Buskin' love..

Last night I came up against my biggest fear. Well, it's not exactly my biggest fear.. that is heights or spiders but this does come pretty close. With it being the last night before I headed home for Easter, we decided to head out to celebrate the fact that we haven't killed ourselves yet over Uni. Thursdays are normally not on the weekly agenda so I was pretty excited. The last time we headed out on a Thursday night was before Christmas and we stopped by Paddy Whacks. There was a open mic night and as much as I was egged on to get up there, I knew there was no way I could have. Back then, playing the guitar was the thing I did in my room when I didn't want to do work. I've sang infront of hundreds of people in the past but adding guitar to that was something that scared me. So that night I was thankful the set was booked up and I couldn't get on. But I knew that there would be a time that I'd have to face my fear.

I guess I was thankful for a bit of preparation time before heading into the 'pit of fire'. I knew there was no way Lisa was going to let me go to Paddy Whacks without getting up there. I am a lot more confident now with the guitar than I was before Christmas but it was still scaring me. Before heading out, I had a few songs in mind so when we headed to Paddy Whacks, I couldn't walk for my knees shaking. I was excited though but it was the usual, I just had a gut feeling I was going to forget everything. When we arrived, I barely had enough time to compose myself before I was up on stage, staring out at a packed out Paddy Whacks.

I'm still buzzing from last night. The guitar was a full size one whilst I've been used to working with a 3/4 size so obviously it was a bit wierd. There was a few times that I missed chords and that but I didn't let it bother me. During my first song, Angel by Sarah McLachlan, I was really nervous because the crowd was quite loud, but I played on thanks to my little crowd of supporters. I've got to say thanks to everyone who came down, you all made it easier for me. Overall it was fun, putting the nerves to one side. I'd definately do it again but before I do.. I think I should invest in a full size acoustic. I think I might steal my friend Mark's when I'm home this Easter and get some practice in.

Have a great Easter everyone!

Some Good News for St. Patrick's Day!

Hey everyone! Before I begin, I would just like to wish everyone a very happy St. Patrick's Day and I hope you all have a great one!

Basically, being from where I'm from, you can imagine that St. Paddy's Day has a bit of a meaning for me. Well, to be honest, I've celebrated the famous Irish holiday more since I've arrived in Sunderland that I ever did when I was back in my homeland. It's funny how Sunderland makes this day (or whole weekend) an excuse to be 'Irish', have a few pints of Guinness and try to dance along to a few Irish Jigs. All in all, it's great fun.

My weekend was spent between my 'local' The Royalty and of course Paddy Whacks. What did Sunderland do before Paddy Whacks opened I do not know! From Friday, right through the weekend, the music has been amazing. From traditional Irish Folk songs to live Bands from Ireland, Paddy Whacks has not disappointed. It was hard not to get into the spirit of things.

It was also great to meet a few Irish people who flew over especially for this weekend. I had the honour of meeting a few from Limerick and they have already stressed that Sunderland is the place to be for St. Patrick's Day and that's including back home. I couldn't agree more.

I'd like to take this opportunity to mention a band called Good News from Dublin who have flown over to play in Sunderland this weekend. I managed to catch them in Paddy Whacks on Friday and I was amazed. They weren't the traditional Irish band, but more like a rock band with an Irish twist (obviously the best kind). Normally when you think of a rock band, you think of hardly any melodies, hard to hear lyrics and perhaps a lot of shouting. Sometimes that is great. But for a weekend like this, it needed to be different. Good News played an amazing acoustic set on Friday, with amazing covers from the likes of U2 along with their own material. The harmonies between the two vocalists were amazing and despite only having two bongo drums to work with, the drummer managed to keep the rhythm going.

I had a good chat with them after their set on Friday and again in Paddy Whacks on Saturday and they told me that they managed to get this opportunity to tour here by being spotted by Seamus from Paddy Whacks when Busking in Dublin. They haven't been together long, but have had quite a few gigs in Dublin and Belfast. But Sunderland has been their first overseas mini-tour. Check out their myspace and bebo pages with all their latest material. I must say that I love their music as it is fresh and not exactly the mainstream sound you are used to hearing from this genre. Here is my favourite song that I couldn't help but download. It's called Feel That You Own It.

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

If you fancy a good starting point for your ultimate St. Paddy's Night, I suggest heading to Victoria's Bar just down past The Lambton Worm and Baroque where Good News will be playing their last gig of the weekend. It should be a good one so I really recommend at least stopping by.

Well that's me for now. Have a great St. Patrick's night and enjoy all the Traditional Irish music.