It’s been a long time coming and I’m delighted to announce the arrival of the long delayed album “It’s ok, I’m still laughing!” on the 5th of April. The album will be released digitally on Bandcamp.
A release on streaming platforms will follow at a later date, but the thought of not having something for people to take home from a show was disturbing, so there will be a high-quality 28-page booklet, the size of a 7″ vinyl single, with lyrics, pictures and stories, something I am particularly excited about because it is a format that has not been done like this before.
The single that accompanies the album release is track #10 -‘Thoughts & Prayers’, a song written in 2019 in response to the growing threat of war, terror and climate change, which sadly hasn’t lost any of its relevance.
‘Thoughts & Prayers’ features the experimental and avant-garde sounds of acclaimed Cork fiddler Eoghan Neff, who has toured the European arena circuit with Riverdance and the major international folk festival circuit with the Anxo Lorenzo Band from Galicia, recorded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra and teaches as a Doctor of Music at the Limerick School of Art & Design.
7 other singles from the album have been released over the last 2 years and have been getting airplay in Ireland, the UK and the USA.
Work on the album began in the second summer of the pandemic, with all the recordings being made remotely. None of the musicians – who fortunately all know each other and have worked with each other on numerous projects – were together during the process. All my recordings, as well as mixing and mastering was done on the road, in various houses in Ireland, Germany and Denmark on a laptop computer with headphones.
Guests also include Dino Soldo on chromatic harmonica, who is a longtime member of Lionel Richie’s touring band and who Leonard Cohen called his “master of breath” when touring with him from 2008 – 2010 and magnificent Uilleann piper Blackie O’Connell from Clare.
The album release will be supported with a short spring tour of Ireland with the following dates:
April 07 – live with Keith McLoughlin on Dublin South FM, 9 pm
April 10 – live with Marian Shanley on Dublin South FM, 11 am
April 11 – The Cobblestone, Dublin
April 13 – The Corner House, Cork
April 19 – Hylands Burren Hotel, Ballyvaughan
May 01 – Bru Bar, Cork
May 02 – Toales, Dundalk
May 04 – Monroe’s Live, Galway