The Great St. Patrick's Day Marathon of 2014
This year the month of March started out with a bang on March1 - my very first show with Jiggernaut was at the North Texas Irish Festival. Only the SECOND LARGEST IRISH MUSIC FESTIVAL IN THE COUNTRY!! What a way to begin!! We played a great set on Saturday afternoon, very well attended, as it was close to 80 degrees, and then Sunday was cancelled after the temps dropped to about 16 degrees with ice, sleet and hail. Amazing.
But then the excitement continued just a week and a half later to kick off the "Green Season," as many Irish music performers call it. St. Patrick's Day is definitely the time of year when Irish music is very popular, and most of us know to take advantage of that as much as we can, by accepting every single gig we can around that time. Being a Mercenary Fiddler, that's what I did! Here's the rundown of that week:
Wednesday, March 12: my official CD Release Party at Trinity Hall in Dallas. Chris and John Burleson, my Coolin bandmates, joined me on stage to play a few, along with Ken Fleming, who was one of the guest players on my CD. Many friends showed up to celebrate with me, and I was very happy with the turnout and the evening.
Thursday, March 13: Coolin played at the exclusive Crescent Club in downtown Dallas. This is a private club on the 17th floor of the Crescent Hotel, and I'm pretty sure everyone there spends more on wardrobe than I make in a whole year! But it was a nice gig, and they seemed pleased.
Friday, March 14: I wasn't the only one celebrating a CD Release; Friday was Steve Harrison's Official CD Release Party at the Plaza Pub in Arlington. Steve's brother (and my Jiggernaut bandmate) Rodger Harrison joined us, and the event was simulcast live on internet radio!! It was a great evening!!
Saturday, March 15: A ONE-TIME-ONLY event, I was part of the crew who converged on the Live Oak Music Hall in Fort Worth for a double-bill of TRINITY RIVER WHALERS and JIGGERNAUT!! These two bands had never shared a stage before (even though they DO share band members!) It was a great turnout, a fabulous response from the crowd as well as the venue, and we all have a really great time!!
Sunday, March 16: I was graciously invited to join my friends Jed Marum and Don Gabbert to play for an afternoon SPD show at Tilted Kilt in Las Colinas/Irving. As it was a cold day (not quite as cold as Day 2 of NTIF, but it was chilly) and a Sunday, the crowd was light, but the songs were hot, as they usually are with Jed and Don.
Monday, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day: The marathon ended with a three-hour show with Jiggernaut at the Copper Top Saloon in south Arlington, Texas. We had a great time and it was a nice end to the SPD madness.
All told, that was six shows in six days, whichwas really not bad. Past SPDs we've been known to do six gigs in two days, so though this was a marathon, it was a relatively relaxed marathon. Can't wait for next year!!
