blog

Nashville Award Winning singer/songwriter, Max T. Barnes, announced tour of Ireland Plus Podcast #20

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment
Max T. Barnes Announces Tour Of Ireland

Max T. Barnes Announces Tour Of Ireland

Nashville is the home of great music. When the Chieftains went to the United States in 2002, they released a live album Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions (2002) featuring Nashville artists. It’s also a reminder how American music (Country and Bluegrass) are all related to Ireland. This time, it’s the other way around. Award Winning singer/songwriter, Max T. Barnes, announced that he will be taking a month-long tour of Ireland, in early 2014. I heard a couple of his songs and they are really beautiful and uplifting.

With nearly 20 million records sold worldwide I think it is timely that he should meet his fans abroad. He is joined by Craig Curtis,with Paul Hollowell (Dolly Partons Piano Player). The tour is produced by Irish musician/traditional dancer Brian Cunningham of Atlantic Steps. Here’s the full press release:

Max T. Barnes Announces Tour Of Ireland

Nashville, TN  (December 11th, 2013) – Award Winning singer/songwriter, Max T. Barnes, announced today that he will be embarking on a month-long tour of Ireland, in early 2014.

Barnes, who has written and published Thirty-Three Number Ones and country hits in America, and has had nearly 20 million records sold worldwide, is elated to bring his music to fans overseas. His tour is set to launch on February 28th, 2014, with a performance at Monroe’s Live in Galway, Ireland. Other scheduled dates include The Cork Opera House, The Helix in Dublin, Josie’s Country Tavern in Letterkenny, The Carlton Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe  and The Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran to name a few.
Performing hits such as, “Before You Kill Us All” by Randy Travis, “A Night To Remember” by Joe Diffie and CMA nominated Song Of The Year, “Love Me” by Colin Raye, Barnes will easily engage listeners as he shares the stories behind writing these songs. Barnes’ show will also include songs from his late father, Max D. Barnes, who was a Two Time CMA Song Of The Year winner and was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame. The late Barnes wrote dozens of hits for some of Country’s biggest names such as George Jones, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette to name a few, and has sold over 50 Million records world-wide.

As a staff writer in Nashville for over 30 years, Barnes has written for companies such as Warner Brothers, Sony, Curb, Polygram and MCA. Barnes is the only songwriter in history to be nominated for CMA Song Of The Year against his father in the same year.

Accompanying Barnes on stage and tour will be accomplished singer/songwriter, Craig Curtis, who’s YouTube Hit, “Keepin’ It Rural”, has made an impact on country fans nation-wide.

###

For more on Max T. Barnes, visit www.maxtbarnes.com
For more on Craig Curtis, visit www.craigcurtis.cc
For digital Press Kit including Bios, visit: www.dropbox.com/sh/59985567r7s216u/1O1XYvTZs4

Contact & Media Inquiries:
Brian Cunningham
Hypermedia Nashville

Contact number 920 288 1151

***

Podcast #20 is up but you wont be hearing me talk. My radio show went live but the computer did not record my stream. I had to put everything back piece by piece the way I played them.

Clannad-Gaoth Barra na dTonn
Eileen Ivers-Crowley’s/Jackson’s (Reels)
Robert Doyle-Flags of Belfast
James Galway-Brian Boru’s March
Carlos Núñez-St Patrick’s Polka
Nightnoise-The Rose of Tralee
James Galway-Pennywhistle Jig [From The Molly Maguires]
J.P. Kallio-It Ain’t Easy
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians-Circle
Fleet Foxes-Drops In the River
Don BeeKeeper-Night is Falling Fast
Glen Hansard-Bird Of Sorrow
Mary Fahl, former lead singer of October Project-Exiles(from The Wolves of Midwinter)
Gavern-The Otherworld Fragments
Samuel Smith-Try

Is it True?Accordions Are Making A Comeback in the Mainstream?

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

I woke up experiencing the coldest morning in a tropical country ever. Philippines might not be experiencing polar vortex like the other countries but this is the coldest brrrr! An interesting headline in the Atlantic caught my attention. I still care about mainstream music. And when an instrument that isn’t really mainstream gains popularity among those who don’t normally listen to true/beautiful/complex/traditional music then it’s exciting.

Waste Ventura of Will Tun and The Wasters photo by Pietro Di Nardo

Waste Ventura of Will Tun and The Wasters photo by Pietro Di Nardo

Have you seen the video of Full Set? How about Jamie Smith, Martin Tourish and Micheal Curran?Traditional bands are really great in representing themselves to the world. I would not be surprise if a couple of years from now, being in a traditional Irish/Scottish/Welsh/Cornish/Breton etc band would be considered fashionable. But I think that’s how it is in the music world. When there is an overload of the same style, people will always want something different. Kids grow up and they discover new music. I have observed this through the years. Artists who maintain longevity aren’t those who started their careers as teeny boppers.

I guess the popularity of traditional instruments are partly due to online music courses. For example you can learn any instrument when you go to  http://www.oaim.ie/  at €19.95 for full membership access. There are more and more traditional music sites offering  ways to learn any traditional instrument of your choice. Celtic music is a community affair. We learn to play the instruments so we can take part in sessions.

So when is the bodhran going to be a ‘hot’ instrument again?

Irish Film The Street Looking for Bands to be Part of the Movie Soundtrack

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 4 Comments

1525233_733753783301474_994485564_n

This is interesting. An Irish gangster movie called The Street is being made. I am really excited. I am a big fan of Irish movies like The Commitments, Once and  the sci-fi Grabber are among my favorites. I am looking forward not only to the amazing screenplay, casts and locations but also the soundtrack. Music plays an important part of the movie because it intensifies the moment or the scene. I really enjoy a good accidental song. I hope there will be traditional sounding bands that will be included in this movie.

Description

” The only line between war, is family”
After 7 years in prison, ex gang member Simon Carr, is finally released and back to the streets where it all began. Now a changed man Simon refuses to take up his old role alongside mob boss Irish, who then decides to give the job to Simon’s younger hard-working  gang member brother Declan. As a talk between the two doesn’t work out with his younger blood Simon takes it upon himself to intervene to get him away from it all but Irish has his own say…..

Sounds like there will be lots of punches in this movie. My main concern is the soundtrack so I asked the page administrator. I got this reply:
“Bands can send links to HoodUpFilms@Gmail.Com all genres welcome.”
There you have it folks. All genres. I hope to hear traditional Irish back to back with ambient/new age/punk/trip hop/folk combo.
***
How did I learn about this movie? After being away from facebook for a month I developed a detachment from my newsfeed and also status updates. But I checked today and I got several invites and also notices about new pages of musicians. That was really exciting. One of those was an invite to The Street movie page. Rickie O’Neill who is a drummer of The Saw Doctors  and The Cabin Collective has now ventured into the world of acting. He is currently involved in this movie playing the character L-Boy. Below is The Cabin Collective with him on drums.

Irish Trad:Bellow Bridge from Portland OR

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

capture-20140108-001843

I suspect these musicians have been playing for years but only now that they formalized their line up. Bellow Bridge are based in Portland OR and they play traditional tunes. I discovered the band through piper Philip Dale whom I follow through soundcloud. It is great to hear traditional Irish music through this quartet. They are: Philip Dale, Sarah Emett,  Philip Hitt and Jason Hohl. Most of their soundcloud tunes are taken from live sessions.

Here’s what they say to the question: So why Bellow Bridge?

In the hunt for a name that every new band goes through, we tried on many for size, but nothing quite fit.  Eventually we found inspiration from the instruments we play.  The bellows of the Accordion and Uilleann Pipes, and the bridge of the Fiddle and Bouzouki. The four instruments that make up the core sound of the group.  Its a fitting name we think, as our intention from the start was to let the instruments be the stars.

My personal favorite is  Marie’s Wedding – Killarney Boys Of Pleasure -Live. Put them on your radar and hopefully we can hear an album from them soon.

Cloudcast #19 is Up plus More on Celtic Percussion

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

 Track listing

John Reynolds, Tom Morrison-Dunmore Lassies
Flook-Calico
Mary McLaughlin-Stor Mo Chroí
Celtic Tenors-Going Home
Capercaillie-Coisich, A Rùin
Clannad-I Will Find You [From The Last of the Mohicans]
Enda Seery-Amhran Na Leabhar
Brendan Mulholland-The Pigeon on the Gate
Brianna Gaither-Find You
Flesh for Lulu-I Go Crazy
Chris Robinson-Psychedelic BluesRock Jam
Topdolla Sweizy-Ain’t The Same.
Jeff Pianki-Paper Window Dreams
Active Child-Johnny Belinda
Portishead-All Mine
Samuel Smith-The Ballad Oisin

Happy weekend friends. My cloudcast is up and once again I bring you amazing tunes both old and new. I try to make sure I don’t do the same thing again and again so you will know what I mean.

It is a rainy Sunday here in the Philippines and I feel productive. Having more time for myself and not living through the expectations of others can be liberating. I encourage you to try that.

Since I started learning the bodhran, I subscribed to several channels including Celtic percussion and  this time, Alex Kuldell talks about holding the stick. This applies to all percussion players as it is always about getting more by doing less. And I think as a player, you will develop that smooth style with more emphasis on nuance as you become an expert. I don’t intend to become an expert or a musician because that is not my domain. I am a blogger. But then again I think that when you are a music journalist you have to know what you are talking about so that’s why I feel that I need to explore the instruments in order to give spirit to my posts.

www.celticpercussion.com Alex Kuldell talks about Sound Quality as a Result of Technique