August 16th It was a cooker of a weekend at O'Malley's Pub, where the 90°/90% weather found its way down to the bottom cellar (and a faulty compressor added insult to injury). Friday night was big right from the start. Scott was there celebrating his 53rd birthday with Laurie, Christina, Colton (who joined his Grandpa onstage for the obligatory birthday-dirge), and Barbara; Bryan and Erica were there with their three - JT, Liz, and Kat; Bob was down from Cedar Rapids (of course); Paris appeared for the first time since returning from Iraq; and Scott and Louise were down from Maryville. Other friendlies in the audience included Mike's girlfriend Kenna and compadre James; Tracy; Eric (Chewbacca); Matt; Rebecca; Jeff. Scott took a turn behind the mic, performing a couple of his regular pieces and giving the band a small break. Kudos to the staff (who went above and beyond Friday night) - Mike (at the door); Jamie and Steve (behind the bar, with Derrick pinch-hitting); and Sarah and Felicia working the tables. Saturday night was another big one with plenty of friendly faces - Lloyd, Bob (again), Jason, and Gene; Jason and Kaya, and her dad Obbie (in town from LA); Marion and Diane; Mike and Gayla; Kenna and James (again); Eric (again); Jake and Steve; Josh and Nin; Jenny, Caci, Ellen, and Micaela; and Bill and Mike. And Saturday night saw another great effort from the staff - Mike (at the door); Katie, Penny, and Steve (behind the bar); Sarah, Meredith, and Mandy (waiting tables); and DeeDee (switching back and forth). Sean O' even turned in an appearance! And of course there was one of the proprietor's, Mike, working the sound-board and turning in guest-appearances onstage. Tullamore will return to O'Malley's in October... we'll hope it's a little cooler then. July 2nd The band finalized arrangements today with Hammond Tours for their 2011 Ireland Tour. On Saturday, May 7th, Tullamore departs with fifty friends, fans, and family on a nine-day, four-concert bus-tour of Erin's Green Isle - their second concert-tour of Ireland. This time, they'll be bringing Hugh Morrison, a Scottish accordionist now living in Houston, who will join them onstage at times. The tour will pass through Limerick, Dingle, Listowel, Galway, Cong, Sligo, Ballyshannon, Enniskillen, Mullingar, Tullamore (of course), Naas, and Dublin. The tour's itinerary includes stops at the Cliffs of Moher, the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, the 6th-century monastic settlement on Devenish, the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre, and concert performances at St John's Arts Centre in Listowel, the Abbey Centre in Ballyshannon, the Mullingar Arts Centre, and the Moat Theatre in Naas. The website's tour-page is interactive, so you can explore all the where's and what's of the tour. It also contains links to a flyer for the tour and to Hammond Tours, as well as counters showing how many places have been reserved and how many remain available. More to come... June 14th It was hot and wet out at the Kansas City Scottish Highland Games this past weekend, where Tullamore turned in their fifth appearance. The weather alternated between sultry and pouring, which kept the crowd and bands guessing. The band turned in a Friday-evening set on the Pub Stage ahead of sets by Highland Reign and Mother Grove. Saturday, Bob Reeder valiantly performed an unplugged set at the Amphitheatre while the staff was waiting for officials to arrive and reset the electricity. Then the band kicked off the evening run there, and were followed by the Three Dollar Band, Highland Reign, Tartanic, and Mother Grove. Friendly faces this weekend included Dan and Norma; Pat and Carol; Bruce and Lane; Patrick; Tim and Amy; Brian; John; Tim; and a couple of great visits with good friends Steve (Tullintrain West), Jill (entertainment director) and Goren (Celtic Fashions Midwest). The band is hoping for a drier visit next Summer. June 7th The highlight of the band's spring schedule was their fourth appearance at the Texas Scottish Festival this past weekend. An early Friday-evening set prompted the band to re-schedule their flight down, especially with that set being on the Glenfinnan Stage which they shared with Brian McNeill, Ed Miller, Scooter Muse, Jil Chambless, Smithfield Fair and Seamus Stout. While it was fantastic to have the opportunity to show off their music on the big stage, they had a great time the remainder of the weekend sharing the Glenuig Stage with Jed Marum and Jaime Marum, Hugh Morrison and Kendall Rogers, and Marc Gunn. The stage turned out to be a regular swap-meet, with a seemingly endless number of permutations of performers on stage -AND- arrangements were settled on to have Hugh joining the band as an artist on their 2011 Ireland Tour. Leah and Bob were invaluable contributions throughout the weekend in putting the band up, shuttling them around, and manning the CD-table. Old faces and new popped up over the weekend including Lou and Helen; Ros and Paul (who arranged an October house-concert for the band in Houston); Rickey, Charles, and Joe; Bob and Katrina; Richard; Harry (whom Mark hadn't seen since his days at AIPC); Ed; Kevin, Richard, EJ, Al, Emily, and Gregory (from Teribus and Clandestine) Emilio; Ronnie; Guy, Tony, Dorothy, and Alex; Jerry, Cathy, and Marc; Dan and Anita, Rickey and Tom; Kelly and Julie; Noel; Michelle and Phil; Eugene; Ted; Chester and Marianne; the Redmond family; and our sound-guys Andre and David. The trip included a couple of fun airport visits - one with Kelly Kelley (yes), the TSA-agent who saw the dulcimer through x-ray... and the other with Steven, Zenith, and Cole, in the gate-area waiting to board the flight. Before long the band was back in KC looking forward to next season's visit. May 17th Saturday evening, Tullamore turned in another crowd-pleasing performance at Waxy O'Shea's - a pub that never fails to deliver, with its great menu, tasty food, personable staff, and their dapper host Vincent. The crowd was perhaps 10% off of the biggest crowd the band has had there... which was a minor miracle considering how many regulars were off at the Greater St Louis Renaissance Festival. Friendly faces included old friend and fellow-musician Roy Wilkinson in town from Atlanta, and with him came Victor and Richelle (from Dog Tree) and Rick; Bob was (reliably) down from Cedar Rapids as were Scott and Louise from Maryville; Dan and Norma; Pat and Carol; Mike; Bruce and Lane; and Mike and Karen. Roy took his turn behind the mic to entertain the crowd, as did Scott. Look for the band to turn in their next appearance at Waxy's in mid-August. May 3rd After skipping a year, Tullamore made their way back to Allegheny Mountain country to perform at the ninth annual Scottish Festival and Celtic Gathering in Bridgeport WV. The gang took a Friday afternoon flight into Pittsburgh and met Luke (Mark's nephew - check out his band, DoubleShot!), grabbed a rental-car, had a quick bite to eat at a local sushi joint (Ichiban Steakhouse), and headed out for the two-hour drive to Bridgeport. The next morning, they headed over to Bridgeport High School where the Festival was already underway. The guys had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Highland Reign, Albannach, Colin Grant-Adams, the Homespun Ceilidh Band. By lunchtime, a few more of Mark's family had arrived - Dawn (mother), young Dawn (sister), and Jennifer (niece) - to connect with Mark and the band, and see the Festival. After their final performance, the whole gang (band and family) was off to dinner at Applebee's before heading back for the evening concert at the High School, where each of the performers would turn in a 25-minute showcase. It was a great show and well-appreciated. Goodbyes were said that night as the ladies would be getting on the road much earlier than the band. After a Bob Evans breakfast, it was back to the Pittsburgh Airport, one more round of goodbyes to Luke, and onto the plane for the flight back to Kansas City. This has become a very enjoyable gig for the band, hopefully one that will be repeated in years to come. April 12th Tullamore paid a Saturday-evening visit to VFW Post #7397 for their eighth annual Rogue's Gallery Spring Hoolie, courtesy of their self-proclaimed biggest, baddest fan - Dan Robertson. The Hoolie is a four-hour, all-request performance where the rules are anything-goes and there is only one tradition - that each of the band-members does at least one solo number. This year's Hoolie was as successful as its seven predecessors, drawing a crowd of 60 regulars plus the dozen or so veterans who 'manage' to be there this one particular night of the year. Mary sang Ewan MacColl's Tunnel Tigers, Rachel played William Potstock's Souvenir de Sarasate, and Mark sang John Lennon's Across the Universe and Alan Stivell's Breton song Brezhoneg' Raok. The Hoolie dragged on the typical 45 minutes beyond quitting-time, when the band was told to get out. Until next year... March 29th Tullamore returned to the windy clime of Oklahoma for an appearance at the Norman Medieval Fair, their thirteenth in the last fourteen years. There was only 51 weeks between visits this year instead of the standard 52, as the Fair advanced one week into late-March to avoid falling on Easter weekend. The band returned to the Gryphon Stage which they shared (along with the big crowds) with the Rogues and Queens Gambit. It was a good weekend overall, starting out mild and turning cold and rainy, and was marked by visits with friends and fans too numerous to name. Highlights of the weekend included playing stretch and bocce with Delbert, Sherri, Jeremy, Randy, and Ken; dinner Friday evening at Johnny Carino's with Ken and Randy; dinner Saturday evening at Asian Fusion with Danny, Beth, William, Roger, Jeremy, and Brian (almost); and visits with Brian Wendling, the Bilge Pumps, and Arabesque. The band drew the short straw on Sunday, playing the last set at the Gryphon before the Last Huzzah and getting on the road an hour and a half later than usual, so the drive home extended into the very early morning. Besides the weather, the weekend was marred by a mishap (ironically involving the weather) with Mark's Guild JF-50 as it was blown out of its guitar-stand and the neck broke just below the headstock. Bruce came to the rescue and let Mark borrow his guitar all day. All that notwithstanding, it was quite the enjoyable weekend, and the band is looking forward to next year's appearance - which will return to the first weekend in April. March 18th St Patrick's Day found the band, once again, playing at O'Malley's Pub. Despite their small-town locale, the pub boasted a line-up that rivaled that of any Irish pub in Kansas City... with Tullamore kicking off the day at noon in the upper cellar, followed by the Three Dollar Band, and finally Connacht Town who closed out the night downstairs, all the while Bob Reeder playing the night away in the upper cellar. The crowd grew from a middling start at noon to full and lively by 2:00, with Mike, Carrie, Dennis, Gene, and Jacob and Megan (celebrating their 10th anniversary) providing some of the friendly faces in the crowd. It was a great St Patrick's Day, made greater with an early performance that left the band free to kick back for the remainder of the festivities and still make it home at a decent hour! March 15th Friday evening's performance at Waxy O'Shea's kicked off their traditional pre-St-Patrick's-Day flurry of performances which comprised four performances in all. And with all of the Irish festivities going on, all around town, the band pulled off a minor miracle in bringing the crowd to Waxy's. Superfans in attendance included Dan and Norma; Pat and Carol, and Mike; Dale; Bob (down from Cedar Rapids, again); Scott and Louise (down from Maryville, again); friendly neighbors James, Richard, and Mike; Sujoy (up from Phoenix) and Richard; Joan; Roc and Lisa; Nikki, Claire and David; Kevin and Ari; Mic and Clint; Bill; and Jason and Annie. The evening included a surprise visit from some of Rachel and Mark's Plaza-YOU crowd - Tom, Cindy and friend, Cathy, Kat and Anna-Marie; and a very pleasant (but predictable) visit from Fred and Linda, and Listowellians Dennis O'Mahony and (The Man Himself) Damian Stack (the four having come late following an earlier evening at the annual mixer for the Irish American Club of Johnson County). The band was expertly taken care of by Tina, and it was a grand evening overall. Saturday found the band making a late-afternoon appearance at O'Malley's Pub, where they joined the Three Dollar Band, Connacht Town and Bob Reeder as part of the Pub's contribution to the Snake Saturday celebration. While the crowd was fairly big (for a Saturday afternoon), it proved to be too early in the day for Tullamore's regulars. That said, the band was delighted to see Bob (who, admittedly, would be with us for the weekend); Marion & Diane; Mike and Carrie, and Dennis; Jill; and Chris, Adam, Keith, and Françoise who hung around and listened for a half hour or so before heading off to another gig of their own. Throughout the day (and night), the patrons were treated to the exceptional service of Mike, Patty, DeeDee, Ray, Meredith, and Penny. Following the set (and some music from Connacht Town), the band wrapped up the night over a wonderful dinner with Dennis, Mike, and Carrie at Kato Japanese Cuisine. The next morning the band was on the road early for the hour-and-a-half drive to Emerald, KS, where they would have the opportunity to feast on the most delectable corned beef dinner and finest pies in the Midwest (and play a little music). The event was (of course) their annual pilgrimage to St Patrick's Parish, a modest farm-community parish where the band has played six of these past seven years as part of their annual fund-raiser. The performance is incidental to the band, largely an excuse to go hang out with their east-Kansas friends and fans (including Melodie, Levi, Arlene, Chris and Teresa, Stan, Scott and family, Joy, Rick, Al, and Theresa and Joan, of course), and treat their taste buds to the finest Kansas has to offer. From there, it was a rapid break-down and as quick of a drive as could be managed to get back to Waxy O'Shea's for an early-evening set following Shawnee's own Irish March Madness - the Parade, Awards Ceremony (just after the Parade at the KofC Hall), and Duck Race. It was another great evening at the pub, and the huge crowd of friends and fans included Damian and Dennis, Fred and Linda, and Mary; Dan, Pat and Mike; Bruce and Lane; Bob; Lloyd; Bill and Nancy; Mike and Karen; Scott and Louise; Jason and SuAnne; Yale and Michelle; Bill and Kathleen; Adam, Kimberly, Taylor, Jordan, Jim, Keith, John, and Roger; Terry and Maureen; Gordon and Pete; Joan, Mary, Allen, Aggie, and Brett; Joan Moore (who had done some piping earlier that afternoon); and Dennis and LeAnne. Spence and Valerie kept the band well supplied (and lubricated). It was a great evening, and an end to a great weekend. March 8th With their third consecutive appearance at the North Texas Irish Festival, Tullamore has established itself as a staple in the festival's line-up. Excitement was afoot as the band headed to the airport Friday and boarded their mid-afternoon Southwest flight to Love Field. Bob corralled the band at the airport and whisked them away to the Radisson (which would serve again as the host hotel). After checking in and dropping off, the gang turned in a little base-touching in the lobby with some of the other musicians who were in the process of arriving before jumping back into Bob's car and heading on out to Fair Park. Once there, they headed over to the Cashel Stage (where they would be turning in their Friday night set), and dropped their gear and instruments off. Jigsaw had just begun their set, and the band caught a few numbers before heading over to the Hospitality Room, where there was a bit of eating and more visiting. After a small spin around the festival site, it was back over to the stage to catch the second half of a set by Sarah Dinan, and set up gear and tune. The band's 9:30 set was surprisingly well-attended for being the last on the stage and opposite the Barra MacNeils and Needfire... but folks like what they like, so who are we to argue? After the set, it was back to the hotel for a late dinner and some visiting with a couple handfuls of folks in the bar. Then it was off to bed. The next morning, the band connected for breakfast with Richard and Kathleen (on sabbatical from the Trinity River Whalers) for breakfast. The attempt was nearly thwarted by unexpected restaurant-closures and big breakfast-crowds, so they finally settled on a meal at Norma's Café (which was quite tasty). From there it was back to the hotel to get ready, and over to the festival where they dropped off all their instruments and gear at the instrument check-in. The band would be performing a 6:00 set on the Cashel Stage again. So with several hours to occupy, they made an extensive tour of the site, checking out all the vendors and taking in sets by Ed Miller, the David Munnelly Band, Poor Man's Fortune, Legacy, and Beyond the Pale before having to head over to get their instruments and gear and hightail it to the stage to set up. They were absolutely elated at what would turn out to be a standing-room-only turnout by the audience... which was conveniently witnessed by SCMA-officer John Hebley. After their set, they stayed around for a visit with Chris and Erin (Rachel's cousin and fiancée) and a couple more sets by Clandestine and Great Big Sea. Then it was back to the hotel. Rachel headed upstairs for a pre-session nap while Mark headed off to the bar for some proper socializing. Mary eventually appeared in the bar and joined the visiting. After a couple hours, Mark gave up on Rachel's appearance and went back to the room and turned in, at which point Rachel got up and headed downstairs. She and Mary hung out at a session for a while before turning in. Sunday, the band was back out to the site fairly early. After a beautiful Friday and Saturday, the poor weather finally caught up and made its debut with some chilly rain. It was still a good crowd though, and after a little visiting with some vendors and performers, it was over to the Star and Harp Pub Stage to catch a set by Jim Flanagan, and then turn in their final set of the weekend. Afterwards, they caught the last set by Ed, Scooter, and Jil before making their goodbyes and joining Bob for the drive back to Love Field. It was a colorful drive that wrapped up a great weekend. A couple hours later, the band was in the van heading home from the airport amid their expectations for a return-trip for the 2011 festival. February 16th Monday evening, Tullamore had the singular privilege of kicking off Celtic At the Corbin, a brand new concert-series produced by the Corbin Theatre featuring the region's best Celtic music on the third Monday of every month. The blustery evening made a dent in quite a few dinner-and-a-show plans, and only a few dozen folks turned out. But it was a great show, and the band made quite a few new friends. Upcoming appearances in the series will include Kelly in March, the Three Dollar Band in April, Roscommon in May, Eddie Delahunt and Friends in June, and the Shortleaf Band in July. So make a point on coming to see one of these groups and support the Corbin. AND also make a note in your calendar for September 20th - which is when Tullamore will return to the Corbin for another concert. January 25th In the middle of what has been a fairly stiff winter, the weather turned nice for the weekend as the band drove down to Tulsa to turn in their now-annual performance for the Scottish Club of Tulsa's 55th annual Robert Burns Supper. TheSupper is a black tie gala and the Club's premiere social event, and was held this year at the Home Builders Association. The band's mid-afternoon arrival was preceded only slightly by that of friend and fan Roger Ruffner, who joined them as both guest and roadie. The four had the privilege of joining Richard, Cammi, Bill and Hal for dinner. The evening kicked off with some very nice music from Miss Demeanor and the Minor Convictions (a.k.a. Julia Harris and friends) and some fine piping and drumming by City of Tulsa Pipes and Drums. The haggis was ceremoniously piped in, and was promptly skewered at the end of a recital of Burns' To A Haggis. Then each table was, in succession, turned loose on the buffet line. During dinner the guests were treated to a tribute to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns, as well as some good whiskey and great toasts to the lassies, to the laddies, to Scotland, and to the USA. All of that was followed by music by Tullamore complete with Scottish country dancing, and the announcement of the winners of all the fine prizes being raffled off. Kudos to Steve and Eric, Mary, Daryl, Heather, Steven, Alan and (of course) Rick for adding to the overall enjoyability of the evening. It was, as slways, quite the party, and the band is looking forward to next year.