A Day in Boston

I left on Wednesday with Mom and Dylan, destination Boston. It took around six hours to get from New Jersey to Massachusetts. We drove to the bed and breakfast first to get settled in and ready for our gig.

Soon we arrived at The Burren, a very nice pub that hosts concerts regularly in a series that is broadcast on the radio, called the Burren Backroom Series. Dylan and I were opening for Cillian Vallely and Kevin Crawford, two wonderful Irish musicians who also play in a well known group called Lúnasa. I have played tunes many times before with Cillian and Kevin at The Swannanoa Gathering.

We were guided to the "green room" at The Burren where we stored instrument cases, took our instruments out, and listened to Kevin and Cillian's soundcheck before doing our own. Then, Dylan and I rehearsed a few sets before dinner. That's where we met Brian O'Donovan, who is the host for nearly all of the Burren Backroom Series events.

By the time we finished dinner, the show was about to start and Brian told us how it was going to run. When we were announced we went right into our first set. Afterwards, Brian asked us a few questions about when we started playing and specifics about the last set.

The show flowed smoothly and I loved playing at this event. It was very enjoyable.

After we played and a slight break, Kevin and Cillian took the stage. I love listening to Kevin and Cillian perform. They sound amazing because they have played together for almost twenty years--flute and pipes. Sometimes they do a tune with the low whistles in unique variations, and Kevin always makes funny remarks about random little things that occur during the show.




Before Kevin and Cillian played their last set, they invited Dylan and me up on stage to play a final set with them, a set of reels--finishing with The Bucks of Oranmore.

Playing at The Burren was loads of fun and I hope to do so again sometime soon.