Ireland

A year ago today we were in Ireland! It all came about because of a good friend and fellow singer/songwriter...John Smith. I met John years ago when he was playing at the Grand Lake Lodge. My brother Mac said to check this guy out because he was really good and they had grown up and played some music together back in Dewitt, Iowa. Well , of course Mac was right on about John. He was a wonderful musician and we played a little music together at the 'Lodge' and became friends.

More time passed and keeping up with John and his music we came to find out about his love for Ireland. He had visited and played there many times and talking with folks here in the states, decided he should share his knowledge and love of Irish music with some of his friends and fans in the good old USA.

So he started arranging tours to showcase the music and history of the Emerald Isle. John does three or four of these tours a year and last year we signed up to go along with our good friend Dick Stewart. Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and the people on the tour became good mates along the way. I wrote a song titled Paddy at the Wheel, because Paddy was our driver, and a damned good dancer too!

There's way too much to say about the memories of our trip last year to put down here so I'll just end this with a five star recommendation and how to contact John.

You can listen and learn about him at http://www.johnsmithmusic.com/ and find out about his tours and CDs, schedule,etc.