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I had a wonderful time at Trinity House Theatre performing with Nina Sofia and Shannon Lee in the first of their In-the-Rounds this year.

I’m delighted to say I’ll be back supporting Deidre McCalla, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the FARM (Folk Alliance Regional Midwest) recently. Get tickets and read more about Deidre and her music over here.

I had a wonderful time at Trinity House Theater on Friday. Great sound, great room, wonderful audience and two excellent artists in the round with me.

I’m currently on my way to Florida but I’m reminded what a great night we had on Friday in Livonia not too far from where I live. Videos are now up on their YouTube page. Well worth a watch. Wonderful venue. Nina Sofia and Shannon Lee were awesome and the in-the-round format is a favourite of mine!

In the videos you’ll see me performing An Nasc Nua, Samurai Sword, Ualach Ó Mo Chroí, Lakes of Pontchartrain and A Wounded Bird, which were very warmly received by a wonderfully friendly audience. And check out the videos of the songs by Nina and Shannon. Very soulful rhythmic songs. I had fun playing a mandolin solo on Shannon’s song Stars at the end of the show. Great craic.

You luckily can watch on this playlist which is the full show. I will upload my performances to my YouTube page at some point but do go support and subscribe to Trinity House Theaters page as they have many more in-the-rounds coming up this year.  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLadH0JZ-pInwTmQwfjuhnstgXPgMmZ-O1

I’ve heard a lot about this great venue for singer songwriters and I’m looking forward to sharing the stage with Shannon Lee and Nina Sofia this Friday for Season 3 of In the Round.

Hey a chairde, I hope you all had a great new year! I had a lovely one and a good birthday too. Looking forward to 2023 and all the adventures there’ll be. Keep an eye on the Tour dates as I might be coming near you.

Earlier this year I was at the Buffalo Irish Festival and had a blast playing lots of music and meeting some great acts including the Steel City Rovers and The Spain Brothers and even played some hurling. Before we left myself and The Byrne Brothers (super-talented family band) went to see The Sullivans naval vessel DD537 which is now docked in Buffalo.

Shamrock on the Deck of USS The Sullivans DD537

We were intrigued by the painting of a Shamrock on the deck and knew there must be an Irish connection. While we were aboard getting a tour, the unique story of the Sullivans Brothers was told to us, how Iowa brothers  joined the navy in WW2 after Pearl Harbor, how they stuck together and served together on the Juneau and all went down together too. Tragic. Tommy (The Byrne Father!) said “Enda I feel a song coming on!” (Thanks Tommy!) and by the time I got back to Michigan I had a chorus.

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I did my research then and the song took shape. It turned into a sea shanty and felt right sung acapella. I got some feedback from Paul and Shane in the Buffalo Naval Park which helped ensure that I had the story right.

The Sullivans at Sunset with buffalo Skyway

When recording it I did multiple overdubs to make it feel like the 5 brothers singing but somehow that just wasn’t working so I went back to acapella, which is what you’ll hear on the recording. I had the good fortune to be able to share the song at The Milwaukee and Michigan Irish Music Festivals thereafter. Someday it’d be magic to hear a group of brothers singing it!

The 13th of November is the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Juneau, the ship the Sullivans served on, so I am releasing it just before as it seems a  commemorative occasion to do so.

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Now available on Bandcamp