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A view from a train.

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That’s week one of the second semester done and I’m sitting on a train - my first free travel one too - much more civilised than the train I was on exactly two weeks ago - Palermo - Napoli, nine and a half hours of beautiful scenery seen through the grimiest windows.   This is a much shorter trip to Dublin where I will spend the next couple of days. While the trip is mostly to visit family, I look forward to doing a couple of hours busking at The Dublin Food Co-op where I played almost every Saturday when I last lived there.   While I miss my dog, the week in college has been a breeze without the pull of checking that she’s not too miserable every couple of hours.   It’s been a week of funerals in Limerick too with Cranberries singer, Delores O’Riordan being buried on Tuesday and, at just over twice her 46 years, my host for my time in College, Joe Neiland, two days later.   JB, RIP. The outline for the rest of the semester looks really exciting - Donal Lunny for i
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Back to School (at 66 and a half)

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Wow!    Back in college after seven weeks away - and at 66 and a half today too. I’m happy to say that all is now familiar here now and I have some idea of what’s ahead for the next three months or so.    This is in contrast to the first semester where, for the first two months I floated about the place, enjoying every minute though not realising that I should be relying on more than just my memory for assignments that seemed to sneak up on me. If it wasn’t for the fact that I make up half of the cohort on the course - and that our course director, Carl Corcoran, is such a fine and supportive gentleman - I might well have baled out in mid-November.    I just felt that I wasn’t cut out to be an academic.    After a very dark weekend, I rearranged my thinking and decided that I could only do my best and that regardless of whether or not I end up with a certificate at the end of the year, there was a lot to be gained. Last week, when I told my director about my apprehension ab
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Cork, Mullingar and all that Jazz

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End of Part One…. ....well, not quite but it’s very close now to the end of the first semester.  We’ve been spoiled rotten with songwriters visiting and talking of their writing and performing journeys and listening to ours. We are blessed to have Carl Corcoran as our course director and, as well as his vast knowledge of so much music in a multitude of genres, and the contacts he has from ten years presenting ‘Blue of the Night’ on Lyric FM, he’s also a really supportive and encouraging presence. As our weather dis-improved, my workload has also increased and over the next couple of weeks, I can’t imagine I’ll be out busking much.  With this in mind, I did have a couple of weekends away and had some fun busking along the way.   Whitepoint and Swans Every year Cork fills up with Jazz for the last weekend in October and, while a lot of the visitors wouldn’t actually be Jazz fans, the atmosphere alone is enough to fill the city with revelers.  It’s becoming a person
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A Tale of Two Busks

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I’ve probably said it before but it’s worth saying again.   Children are a buskers best friend   They have a curiosity and an interest in what’s going on around them that fades with many as they get used to the work, eat, sleep, buy stuff at the weekend routine of being a ‘grown up’.   Buskers are often the first experience that kids have with art in a live situation.   They don’t judge by ‘what’s cool’ and openly show appreciation.   The Market Tent and  Brian blowing This weekend, after the ravages of ‘ex-hurricane’ Ophelia and with the imminent arrival of storm Brian, I wondered if I’d get any busking done at all. Since moving to Limerick, the weather has generally not been so good for playing on the street and many planned busking sessions had to be called off - or at least cut short. I’d heard that they allowed busking at Limerick’s Milk Market and that Saturday was the really busy day and so, on Friday, I called in to speak with the manager and see if I could get
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Meeting an Irish Legend

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Wednesday is usually a busy one with a songwriter spending the day with us discussing their approach, playing some songs and us in turn playing some of ours - some finished songs and also perhaps something we’re working on or maybe starting on something from scratch.   Having had a visit earlier in the week from Chris Wood, and with the visit on Thursday from Jake Clemons, we had a free day this Wednesday. I did go in for a couple of hours and went to a workshop on critical writing and after that, thought about trying out another pitch for busking - between the college and home.   Not good.  When I pulled into the car park, there was a very loud continuous noise which turned out to be emanating from a generator outside the chip shop.  There were still many power outages following the hurricane Ophelia. I checked the weather forecast for Killaloe - about 12 miles the other side of where I’m staying and it looked okay so, after stopping by the house for a quick lunch, I
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Convenience Stores

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From my point of view There’s a small shopping centre just up the road from where I’m staying while in college.   I’d been in Limerick for a couple of weeks when I first came across it and, as I was on the way back from busking somewhere else, I just pulled in to have a look at it to see if it looked like it would be a potential busking site. I called into the butcher shop - butchers usually know everything about everything and I asked if anybody busked there.   They said they’d never seen anybody - just in the city centre.   I asked if they’d mind if I tried playing outside their shop some evening after college and they said they’d be delighted if I did, ‘It’d bring a bit of life to the place’ A few days later, I went there again, with my guitar and, of course my friendly dog.   It was just before six in the evening and on a Wednesday so probably not the busiest day of the week. At first, I felt a little self conscious about singing where apparently no man had su
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It's a Beautiful World

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Clara - my silent busking companion When I busk it’s as much about the people I meet as what’s in the pot (and yes, I do actually put out a teapot for tips). When I moved out of Dublin, I missed my Saturday ‘residency’ at the Dublin Food Co-op.   Over a six year period, it’s where I played most Saturdays and made quite a few friends.   From my new home which is on the border of three counties, I went busking, to test the waters, in lots of different places.   My partner also came along - for her, she was seeing most of these places for the first time.   Once we covered our fuel and food for the trips, we were happy.   She often remarked that we were like paid tourists. Within a couple of months, I found that I was welcome at a small shopping mall and I made that my regular Saturday gig and the proceeds would go a long way toward to weeks groceries.   We’d shop for food after my two or three hours busking, and all in the closest town to home. When you play regul
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