• Wrappin’ Up – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in ,

    I’m writing this from a flat in Paris, which is trés chic of course, but then, that’s how we roll.  I had some things to say about the final stages of the US Tour with the Guggenheim Grotto for quite a while.  Inevitably, with the madness of the tour, the post-tour physical crash, and the…

  • Music Blogs Vs Rights Organisations

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in

    Nialler9, an Irish music blogger (probably the best known here), has just written a blog about a recent development on the music licensing front.  [Here’s the article in full] For the uninitiated, the general gist of it is…. until now, blogs have been operating in a legal grey area.  Music has been uploaded on music…

  • Chelsea Hotel… Number Three

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in

    Last month, we spent a night at The Chelsea Hotel in New York, had some beers and played some music.  And of course, we recorded some tunes.  Here’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s  “Chelsea Hotel #2”.  Hope you enjoy it! Kevin wrote a nice blog about it here : Guggenheim Grotto

  • Jamminess vs Spaciness

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    Tadhg Cooke
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    Mick & I are amazed by Kevin’s spaciness much of the time.  He’s away with the fairies for a vast percentage of the day.  I’m not entirely guiltless in that regard, but Kev’s off the charts.  The Universe however is on Kevin’s side, not mine. On the morning we left Pittsburgh, Kevin couldn’t find his…

  • Mandy’s Lost Years – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
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    The drive to Pittsburgh isn’t too long, so we’re okay with it, but we’re sad to be leaving Fort Wayne, where we’ve been treated like High Kings.  The good news is that Pittsburgh shares three rivers with Fort Wayne.  At least we’re not leaving it all behind. There are two places that Mandy our sat-nav/GPS…

  • Dun Uaine (Wayne’s Fort) – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
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    The following day, we make for Fort Wayne where we’re playing Come2Go, a very well-equipped, flashy space in downtown Fort Wayne.  Brad looks after us here and when I say that he looks after us, I mean, he’s the most generous fella you could ever meet.  The venue is huge, and they have a guy…

  • ‘Ark the ‘Erald – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
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    We arrived in Ann Arbor and narrowly escaped the clutches of an awful hotel downtown, on a cold and snowy night.  Bizarrely, he recommends that we stay at the Best Western, which we do, except someone has rebranded it as a Clarion.  It’s a nice hotel, and deathly quiet – maybe five other rooms occupied…

  • Gremlins of Mind & Sound – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in , ,

    Tonight we play in SPACE, which is a phrase I’ll never tire of hearing. The final frontier. The beautiful and large venue, restaurant and recording studio in Evanston IL, is just north of Chicago.  The area needed a centre like this for a long time, and the locals have really taken to it.  We have…

  • More Ways to Skate in (a) Town and Country

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in ,

    The Grotto are playing at the Soiled Dove in Denver tonight.  The drive from Carbondale to Denver is on a good highway, well gritted, but it’s hairy at times.  The roads are thick with snow, slush and ice, and the windscreen washers freeze over, forcing us to stop every so often to wash the caked…

  • Can you hear the drums Charango? – US Tour 2010

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    Tadhg Cooke
    in ,

    Judging by the constant snow, the gritted roads, the ice forming on the windscreen – it should be really cold here, but it just doesn’t feel cold. We reckon it’s because there’s no moisture in the air – no humidity. Irish humidity levels are very high, so when it’s cold, it goes straight to your…

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