Life on the road

Its Wednesday

I am just back from Pittsburgh pledge. The people at the WQED were so great. The whole experience of pledges is scary for a newbie especially as i am doing them on my own. The team in Pittsburgh made me feel so welcome. Being on camera was grand and I love meeting all the public television volunteers who man the phones.

Home for a few days to live a normal life; to cook, to lie on my couch, to watch my tv, to go to my gym to chat with my friends and to just......be.

The past few weeks at the start of this mammoth campaign to spread the word on Beyond Celtic has been exciting and indeed thrilling at times with a few undoubted highlights like when my friend P. who is a backing singer in the show watched the show with me for the first time. She forced me to watch as I had never watched it through. Anyways, armed with a bottle of Prosecco we sat down together. I, of course cringed at the whole experience and found fault in everything I did. Phyllis on the other hand screamed “ look at me, look at me, I’m on TV every time she caught a glimpse of herself. She texted with another friend who took part. They discussed how good they looked in “their“ special. Anyways, it made it all the more special for me to watch their reactions and indeed it was for this very reason that I asked them to be part of it.

I wanted to have my friends around me to represent who I am as an artist and as a person so the show is a fairly accurate painting of me. It was really more important to me than anything else that they share this experience with me. I have found as I get older that this is what makes me tick. Shared experiences.

Anyways, once we finished watching on WNET Channel 13 off we went down to Jean Clancy’s gorgeous wine bar in Sunnyside , NY. Jean is the girl who makes the magic happen for the boys in Celtic Thunder. She and Sharon are the brilliant masterminds behind the mammoth operation that is CT. I am proud to have Jean is a friend and supporter. She also happens to own a wine bar which is phenomenal. Anyways in I walked and ordered my favorite Spanish wine Juan Gil. I celebrated that night, not only that I had witnessed the launch of my special but also my life and the people in it. We laughed a lot and talked about the days when I first arrived in New York s a penniless young fella. I haven’t made my million yet but I’ve made my mark . I couldn’t be prouder.

My first live pledge visit was in San Francisco. I invited along Owen Barrington the world champion Irish dancer featured in the show. He flew up from Long Beach to join me for the pledge. I figured it is always good to add someone young, handsome and talented to the line up on tv......wait a minute , he makes me look bad! Owen is creative, talented and outgoing and it showed during the pledge. He was a big hit and you will see him again soon on other live pledges. We managed to escape for a few pints in Foleys which is really a great Irish pub in San Francisco. I imagine I will be back a few times in December.

So Sharon Browne mentioned me and the show in her blog on Celticthunder.ie last night and the result was my website exploding with visits by Thunderheads. It was astounding. I have been a friend of Sharon since her Celtic Woman days.She really is inspirational. I watched her build that into a huge show and indeed she has done the same with Celtic Thunder. I know the boys in the show and they are all a great bunch. Lots of changes are happening at the moment but I know one thing...the future is looking very bright for the Thunder show. She knows the business better than anyone and she knows what makes you Thunderheads happy.

So Celtic Thunder has their Thunderheads, someone asked me last night what we should call my fans. Now I know my friends at home will have some smart answers to that but if anyone has any thoughts.....?

So it is Chicago for the weekend before I head to South Carolina SCETV for a pledge and then on to sing the National Anthem for the Giants in San Francisco. I really don’t quite understand baseball….no really…haven’t a clue how it all works but I plan on enjoying the evening. It will involved hot dogs and beer. What’s not to love?

We are adding dates all the time so the spring certainly looks busy. We have more dates to add this week. With any luck I might get to take some time off after that . I fancy a month or two in Spain and am keeping that as a positive reinforcement to get me through the next few months.

I guess though that busy…… is good.


Livin the dream, yes, Livin the dream!