December in Kilfenora and surrounding area!

Another gig!
I just got another gig playing at an awards ceremony this Thursday!  The awards are from the Burrenbeo conservation trust!

Also I have learned a new tune (all in one day!)--The Kilfenora Jig (sometimes called The Clare Jig).  In honor of my new home.  I am also going to play it at the gig along with anything from this area, like The Cliffs of Moher, The Mist Covered Mountain, and all the Junior Crehan tunes I can get up to performance ready standards.



That's me playing during the awards ceremony.  The Boghill Centre won three awards!  And I gave out a few business cards to people who said, "I do a lot of weddings" including a couple hotel owners and the DJ (who is very famous, so I am told)!

Kifenora Cathedral Christmas Choir and Miscellany Concert

My little performance in the cathedral was a success.  I was only a little bit nervous and there was enough light to see my strings, bonus!

I got several nice compliments, but the best one of all was a woman who said, "You really played from the heart; I could feel it.  And that's really rare."


And another gig!
Now I have a third gig booked!  I will be playing background music as a prelude to a trad female trio on New Year's Eve!  I play for about an hour at a local pub, Kilshanny House, and this time I get paid!  Not loads, but it's a step in the right direction!  And the bonus is I know what I'm doing on NYE!

A lot of practicing!
I've been practicing loads for my NYE gig!  I'm feeling really confident!  I've decided (maybe even had a major shift in my thinking / being) that life is too short not to be fabulous!  Life is too short to be scared!

I really need to be on form on NYE because this is the real deal ladies!  I am in IRELAND playing Irish harp, opening up for a trio who are high profile!  It isn't three ladies, but two ladies and one guy.  It's led by Norin Lynch who has a CD out.  She is a wonderful singer.  The flute player is a young lady who I think is called Clara and the third is a fiddler / guitarist called Quentin.  Both Quentin and Norin are in Eoin O' Neil's band The Ceili Bandits.  The Ceili Bandits also have a CD out and Eoin does a trad program called The West Wind on Clare FM.  He is a local celebrity and plays bouzouki and fiddle!

So you see, this *could* lead to some gigs and to be on the same bill as these people is a bit daunting but I'm taking the bull (Irish cow??) by the horns and going for it, because LIFE IS TOO SHORT NOT TO!