The Irish Rail & Connolly Station

Just a reminder that we will be at THE IRISH RAIL (Manasquan) on Thursdays, September 3 & October 29, from 6:00-9:00 PM. We hope to see many of you there. We're happy to announce that we will also be playing at CONNOLLY STATION in Belmar on Thursday, September 17, from 6:00-9:00 PM. It's a beautiful restaurant and pub with a tradition of Irish music on Thursday nights. We hope you'll be able to join us!

"My Johnny Lad" (Excerpt)

A Good Time Was Had By All! | Video

The Wild Rovers Return (Thanks for the video, Cait!)

We had a great time at St. Stephen's Green again last night. (View a slideshow here.) Thanks to all those who came out to join us. My sister and her extended family were there (with friends, Don and Liz C.), just having gotten back from a month in Chile visiting the latest addition to our clan, Nicholas Briggs. Meghan and "Baby On Board" were there with Auntie Ruairi. My friend and musical mentor, Ed Finn (that's right: FINN) and his wife Dorothy were there, as were several friends from both our meditation group and Merton Discussion Group in Belmar. For the first time in public I sang "Danny Boy" for Bill and Kay Pentony who were there with their friends, the Whitman family, whose daughter, Wynne, will be moving back to Spring Lake soon. (So we'll expect to see her in The Green more often.) Peggy Sullivan (not Danny, this time) came with Frank and Suzie Carey. Carol and husband-local entertainer Cliff Bloodgood were back again, too. Several families of former students were there. The children even got up on stage to join me in "The Garden Song." That was so much fun. I hope someone will share the video clips of that one! It was great to have Cait & Steve and Abbey with us again, though it's such a long trip for them. (This morning Cait told me they had counted 80 people that they recognized in the crowd.) One of their friend's mom was there, too -- born and bred in Mayo she was. ("Up Mayo!") Maureen and Tim brought Aileen along. Tim will be hosting a "cousins party" next week, so that will be a lot of fun for the younger set. Frank and Mary Dunn were there. Their daughter, Bridget, played grammar school basketball with Abbey at St Rose. It was great to see Liz's friend, Judy, and her family. Anne and son, Mark, stopped in to see us again. Bob & Helen Tuffy (friends since Marriage Encounter days) arrived in the area on Saturday so they could avoid the Sunday traffic on the Parkway, staying over with the Brady Bunch in Manasquan. ... That's enough for now. I'll write more and post more videos soon.

We'll be at The Irish Rail in Manasquan September 3 and October 29 (6-9 pm). Watch this space or look on our Calendar page for future engagements as they are booked. Feel free to drop us an email or leave a message below.

It's a Small World!

This week we had some interesting emails from people who had visited our Web site and Blog. For example:

Hi, Greg!

My name is Charles and I was recently exploring my Irish roots, especially the music. I came across your website.

I really like your genre of music.

I have to compliment you on your talent. You are very good and your story on your blog is very touching.

I grew up not far from where you play at St Stephen's Green Publick House. We moved from Newark in the early sixties to West Belmar. I was very young. My older brothers may know of the places in Newark you speak of.

Since then, I've moved away from New Jersey and currently am living in California with my family, but soon we're to move back to the Jersey Shore.

I will make it a point to come listen to you play when I get back home.

Also from your blog I see a hint that you may be a man of faith... I, too.

Peace and Blessings!
Charles Farrell

Feel free to leave a comment below about yourself -- and your interest in Irish music. Hope to see you tonight at The Green!

August, September & October Dates

Mark your calendar!
Liz and I will be at St. Stephen's Green Publick House this Sunday, August 16, from 6:00-9:00 PM. We'd love to see you there. If you are unable to make it Sunday, we will be at the The Irish Rail in Manasquan on September 3 and October 29 (Thursdays) from 6:00-9:00 PM. Check the Web links above for menus, directions, et cetera. Spread the word!

Summer Break & Rehearsal Video

While Liz and I are off-line for a bit, mark your calendar to join us at St. Stephen's Green on Sunday, August 16th from 6:00 till 9:00 PM. We'd love to see you there!
"The October Winds" Rehearsal. [2:57]

Video: Sweet Sixteen & Mountain Dew [6:12]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009 (Excerpt)

Cousin Peg ("Peg o' My Heart")

Here's a photo of my cousin Peggy (AKA Peg, Meg, Meggie, and more). On a previous post I told how her son, Paddy (now Fr. Pat), is the one who taught me how to play the guitar. We spent untold hours playing and singing at his house which was right across the street from our house. Through it all, Peggy never complained. She was -- and is -- a singer herself. Some of my earliest memories of family gatherings were of Peg and her sisters dressing up in the men-folk's army fatigues and singing "close harmonies" just like the Andrews Sisters. (Watch them below.) They not only had the songs down pat, but they had all the moves, too. They were terrific! Whenever Paddy and I played for family members, we'd seem (to her) to spend an inordinate amount of time tuning our guitars -- we wanted the sound to be right. Peggy would say: "Why do you have to do that? You never see them doing that on TV! Can't you just play?" For years, Peg has been a faithful follower of Bobby Byrne and she invariably gets up to do a few numbers during his show. She's a real show-stopper!

Video: "The Orange and the Green" [2:00]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009 (Excerpt)

Video: "Dublin in the Rare Old Times" [5:57]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009

Video: "Dirty Old Town" [0:50]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009 (Excerpt)

Video: "Four Green Fields" [1:44]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009 (Excerpt)

Video: "The Star of the County Down" [1:16]

St. Stephen's Green; July 2009 (Excerpt)

Video: "Moonshiner / Whistling Gypsy" [8:12]

Here's a video clip that Abbey took at St. Stephen's Green last Sunday. More clips to follow.

St. Stephen's Green Debut | Slide Show

Liz and I had a wonderful time performing at St. Stephen's Green last night. We could not have hoped for a nicer place to play. While we met a lot of new people, the best part was seeing many of our friends who were able to make it to the gig.

Abbey and Jury were able to be with us, even though they've been so busy taking such good care of their ailing dog, Cale. Jury took the photos in this slide show. Abbey shot some videos which I will post soon.

Liz and I will be back at The Green on August 16. We'd love to see you there if you can make it. Until then, you're welcome to leave a comment below.

Latest Gigs Announced!

Liz and I will be performing at St. Stephen's Green Publick House on Route 71 in Spring Lake Heights on July 12 and August 16. We'll play three sets starting at 6:00 PM. Other dates to follow. Watch this space.

Please pass the word to anyone you think might be interested.

We hope to see you there!

Welcome!

After some years away from performing, I'm excited to be getting out there again.

Liz and I spent this winter brushing up on the music I loved as a teenager when I first learned to play the guitar. And Liz has become a great bodhrán player! (Her favorite things in kindergarten were the little percussion instruments in music class.)

My cousin Paddy taught me how to play the guitar when I was 16 and we spent hours and hours -- and hours! -- playing songs by Bob Dylan; Pete Seeger; The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem; Peter, Paul & Mary; the Beatles and others. One of our first public performances (other than Sunday Folk Masses at Holy Cross Church in Harrison) was in his high school's variety show. We played a couple of Mamas and Papas songs and they went over very well.

During my college years, I played at a lot of campus coffee houses. The music at that time was perfectly suited for a voice and a guitar. When I was 19, my sister Sheila arranged for an audition with Joe Finn. I played for Joe at a friend's house and he liked what he heard. He asked me to come right over to the McCann Hotel's "Silver Edge Bar" in Belmar, where he was headlining, to play for the crowd there. It went OK and Joe offered me a job playing there. (I was under-age so I had to be bonded to be able to play in a place for over-21-year-olds.) I then played at the Vailsburg Inn in Newark, the Norwood Hotel in Avon, and other places around the State. When I started teaching, I dropped out of the music scene for some years till I was offered a spot playing and singing in Ed Finn's country western band, "Firewater." That gig lasted for more than 20 years!

Last summer, Tommy Makem died and it really saddened me. He was one of my lifetime musical heroes and I knew I would miss his being in the world. I wrote to Liam Clancy expressing my sadness -- and my appreciation for their music over the years. Then, in November, Joe Finn passed away. When I had learned about the seriousness of his illness, I emailed him to thank him for his gift of music and for all he had done for me personally. He very kindly thanked me for my message. I was more motivated than ever to return to Irish music -- partly as a tribute to Joe and his music.

So, Liz and I have started approaching restaurants and pubs in the area that have "Irish Nights." We're also interested in playing for private parties -- no late hours, though! ("Been there; done that!") We'll see how it goes. Wish us luck!

Bookmark our Web site and this blog for the latest news about GregRyanSingsIrish.com.

Special thanks to Abbey Ryan for creating our Web site and this blog!

Feel free to leave a comment.