It's hard to believe the Summer's gone already and I'm getting ready for my last performances in the Pacific NorthWest. I have two shows up in the fantastic Galway Bay Irish Pub, Restaurant & Shop at Ocean Shores, WA, a wee seaside town right on the Pacific coast with the biggest Irish festival on the West Coast.
I also have two last shows in the Portland, OR area -Feckin Brewery (Oct 8) and Mahers (Oct 14) so if you were planning to come see me while I'm back, this is your last chance for a while.(see below for details)
The Next Performances :
Friday September 30th & Saturday October 1st 8pm each evening - Galway Bay Irish Pub, Ocean Shore, WA. I'm there now - Friday was great, marvelous crowd - and they liked my new songs!
Saturday October 8th 7pm to 10pm - The Feckin Brewery, Oregon City, OR
Friday October 14th 8pm to 11pm Mahers Irish Pub, Lake Oswego
And I finish off my stay in the Pacific Northwest at the Galway Bay Celtic Festival Oct 18th to 21st (Click the schedule below to see the full festival schedule)
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Ellie 3 years after the horror diagnosis - doing great!
The Kazoo ensemble - overwhelming !
The Garden Vineyards in Hillsboro, great Sunday afternoon
Kevin Nettleingham - the man behind the music
Click the play arrow above to get a feeling for the release party - to the tune of "One Feckin Beer"
Cheers! |
September has been great for me, I didn't know what to expect from the album release, 16 new songs - how would they go down? Can I play them live ok? It all worked out well - thank goodness.
But let's go back to the start of September - I played at a surprise Birthday party for Ellie (which her husband Chris set up- then told her - wise move Chris). It was a fantastic evening - especially as I played in their lovely culinary oasis "the Olive and Grape" the night they announced they were closing down because of Ellie's stage 4 breast & lung cancer. That was 3 years ago, now she is cancer free and enjoying life to the max! And she's doing great! There is hope for others in this situation!
Then it was Mahers Irish Pub, Lake Oswego, OR on September 9th (the 2nd anniversary of the day we left our house and started the travelling life!). It was a beautiful sunny day follwed by a warm Summers evening. There's nothing quite like playing on Maher's patio stage on a hot evening with a touch of a breeze to keep you cool. It was another great night with folks in a happy mood and joining in from the 1st song. I was blown away when the kazoo orchestra started up - friends Tanya & Eric had supplied the Kazoos hoping that I would play my new song "Big Tam" which has a kazoo solo (yes, sorry, a kazoo solo)... they were excellent kazooists! That was my last time on that patio for this year as the weather has slipped down a notch or two - but it was great while it lasted.
The Garden Vineyard in Hillsboro, OR was a lovely relaxed afternoon performance. It's a fully working Vineyard and the grapes were looking good on the vines. A new Oregon delicacy is growing there too in the rich, fertile soil - Cannabis, big healthy bushy plants all blowing and growing legally in the breeze. The view over the surrounding countryside was gorgeous, I played quite a few ballads I haven't played for a long time - the atmosphere just called for something different!
With all my gigs done, it was time to get the finishing touches on my show for the Album release Sunday 18th October. Normally I introduce songs I have learned gradually into my set... and this was different I was about to do 16 songs, 11 of them I had never played live in front of a crowd. I don't get nervous often... but I was. Eventually I accepted the offer we had from Eric and Tanya to be the "dress rehearsal" audience and on Saturday afternoon, we drove to their house for the rehearsal. It went pretty well and I learned a lot. Some of the songs are personal and close ... and before you know it you're feeling emotional, which is ok if you're listening, but not when you're playing. I managed to get through all the songs, I had trouble remembering words on about two, so I had some homework to do (isn't it crazy that I can remember so many other people's songs, but struggle with my own ones!).
When Sunday came, I felt ready and we headed off to the Feckin Brewery bright and early. We had lots of the new CDs, the old CDs, Posters, Story / Music books and Steve and Cathi Behrens were bringing balloons to tie on the Feckin Brewery sign - you know you're ready when you've got the balloons organised!
First to arrive were folks from Ocean Shores who heard me at last year's Festival and have been following since - they made the 3.5 hour journey for me - I was delighted! In all we had 70 + people attend the release. I worked my way through the album playing each song, telling each story. There were laughs and tears and I knew the songs were connecting with my crowd. That is the reaction I wanted, I want people to feel the emotion behind each song. It seems I didn't do too badly!
For the last song on the album and the last song of the release show, I was able to "persuade" Steve and Cathi Behrens to join me on stage to sing the song I wrote for them. A thank you for the advice and push they gave me last year to write my own material - the song's called "Write It Down"... that's exactly what they told me to do !
Since the album release I have felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it's out and people like it. I'm now bringing the songs into my normal sets which makes playing more exciting - seeing how crowds respond - they are enjoying them and buying CDs too.
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