Quite the week......

Well i thought i would write about the week that was. It was just incredible really.

It started last weekend with a concert in Rancho Cucamonga, CA in the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. I love that venue and we had a full house of Celtic music fans who tore down the house at the end of the night. I sang a few new songs and hammed it up a bit as, well, I was just in that kind of mood. We headed out for a few beers after. It was nice to have former Celtic Legends dancer Megan Kirk with us for the night. The performance went down well i think and I know we will be back. There is a plan already to be back in the Inland Empire before the end of the year.

I have been working on a writing project and needed a few days to focus on that so I stayed on in LA to sit by my friends pool and catch some sunshine while absorbing some vitamin D. It did me the world of good. One evening I headed to a new restaurant called Chi Spacca. It involved meat, lots of it. I enjoyed it but i overdosed on carnivore delights and red wine before heading next door to my favorite restaurant Osteria Mozza for desert so i had to starve myself for a few days after.

On Wednesday night i had a work meeting and was heading home when i checked my email to find an email from Travis Fox, my dynamic co producer on my pbs special, Beyond Celtic. The email stated that the show had earned 2 Emmy® nominations in the Direction and Special Television Event categories. I took it in and promptly went to bed as I had an early start to fly to Nashville. So, off to bed I go and got up at 5am to head to the airport. In the cab, the penny dropped and I realised that I was Emmy® nominated. I laughed out loud and and then went quiet. I was trying to absorb the feeling. Take it in.

I arrived in Nashville, numb from exhaustion and elation at the same time. At this point I was receiving calls and emails from across the world with congratulations and tears. I was alone in my hotel and really didn't get to talk about it out loud.

I spent all day on Thursday in the studio recording a song for the JFK50 event. Here is a clip. Don't mind the terrible sound.
You will hear the song and the great news is that we have decided to make a single of it. Details will unfold in the coming few weeks. I completely love the song. Written with my great pal Marcus Hummon the song is very personal to me so I cannot wait to share it.

From the studio I headed to a beautiful mansion in Nashville for a GRAMMY® fundraiser. I got to hang out with the incredible Darius Rucker that night. We bonded over our experiences of coming to Nashville as outsiders from other genres of music. He performed that night for a small group of people and sang all of his hits in an acoustic set that was nothing short of brilliant.

I met loads of people that night but for some reason didn't share my news with anyone. I think, looking back that I was taking the news in and absorbing it all. It was a fun night for sure despite my exhaustion but I could not rest. I had a big day of planning with my manager Robert Williams the next morning. So in to the offices I went the next morning and he flipped when I walked in and congratulated me. It was then and only then I realised the achievements of the week and I FINALLY realised that this was a landmark in my life. A time to sit back and look at where I had brought my life to. We laughed and cheered but then got on with matters at hand.

The next month involves 2 big events to plan for. I've been asked to sing in Arlington, VA on May 29 in an event to honor President John F. Kennedy at his graveside. At the ceremony a torch will be lit from the eternal flame at that site and that torch will be taken to Ireland where a permanent Emigrant Flame will be lit in New Ross, Wexford during the JFK50 celebrations on June 22. I will perform for Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver and many other of the Kennedy clan that day with legendary singer Judy Collins, Michael Flatley and Colm Toibin. It will be a huge celebration of the Kennedy legacy and that bond with my home county.

Sooooo that was my week. I am at home now and am knackered but i've much to do so I can't rest on me laurels. 

Father, Son and Holy Ghost
It's trembling Joy and fearful Hope
It's the dream of a people, returned
for John is coming home........