy in the pissing rain, sheltering in a doorway. The smell of deep fried fish & chips. Litter, fat women, the Evening Herald and pot holes. By the time I got to the Leeeson Lounge I was not feeling good. Couldn't catch my breath, profusely sweating.....weakness . Les told me to cancel. I told him to google my symptoms. Apparently I had accute anxiety, paranoia, a sense of impending dread and deep depression. The kind bar man enquired about the diagnosis. When I told him he said all musicians had that (hes a bass player) and promptly poured me a beer. After two of these wonder cures I felt much better and we had a fine gig and played well with many old faces in the room and a late late session afterwards

Friday 17 October, Dublin - Journalist and friend John Fleming kindly gave me the use of his sofa last night. Had a long sleep in, then a cup of tea followed by an afternoon drink locally. Got caught in rush hour traffic, and then got caught in the rain. Fi Shanks AKA Johnny Stormcrow arrived to collect me and off we sped through the night to the Al Media Fortress at Jamestown Road. Fi had asked some time ago for harmonica on a few of his songs, so parts were recorded in my home studio. ( a corner of the bedroom) . The resulting tracks must have been to Mr Stormcrows liking as he wanted me to play on a few more. The studio is a big enough place. We set the main microphone in such a way that I would record my parts facing compass north and it all worked out fine. Thought it would be wrapped up early but the session went on until way past midnight. Then a jam ensued with engineer Al (not Cowan....another Al ) and Vincent Swan. I played guitar for a while, sang a few songs. Switched to bass, but had most fun playing (or trying to play drums). That racket last until about 5am.

Saturday 18 Oct, Thomastown. - Arose from small sofa in Fi's place. No room for leg stretch, but I got a bit of that rambling around town. Text message informed me that the Irish Times newspaper had an article about us. Ate Indian food and then onwards to County Kilkenny. The venue was a wind swept shed out the back of a pub in picturesque Thomastown. Would be lovely in summer, a bit cold in October......January? I've no idea. My old fiend Jos Braddell arrived with a crew and kindly gave me a few of her new poems. The gig was ok and stories were told and we drove back to Dublin.

Sunday 19 Oct Dublin - Down through Prussia Street and Greek Street in the jam jar, the taxi driver explaining that the warm breeze was the result of a storm in the Caribbean. Taxi drivers know everything, although some can't figure out to use their Sat Nav. Recorded the bones of four songs with Al in Sonic Studios. Debra arrived up from the Banner County.
Breakfast the following morning was sweet potato chips with tzatziki in a burger joint in Rathmines. In Dublin airport I was allowed by the friendly check-in lady of Scandinavian aspect to bring my Ibanez electric guitar on the plane and at security another kind lady (Irish) very carefully handed me the guitar after it went through the x-ray machine. "My son plays guitar" she said. We chatted a bit. Turns out she had worked for EMI for twenty years and was wary of her son getting serious about music. Things aren't the way they used to be

July.....ireland , sweden, norway

2014-08-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sat 19 July,the Wild West - We were on a quest to locate some of the 20 castles that my ancestors had built (or acquired)in the long distant past. From Kildare we drove westwards down long crooked roads, through unheard of villages and townlands, eventually finding Ballymoate with its majestic fortification. The O'Connors, O'Hartes and Dowds took over the ancient castle in 1588 but only managed to hold onto it for eleven years before the English stole it. Onwards to County Leitrim with the mist hanging over the Keelogyboy mountains, stopping off at Colgagh Lough to take photographs and stretch our legs. On the shores of Lough Gill we found Parkes Castle. Built in 1610, the courtyard grounds contain evidence of an earlier 16th century Tower House once owned by Sir Brian O Rourke. He was hanged at Tyburn in London in 1591 for high treason. Not sure what that was all about. The Isle of Inishfree was visible, as was Church Island but we didn't bother with the boat trip. It was late evening by the time we found Rosslee Castle beside the sea in Easkey County Sligo. One version of history tells us that it was built by the Dowds in 1207. In we went, the ghosts were welcoming. I had arrived home at last. Although a ruin, a stairway leads through a secret passageway inside the walls all the way to battlements at the top. Vertigo prevented me from undertaking the climb.

Another Dowd stronghold is only a few miles away. One Tower is all that remains of Rathlee Castle, but it was still worth the visit. Tried to find a cheap hotel or BandB in Enniscrone but every place was booked up. On the outskirts of the town we called into a place where the helpful friendly lady phoned around her many friends to see if any of them had room for us, all to no avail. As we were leaving she handed me her business cards should we ever be in the area again and in need of a bed. It read ' Peggy O'Dowd - B&B'. I told her I was a Dowd, but I didn't have the 'O'. 'Thats all just posh crap' she said. 'Nobody around here had the 'O' til a while back. The old name was always Dowd. They only put the 'O' in to be posh'. I felt vindicated. Peggy (who had married a Dowd / O'Dowd) spent a good 10 minutes chatting away, telling us all about the area and convinced me to return and spend a night at her place.

But we had to hit the road again and stopped off at Crocketts On The Quay in Ballina as my traveling companions were hungry. In the back room Rackhouse Pilfer were playing. A great band fronted by my old buddy Leon from Sligo. We didn't get a chance to talk as I had to leave before the end ...onwards to Rockfield.

In the morning we drove northwards again, and eventually found Cottleswood Castle hidden away behind a row of stables. Our genial host not only showed us around his 16th century manor, but was full of information about the castle, even taking time to lock the wild horse away.
In Enniscrone on the beach I met a ugy renting wet suits and we engaged in conversation. He was full of information about the Dowds and as we talked somebody handed me an ice cream cone. 'Thats a Dowd ice cream,' he said. (The ice cream/sweet shop was owned by a Mr Dowd.) Following my hand-drawn map we located Dowds Castle on the outskirts of the town. Its located at a strategic point along the coastal route through Connaught into western Ulster. During the 12th century the Dowds ruled the kingdom of North Connacht having removed the O'Caomhain from the Enniscrone area. Apparently a few fortifications existed before the first castle was built in the late 14th century. During the 1522 conflict between the Burkes of Mayo and the O'Donnells of Donegal, the Burkes captured the castle. Later it was besieged and demolished by the O'Donnells who must hae been an uncultured crew, but then rebuilt by the Dowds and fair play to them / us. But come 1607 and the Flight of the Earls, things would never be the same. By 1640 it was all over for my ancestors and they either fled the country or slid into obscurity and poverty.

I came from peasants, but my people used to be kings. Dark clouds gathered overhead, I could see the wild waves of the Atlantic Ocean through the window of the north facing tower.

Thursday 24 July Dublin - Graves and graveyards .....left the wild west behind and took the train to Dublin, a city famous for many things and name-checked in a famous folk song about a foul smelling prostitute - Molly Malone. They even have a statue of her and its been relocated. It now stands outside a de-consecrated church.
My travelling companions wanted 'Irish food' so we made our way towards O Neills on Suffolk Street. On the corner of William Street South and Exchequer Street a shaky looking guy offered " speed or smack." Didn't think I looked that dodgy.....but it was a bit early in the day. I shook my head and he understood a business transaction wouldn't be taking place.
In O Neills I battled with the fruit flies who were legion.
Later we visited the National Gallery. Giovanni Paolo Lamazzo's book translated by Haylocke in 1598 was of interest. As artists instruction manuals go, it was fine. Bumped into an old friend from long time back, when I sold jewellery on the street. Si from The Severed Limb (who I regularly play on the Rock N Roots radio show) used to work on the same after I retired.
Songs were sung on Montpelier Hill, Sonic Recording Studios were paid a visit and Mr John Fleming was paid a visit too as he prepared for his trip to Urumqi, China via Biskek, Kyrgyzstan and onwards to Uighur Kashgar. The same day we took a flight to Oslo.....not as exotic as Johns trip.

Thursday July 31, Göteborg ..Patti Smith started the gig with 'Dancing Barefoot. ' It was all down hill from there. it wasn't loud enough, the sound engineer was crap and you wouldn't hear the drummer behind a newspaper. Bumped into Slick Andy and his extended family. Missus needed a toilet but there were queues everywhere. Went over to Gasten, the ghost bar and restaurant. Ordered 2 drinks. Waitress initiated short-lived conversation. Was I at the Patti Smith gig.? Yes but it was getting depressing and I needed a break. Bad poetry over the two chord shuffle with lousy sound. Waitress smiled, relieved she wasn't missing much. After our drinks and a cigarette we crossed over the bridge and back to the area in Liseberg where they host the gigs. Patti Smith, champion of the Pope was doing a very long winded version of Gloria. I started to sing along...Van, the man, Van the man, as Georgie Fame would have way back. Nobody got it.

Sitting on a bench in Central Station waiting on the 513 bus to Partille to present my show on Radio 88. A guy asked me the time, but before I could reply his lady friend spotted the clock. He said, "By the way, Im the Golden Man." I knew straight away what he meant. He was the street performer who paints himself golden and by some trick manages to sit on a chair that floats in mid air. I tried to rescue him once from an asshole who was interfering with his gig. Took his hat, wouldn't give it back, you know the type. Out in radio world records by the Severed Limb, Fred Eaglesmith, Two Dollar Bash, Elvis and long forgotten blues players were broadcast

Tony Berg met me at the station in Amal and we drove to a cafe for a chat. I drank earl grey black, no sugar thank you very much, and ate some class of a bun with bits of apples inside. Tony had coffee and a bun, similar, not the same. I played for exactly 60 minutes at the Marino as part of the towns street festival. We had time for a drink at the lakeside cafe owned by the guy who plays drums with Sea Sick Steve before catching the train. People were swimming, the sun beaming down, Tony and I made plans for 2015, assuming both of us survive 2014.

Cornered By The Vending Machines

2014-07-26T00:51:00.002-07:00

Thursday 10 July, Göteborg, Sweden - Shadow cars moved across the frosted glass. Cornered by the vending machines couldn't help notice so many people staring into the abyss of their smart phones. If you stare into the abyss long enough it stares back at you. Best thing to do was catch the #7 tram back to HQ. The faders shoved up, all wired and ready to go. Mixing 'Train Station Turnaround' was easier than expected with everything falling into place as in a good dream, and they're thin on the ground.

A few hours later with The Last Souls I blasted out a short set at Vastervik in the pirate borough of Majorna. Hot and humid, we had fun, with one recent rehearsal under our belts.

Tuesday 15 July. - We watched as the torrential rain ruffled the egos of the long long line of Bob Dylan fans. The true believers, the curious, the naive and the easily led were getting drenched as we sat in La Sombrita, a bar & restaurant on board an old boat at Kungsportsbron. As expected, the rain stopped ten minutes before Dylan and his band ambled on stage and kicked into 'Watching The River Flow.'

Several highlights were in store...'Desolation Road, 'Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee,' 'A Hard Rain a Gonna Fall.' We got right up to the front, the sound was crystal clear and he played 'Girl From The North Country'.

Wednesday 16 July, Oslo, Norway - Having taken time-off from tour management duties I had to accept that arriving to Central Station in a mild panic to catch the midday bus and then be told the booking was in fact for the 15,40 bus it was out of my control....and for once, not my fault. At least this meant we had time to eat and Indian food and red wine filled this blank time. The clouds and telegraph poles flew by on the bus ride and the Land of Nod beckoned.

On arrival, Oslo seemed of little interest. Phone call to art dealer / art hutler John Fitz led to a few drinks, leaving the Leonardo Da Vinvi for a street bar and winding up in Mono before catching four hours shut eye and onwards to the airport by train.

sunrise & sunset

2014-07-14T23:07:00.001-07:00

Saturday 28 June, Gothnburg - Met guitarist Thomas Silver at Mug (musical equipment store and home of the guitar doctor). Thomas played for 10 years with Hardcore Superstar, a famous Swedish heavy rock band. A great guitar player. Nice guy too. Chatting away, I suggested he play on some stuff Im recording but he says hes really stuck for time , but then instantly changes his mind and says maybe in the autumn. That would be cool and could be fun . He knows all the notes I dont.

Dropped into the record shop upstairs at Lagerhaus, the place stinks of detergent. Somebody must have puked listening to a Per Gessler record and they’re trying to mask the smell. Found a good soul compilation LP for 10SEK. (thats a little more than €1 or $1) Worth it alone for the Roscoe Robinson song - “One Thousand Rivers”. Never heard that one before.

Asked the google god for precise information concerning the length of the day as I cant recall having seen darkness for a long time. Im informed that sunrise is at 4.15....sunset at 10.16. In between it doesnt really get dark....more of a kind of hazy grey. The same website told me that the moon is waxing too, but I knew that already. These past few weeks Ive been rising with the sun, more or less, getting up around 5am, but tend to crash around 9 with book in hand and there really aren’t any real sunsets worth staying awake for. Winter and Spring is the best time for surreal Nordic sunsets.

Down at La Sombrita palm trees manned the enterance. Interesting and slightly kitch decor, we had a beverage. A boat moored in the centre of the town masquerading as a bar and restaurant, the drinks were cheap but the deal on the tapas was off for the day.
Before heading out to see Bunny Wailer a package from Crusher Records arrived in the post....a Spiders LP, a Vilunder LP, two LPs by The Movements, a few CD’s and a couple of 7inch singles. Will be playing these on the radio show on Radio 88 Partille over the next few weeks.

Liseberg, a funfair that boasts the biggest rollercoaster in Europe is the venue for Bunny Wailer. Looking frail, he apparently had concidered canceling the gig, but changed his mind and soldiered on. I can still remember the day when his ‘Blackheart Man’ LP arrived in the post from a Scottish based mail order company. Also in that package was John Lee Hookers LP ‘Blues Before Sunrise’. Both crucial LPs in their respective genres. I was about 14 years old, happy to be off sick from prison school, and with the record player within reach from my sick bed i played both LPs over and over. A wonderful education.
At Liseberg, Bunny played Rasta Man, Armagedeon, Blackheart Man and even one of his 60’s ska hits. Great to see him after all those years. Martti Blacksmith was there with his missus, and Ali. Back at home Bunny was on the turntable all night long.

Silver Persian Rings in Thuringia and Brandenburg

2014-06-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Monday May 5 Goteborg - Tried to get a mix of 'Fiery Frank' to my liking. Needs more work. Sometimes less is more. In this instance its guitar we need less of.
The post lady brought a biography of A. Crowley written by P.R Stephenson and Israel Regardie. Published during Crowleys life, its a welcome gift from Horslips drummer, poet and journalist Eamonn Carr. Apparently the book comes from the library of Barry Martin who had published the Ogham Stone in the 80's. There may be a copy or three of that gathering unwanted dust on the shelves in the other room.

Gallon Drunk's new album 'The Soul Of The Hour' is great. Instead of the usual mayhem, there are great melodies.....and of course a lot of noise. Worth checking out. And The Ghost Wolves too.

Tuesday 6 May Berlin. - Unusual to have an evening flight. Its usually up cock-crow and off bleary eyed. At Landvetter airport the Air Berlin staff are helpful and theres no drama over bringing the guitar on the plane. The hostess even helps me find a vacant overhead bin and tells me to sit wherever I want. On arrival, I got lost, the bus not going any further than Allexanderplatz. Tried to get a connectng bus, but all to no avail. Went into the S Bahn station and happened upon the right line that got me to Ostkreutz. Rain came down. Time for a taxi.

Thursday 7 May Berlin - A borrowed apartment courtsey of a friend is HQ for the week. The internet is very slow, the weather is grey and dull, but everything else is good. A ramble through Neukölln and up to Kreutzburg takes up a few hours. Had some Mexican food and returned to Hazzerstrasse and had a lie down.

The nights gig at Tik Nord was blessed with good sound but blasted by a never ending downpour which kept people off the street....and out of the venue. NIce plce, good people and a session afterwards.

Friday 9 May, Greiz - Down to Hauptbahnhoff and on my merry way, looking for adventure. A train ticket got me to Leipzig, and the rain came down big time as I boarded the slow train to Gera and on to Greiz.

Always good to meet Mathias, who brought along his wife and a few friends. They had dinner and drnks and it was show time. It being a small enough town, competition with a very well publicized Jazz Festival took its toll on the turn out. Despite it all, we had a good time, CDs were sold, stories were told, photos taken. Always good to play at Peanuts.

Saturday 10 May, Berlin - Up at 10am, breakfast....sort of. The display of meat is of no interest, so its Earl Grey tea, a piece of bread with apricot marmalade.....and thats it. ! Checked out of the hotel, with staff being very helpful with information concerning the times of trains..

Onwards back up north to Berlin. In Hauptbahnhof fish and chips were devoured. Over in Wedding, a part of Berlin I'd never seen before, I played the Tipperary Pub and hung out with heavy metal guys (and girl) from Translyvania. We had beers on the street (as you do in Berlin) trying to locate the S - Bahn (train) and I even managed to get off a bus at the right place.

Sunday 11 May, Berlin - Drinks in a bar in Kreutzburg that doubles as a DVD store. The bar girl is playing interesting CDs. I enquire and Im thankfully educated about Georgia's Horse and Big Blood. I pass on info to her about Shilpa Ray and The Ghost Wolves. She asks me if Im aware Ive got glitter on her face. Im not, but then I notice shes got glitter on her face too, it being dark I hadn't noticed it. It transpires the place is full of glitter , on the carpet , the seats...all over the shop. Could be worse. Could be chocolate......or dust.
A few Australians and a guy from Israel engage me in conversation. They've all got very dilated pupils and are drinking large gin and tonics.
I had to find some food / fuel and off to play at Culture Container . The show was filmed and Joe Armstrong and The Wildfires arrived down as did Jack Ponissi.

Monday 19 May Gothenburg - The smell of flowers and earth on the early morning ramble, the overnight rain showers open up mama natures perfume box.
I had spied Elvis Presley's 'If I Can Dream' through the window of a local record shop. 7 inch single in a picture sleeve. The shop was closed, planned to return but then got the notion that said record may already be in my posession. And so, a welcome Elvis phase kicked-off as long forgotten LPs were pulled off the shelves. Eventually I found 'If I Can Dream' on an LP entitled Gold Records Volume 5. A good pressing too.

The post lady brought a postcard from new friends in Greiz, Germany. Alex and his lady friend wrote to say they enjoyed the show and hopefully it wont be too long before I return. Hopefully not.

Hours were spent extracting, storing and catalogueing song files. Basically, getting songs, track by track off the hard drive of my 8 track and storing them for some rainy day when somebody gets the bright idea to re-mix some songs. Wrote a song by accident. I was trying to finish one that had been started before Berlin happened, and ended up wrting something else. Handy when that happens. Music, melody and lyrics for four or five verses. Chorus too.

EIRE & AMERIKAY

2014-05-21T03:11:00.002-07:00

Friday 21 February, Clonmel - A late arrival as a result of a car crash along the motor way on the way out of Dublin. Maybe we had miscalculated the distance to Clonmel as well. The fact that I'd been told the the gig was in O Keefes Bar, when it was in fact in The Bakery added another hour or so to proceedings. Still, nobody seemed too phased. Got the gear in, including PA (which we rarely bring), set-up and Clarence wen on straight away. The late night revellers warmed to us after a while and the gig was fun, folks taking photos and that sort

of thing.

Afterwards the disco came on and all the girls sang along to the classic 80s hits. Across the way at Hearnes Hotel we had a late drink or two. It was the sort of residents bar that looked like it hadn't changd since the mid 60s. Sticky carpet on the floor, velvet curtains, gilded mirrors. Chatted to an American lawyer at the bar about the law, and a possible gig in her sisters bar in upstate NY. A local musician was keen to do a song, but had left his guitar at home. Clarence lent him his acoustic and the guy did a few covers. Clarence sang one of two as did Les. I took my turn and sang 'Let The Time Slide'. The first time ever in public. 'Telegram Sam' got an airing too, and that was enough. A girl arrived over with a much appreciated bag of chips as a present. I was starving. These were real cheaps too. Supper time. Al nodded off at our corner table. A dodgy painting of President Mary Robinson was our guide along the labyrinthine corridoors. Hang a right at Mary and your heading in the right direction of the bedroom.

Sat 22 February, Ennis - It was on the house, so I went for the full Irish breakfast (veggie version). Al had forgotten his phone, so he went off in search of an internet cafe. Les and I went for a ramble around town. I figured out how to getthe wifi set up and a facebook message from Mercedes in Mozambique led to Patrick Stack passing on phone numbers and Als missus was then able to phone Al via my phone. It was one of those sort of days.

Clarence decided to spend the afternoon in a Clonmel bar watching a bunch of millionaires on TV kicking a ball around a field. Al and I hit the road and it was grey and raining and miserable in Ennis. Met Bernie and took the Lifford Road out towards Lisdoonvarna and Kilfenora. Drove past the great looking ruins of Leamaneh Castle which was originally built in 1480, and what one now sees on the site is the manor house which was built or rebuilt in 1648 by Conor O’Brien, of the famous family who ruled Co Clare for centuries. He was married to Red Mary, but thats another story for another day.
We ended up on the edge of the Burren, or maybe it was a bog. Certainly the middle of nowhere. My traveling companions had business to attend to. I was just tagging along.

Back in Ennis we had dinner, pasta, wine, a good chat. Later the gig. Good to see Paul and his brother there. Very few showed up as a bunch of bands were playing a local charity gig raising money for flood damage. They could have let us know. Spent the night with Debra in Spancil Hill. Visited (another) O Briens Castle in the morning, which I stumbled upon by accident and then porridge and tea and hit the road for Kildare.

Saturday March 8, New York - In the airport the announcement rang out loud and clear...'Can Eagle Eye Cherry please go to gate 21.' Long time since I heard about him. We boarded, guitar in hand. A sign read " No sleeping on the floor allowed." We were in the cheap seats for sure. The screen informed us the plane was traveling at 885 miles an hour. Still, the flight from Stockholm took nine hours, and we'd already spent an hour getting to Stockholm.
Arrived into Newark, zig zagged our merry way to Brooklyn and up to Ridgewood near Queens. Not familiar with this part of the world. Dumped our gear, out for a drink and something that resembled food in a Polish place with grumpy waitress, but all presnt were in such good form, even the waitress got in on the vibe after a while.

Sunday 16 May, New York - Cold blustery days. Explred parts of hipsville Williamsburg, Had lunch in a time warped German Dancehall in Ridgewood. Played at BarChord in Brooklyn on the Tuesday night with Jack. A good crowd in for a Tuesday. Some guy with too much testosterone coursing through his fats lined veins smashed the door off its hinged. Jonas , John Connors and Des from the Golden Horde called down. Jonas (from the Big Geraniums) I had seen last year, but hadn't seen John or Des in years. A good time was had by all....and the money was good too. Afterwards, Des gave us a lift home in his big SUV. Dropped into someplace with Thalia for a late drink. The bar owner has a psych band called The Oranj. He gave me his CD. Told him Id play it on the radio....and I did.

THe show at Hanks Saloon had good sound, a cool dive bar, but the place was more or less empty. And very cold too. A very very big guy came over to me to compliment me on my set, then promplty fell over, thankfully not on top of me.
That would have meant broken bones.

Happy hour prices all day at the White Horse Tavern in the Financial District. Not the same Whit Horse where Dylan and the clancys hung out, not the one where Dylan Thomas knocked back all those whiskeys. Thats over in in Grennwich. €.3.75 a pint....not bad....and not an Armani suit in site. All dock workers, fire men, off duty waitresss, truck drivers. You get the idea. It was cold and damp on the Staten Island Ferry, but they had a bar. Out to New Jersey to see old friends Kevin and Laura, while the hawks circled overhead. Jack educated me on US drinking practices of the 40's and 50's.

Back in Dumbo we played at 68 Jay and had a great night. Our hostess Jan took care of business, but I dont think she made much progress trying to convince the booker of the Brooklyn Folk Festival a show next year. But thats fine by me. I wouldn't fit in there at all........

Embrace the weird and strange times.......

2014-03-06T04:44:00.000-08:00

Friday 25 October, Gothenborg - Down at Trixter Theatre Distel various dark ambient acts were playing, industrial noise on tap. Chatted to Marijn from Those Foreign Kids and bought a copy of their “ Zero Gravity Somersaulting Craze” LP on see through blue vinyl. Somebody was saying that they were drinking to much and needed to slow down. You gotta watch out for the booze, it surely is the road to ruination, misery, delusion and the devil. Music is recommended at all times, day and night and books can save your brain from stagnation. Embrace the weird and strange times...If things get too normal, buy a new pair of boots.

At the local record shop I picked up “Memphis Rockabilly”, a 1987 Sunnjay Records Production, Sunjay being a Swedish label.Its got Lioyd Arnold with The long Hairs doing “Go Go Go” that sounds a bit like a proto “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. Charlie Feathers has two tracks on the LP as well as Jim Shaw.

A snow storm blew in from Russia. The electrickery went off for an hour. When it came back on I slid a Fred Eaglesmith CD into the tray and listened to the Canadian genius. “Water In The Fuel” is the closing track on the disc. Wish I had written that one.

Thursday 31 October Dublin - Daytime rehearsal at Sonic , then load up and across town to The Odessa. Unload, up 3 flights of stairs with help from hastily hired roadie. After sound check I was interviewed by Patrick Freyne from the Irish Times newspaper and it was filmed....for what Im not sure. After the gig a politician told me he really enjoyed it but never asked for my vote.

Friday 1 November Wicklow - Whrn the regulars in the Glimmer Man know you've a gig in Wicklow its time to re evaluate how 'hanging around time' is spent or mispent. Out in Wicklow the place is empty but we play our gig and the few who have braved the elements seem to enjoy it.

Saturday 2 November, Dublin - Recoring in Sonic, Clarence layed down some pedal steel and I played bass on three songs. With Debra I went to Whelans where I played a solo set opening up for Cronin, and even joined them on stage for a version of 'Gloria'. A late night of stories and vague plans about recording together.

Sunday 3 November Dublin. Caught a bit of the session at the Cobblestone and then onwards to the Thomas House to see Niall Lawlor and Felim Drew play a set. Got up and played a few songs and a few hours later I was in the airport drinking fruit juice.

Wednesay 11 December, Leeuwarden, Netherlands - First lie of the day was at Landvetter Airport. They told me the flight was fully booked but of course the plane was half empty. I checked the guitar in....had little choice and it was too early in the day for an arguement. Flew to Frankfurt and there I boarded another half empty plane and arrived into Schipol Amsterdam in one piece. On a brief stroll from Central Station I found a corner bar I had frequented before. I asked a gentleman to keep an eye on my gear while I went to the toilet and this led to a conversation. Baz from Grimsby and his girlfriend are on the last day of their shopping holiday. They disagreed on how long they've been together. He says 2 months, she claims its 3. They hit the road to catch the ferry to Hull, i took a train up through Leystad and Zwolle, arriving into Leeuwarded at 7.20 thirteen hours after I had set out from home. It was foggy and gloomy.
At the bar I met with James who is very proud to be from Nashville Tennessee, but he grew up in Idaho. H must have told me this about 5 times in 7 minutes before I got real busy making an imaginery phone call while he spilt his drink all over his friend.

Thursday 12 December, Amsterdam - Stayed at the Hotel t'Ankor. Small, run-down , bathroom down the hall type of place. The breakfast room was full of elderly out-of- town Dutch ladies. The regular buffet breakfast malarky. I had a boiled egg, an apple and an orange and a cup of tea. Dairy free.

On a morning ramble through town I came across the Oldehove Tower. Originally part of a long demolished church the tower dates from 1529. During construction, the tower began to sink and the project project was stopped in 1532.
It leans more than the tower at Pisa apparently, but I've never seen that.

Nothing to do and all day long to do it. I left Freisland behind and traveled through Aakrum, Steenweljk and rapidly onwards through desolate terrain. Marches, swampland, crippled tress, wind battered cattle. Flat fields with hundreds of deer, a field with seventy horses all tan with black manes, they wandered aimlessly in the gale. I was getting hungry. I was already thirsty.
On arrival in Amsterdam i returned to the bar I had been in the previous day. Sat at the same table. An Italian guy tried to engage me in conversation, but he had very little english. He tried to sell me a ring, but I wasn't interested. Too early in the week for retail therapy. His call-girl friend tried to translate.
After the gig at Monumentje I spoke to Peter from Australia. A film maker based in town we chatted about all sorts of projects, traveling, gigs, music etc. The guys had forgotten to book a hotel for me so I stayed in Harry's new pad in Goldenstraat in the centre of the red light district.

Friday 13 December - Dusseldorf, Germany. An hour or two was spent in Dirty Nellie's chatting with barman/musician David Masciari, the never ending hussle. Then took the train down to Dusseldorf to play Solaris 53. A good crowd were in, old friends, photos were taken and slices of plastic were sold.

Saturday 14 December - Rupelmonde, Belgium. After a very late, back onto the lonesome train. A day of cancellations and missed connections, trouble in mind, a detour to Aachen and eventually a much appreciated lift from Inneke's mom Louisa who picked me up in Bercham and drove me to Rupelmonde where I played a gig at t'Guildenhuis, arriving over an hour late. Nobody complained and the gig was enjoyable with a big PA to blast out the sound.

Sunday 15 December, Ghent & Antwep, Belgium - Woke up in a room with hundreds of LPs, the one that caught my eye was a Benelux compilation, "16 Great Hits." All I need is one. Downstairs at 12.45 theres a Sunday morning coming down vibe. Young gentlemen playing pool, the balls swirl into their pockets, church bells chime. Elderly ladies sip their gin & tonics.
My host Bert is not only a talented musician but a genius of an film / video editor and we conspire to work together, if I can get my hands on the film thats been shot the past couple of years. Phone calls need to be made, promises need to be kept. Talk is cheap. Inneke 23 phoned me to say she has located a recording studio in Ghent. Within an hour she arrived in a borrowed car and off we went on our adventure. I had the bones of a track called "The Rivers Frozen Til April" on a memory stick and the plan was to get Inneke to sing on the sng. After a long drive we pulled in to YelloTape Studios and got to work with Peter van der Veir. Inneke got her vocals down, sounded great, then we drove to Antwerp arriving very very late for a shambolic gig and then I took a train to Amsterdam and got on a plane to Sweden via Copenhagen.

Wednesday December 25, Alingsås, Sweden - Onwards past the dog hotel, before the turn off to Tollered. Past the 'rent a canoe' place, caravans perched on top of rocky hill tops, skinny pine trees in the inclines. Past Hemsjö and Norsesund. Horses in the gloomy fields wearing jackets. Onwards past Hästeryd, under the fly-overs, under the Nifhelm, under the Nordic darkness, under the blood of the tribes.
In Alingås CDs were sold and people recognized many of the songs I sang, having colleced some of my recordings in previous times.

SEPTEMBER 2013 - Austria / Germany / Netherlands / Belgium / Sweden / Turkey

2013-11-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

Sunday September 1, Salzburg, Austria – They played The Lemonheads as we boarded the plane to Berlin. The flight attendants wore tight ass enchancing jeans as they dished out the water and fruit juice in a swift and cautiously friendly manner. We plebs had a choice of snack. Salty or sweet. I had neither. A heavy downpour of rain greeted our arrival in to Tegel. But in Salzburg it was drizzling and humid. Played the gig and had an early night.

Monday September 2, Salzburg, Austria – Flags hanging on their poles, the bustle of the tourist town. People looking lost, some looking for adventure. On a ramble through the old city I discovered elaborate tombstones, magnificent metal crosses worthy of a place in an art museum. Church spires, horse drawn carraiges. So many people looking down into the abyss of the internet on their i-phones/smart phones/stupid phones. Who am I to judge. I had to get wifi sorted and once I did I discovered Im going to be on Frank Vranchx’s show on Radio Centraal in Belgium in a few days.

Played the gig and met top attorney and big time music fan W. Scott Wallace and his wife from Dallas, Tx. They bought CDs and invited me to their home town for a show and I will in due course put some effort into making that happen.

Tuesday September 3, Munich, Germany – Off through Badendorf, Rosenheim, Grafink Bahnhof and arrived into Mucich. Navigated the S Bahn and found the bar at Marianplatz. Chatted to Tigue, a young Irish chao currently working in a fancy nancy Michelin hotel up the street. Its his third day. Met Mick (from Dublin) and Karen (from Deutschland) who had received an email from Brian in someplace in darkest Ireland saying to go check out my gig. So they did. They even had a list of songs I should play...’Down Into Hell’ ‘Nowhere Fast’ and ‘Tell Old Bill’. I played them all and got a bed for the night as well. Thanks Mick and Karen.

Wednesday September 4, Amsterdam, Netherlands – Woke up to the sound of the alarm bright and early. Mick drove me to some far flung train station on the outskirts of Munich and I hopped on the train. Lost my phone, found my phone, got to Copenhagen where one of the restaurants has the novel approach to keeping the bored and lost supplied with liquid refreshments. For example, buy a beer for 55DK, but get a refill for 20DK and you get to pull your own pint. And I thought my bar tending days were over. Read parts of The International Herald & Tribune, the inevitable slaughter and mayhem in Syria being a sober reminder that many of us live a bubble wrapped life.

Got into Amsterdamned and read a bit and nodded off in the smallest hotel room in the world. Went out on a ramble. Sister Sledge on the stereo in a bar near Dam Square. Found the hotel without getting lost or taking a taxi.

Thursday September 5, Antwerp, Belgium – Intense heat. Traveled on through Rotterdam, Rosendal, Kapellan and Ekeren eventually arriving in Antwerp. On Frank Vranchx’s show on Radio Centraal i played 5 or 6 songs, we had a chat and he played a few tracks from CD’s of mine. Sarah conducted the interview and Kristal did her crocheting as jazz cigarettes were passed around. Then we went up to Hoogstraat to the Half Souke bar as is the ritual every Thursday after the radio show. A hang out for poets and musicians since the 60’s the bar is small and with a floor like sea waves. It being sunny, we sat outside. Met a lady obsessed with the Tuatha De Dannann. That took up a few hours, but of course she had no interest in going to my gig. I had a red shirt on and down the street we met a lady with a red shirt (and red shoes) so Sarah took photos of us together in our finery. Went to the opening of an exhibition where we met Kika De Silva wearing a magnificent red dress so we took a few photos. It all seemed to make sense. Inspired paintings by Fred Bervoets on the wall, but it was time for soundcheck. Met a long lost girlfriend of Nikki Sudden. She was cool, damaged, living in the past and lost.

Friday September 6, Enschede, Netherlands - Woke up in Franks place in Antwerp with my boots on. Joined the artist/film maker/musician Ludo Mich and Chantelle Strubbelingen for breakfast. A bit like Kris Kristoffersons 'Sunday Morning Coming Down'. After a while I had a boiled egg. We talked about the Hunters Moon Festival in Carrick on Shannon, and I flicked through Karen Constances wonderful book with a 7 inch single hidden inside the back cover. The postman delivered collectable vinyl LPs, the atmosphere delivered heavy rain.

When the rain cleared we headed for the station and a train to Enschede. Needed to change trains in Rotterdam but missed my connection. Hung around for a while. Commuters were packed in like sardines, no seats available, only standing room between carraiges. A man wearing a white suit and white shoes did his best to make room for me to squeeze in. Looked like an Angel. As I trundled on board he said "Welcome to Hell". I nodded at him not sure what to think. Eventually I arrived into Enschede where a street festival was underway. Played the gig, had a sleep. Nice folks to deal with.

Saturday Sept 7, Dusseldorf, Germany – The lady in the ticket office was of no help. She said “You can by a ticket on the platform.” I explained I needed to go to Dusseldorf, which is in another country. She told me to go to Hengelo and buy a ticket there. It was hot and hazy. Outside on the platform the train to Hengelo awaited but I couldn’t see any ticket machines. I asked a ticket inspector. “You dont need a ticket to Hengelo” he told me in a no nonsense sort of a way. “So if the ticket inspector asks me for a ticket what do I do?” i enquire. “Im the ticket inspector on this train. No ticket!” Fair enough I think, and board the train. In Hengelo I bought a ticket to Dusseldorf and when the lady handed me the itinerary I noticed the first change was at Enschede. I said “I’ve just come from Enschede.” She shrugged her shoulders, I took the ticket and found the platform and waited....and waited.

Back in Enschede there was a long wait for the slow train to Munster from platform 4B. Two ladies were deep in conversation on the bench. I re-checked the details on the screen. I swung around to ask one of the ladies if this was indeed the right platform and they were no longer there, and neither was the bench. It was a bit early in the day for this type of spooky stuff. Trying to rationalise this psychic event I became aware that my shirt was soaking wet. I was sweating profusely. Maybe I had a fever, caught some bad bug, my cup of tea was spiked, a drone had shot a micro poison dart into my neck. A man of Persian aspect approached me “Do you speak English?”. I told him I did and we discussed the train to Munster scenario. He had also been given the runaround by the ticket office inside, as i had an hour earlier. I noticed he too was sweating profusely as he took out a hankerchief and mopped his brow. It wasn’t just me. It must have been 35 degrees and humidity was high as a kite. I had to accept that people, and sometimes the benches on which they sit, simply disappear. It never crossed my mind to ask the man of Persian aspect if he was troubled by invisible people. Sometimes its best to keep your mouth shut.

It was a long lonesome day. In Dusseldorf the rain came down and I felt lost but made it to Solaris 53 in one piece. Greeted Uki and crew before having Thai food in a small family run restaurant with all the gods watching me. The same place I had dinner last time I was in this town. Then I went back down to the dark end of the street and played the gig.

Sunday Sept 8, Castricum, Netherlands – On the train down to Amsterdam the ticket inspector informed that most of the toilets on the train were out of order. Eventually I located one and on the way back to the dining carraige where I was having a liquid lunch I bumped into the same chatty King of Tickets. ‘Where you from?’ he asked. ‘Ireland’ I replied.

‘Dublin ! Big tits and great pussy, I go there next week.’

I nodded and off I went. A while later he walked past me again gesticulating frantically to check out his work comrade, a chesty brunette. He was getting into the swing of things for his trip to Dublin and the cesspit of Temple Bar I presume.

After arriving into Castricum via Amsterdam I ate disappointing Indonesian food, found the venue, a place called De BakKerij. Cool venue, nice staff and got the soundcheck over with little pain involved. Steve arrived down from Alkmaar, played the show and so on and so forth. One of the bar staff urged me to check out the music of Jackson C. Frank.
He stuck on a CD of Mr Frank and after slices of plastic were exchanged for bio survival tickets Steve and I took a late train to Alkmaar.

Monday Sept 9, Amsterdam, Netherlands – The rain was coming down hard and fast . Sheltered in a corner bar near Central Station. My second time in this city in the past week. The unrelenting rain may have been in cahoots with the taxi drivers union. Hailed a cab - 7 Euro, not a bad deal, and the polite gentleman insisted on lifting my heavy bag and guitar as well. I was left with a bag containing a half empty box of CDs and an alarm clock with the alarm function broken. However the disabled plastic clock tells me when the gig is coming to a close. Its usually beside my effects pedals on the floor. For acoustic gigs it lies beside my stomp box usually.

An Australian lady rushed out in the rain to help me with the gear. Harry who runs Monumentje is a musician himself and knows the score. Refreshed with a beer or 4 and following a few pangs of impending puke (and I only throw up once every 10 years or so) I reckoned I should change to red wine. The room was full and the gig was a special affair in that I knew I was amongst kindred spirits and the vibe was very good indeed. Not only did people buy CDs, they wanted to know what songs were about and where they were recorded and it was clear that we were all in this madness together and people arrived in that I hadn’t seen in years and time drifted slowly and everything seemed to make sense. Hanging around in Schipol Airport for six hours waiting for a flight wasn’t much fun or interesting in any way. But you can’t have everything! Where would you put it?

Thursday Sept 12, Göteborg, Sweden - Jack Earls ‘Take Me To That Place’ was on the record player rocking at 45r.p.m. What a minimialist and cool rockin’ guitar riff. Later I found an old Tony Tuff LP. Stuck it on and listened to ‘Mista Know It All’. Memories of Galway in the early 80’s came flooding back. My old bedsit on St Marys Road - like a furnace in the summer and like a fridge in the late autumn. Couldn’t stick it any longer and I moved out. Tony was for a long time the invisible man of reggae. My friend Arvid down in Malmo agrees, but in the last few years Ive been able to track down a few of Mr Tuffs records mail order.

A cloud blew the rain from its throat. Closed the windows. Checked out some songs from Omar Souletman from Syria on soundcloud. Then the wife came in and announced she’d decided to get out a life insurance policy on me. A doctor told me two years ago that Im in pretty good shape all concidered. Suddenly I felt a strange feeling of unease and ultimately dark paranoia.

Wednesday Sept 18, Side, Turkey – Explored the Temple of Apollo and what may have been a second century hospital. I wondered where all the Persian Princesses were. But I started writing a song called ‘Persian Princess’ anyway. What else would you do? At the hotal bar the proprietor asked if I was looking for a wedding party. I wasn’t. Wearing a white shirt and dark pinstripe jacket with black trousers and red cowboy boots I must have stood out amongst the bikini clad girl-tourists and the shorts and T shirt brigade. Apparently it was 38 degrees celsius and I hadn’t noticed. He was trying to be funny I suppose. I asked for another drink.

Later I ended up rambling through a few acres of desert. Got dust on my boots and spotted a few camels and assorted tumbling down ancient ruins.
An oasis beckoned. The No Name Restaurant provided me with a beer and a view out over the Aegean Sea. I decided to try to get to Manavgat, but having started out with bad directions I took a bus to Komkoy. A detour was required and eventually an hour or two was spent roaming the gigantic markets of Manavgat and I realized this is where the regular folks live and work and hang out. Converse runners for a tenner, fake rolex watches, fake jeans, fake perfume that smells like vodka, fake any fucking thing you want mista.

Sitting under the blinking bikini sign, John Lee Hooker was on the stereo blasting out “One scotch, one burbon, one beer.” My evil spirit days are over but I can handle a beer. Then another one from John Lee...”Im in the mood for love.” Aren’t we all. The sun went down fast.

Started work on a country ballad and slept for a few hours and the days melted into one and other as they sometimes do.

Netherlands / Sweden / Turkey - September 2013 (continued)

2013-10-29T06:43:00.002-07:00

Sunday Sept 8, Castricum, Netherlands – On the train down to Amsterdam the ticket inspector reliably informed me that most of the toilets on the train were out of order. Eventually I located one and on the way back to the dining carraige where I was having a liquid lunch I bumped into the same chatty King of Tickets. ‘Where you from?’ he asked. ‘Ireland’ I replied. ‘Dublin ! Big tits and great pussy, I go there next week.’

Later I ended up rambling through a few acres of desert and spotted a few camels and assorted tumbling down ancient ruins.
An oasis beckoned. The No Name Restaurant provided me with a beer and a view out over the Aegean Sea. I decided to try to get to Manavgat, but having started out with bad directions I took a bus to Komkoy. A detour was required and eventually an hour or two was spent roaming the gigantic markets of Manavgat and I realized this is where the regular folks live and work and hang out.

Started work on a country ballad and slept for a few hours and got up again and one day melted into another as they sometimes do.

ENSCHEDE and DUSSELDORF

2013-09-27T03:31:00.003-07:00

NETHERLANDS / BELGIUM SEPTEMBER 2013

2013-09-17T04:08:00.001-07:00

Wednesday September 4, Amsterdam, Netherlands – Woke up to the sound of the alarm bright and early. Mick drove me to some far flung train station on the outskirts of Munich and I hopped on the train. Lost my phone, found my phone, got to Copenhagen where one of the restaurants has the novel approach to keeping the bored and lost supplied with liquid refreshments. For example, buy a beer for 55DK, but get a refill for 20DK and you get to pull your own pint. And I thought my bar tending days were over. Read parts of The International Herald & Tribune, the inevitable slaughter and mayhem in Syria being a sober reminder that many of us live a bubble wrapped life.

Got into Amsterdamned and read a bit and nodded off in the smallest hotel room in the world. Went out on a ramble. Sister Sledge on the stereo in a bar near Dam Square. Found the hotel without getting lost or taking a taxi.

Thursday September 5, Antwerp, Belgium – Intense heat. Traveled on through Rotterdam, Rosendal, Kapellan and Ekeren eventually arriving in Antwerp. On Frank Vranchx’s show on Radio Centraal i played 5 or 6 songs, we had a chat and he played a few tracks from CD’s of mine. Sarah conducted the interview and Crystal did her crocheting. Then we went up to Hoogstraat to the Half Souke bar as is the ritual every Thursday after the radio show. A hang out for poets and musicians since the 60’s the bar is small and with a floor like sea waves. It being sunny, we sat outside. Met a lady obsessed with the Tuatha De Dannann. That took up a few hours, but of course she had no interest in going to my gig. I had a red shirt on and down the street we met a lady with a red shirt (and red shoes) so Frank took photos of us together in our finery. Went to the opening of an exhibition where we met Kika De Silva wearing a magnificent red dress so we took a few photos. Inspired paintings by Fred Bervoets on the wall, but it was time for soundcheck. Met a long lost girlfriend of Nikki Sudden. She was cool, damaged, living in the past and lost.

Sweden / Austria / Germany September 2013

2013-09-12T02:54:00.003-07:00

Friday August 30, Göteborg, Sweden – Spent half an hour looking for a Pat Conte record. Eventually found it and stuck it on as the ships rolled into the harbour. Its called ‘Folk Music Of The United States’. Issued on red vinyl by Jalopy Records its a good start to the day. Pats also responsible for compiling ‘The Secret Museum Of Mankind Vol. 1, Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-48’. Far-out tracks from his personal collection of obscure 78’s from Ceylon, Poland, Abyssinia, Andalucia, Rajahstan, Fiji, South Africa and so on. First time I met Pat was a few months ago on Columbia Street in Brooklyn NYC. His car pulled up to the kerb and Jack shouted over “ Hey Pat”. I went over to say ‘hello’ to this man I’d heard so much about. The car was full of smoke. I assumed they were smoking gigantic spliffs, but no, it was sweet smelling Nag Champa incense that clouded the old Buick. Billows of the stuff. He burns it everywhere he goes creating his own world of smoke/mist/fog and great music.

Windows wide open - the far away rumble of traffic, it was hot and humid. Fizzy drink in mind, I stuck to soda water. Put on the Stones ‘Out of Time’ but it sounded muddy. This was from the Rolled Gold compilation. But I was used to hearing a version from a Russian pressing I had aquired about 10 years back. Dug that one out and I was right, the old cold war era pressing was surprisingly better, maybe even an alternative mix. Probably a bootleg as well. The doorbell rang and the Nikki Sudden 6 CD box-set arrived. Looks great and it’s full of obscure stuff as well as some of his better known songs. Im to be found on one track playing guitar and harmonica. Later on it seemed appropriate to try and remix a version of Nikki’s ‘Death Is Hanging Over Me’.

IRELAND - JULY 2013 (PART TWO)

2013-08-28T04:02:00.002-07:00

Thurs 18 July, Dublin – Mark Dennehy had been sound engineer on early Racketeers gigs way back in the last century. I recall those hot nights in Eamonn Dorans, Temple Bar 1996. The pool table in front of the stage peopled by folks with shady motives. Staff would move the table after soundcheck and some dodgy CD’s would be played, then support band, then ourselves and our gig would invariably be followed by all sorts of shenanigans in the dressing room. A motley crew of dealers and delinquents, DJ’s, hangers on, friends, the posessed and the disposessed, pissing into the sink rather than brave the unruly mob trying to get to the toilets, counting out the notes trying to do the split, paying the driver, plans for later in the night, leaving pint glasses of piss beside the monitors for unsuspecting techno twat skangers to swig in the idiotic dancing frenzy. Good times......generally. So it was good to have Mark along to take care of recording tonights gig in the Leeson Lounge. Also on the job, Niall Hoare, another stalwarth from the early Dorans days. He later toured with Al in Caliban and they’re still on speaking terms, so it can’t have been too bad.

Cliff Roslyn joined us for a few songs on his magnificent Hammond organ and although it wasn’t my favourite gig of the year, looking back at the film everything seems cool. Its just the headspace I was in. The sound was really good (for a change) and its a pity there wasn’t a better turnout. Next time hopefully, if there is a next time. Didn’t hang around for long afterwards, hit the road pretty much after getting the gear and the money sorted.

Fri 19 July, Dublin – Called a taxi and they asked for my address and I got confused, but the lady on the phone said “ I think you might be in XX Dunsink Avenue, you called a taxi from there this time yesterday.” Ah yes, it all makes sense now. So I got into town dodging the delinquents and I spied a BBQ ready to roll in the courtyard where Sonic Studios and a few other businesses share space and park their automobiles of various colours and sizes. Veggie sausages, salad, and liquid of a refreshing nature were the order of the day and we all had a chat in the blinding sun and the vibe was good indeed and the guy across the way was blasting out Thin Lizzy and old rockabilly records. Listening back to the recording of last nights show we are pleasently surprised, and the film looks good too. We look rather well for a bunch of old fellas.

Did vocals on 5 songs, and not an auto-tune in sight. That took a few hours. Went on a ‘research ramble’ checking out different bars / venues as potential places to play gigs, collecting business cards, chatting to bookers and the like. Walking down Fleet Street I decided to reward myself with a pint bottle of Bulmers and that is indeed what happened, but I also bumped into Donal Molloy and his missus. He tells me he’s living “out in the bush” near Melbourne, still making sculpture and by the looks of it, enjoying life. We have a drink and a chat. Good to see him again after so many many years. He’s got a great memory too. Still intact. Out at Al’s place we eat and the wine is flowing and I taste the hottest sauce Ive ever tasted. Its called ‘Insanity’ and it suited me down to a T.

Sat 20 July, Ennis – Slept most of the way to Ennis, then set up real quicky and we were ready to roll. Met Jonathan from Kerry who I used to know in Galway all those long years ago when it seemed to rain every day of every week. I remember when I first saw Ridley Scott’s ‘Bladerunner’ I thought to myself, thats Galway in the future.

We managed to play ‘Iron City’ twice. My mistake. So many songs, so few brain cells. We were supposed to play ‘Wicked Wind’ but both songs start in Am and I somehow sang the wrong words and off we went with the guys following me along and it was too late to stop. Enjoyed the gig. Hopefully the folks in the bar did too.

Paul was down from Headford and Mr Dooley and some of the crew from our previous visits to the town. We went out to Debra’s house in Spancill Hill afterwards. Sang a song or two. Went out for a ramble in the fields just after sunrise and greeted the solar disc like an old friend. When I went back into the house Debra and Les had disappeared to their respective rooms. Ed had nodded off in a chair. Didn’t know where my room was and it didn’t seem appropriate to go around opening doors at random, so I lied down on a sofa and closed my eyes and the world disappeared.

Sun 20 July, Lisdoonvarna – Spent the morning sitting out in the garden, a pot of tea on the table and slices of toast looked excellent. The conversation revolved around magick, judaism, religion, belief systems, the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, atheism, witchcraft, censorship and the like. Never did get around to eating any toast, but I borrowed 4 of Ed’s chips when we got into town and gathered at Tom Steeles. Al and Mercedes arrived in from the night in Feakle. Swiftly we moved through the countryside in our metal wagons. We had a vague agreement to stop off at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon for a drink but this never materialized. So many plans down the drain.

Arrived into Lisdoonvarna and checked out the Roadside Tavern. Nice place, good crew. A UK band whose name I can’t recall were setting up. Went for a walk up town and ate a disagreeable veggie burger. With a few hours to wait before our show i decided to leave the world and slept in Ed’s car and later awoke, batteries recharged and well focused.
It wasn’t the best P.A. in the world but the gig was great. A very appreciative audience, people up dancing and shouting things like “lets rock” and “rock it ...rock it!”. So we rocked it and it rolled too. Sold CD’s and then we hit the long black road back east. Best gig of the week by far.

IRELAND - JULY (PART ONE)

2013-08-07T02:51:00.004-07:00

Sat 14 July, Wicklow Town – As mad as it might sound, there's a heatwave in Dublin. As good as the Martha Reeve's song it is too. Everybody seems happy, even those pasty people wearing track suits, but it can't last. Knives will be drawn on Friday night and the blood will spill.

The Kilfenora Ceili Band are playing a show in Dublin to promote their new album entitled "8". According to the flyer it's their eighth since the band formed in 1909. That's not a lot of LP's in 104 years. I have one of the precious eight on vinyl, a bargain bin job but it gets the odd spin. Not sure what year it's from and I can't dig it out to share this information with you as I'm currently nomadic and home is a long way away.

Met Nick Seymour of Crowded House on the street. He gave me a big "Hiya mate" as people do from that part of the southern hemisphere and a clap on the back as is the fashion with some friendly folk. I've been drinking with Nick a few times. Nice guy, but alas his music is not for me.

According to Olaf Tyaransen in the current issue of Hot Press I’m “one of the great survivors of Irish rock ‘n’roll”. The award-winning journalist, writer / poet said this in his piece reviewing “Things Aren’t The Way They Used To Be.” Thanks Olaf, I owe you a drink. He’s also expressed an interest in doing an interview for Hot Press, but there wasn’t time on this trip to the Emerald Isle. Maybe next time.

A few days were spent in County Kildare where amongst a litany of strange activities I visited and got lost in a maze. I was lost for a very long time, but then I was found and all was forgiven. In the wild west of Ireland I rambled through the fields of Rockfield and later visited Grace O Malley's prime residence during her reign as the Queen of the Pirates in the 17th century. Rockfleet Castle is an impressive building but unfortunately the Office Of Public Works are fixing it up and we couldn't get hold of the key to open the door. Some other time. Over at Newport we had a drink and travelled on our merry way down twisty roads with the sun uncharacteristically beaming down like a blow-torch.

After rehearsals in Sonic Studios I had a quick bottle of cider in L. Mulligans Grocer in Stoneybatter where they boast of having over 100 imported beers. I’m told the proprietor had a falling-out with the Guinness folks (Diagio) and they don’t sell any of their products anymore. Apparently the food is great too. Les Keye’s pad is nearby so we drop over, taking photos along the way. In Mr & Mrs Keye’s back garden i drink a beer and chat to Jessica and Corina. The light summer breeze brings a sweet waft of incense, but moments later it smells of shit. I mention this to my comrades and Corina tells me the sweet smell is not incense but Ruby Elixir (Pitta) that she has in her hair. She kindly hands me her bottle and I liberally rub it into my own scalp, unaware that a bottle costs $125. Jessica tells me that the less enchanting other smell is dog shit curtesy of her 3 legged barking friend. I taxi to Harolds Cross, eat Indian food, rest, and hours later walk over to the Magic Glass Bar in O'Callaghans Hotel on St Stephens Green for the Pagans in the Pub Moot, which morphs into Politicians in the Pub.

Out in Wicklow Town we discover there isn’t a PA for tonights show and tell. After a bit of running around and a few phone calls the problem is sorted out and on we go. I enjoyed what Al describes as a “chicken-wire” gig.

Wed 17 July, Kildare & Dublin – Walked a few miles into Straffan in the blinding sun. Nothing much to do but visit the graveyard and take photographs. Worked on a few songs getting the lyrics for Fiery Frank and a few others which shall remain nameless.

Off on a ramble in the jam-jar. At the Hill of Tara we visited the Lia Fail (Stone Of Destiny)one of the four treasures of the Tuatha De Danann and the place where the High Kings of Ireland were coronated. Across the field we located Cormac MacAirts former dwelling place and down the hill, Grainne’s rath. Cormac was High King of Ireland around the time of Finn MacCool and apparently reigned for forty years. Grainne was Cormacs daughter, a femme fatale by all accounts and caused a lot of hassle in her time. In the gift shop I bought a bag of damaar white incense and a piece of jewellery engraved with a triple spiral - ‘the intestines of the goddess’. You can never ever have enough jewellery.

Drove down through Dunshaughlin and Curragha, but we couldn’t find Garristown. We were lost and all the maps in the world couldn’t save us, but trusting ones instinct works and I listened to the little quiet/loud voice in my head and eventualy we located Four Knocks (Fuair Cnocs – the Cold Hills) a megalithic burial mound near Naul. Got the key from Mrs White and unlocked the door and greeted the ancestors. It may have been better to visit on a dark bleak winters day. Death and sunny summer days dont go well together.

Back in Dublin Lorrain McColgan from The Winters arrived in to Sonic. Al and I had spent a few hours laying down five songs. Lorrain sang on two, sounding sultry and cool.

Long Distance Phone Calls

2013-07-16T02:57:00.001-07:00

Wed 13 June, Göteborg – Rain comes down in buckets following a few weeks of sunshine and roses and all the girls with long brown legs like Lilith on a Friday night. Hot pants seem to be in fashion this year and whose complaining. Attempted to play some slide guitar using a small drinking glass. Sounds ok. Mixed a track, recorded guitar parts on another, made long distance phone calls to clear up booking confusion and listened to the dark ambient swirl of Aderlating.

Got on the ferry from Jäntorget-the Lilla Bommen, and missed the stop at Lindholmspieren. Had to spend close to an hour stuck at sea before our stop came around again, having docked at Slotts Berget and Eriksberg Farljaläe along the way. They had changed the route due to construction work on one of the piers, hence the confusion. Called down to Staffan the printer to discuss the design and paper to be used on the forthcoming limited edition CD, and mission complete, got off the island this time by bus and bridge.

Lille restaurange, (translation - Little Restaurant)....but its not. Maybe the owner had an inferiority complex when he named it. Or bad eye sight. Neil Youngs "Hey Hey My My" was on stereo. Went home to listen to "Thrasher", track two side one on Rust Never Sleeps. "Hey Hey.." is a song I sometimes play as a crowd pleaser, as I reckon the audience may not be pleased with my own songs. Such is life. I quit drinking beer, but still drink wine...cant drink too much water with all that fluoride and you gotta drink something. Time for Sangria.

Mixed 2 tracks but after listening to them on an old ghetto blaster they may need a re-mix. Back to the drawing board.

Red flowers appeared on a tree out back as a Malcolm Holcombe CD spun at 500 r.p.m. I had a DJ gig at Amerikabaren so I packed as many LPs and singles into 3 bags and off we went on the Red Snake (a section of the new motorway). Too early by two minutes we got hit by the toll. The Last Poets and Mikey Dread on the car stereo as we whizz along. Sam & Dave "Hold On Im Comin'" spark a riot in my head. Take the blue tunnel under the river and emerge into the Majorna sunshine.

Return Of The Snakes

2013-05-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

Thurs 18 April, Clane – In the west of Ireland the wind was so wild you had to shout to be heard…if anyone was bothered to listen. Took the train to Dublin. It broke down for 15 minutes in some unknown town. With three new buttons sown on my antique grey coat I was feeling dapper but it all went terribly wrong when my travelling companion spilt orange juice over said garment.

Waited for an hour in the cold outside Houston, with the bus eventually arriving and taking us through Cellbridge, Barberstown Castle, St. Raffan, Green Cross and arriving into Clane town. Visited the Country Market looking for birthday presents and later had dinner as the rain came down in buckets.

Fri 19 April, Wicklow Town – No time for a rehearsal. Al was in Portugal and arrived back at 6pm and we met at Sonic Studios and hit the road straight away for Wicklow to play at the Castle Tavern on the banks of the River Vartry, which rises in the Calary Bog under the Great Sugar Loaf mountain up north. The Tavern is run by gentleman Ray. He’s organized a good PA for us and we chatted to a few youngish American tourists. (at our age, nearly everybody is young) They said they could only hang around for a few songs as they wanted to explore the town, but they stayed right to the end of the show….and bought a CD too, so we must have played in a fashion that could be described as entertainment. Lots of folks told us they really enjoyed it etc. etc. and when asked, none admitted to being tone-deaf. Then we drove to Dublin and I slept like a log in Al’s place in Finglas.

Sat 20 April, Dublin – A bunch of dodgy pop stars were arriving in to Al’s Sonic Studios bright and early. Some charity record was being recorded. I didn’t recognize any of the pop stars, but I was informed that Ronan Keating and the other Boyzone/Coronation Street guy and the skanger guy were due in so I left rather pronto. Later that night we played in Sin E down on the quays. Paul Gallagher and I engaged in our ritual CD swop. He had a few bootlegs for me including Steve Earle and Joy Division from the Paradiso, Amsterdam. I gave him a copy of “Things Aren’t The Way they Used To Be”.

Clarence had his full band with him, so I asked Cliff up to play with us on organ and he was great. We need more of this and an email address was procured. A late night listening session ensued with Drive By Truckers blasting through the speakers in Ed’s den. I introduced him to the music of Dave Kusworth and he expressed an interest in hearing my Lady Olivia track which I located in my gmail account in mp3 format. He nodded off half way through.

Mon 22 April, Dublin – We were sitting in the Czech Inn having a drink. The Princess suggested a plate of chips, and within 2 minutes the waiter arrived with a big plate of chips saying “these are on the house.” A good start to the afternoon. County music, some slightly dodgy Nashville type stuff, but also some cool sounds like Emmylou Harris and Waylon Jennings drift out through the speakers. Then it sadly turns into mindless euro pop and eurotrash dance music. And then silence which is most welcome. Time slides by. After about 20 minutes of golden silence Big Tom singing “Four Roads To Glenamaddy” blasts out at top volume. Maybe he’s big in Czech, but then I suppose he’s big everywhere.

Fri 26 April, Göteborg – Found a great Stones bootleg “Some More Girls” in a local record shop. Blue vinyl, good sleeve. Basically it’s out-takes from the Some Girls LP from 1978, if memory serves correctly. Keith sings “We had it all”. Another long lost gem is “Spare Parts”
Met Terje at Amerikabaren to check out his PA before going to see Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in Pustervik. They were great, wham bam …no stops between songs, straight into the next one….sweat dripping off Mr Spencer like a shower of rain on a spring day.

Sat 27 April, Allingsås – Found some old cassettes marked ‘song ideas’ dating back to 94 / 95. Slotted the tape in the ‘door’ of the old machine and started to listen. One song goes “give me an airplane ticket, 9 to 5? you can stick it” Think I may need to rewrite parts but the chords and general vibe seems good. This one seems to be recorded in some long forgotten studio. Its got violin (probably Sheila Sullivan, sounds like her) but the organ player I can’t recall…or even which studio it was. Other songs are home recordings made with a ghetto blaster.

Mimi called around with home-baked biscuits - sugar rush time. A letter arrived from Lady Olivia Robertson saying she loves the track we have recorded. My only aristocratic friend in the world does a spoken-word piece over my long rambling tune and I had sent a CD to her home at Huntington Castle in Clonegal and thankfully she has given the project the thumbs-up. In her letter she tells me that the last time she was in Sweden was in 1936. That’s a long time ago.

I knew it would happen. I would arrive in to Allingsås and fail to get the PA working. After a frantic call to Terje he talks me through it and it makes noise. On with the show. Not a bad gig. Took a train back to Göteborg and then a tram and then a walk up the hill and home.

Thurs 2 May, Göteborg - After answering emails and doing boring chores such as registering new songs with IMRO, PPI etc, and trying to track down photographers to get prints for record sleeves, I sadly slipped in the back door to facebook. It’s usually a waste of time, and as time is all we have, you shouldn’t waste it. Occasionally facebook may lead to a gig or the discovery of something interesting such as Prins Prebens page, a Norwegian artist.
Over on the Dangerous Minds site I learn that Alejandro Jodorowsky has made his first movie in 23 years. Watched the trailer, then put on a Burial Hex CD and boiled water for Earl Grey tea. Downtown the foxy barmaid in Pustervik chats away in Svenska in a very very friendly fashion before realizing she’s mixing me up with somebody else. I took off my shades and we thankfully swapped to the English language and I apologized saying “Sorry, I’m only myself today.” Sometimes it would be interesting to be somebody else….perhaps the guy she thought I was.

Warum ich liebe Deutschland

2013-05-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wed 3 April Berlin - On arrival at wind blasted Tegel I thought it would be wise to head straight for the venue, but a re-think led to an attempt to get to Ebs place in Neukölln. Getting on the wrong bus was a bad move and valuable time was lost in the labyrinthine search for Hauptbahnhof, and when this monsterous building was eventually found, platform 15 was located without much fuss or use of brain cells and with a charmed eye the cityscape view from the window of the S-Bahn was a welcome respite from the views of the past few weeks. Berlin always seems like the New York of Europe....or is NYC the Berlin of the United Police States Of America?

Located Ebs domicile and later we ventured to far-flung Schliemannstraße 31, picking up Karin along the way. My Swedish friend Anders sent a text (as is the fashion these days) to say he was in Potsdam and would make it to the following nights show. Following a quick soundcheck in the basement of Intersoup we repaired to the upstairs bar. Who walks in only Anders having changed his mind about Potsdam. With him, another Anders who just happens to be Slick Andys Dad! And his Mom too. (Slick Andy-drummer with The Last Souls) Anders #1 met Anders #2 & his missus on the U-Bahn. They had one of those “what are you doing here” conversations. Anders #1 explained he needed to get out of Sweden for a while “but Im now going to see Eamonn Dowd play?”

To which Slick Andy’s Dad replied. “Eamonn Dowd?..he’s in Berlin?”
So we all had a drink and everyone reflected on this odd meeting and odd gathering of folks in a small strange venue down a sidestreet on a bitterly cold Wednesday night in Berlin. I however didn’t find it odd in the slightest. These things tend to happen all the time. After the gig it didn’t take long to realize we were in the same room as possibly the worst DJ in Europe. All his records sounded like Fleet Foxes B sides if they were written by that twat in Coldplay with the designer stubble.

Eb was fading fast. We found a restaurant and I ordered red wine and spaghetti. An intrusive TV screen hung overhead. Men from Malaga and Dortmund were kicking a football around a big field. The realization dawned that we had eaten here seven weeks previously. A poster on the door told us Portishead were playing soon. They still exist? A flyer for another gig sported a photo of a girl who looked like Gram Parsons. The clock said 1.15am.

Thurs 3 April Berlin – Right part of town, wrong time. Tried to hook up with Anders #1 but he had already moved on to another neighbourhood. Passed by the Anti Racism shanty town, snow strewn streets, Tentsville in a park beside Oranienplatz. After a long ramble through Kreutzberg I had a drink in Zum Elefant on Oranienstrasse where the grumpy mishapen barmama slowly slowly poured the drinks just to prolong the agony. But The Clash were on the stereo and nobody bugged me. A red and golden car with magnificent Arabic script was parked across the way but the artistic affect was ruined by the dust. A few doors up I purchsed good quality granular incense imported from Oman. The Vietnamese food tasted more like Thai. On Weinerstrasse I finally met Anders and Eb having taken a few lomo type photos of Gorlitzer Bahnhof. Not in possession of a Holga or a Diane analogue camera the app on my phone did the job just fine and didn’t cost anything. Its ok to slip into tourist head-space every now and again.

The gig at Gaudy was a rockin’ affair with support from London/NY country outfit The Wildfires and Jon Mills, also from London Town. Nice folks them all. Had good fun with Wildfires Paul and Christina afterwards, a few light refreshments, stories and the swapping of CD’s, email addresses, ideas, some good, some bad. Im sure we’ll see each other again.

Fri 4 April, Wolfsburg – Somebody found a dead child in a charity laundry bag around the corner. Cops marked the crime scene. TV ran the story. Life is cheap for some people. Purchased a 25 Bahn card. Had an adios amigo beer with Eb in one of the train stations and a couple of hours later I was on a mission to find edible food in Wolfsburg. The gig was hard work but I got paid and nobody complained. Chatted to Janeranne and her shy boyfriend. She flicked through my black moleskin note book containing half written songs, imaginary LP titles and the rambling scribblings of somebody who is compelled to write and document various ideas that memory could never store.

Sat 5 April, Essen – The Hagebergkrug Hotel up on Grauhostrasse is one place I hope to never see again. Arriving downstairs from my smelly room at 9.55am I was informed that breakfast was over. But I protested saying that last night I was told 10. Yes, said the young lady, but you have to order it by 9.45. Eventually, with the aid of google translation I convinced her to russle up something for me. After 10 minutes a cup of tea, two slices of shiny generic cheese, a piece of bread of questionable freshness and a solitary tomato arrived in front of me. I’m then handed a bill for 6 Euro. Since when does one pay for a breakfast in a Hotel? I stopped drinking the tea and told her to take it away. I could get a proper meal in a cafe for less that 6 Euro. A beer was politely requested, and I would pay for that. 2 euro 50 cents changed hands for the beverage. Dreadful music was on the stereo. When the execrable Depeche Mode came on with their insipid nursery rhymes I had little choice but to order a taxi and get out of there.

Sometime later I was able to catch up on emails curtsey of the wifi in an overpriced Vietnamese restaurant. But at least it did taste Vietnamese and not Thai. Had I known the venue later that night provided a meal, I would have done with an apple.

Slept all the way to Essen and walked the streets of a town I’d never visited before. Johannes Delemere and Petra arrived and we chatted about their old friend (and client) Nikki Sudden. Wild stories were told, bad habbits dicussed, the autobiography was mentioned and the soon to be released 6 x CD box set debated at length. After the gig photographs were taken and I also met Danial Teusner, cousin of Chris. A 3am taxi to the lonesome train station preceded an hour long train ride to the airport and a sleepless night followed in order to catch the plane to Copenhagen and onwards to the cold heart of anywhere and nowhere.

Mad as a March Hare

2013-04-29T02:00:00.002-07:00

Wed 13 March Göteborg - Found a Timi Yuri LP for 10 Krona (roughly 1 euro)...a good deal for sure. Got an email of an offer to play in Åmål, which nicely slotted in to replace the one cancelled in Kalmar. The bar closed down. Another one in Germany was cancelled because the place burnt down after being hit by fireworks. They paid well too, but there’s no plan to rebuild. Clarence Winter sent on a mix of a song but the pedal steel is too loud. Sat in the Xing-Long Restaurant with a beer and sorted out a few things with the aid of lateral thinking and a smart phone. Later I played a DJ set playing late 60’s early 70’s soul for the Roller Derby Girls.
When I woke up the next day I finally started to get a shape on a song called Dark Blue Twilight. Rhythm section has been recorded but getting the guitars and other instruments sounding good and relevant to the over-all vibe was a bit tricky.

Sat 16 March Åmål – Up through Trollhatan and Öxnered in the blinding sunshine. Patches of snow still lingering on the stone hard soil. Passed through Mellerud. Rusted trains backed down overgrown tracks. Isolated farm houses, the occasional white country mansion.

Tony Berg, photographer, publisher, guitar collector and all ‘round nice guy picked me up at the station. Called down to check the venue, say hello to Frederik. Checked in to Hotel, ate dinner, nodded off, woke up played the gig and so on and so forth.

It snowed a lot over night, so I took a few photos and read a bit of Cees Nootebooms ‘Roads To Santiago’ which made me thing of Andalucia and Girona and sangria and sunshine.

Sat 30 March Göteborg – With Cathrin Linne down at Jontorget early in the morning for a photoshoot with The Last Souls. Freezing cold, we held out for as long as we could. Relocated to a nearby Chinese Restaurant but the guys got word from management that they didn’t want photos taken there, so we headed back towards HQ at Hagabion and had a drink and took more photos in the Old Beefeater Inn. After some filming in Hagabion we called it a day.

Göteborg / Berlin / Greiz / New York

2013-03-06T01:44:00.004-08:00

Sun 3 February, Göteborg – Early morning start on Satrday 19^th January in the recording studio at Molndal. Minus 12 degrees on the street, snug and cosy inside. Tons of vintage amps to choose from with Thomas on the controls. Got down to business with Andy whacking out the beat on an old Ludwig kit. I used a Mainman amp. Our Greek buddy Marios from Nightrage dropped by as did Kris Panic. A week later Daniel Kjølsrud AKA Dick Tator arrived down from Oslo and got working on some tunes in my absence. Two rehearsals were organized and it was sounding very raw and real and fast. Late drinks in Cicero and Cans Bar. Daniel wants to change his name to Sir Galavant. Played Hagabion on the Saturday after the longest sound check in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. But the gig was fun and I think somebody filmed it…or bits of it.

Fri 8 February – Nereus Joseph gives us hope for the future of reggae. As does Mikey Spice, after a time when it really did seem like that all the good records had been made …back in the 70’s. Watched the watchable video for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds “Jubilee Street” on youtube.

SMS from a lost Sir Galavant. Went out into arctic conditions to locate this underdressed bass player. Coffee was brewed, tea was drank, we got down to work recording bass parts with Dick. We eventually got to the beer and he was flying through the songs. Andy arrived, Freja took photos and an excursion to the Maxi Grillen Pizzeria finished off a productive day. Fun too !

Thurs 14 February Berlin – Neukoln was my destination and I sat in Kalaja, a small café on Wildenbruchstrasse and waited for Eb, sorrounded by elderly men from Kosova who mostly drank tea. Later we met up with Fergus from Galway and Audrey from Scotland and had a meal.

Fri 15 February, Greiz – A blond lady helped me locate the proper S-Bahn train and on arrival to Hauptbahnhof I bought a ticket and with time to kill had a small Berliner beer in the fish and chip place. Lana Del Rey came on the stereo reminding me of Freja and home. Missed the connection from Leipzig. Platform 10a is in a ‘secret’ location tucked away at the end of 10 way outide the station itself. Wont make that mistake again…..but I probably will on second thoughts. Onwards down through Zeitz and Bad Könstritz, leylines of pylons carrying the current like refugees from a HG Wells novel. Berga and Pegau whizz by. Get to Gera and change train once again arriving into a snow covered Greiz, ready to set up and play the gig. Spending time with Matthias and his wife and also with Norbert and crew.

Sunday 4 March – New York....Ran into a spot of bother in Brussels Airport. My ESTA Visa wasn't coming up on their system, although ESTA had accepted my $14 and sent me an email to confirm that the Visa was fine and all was above board. The plane had almost fully boarded when it was discovered that a digit in my passport number was a zero and not the letter 'O'. They all look the same to me. With no computer available I made a phone call, the form was once again filled up online and hey presto, i got to travel onwards to New York. It being Brussels Airways / Lufthansa, all drinks were free so I settled in to several bottles of red wine. The food wasn't bad either. Read some of Ismall Kadare's historical novel "The Siege," watched some of a bad French movie and nodded off.

Jack met me at JFK, we had a drink in an over-priced place in Brooklyn, relocated to the Jalopy Tavern and in to Manhattan on the F Train to see a great gig by Naomi Shelton stopping off at Joe's Pizza Corner with photos of Tommy Lee and Kirsten Dunst and other pizza loving celebs on the wall, Joes big smiling face in each photo.

Naomi shook my hand not once but twice throughout her blistering set of gospel infused old school soul. Got her album and a 7 inch single afterwards and somebody robbed my coat. Luckily my passport was in my jacket pocket. Out into the cold night without my coat, caught the train back to Brooklyn for a gig by The Whiskey Spitters in Jalopy Theatre where I met (amongst others) historian , collector and musician Pat Conte. Told him I had his record...on red vinyl. Then it was time for drinks and devilment in the Tavern.

Slept a few hours, having been on the go for 29, and then we bundled into a car and drove north through the pissing down rain past the signs offering such services as 'window tinting' and 'wheel alingment.' I needed neither. Up past Queens in Flushing is the largest Chinatown in the world. outside of China, that is. Entered a gigantic run down warehouse masquerading as a food-hall. Found a table, somebody went to fetch a few six-packs while the others read the menu which boasted such delights as roasted rabbit, tripe and shredded intestines. I decided to stick with vegetarian dishes. The food was incredible. Tasted nothing like the Chinese food you get in Ireland or the UK or anyplace in the western world. Heavily spiced cucumbers,shredded potatoes, veggie dumplings.

Read parts of Hew Trachans book about the First World War trying to get my head around what sparked it off. Now I know. In Other Records in Manhattan they were playing the new Psychic Ills LP and it sounds very good indeed. Book store, gift shop, Dorian Grey's bar and and Indian restaurant on First Avenue were all visited and good times were had for sure. Walked the long walk from Columbia Street along the shore arriving out where both the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge almost meet, taking photos along the way. Called into visit a florist friend of Jacks and then to 68 Jay where we have a gig on Saturday. Posters are up, we had a drink before J. Lynch went out to New Jersey to do a TV show.

Rain was heavy and unrelenting. Shot some video, recorded a song and Jackson took photos. Went down to visit Red Hook before catching the Roots and Ruckus gig at Jalopy with The Four O'Clock Flowers, Feral Foster, Dolunay, Ommie Wise and Rashad Brown.

Played Rod and Gun to an appreciative crowd on Friday night, and 68 Jay down in Dumbo under the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night.

September to December

2013-02-08T21:38:00.002-08:00

Thurs 20 Sept Clonegal - The September sun hovered without heat above me as I walked the 4 miles to Clonegal having disemberked the bus at Kildavin. There’s no taxi’s out here. But it wasn’t the first time I walked several miles to get to Huntington Castle to meet Lady Olivia Robertson. At 92 shes a fascinating character who had know A.E. and WB Yeats and a lot of the Golden Dawn crew. She showed me around the castle and we visited the subterannean Temple Of Isis where I recorded her tales of magick, visions, artistic endeavour and her general philosophy. I intend to record some music and use her voice in the piece. Had dinner in Bunclody and then took a bus to Dublin.

Sat 22 Sept Feakle, Co. Clare – Hours spent with Les and Jessica in the jam jar on the way to the west. Passed through Roscrea, Cloughjordan and Killaloe on the banks of the Shannon. Between 1002 and 1014 Killaloe was essentially the capital of ireland as High King Brian Boru lived there. Onwards to Feakle, once home of another type of royalty - Biddy Early. The event of the day was Al and Mercedes Handfasting Ceremony. Witches, druids, sorcerers, pagans and whatever your having yourself were assembled for a great celebration.

Wed 26 September Göteborg - A Clarence Carter EP of peviously unreleased material arrived in the post. This wonderful occasion prompted a ramble through youtube where I found some footage of the 65 year old Mr C.C alive and well and still gigging. Put on a record by the Ethiopian soul star Mahmoud Ahmed and then one by Billie Holiday - “I’ve got a right to sing the blues.” Not a bad start to a day.

Thurs 27 September Göteborg - Took John Fitz to the upstairs bar at Haga Bio where we stationed ourselves beside the monumental projector. He soon struck up a conversation with two guys and proceeded to educate these willing listeners on the history of their own land. Across the bar a girl in a zebra print jacket ordered a drink. She looked like a young Geraldine Chaplin. The waitresses were all business. Johns history of northern Sweden continued as dinners were delivered to tables and drinks were poured at the circular bar.

Saturday 6 October, Alingsås – A good night in a strange town. And Nono gave me a lift home and I didn’t even nod off once on the drive back .

Sat 13 September, Göteborg – Played at Teater Trixter, Mark Griffin hanging out, a grey and bitter cold evening. Enjoyed the set but was tired. Short and sweet.

Sat September 27, Gotham City – Andy ate dinner with the roller derby girls while I had a drink and the original Nosferatu movie was on the wall. After playing at Hagabio Terje kept telling me I should check out Wall Of Voodoo, and I did, but don’t see the connection at all. Lights flickering far away, I couldn’t sleep a wink.

Wed 28 November, Göteborg - Lights gone in the bathroom, turn table belt is worn out. 78 player is playing too slow. Was going to send a wave file to Clarence Winter, but the hard drive crashed taking with it countless songs, hundreds of photos and films. And now they linger in that dark corner of the multiverse where all lost and deleted digital information resides. A hell of one’s and zero’s.

I later remixed the song and got it over to Clarence by default invoking the spirit of Speedy West in the process. The king of the pedal steel was Speedy West. During the 40’s and 50’s he played with Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tex Ritter and the mad bad wife murderer Spade Cooney. Speedy played on over 6000 records. I reckon that’s more than Nikki Sudden.

Wednesday 5 December, Göteborg - The Birthday Party ‘Mutiny’ EP was on the stereo. Hadn’t heard it in years. Desolate and haunting, four tracks of feral power. Later on Tift Merrit took to the stage in Pustervik and delivered a great set. I’d been a fan since she dueted with John Howie in The Two Dollar Pistols. Met the lady afterwards and she was sweet as her voice but not as tall as I’d imagined her to be.

Thurs 13 December, Limerick – Got there and set up and met Debra and we played and it got loud and nobody complained and we got the money and nobody robbed the cars and coffees were bought for the drive back east and alcohol was consumed and stories were told and I slept in Finglas and woke up in Finglas and went to the solicitor and then to Horslips in the Olympia and onwards to the County of Kildare and didn’t fall asleep on the bus and thus didn’t miss the stop at Clane.

Sat 15 December, Dublin – Fell asleep on the bus from Clane and ended up in Busaras, but got down to Sin E not too late. Clarence had his band with him tonight and they were great. A rowdy bunch of xmas type party people were in. Amateurs night out big time. It was all a bit messy but I think we enjoyed it. And Bun and Eamon Kelly were there. The DJ was drunk, but he played Althea and Donna “Uptown Top Ranking.”

Summer 2012 - Sweden / Ireland / Austria / Czech

2012-10-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

Sat 9 June Göteborg - the Andralangatan Street Festival was upon us and I had a 2pm slot on the Klubb Honky Tonk stage. Thankfully it wasn’t raining. Emmett, our friend visiting from Toronto found the place no problem. A big fat dog shit in front of the stage and the wandering folks walked through it and dragged it all over the place and it being a hot sticky humid day, the stink was bad. The pissed off roadie who likes to think of himself as a promoter wasn’t too pleased about having to clean up the shit. If he had had the manners to reply to my emails I might feel sympathy for him. But he didn’t and I don’t. A few good amps are set up. I plug in the electric Ibanez to a what might have been a Fender Deville and let rip.

Later, after two trams and a bus ride we arrived at a sort of wedding party. Emmett is mystified by Smörgåstårta, a big Swedish cake with bits of fruit, cheese, cream and random bits of dead animals stuck to it. They eat this to celebrate. What do they do for torture ? Two identical twin girls in matching dresses ran around the place, people were getting drunk and talking crazy. It was looking more like The Shining by the minute.

Sat 16 June Göteborg – The gig was at Mitt Andra Hem on Andra Langgatan, a small place with friendly staff and a slightly dodgy P.A. But they got curtains!

The rain was lashing down. The place was empty, things not looking good. Re-located to a bar on Linneagatan, and then over to the Bellman. A lady I knew invoked Thor and Odin. Umbrellas at the ready, back at HQ a few folks had braved the elements. By the time I went on there was a reasonable crowd in. I hit a chord and the manager opened the stage curtains and I kicked things off. That’s showbiz. Glamour with a small ‘g’. Enjoyed the gig and stayed up til dawn with Leif and Mariana on a balcony looking out over the city from Strummensbarrie waiting for the sun to rise. Armageddon postponed yet again.

Frday 29 June Göteborg – Slick Andy had been practising his glockenspiel scales and his melodica scales, so he played on a few songs in Vansinnet, a cool bar down a back-street beside the Maritime Museum in Majorna, near the staue of the sad and forelorn lady waiting for her seafaring husband to return home. But he never will. He’s brownbread. Dead as a doornail at the bottom of the North Sea.

This is the pirate side of town. Åsa Kärrman got up to sing on one song. It all seemed to make sense and the pool table was vacant. Good crowd, good bar, good money, bad weather.

Sunday 8 July Alingsås, Sweden – Green trees whizzing by, pretty girls, their long legs as brown as varnished mahogony. The train sped through Jonsered, Aspendalen, Partille, Floda, Stenkullen. Brightly painted houses - yellow and powder blue. Bikes parked in sundrenched railway stations that would never be robbed. In Alingsås I met with Nono who calls me Mr Eamonn. We talked about the upcoming gig and he showed me around his bar. Chatted to one of the locals having his Sunday afternoon drinks. Told me about southern China which is hipper than the north, apparently. He pulled out a laminated photo of his pretty Chinese wife. She looks 21. He proudly tells me she’s 40. “You should see her younger sister” he tells me. “She looks like a doll.”

Monday 9 July Dublin – Had a sort of a breakfast in Landvetter underneath a chandelier like light construction made of reindeer antlers. One would be ok but five hung low in a row across the airport restaurant ceiling is a bit spooky.

In Stockholm I had words with a pig ignorant Norwegian who kicked my daughters bag out of his way. He scampered off down the corridor to hell. Got into Dublin in the grey damp evening and across to our Harolds Cross base.

Clarence Winter had been working on some songs on his keyboard so we called down to his place and went through a few ideas. Later, his missus Barbara wanted to eat at Odessa so we all met up there. Had a beer, some white wine with fish and vegetables and relocated to the Gypsy Rose to see Jack & The Wild Horses play a show. Nodded off at the bar. Nobody batted an eyelid. Proper order.

Tuesday 10 July – Had a drink in the Glimmerman. Met Ciaran The Professor who says hes not in business anymore. I asked about a mutual acquaintance who had recently been married. He said he missed out on the wedding as he was “on his holidays.” Les, who had dropped in, later pointed out that his holiday was probably in Mountjoy.

Rehearsed for the afternoon at nearby Sonic Studios. Al had recently had Sinead O Connor in recording stuff. We were pleased to hear she didn’t say Mass in the studio….and nobody got married either.

Wednesday 11 July Clane – Another afternoon of rehearsing and then took a bus to Kildare, falling asleep on the way but waking up just before the stop at Clane. Nan bread courtesy of Holly, Indian vegetable curry courtesy of Ann, red wine courtesy of the good people of Chile.

Thursday 12 July – Back to Dublin and drinks in The International Bar on Exchequer Street. Åsa is all “remember this, remember that…” Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. In the house I took it easy for a while and then grabbed a taxi across town to Sonic Studios. Taxi driver was talking about music and guitars and then about his son’s suicide. I empathized with him. He seemed like a nice guy. But I began to lose my patience when he couldn’t find Sonic. I didn’t know the street name but told him where it was…over past the Cobblestone, next door to the Glimmerman pub. He knew the Glimmerman, but still couldn’t find it . We went around in circles and twice took the same wrong turn. The meter was up to 16 euro. I suggested he use the satellite navigation. “Ah sure, I wouldn’t know how to use that” was his reply. Well, thought I to myself, begorrah would it be suiting you now sir to get on an auld FAS course and learn how to use the fucking thing.
To cut a long story short, as in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire TV show, he phoned a friend (asking the audience not being an option) and his friend told him how to get there. Gave him 8 quid and loaded the gear in Al’s wagon.

Played the Leeson Lounge. Not as big a crowd as last time. Good to see Cathal and Emer, Alanna, and Willie Van Velzen who I hadn’t seen in years. Late drinks with band and ex comrade in arms – John Lalor, Justin and crew. Hailed a taxi that was well capable of navigating the puke-stained grey city streets.

Friday 13 July Ennis – Pebble-dashed facades, overgrown gardens, skips and Superquinn. The car arrived and we drove to Stoneybatter and I swapped over to Al’s wagon and hit the road, stopping off to pick up Mercedes along the way, waving at the Brazillian girls , eating blueberry buns in a one-horse town. Passed through Boris In Ossory, where according to Al the only known case of vampirism occurred in Ireland. On Bishops orders the body of a young boy was exumed and his head cut-off and placed at his feet, as was the fashion at the time. No stakes through hearts or silver bullets required. I assume they reburied the boy and that was the end of that.

Got in to Ennis with Daniel O Connell high on his pillar presiding over the town. Had a drink in a purple pub, and the gig was upstairs in Brandons. Watched Clarence do his solo set. Debra followed. Both sounded great. Chatted to Paul. We did our thing. Enjoyed it too. Met Geraldine and Gerry from Gingerjam. Photos were taken, vague notions about record releases, the sticky carpet in the Stella Cinema Rathmines, and Galway in the mid 80’s. Back to Pats place for pizza and drinks until 7am. Lied down then for a while.

Saturday 14 July Rockfield – Stopped off in Claregalway where Ed ate chips and sausages and beans washed down with coffee. Onwards down the N17 with the Sawdoctors song running through my head like WIFI. Arrived into Rockfield for a late afternoon dinner followed by a ramble in the fields where leaking boots prevailed against the odds.

Sunday 15 July – Sunshine, threats of rain. A faery fort to explore. Jamaican rum, Dutch beer, white Italian wine, Irish food.

Monday 16 July Dublin – A little Hitler in Heuston Station was yelling out orders…”you cant hail a taxi there”. But I did and in we got. The uniformed fool took out a digital camera to take a photo of our misdemeanor in progress, I assume to report the cab driver to relevant authorities. The driver was unfazed. Laughed at the idiot as he drove off.

Met Felim Drew running down the street. He stopped, we had a brief chat, then he turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

Mowed a lawn, cleaned bird shit off the garden furniture and ate Thai food as darkness descended on the streets of sad suburbia.

Tuesday 17 July Dublin – Checked out the Twisted Pepper venue on Middle Abbey Street, collected posters from the printer and ate pasta at the Steps Of Rome where I saw seven ghosts.

Thursday 19 July Galway – Stopped in Athenry for coffee in a big old hotel. Didn’t feel so lonesome, not as much as Paddy Reilly did anyway. But he was out in the fields. Onwards into the City Of The Tribes unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result. Got there in one piece. Spied Les and Ed in an Indian restaurant across the road. Al went off to eat fish, I hung around the venue – Monroes.

Paul arrived down as did Hugo, Kevin Duffy, John Fitz, Sabine, a few of the Lawrence clan and some folks I’d not seen in years and years. Got an unexpected encore, went through the hassle of getting paid and shortly afterwards hit the black road back to Dublin.

Friday 20 July Dublin – Met Joey The Clown on Dawson Street, no longer gainfully employed by the Leeson Lounge, and a few minutes later Count Tornado approached looking for a support slot. A phone was made to last nights promoter who’s cheque just didn’t make sense in the cold light of day. Later on, I played a solo / acoustic gig in Sean MacD’s.

Saturday 21 July Carlow – Slept all the way to Carlow, waking up bright eyed and bushy-tailed on arrival. Lost we were. Knocked on the door of an Art Gallery. A rather startled lady opened the door. I have this affect on women. I politely enquired about the whereabouts of the Pembroke Club d’Art and she pointed me in the right direction on the wrong street.

A small place but a place with a good vibe. An interesting set was delivered by Niall T-Vita as girls in exceedingly high heels tottered about at the bar. CD’s were sold and my shirt was soaking wet afterwards and I had forgotten to bring a clean/dry one so I had to wear the wet one all the way home risking pneumonia and muscular pain.

Sunday 22 July Dublin – Killiney beach - as always, windswpt and grey and awful. Dunlaoire was better, with a market and planes flying in formation overhead. Dinner later with friends….intense fatigue and a deep desire for 40 winks.

Thursday 26 July Dublin – Leeson Lounge. The gig was recorded and filmed, so we’ll see how that turns out. An experiment really. We played well, and harder than last time. Stayed back late to stare at the fish in the aquarium as is the tradition.

Friday 27 July Portrush – A long drive to the northern coast of County Antrim. A bleak grey day. The sweet aroma of incense greeted us at the venue, used wisely to mask the seaside dampness. Nice crew, good PA and the sound was spot on. Cheap Harley Benton distortion pedal died a death. Luckily I had a replacement, a Boss DS-1. Pedals that only cost 20 quid aren’t really suitable for the road. Lesson learned.

Saturday 28 July Dublin – Sonic Studios nightime session. We record versions of Iron City, The Price Of Everything, Your On Your Own and The Ballad Of Aleister Crowley. A good nights work.

Saturday 4 August, Alingsås, Sweden……A trip across to Pennies from Heaven on Södravägen resulted in a bag full of records. No vinyl…today its shellac. A bunch of 78’s, including Louis Armstrong, Johnny Desmond, Sugar Chile Robinson, the Harry James Orchestra and Bill Haley and The Comets ‘Rock Around The Clock’. Bill’s record cost me the equivalent of 50 cents.

My instincts told me through a riot of crackling shellac surface noise that I would be too late arriving into Alingsås for dinner, so I ate pasta, had a lie down, got to Central Station and learnt there was only one train an hour instead of the usual two. When we got to Aspen the metal travelling machine broke down. Something wrong with the brakes. Eventually made it to the gig in one piece. A phone call from Nono informed me that the PA had arrived and was ready to roll. A hot sticky night. Met some good people, friends of Jonas the P.A guy. Everybody was asking me about the Emerald Isle all night long. I told them I wanted to bring back the snakes.

Sunday 5 August Jonsered, Sweden – Stopped off at Jonsered, a small industrial town by the Säve River. Not a lot going on. Called into the only bar/restaurant that we could find. Ordered coffee and beer. A TV as big as a politicians ego dominated the room. That Fergie fuck from Black Eyed Peas was on the screen sounding like a hyena in heat and looking like a knacker. Sat outside, a safe distance from mind control machine.

Sunday 19 August Salzburg, Austria – A friendly couple accompanied me from the airport to the last stop. Bus # 27 did the trick and I located the bar, which looked a lot more run-down and lived in than the glossy website photos. Good crew, friendly and helpful. Alex showed me to my apartment up the street with two windows overlooking streets of baroque architecture.

Hanging around waiting for showtime I met an English couple. The guy told me Oasis ‘Champagne Supernova’ is the best song ever. Whatever floats your boat. His missus asked me if I knew any of the guys from Westlife. I dont. She was talking about spending time in the West Country. I mentioned that PJ Harvey is from down there. She said, who’s HE ?
Played the gig, hot and sticky.

Monday 20 August Salzburg – Alex had recommended breakfast in his brothers place. Its only 10 euro he said. I settled for a bottle of water and a tub of salad from Spar that cost 2 euro. Not interested in a big breakfast anyway in this kind of heat (approx 29 celcius). Just up from the Spar shop is Mozarts former residence at Getreidegasse 9 where the family lived from 1747 to 1773.

Found a gothic graveyard at Linzer Gasse, took some photos and rambled the streets. Attracted by the faint whiff of olibanum I had a look inside St Peters Church. Theres a sign inside the door saying ‘This is a house of prayer, No guided tours allowed.’
But they’ve got ‘phonomats’. Judging by their design, these telephones were installed in the early 1960’s. For the price of 1 euro you can select a language and listen to a long tale all about the church. Not sure if it’s a hotline to God, a saint or a taperecording. Languages on offer are (and I quote) Deutch, Eng, Francais, Italiano, Espanol, Netherlands, Magyarol, 中國的, and another one I couldn’t decipher it being in ancient hieroglyphics. Possibly Atlantean.

The Stations Of The Cross, central myth to this obselete middle eastern death cult are elaborately decorated paintings, framed in black and crowned in gold, Roman numerals identifying each scene of horror.

The place is full of tourists and many of the ladies are (as my mother would claim) dressed immodestly. Teeny weeny hot pants, bare backed dresses, tight sweat stained T Shirts, nipples sticking out. Priestesses of Babylon all. I love them unconditionally. But surely this is the work of Satan.

Penny candles cost 65 cents. A mere trifle to ask God to ease the torment and suffering of your loved ones in purgatory. I lit a candle and wished upon a five pointed star that Ratzinger and all his contemptable cronies would get food poisoning and die purple-faced choking on their own puke. But I didn’t pay the 60 cents for the candle.

Went back to my room with a plastic tub of pasta, salad and mozzerella cheese, a piece of bread (that turned out to be stale) and a small bottle of JP Chenet red wine. The traffic rumbled outside. Four floors up I could still hear the evening chatter of the diners and the drinkers. Talked to the wall for a while. Stretched out on the bed and nodded off. Woke up, went down the street, played the gig.

Tuesday 21 August Prague – Salzburg train station in the afternoon. A Californian girl walks up to the SANDWICH BAR and says “ do you have….like…..noodles?”

Buying a ticket to Czech wasn’t easy. The lady at the desk for Austrian Rail couldn’t figure it out and recommended I speak to the German repersentative across the room at the other desk. He could sell me a ticket half way, but couldn’t guarantee a seat on the connecting bus, or if the bus would even be there. Another fool told me there was no such thing as a train to Prague ! Eventually a German guy came up with a fast train with seven changes that cost 120 euro or a slow train with one change that cost 50 euro. I went for the slow train, and ten and a half hours later I arrived into Prague.
It was late and most places were closing. Had a beer in the old town square just around the corner from my room, too tired to venture further afield.

Wednesday 22 August Prague – Visited Edward Kelleys Tower on Mala Strana, half way up the hill to the the castle. It was here that Kelley carried out his alchemical experiments in the late 1500’s. This is the same Kelley name-checked (along with John Dee) in Rambling Jack. Interesting to see his former residence, one of many properties he owned while being bankrolled by Emperor Rudolf ll. All went well for Dee and Kelley as they ran the gamut from ceremonial magic to alchemy to discovering / inventing Enochian, conversing with angels, and so on and so fort, until Kelley slept with Dee’s foxy young wife at the behest of one of their angelic contacts. It was all down hill from there.

Later I risked the subway and with some luck got to the right place. An Israeli guy overheard me talking english on the phone and struck up conversation. When I told him my name he asked me if it was like the Eqyptian god Amun. I told him it was but with a different spelling and on occasion I was like an Egyptian god in attitude. A statuesque, elegant blonde lady with magnificent white shoes helped me figure out which tram to take, and while on that tram another lady helped me find my stop with the aid of satellite navigation on her phone.

At Mon Ami I was greeted by Vesna who has self-published a novel and a collection of short stories and there’s more on the way. A very large poster of myself hung in the doorway. It was a warm balmy evening and I met some great people, genuine, no hidden agenda. Czech, Canadian, Norwegian. Played my songs and had a post midnight feast of egg plant and baked vegetable pie. Thankful for the hospitality I hopped in a cab bound for Týnská 19 in the old town.

Thursday 23 August Prague – Needed a long lie in. Must be getting old. Rambled the packed streets, tourists everywhere. Found Kino at Lucerna. Walked on the dark side of the street to avoid the blinding sun. Boats cruising down the Vltava River, buskers on the King Charles Bridge, pretty girls worn down by the world.
The gig was at the Globe Bookstore located at Pštrossova 6. An independent bookshop with a big bar out the back. Played and then hung out with local musician Petr and a Finnish guy and his Canadian/Czech wife. A few hours later I was in the airport having pasta and red wine for breakfast before taking a plane to Berlin.