Flute Obsession

Flute Obsession 1 through 3 are albums of various wooden flute players from around. Best to let the album notes speak for them selves. If you'd like a copy of Volume 1, go to:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/woodenflute.

All three are available here:

http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Various_Wooden_Flute.html

Album Notes

Each track incorporates a variety of techniques of articulation, breath, phrasing, rhythm, tone & timbre. It is also a unique reference for students of the flute and of the music.

Many like to describe the world of traditional Irish flute playing as existing along an axis between those who think the instrument is played with the fingers and those that think that it is all embodied, about what happens between diaphragm and embouchure. Of course, the best players think it is about both. Just listen to the rhythm created by the rolling, octave jumping style of Seamus Tansey, a complete player.

All these elements (and many others) have led to the development of one of the most wonderfully diverse instrumental traditions in the western world. This diversity has been complicated in recent years by musicians such as Jean-Michel Veillon, Grey Larsen, and Mick McGoldrick looking to the new international landscape of music. These flute players can't help themselves from drawing foreign elements into their own performance from traditions such as jazz, Indian flute playing, and, 150 years late, the western art tradition.

All the players here are innovators, re-creating traditional music according to their own aesthetic model, sometimes faithful to ideas of tradition, but always individual. Indeed it could be argued that the most innovative and creative musicians are those that develop their performance behind the high walls of tradition. Musicians such as Eamonn Cotter, Noel Rice, Turlach Boylan, Jimmy Noonan, John Wynne, and Cathal McConnell certainly have the ability to knock these walls down but decide not to, achieving distinctiveness by the most difficult route. Many such players are keeping faith with their idea of a regional style and are often attempting to create interpretations of such styles on this relatively new instrument.

In nearly all the regional traditions of Ireland the fiddle is central. Perhaps the history of the flute in Ireland can be characterised by flute players such as Frankie Kennedy approaching these fiddle traditions with sensitivity, not just trying to fit in with these regional voices but to add to them. Perhaps the journey of one who could be regarded as the greatest fluter of us all, Matt Molloy, can be characterized as a negotiation of the great piping tradition embodied by Seamus Ennis and Liam O'Flynn. In doing so Molloy established the first of what I once heard Séamus MacMathúna describe as cosmopolitan styles, typified here by Barry Kerr, Tom Doorley, Liam Kelly, and Deirdre Havlin, among others.

This double CD, though very much one of contemporary flute playing, is a testament to the tradition that has gone before it. Echoes of the humour of Tom Morrison can be heard in John Skelton's throaty style, and the vibrancy of John McKenna in the forceful Sligo polkas of Martin Gaffney. It is great that two relatively recently deceased bastions of tradition, Micho Russell and Josie McDermott are here, illustrating that the music of past masters is as relevant to the future of traditional music, if not more so, than all so-called 'innovations'. This is made obvious by the inclusion of tracks by Garry Shannon and Marcus Ó Murchú who have kept the music of these two respectively alive in their own recordings.

The ethnomusicologist, Alan Lomax, spoke of the cultural greyout that he believed would be the damnation of the new global cultural economy. The Irish flute, mass-produced in a different culture, acquired through migration and the adoption of 'other' performance practices in the flute bands, should be an obvious example of cultural conformity and blandness. But here you can hear the fallacy of the Lomax thesis. The artillery effect and precision of Hammy Hamilton's northern blast; the peaceful but troubled flow of Mike Rafferty's East Galway idyll; the west Clare complexity of Eamonn Cotter's fingers; the American optimism and verve of Skip Healy and the stupendous technical wizardry of Sylvain Barou represent just a small part of the diversity of sounds made by so-called 'Irish' fluters.

Volume 1:

CD-1

1. Garry Shannon - Reels: Windwood (The Fox on the Town / Lady of the Island / The Primrose Lass)

2. Eamonn Cotter - Reels: The Golden Keyboard/Ambrose Moloney's / Jackson's

3. Marcas Ó Murchú - Jigs: Maho Snaps / Get Up Old Woman & Shake Yourself / The Chicken That Made the Soup

4. Michael McGoldrick  - Reels: Teehan's (Terry Teehan's / Her Long Black Hair)

5. Catherine McEvoy - Reels:The Duke of Leinster / The Ladies Pantalettes

6. Marcus Hernon - Air: The Invisible Corncrake

7. Seamus Tansey - Reels: Mick Flatley's Delight / Ed Reavy's Favourite

8. Barry Kerr - Jig & Reel: Ships in Full Sail / The Three Sisters

9. Deirdre Havlin - Highland & Reel: The Mighty Clansmen (King George IV / Johnny Harling's Reel)

10. Noel Rice - Slip Jig: The Choice Wife

11. Josie McDermott - Reels: The Kerry Man / The Pigeon on the Gate

12. Laurence Nugent - Jigs: Old Hag You Have Killed Me / Pride of Erin Jig / The Monument

13. Mike Rafferty - Reels: The Hard Road to Travel / Shanks Mare

14. Loretto Reid - Waltz: Leon's Waltz

15. Liam Kelly - Piece: The Hungry Rock

16. Colm O'Donnell - Jigs:The Battering Ram / The Besom in Bloom

17. Jimmy Noonan - Reels: Courting Them All / Denis Murphy's Miss McLeod's / Billy Brocker

18. Hammy Hamilton - Reels: The Dark Haired Lass (Mick Hoy's) / Bonnie Anne

19. Turlach Boylan - Reels: Johnny's Wedding / Colonel Rodney's

20. Tom Doorley - Reels: Are You Ready Yet?

21. John Skelton - Air & Barndance: The Fire in the Hearth / Around the Fairy Fort

CD-2

1. Cathal McConnell - Jigs: Scotland-Ireland / The Hangover / The Fermanagh Curves 

2. Niall Keegan - Reels: Dunmore Lasses / My Love is in America 

3. John Wynne - Reels: The Ballinafad Fancy / Lady Anne Montgomery / The Millhouse

4. Martin Gaffney - Polkas: The Dark Haired Girl Dressed in Blue / The Merry Girl 

5. Joanie Madden - Reels: Molly Ban / Paddy Lynn's Delite / Jack McGuire's / King of the Clans 

6. Paul McGrattan - Air: Easter Snow 

7. Mark Roberts - Jigs: Boys of the Town / The Rollicking Boys of Tandragee 

8. Skip Healy - Reels: Silver Spear / Glen Allen / Bay of Fundy 

9. Sylvain Barou - Reels: Clare's Reel / The Silver Reel / Brendan's Reel 

10. Grey Larsen - Jigs: The Walls of Liscarroll / Maguire's Kick / The Lark on the Strand 

11. Eoghan MacAogáin - Air: Sé Fáth Mo Bhuartha 

12. Fintan Vallely - Reels: Miss Chalmer's Reel / Brian Gibson's Rockforest Reel 

13. Hanz Araki - Hornpipes: The Plains of Boyle / The Ballyoran Hornpipe 

14. June Ní Chormaic - Reels: Fred Finn's / Fr. Newman's Reel 

15. Micho Russell - Reels: The Fermoy Lassies / The Reel with the Birl in It 

16. Seamus Egan - Reels:The Maid of Galway

17. Terry Coyne - Reels: Contentment is Wealth / Tom Ward's Downfall / The Wild Geese

18. Matt Molloy - Reel: Drowsie Maggie 

19. Frankie Kennedy - Reels: The Cat That Ate the Candle / Over the Water to Bessie

20. Jean-Michel Veillon - Breton Dances: Ton Per Bodouin / Dans Fisel 

Volume 2

CD-1

1. Brendyn Montgomery - Reels: The Roscommon Reel / The Sweet Flowers of Miltown

2. Damien Stenson - Reels: Miss McGuiness / Paddy Gavin's

3. Tara Diamond - Jigs: The Sheep in the Boat / I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her

4. Billy Clifford - Hornpipes: Spellan the Fiddler / Madam If You Please / Grandfather's Thought

5. Brian Lennon - Reels: Colonel Rodgers Favourite / The Happy Days of Youth / Lucky in Love

6. Kevin Crawford - Reels: Hut in the Bog / Cregg's Pipes

7. John Creaven - Jigs: Killavil / Miller's Maggot

8. Mick Loftus - Jigs: The Boys of the Town / The Mist Covered Mountain

9. Emer Mayock: The Fickle Lad/On the Strand/Ollistrum

10. Duncan Davidson - Slip Jig, Jig & Reel: Gan Ainm / Trip to Athlone / Zig Zag Road

11. Desi Wilkinson - Air: My Lagan Love

12. Mike McHale - Hornpipes: McGlynn's / Dunphy's Hornpipe

13. Claire Mann - Slip Jigs: Denis Ryan's / Guzzle Together / Paddy O'Snap

14. Brian Finnegan & Sarah Allen: Larry Get Out of the Bin / Elzic's Farewell

15. Dan Gordon - Reel & 3/2: Maid in the Cherry Tree / Jack is Hunting

16. Michael Clarkson - Reels: McGovern's Favourite / Cronin's

17. Elaine Jeffreys - Reels: Feeding the Birds / Mary McMahon's

18. Dermot Grogan - Hornpipes: The Cliff Hornpipe / Gan Ainm

19. Tom McElvogue - Reels: Thrush in the Storm / The Cacodemon / The Watchmaker

20. Gary Hastings - Reels: Bonnie Anne / Hanley's

21. Harry McGowan - Jigs: The Mill Pond / Brendan Tonra's

22. Michael Hynes - Lullaby: The Cradle Song

CD-2

1. John Kelly - Reels: The Bush in Bloom / The Old Road to Garry / Captain Kelly's 

2. Peter Molloy - Jigs: The Cuigiu Lassies / Freehan's Jig / The Bride's Favourite 

3. Peter Horan - Hornpipes: Lad O'Bierne's / Sean Ryan's 

4. Gregory Daly - Reel: Trim the Velvet 

5. Justin Murphy - Jigs: The Fly in the Porter / Contentment is Wealth / Gillian's Apples 

6. Sharon Creasey - Hop Jigs: The Promenade / Michael Coleman's Hop Jig / Comb Your Hair and Curl It 

7. Kevin Henry & Maggie Healy - Reels: Tom Ward's / The New Policeman 

8. Mick Hand - Air & Reel: Sliabh geal gua na Feile / Tomeen O'Dea's 

9. Leslie Bingham - Polkas: Standfield's Polkas 

10. Anthony Quigney - Reels:The Bellharbour Reel / The Torn Jacket / The Raveled Hank of Yarn 

11. Chris Norman - Highland Dances: What Would You Like? / Untitled / Untitled 

12. Michael Hurley - Jigs: Deirdre Hurley's / Michael Hurley's #8 

13. Peter Woodley - Air: Grey Dawn Breaking 

14. Michael Tubridy - Step Dance: The Blackbird 

15. Noel Lenaghan - Slip Jigs: A Fig For a Kiss / The Slopes of Slieve Gullion 

16. Sean Ryan (Chicago) - Reels: Saint Ruth's Bush / The Stolen Reel / Dan Breen's 

17. Nuala Kennedy: Da Sixereen / The Plagiarist / Buntata's Sgadan 

18. Thomas Bernard Ryan - Jigs: Brendan Tonra's / Killavil

19. Joe Skelton - Reels: Last Night's Fun / House of Hamill / The Blackthorn 

20. Caoimhín Ó Sé - Jigs: The Bould Thady Quill / Sean Coughlan's Jig 

21. Brendan McKinney - Hornpipe:  McGlinchey's Hornpipe

22. Zac Leger - Air & Reel: The Maid of Coolmore / The Shores of Lough Reagh

Volume 3:

CD-1

1. Gary Duffy - Slip Jigs: Rohan Conlon's Slip Jig / Darragh Conlon's Slip Jig

2. Conor Byrne - Jigs: Hurry the Jug / Francie Dearg's / Neary's Jig

3. Noel Sweeney - Reels: The Caucus at Secaucus / Lady Gordon's

4. Christy Barry - Air, Reel, Hornpipe & Reel: An Buachaillín Bán / Flanagan's Reel / McCormack's / The Cliff Dwellers

5. Geraldine McNamara - Reels: Splendid Isolation / Patrick's Night 

6. Sarah-Jane Woods - Reels: The Abbey Reel / Fred Finn's

7. Desy Adams - Jigs: The Furze in Bloom / The Cat in the Corner

8. Christine Dowling - Air: The Rushes Green

9. Brendan Mulholland - Reels: O'ot Be Est da Vong / Maid Of The House 

10. Nicolas Buckmelter - Reels: The Rainy Day / The New Mown Meadows

11. Brid O'Donohue - Jigs: The Chorus Jig / Coleman's Jig

12. John Lee - Reels: The Flower of the Flock / The Twelfth Lock / The Absentminded Woman

13. Frank Claudy - Reel: The Thrush in the Storm 

14. Peg McGrath - Air: Easter Snow

15. Seamus Mac Conaonaigh - Reels: Maud Miller's / The Fair-Haired Boy / The Plough and the Stars

16. Nicholas & Anne McAuliffe - Polkas: The Return of Spring / The Mountain Pathway / Up and Away

17. Paddy O'Neill - Reels: It's a Hard Road to Travel / Swing Swang 

18. Aoife Granville - Jigs: I Love You Not and Care For You Not / Dillon's Frolics

19. Alan Doherty - Air & Reels: Cailín na Gruaige Doinne / Peata Beag A Mháthair / Anto's Gambit

20. Claus Steinort - Reels: My Love and I in the Garden / Palmer's Gate

21. David Migoya - Reels: John Lardiner's / The Green Mountain / Glenn Allen Reel

22. Ronan Browne - Air: Rud Beag Mall

CD-2

1. Norman Holmes - Hornpipe & Reels: Garrett Barry's / Gan Ainm / Orla's Reel

2. Ciaran Somers - Reels: The Yellow Tinker / The Skylark

3. Mick Mulvey - Jigs: John Blessing's Delight / Green Fields of Miltown / Up Leitrim!

4. JP Downes - Reels: The Green Mountain / Earl's Chair

5. Shannon Heaton - Reels:The O'Connor Donn's / The Morning Thrush

6. Tina McSherry - Waltz:Tommy Bhetty's Waltz 

7. Eileen Hassett - Reels: The Flowers of Limerick / The Drogheda Lasses

8. Paul McGlinchey - Reels: Follow Me Down to Carlow / Famous Ballymote / Cronin's

9. Leon Agnew - Air & Reel: Phoenix Island / Paddy Mills' Fancy

10. Kieran O'Hare & John Skelton - Jigs: Paddy Breen's / Put on Your Clothes / The Honeybee

11. Davy Maguire - Air: Port na bPúcaí

12. Louise Mulcahy - Reels: The Bag of Spuds / A View from Across the Valley / The Galway Rambler 

13. Caoimhín O'Raghallaigh - Hornpipe & Reel: The Leitrim Fancy / The First House in Connacht

14. Tim Britton - Air, Jigs & Slides: Caoineadh Uí Dhomhnaill / The Haunted House / The Lark on the Strand / The Bank of Turf / Tom Billy's

15. Isaac Alderson - Reels: The Green-Gowned Lass / The Broken Pledge

16. John Rynne - Reels: Pigeon on the Gate / The Victory Reel / The London Lasses / Courting Them All

17. Mick O'Brien - Air & Jig: Táim Cortha ó Bheith im' Aonar im' Luí / Clancy Unknown #57 

18. Sean Moloney - Reels: Splendid Isolation / Johnny's Wedding

19. Garry Walsh - Reels: The Cross Legged Tailor / Under the Tholsel / Eileen Fahy'

Continuous Improvement Illustration

Hi,

Here is an change in my whistle making process that illustrates little changes I am constantly making in the shop...

Over time I have seen a few of my whistles with cracked outer WAB joints. I believe this is a combination of stress during use (or from sitting down with the whistle in one's pocket) and built-in stress from the interference fit of the parts. The walkabout joints are pretty short for the diameter of the whistle, and so experience more torque on the parts.

Originally I was using a live center to hold the outer end of the part when I turned the tuning slide and walkabout joint OD. This resulted in a nominally straight or parallel OD. As the joint was adjusted, the contact area was increased and decreased, making the joint get tighter as it was closed. This increased the pressure in the joint. Not to a point of failure in the short term, but perhaps it contributed to the long term cracking.

I've been turning without a center for a while now. This allows the material to deflect some while turning. The deflection is greater farther from the chuck. Thus the distal end of the cut will have a slightly larger OD than the proximal end, making for a good seal at the distal end while minimizing the stress on the extreme end of the female joint in use. The trade-off in this approach is a very small amount of yaw in the joint. A fair trade for increased life in the whistle and uniform pressure to tune the whistle regardless of the position of the tuning slide.

One other thing I did a long time ago is to bias the thickness of the joint toward the outer (female) part of the joint. All the cracks I have seen have been in the female part of the joint, so I make them as thick as I can, and allow the male portion to be thinner.

Small things to be sure, but each one improves the breed.

Take care,

Carey

Rathlin Island Manor House Closed At The Moment

Having made reservations at The Manor House on Rathlin Island last November I was surprised when their web site became inoperative. I called and after two rings the line went dead. So I started digging around and after emailing a person who has business on Rathlin, today I received the following reply, which I am posting here in hopes that the search engines will pick it up and others will be able to find it. If you have reservations at the Manor House, check with the National Trust and see if they have someone to fulfill them before you show up.

Good afternoon Carey,
I’m afraid the last tenants in the Manor House have finished their lease and at present no new tenants have been appointed by The National Trust who are the owners of the Manor House. I’m sorry but  we have no way of knowing when the new tenants will be taking over. Perhaps if you tried to contact the National Trust N.I. through their website they may be able to give you more information.

Postal Rates Changed

Hi everyone,

The United States Postal Service raised their prices at the start of this week. They advertised it as "a one-cent rise in the cost of First Class Mail." This is true. But what they didn't talk much about was the huge jump in international packages. Perhaps they are trying to make their Priority service look more attractive, but I've seen a HUGE jump in the cost of sending a whistle to Europe, and an even bigger one to Canada, because Canada used to cost less than Europe, but now all international shipments cost the same.

For example, I used to charge $8 for an international shipment, and I would win some and lose some depending on the country. On Tuesday when I sent a whistle off to Germany, it cost me $12.58. Yipes!

So, to allow room for the packaging etc. I have raised the shipping from $8 to $14 for international orders of whistles. Racks, since they are heavier and larger, cost even more.

I use the PayPal shipping calculator and base the cost of the order on the weight of the items being shipped, so several whistles might cross a weight boundary and jump the price a bit. But I try not to make money on the shipping. The reason I don't build the shipping into the price of the items is by charging according to weight, the second whistle in a domestic order ships for around twenty cents as compared to $2.41 for the first one, so it wouldn't be fair to build three or four dollars into the price of each whistle and give free shipping, even though that probably feels better when you are purchasing.

Someday I'll be able to email whistles to you, via 3-D printing, just like a fax machine. Well, maybe the next generation of whistle makers will be doing that. But until then, we're stuck with the post and other even more expensive carriers. Feel free to come to Florida for a holiday, have some tunes with us and pick up your whistle without any shipping cost at all!

Play on!

Carey

Whistle making photos

A customer asked me to take some photos of his whistle being made. So I took the chance to make a little album of most of the steps involved. The link below will take you it.

Photos of making a black Parks Every Walkabout in C

Enjoy,

Carey

Dia duit cairde,

Recently my inspiration for posts comes from questions from customers. Here's one that just came in today:

Whistle head slides too easily over the body. Makes it too simple to go out of tune while playing. Any suggestions?

The whistles ship with a fit that I consider plenty stiff for the way a whistle should be played. The mouth and the fingers are fairly light on the whistle so they can flit about while playing. The tighter you grip, the slower your movements will be, and the sooner you will tire.

That said, sometimes the whistle suffers some abuse and the joint gets deformed, making the fit too loose. Here are some things you can do to make the joint stiffer. 

It's an interference fit, so causing more interference is the thing. If you squeeze the two mating sections between your fingers - squeeze one front to back and the other side to side - you can tighten up the joint. 

You need to squeeze enough for the plastic to take a set, but don't mash the whistle. This can be made easier by dipping the joint in boiling hot water for several seconds, but be careful to not burn your fingers. 

Another way would be to create a little flare on the lip of the inner, or body, section. Take a dowel, drink mixer, un-sharpened pencil, anything like that and while holding it in the top of the body at an angle and pressing such that it applies some force to the inner edge of the lip, rotate the body. This will flare the edge and cause the fit to be tighter. 

When doing either of the above, start by doing less, and if it is not enough, increase the force until you achieve your goal. You can always do more, but you can't do less. 

You can also paint on some clear fingernail polish, or lacquer. Anything to take up the space. Cork grease will take up the space, but it also lubricates, so it may not work for what you are trying to do. 

You might get the result you want by wrapping a wet string or thread around the outer section of the joint a number of times. Then when the string dries it will tighten and squish the joint tighter. You would leave this string in place, so choose an attractive color, and consider wrapping so the ends are concealed within the wrappings. LIKE THIS. 

Put the ends on the back of the whistle. If the joint is loose because it has taken some stress - I sometimes slip a whistle in my back pocket and forget it's there until I sit down - this may be the best option because the outer joint has been deformed a bit. 

A nice stainless hose clamp will do the same thing, or a wire wrapped a time or two and twisted with pliers, but these will leave an unacceptable protrusion in my opinion. 

Be creative! You know what needs to happen. 

If you would rather, I'll be happy to tighten it up for you if you want to send it to me. I have some plugs and a heat gun that I can use to expand the inner section a little. 

If you have this problem and effect a solution, post in the comments for this post so we can all benefit from your effort. 

Don't Fear Being Wrong

Hi gang,

This morning while waiting for the moka pot to finish my second cup of coffee, I got out my grandfather's fiddle, as I often do while the pot heats, and played a tune that I recently learned on the flute. Now, the fiddle is SO not my first instrument. It took me several times through before I was enjoying it at all. And that doesn't mean anyone else would be enjoying it even then. If you play music you know exactly what I mean. 

Thinking about what was going on - my inability to play the notes I wanted - I noticed that playing a note on the fiddle is WAY easier than playing a note on the flute. The problem with the fiddle is ALL the notes are equally easy to play. The problem is not playing A note. It's playing THE note. 

By contrast, once you can play notes on the flute, opening and closing a finger hole pretty much gets you into the ballpark. Not so with the fiddle. It will - and does - play any note within it's range quite happily, and your problem is not to play the right note, but to avoid playing the wrong notes. 

Fast forward a few hours into my day. I may have just sat down with the third cup of coffee, I don't remember. But following a few clicks around the web looking for something else, I stumbled upon this talk from the 2011 TED conference. I've always enjoyed these talks and encourage you to randomly sample some others from their web site. There are MANY! But I digress...

This particular one is entertaining and pertinent to just about any human endeavor, including playing music. So many people fear playing in public, especially at the early stage of their music. Why? Fear of failure. Fear of being wrong. You know what? It's not that bad. Of course, if you suck, keep learning until you don't suck. But really sucking is way different from being able to play a tune perfectly at any speed. You don't need to be error-free to have fun playing in a session or for relatives. You just need to share what music you do have. The act of sharing can never be wrong.

Here's the video, enjoy!  Carey

Care Of Parks Whistles

Hi, 

I just got back from a week counting migrating raptors in the Florida Keys. They are mostly young birds who follow the coastline down and then jump across to Central and South America. For details visit 

http://floridakeyshawkwatch.wordpress.com/

Upon return I found a question from a new customer in Germany. He was wondering how best to clean his Walkabout. Here's the meat of my reply. I thought others might have similar wonderments:

Best,

Carey

There are no wood parts. The fipple block feels like wood, but it's really sanding marks pretending to be grain. 

You can clean it with water, soapy water, or put the parts in the top rack of the dishwasher (standing up is best.) Just be sure not to use a "heat dry" or any other setting that would get the temp near or over 100C. Too much of this might lighten the engraved markings, but won't hurt if you have a really big mess to clean up. 

For stubborn beer residue or whatever, you can fold a strip of business card in half and when moist, run it into the windway. The only real sensitive part is the edge or labium. If you poke to strongly with something too stiff, like a wire pipe cleaner, you could damage it, and the sound will not be so clear. 

Condensation is normal as the whistle warms up. I usually find I have to give it one blowing out about the third tune in the first set. I can do this while playing if the tune provides and opportunity to play a second octave A or B. Otherwise, put your finger over the window and give it a good blow. Once warm, there should not be much condensation. 

If you want to minimize the problem, you can put a little soapy water in the windway, wipe off the outer parts and leave the soap in the windway to dry. This will help the water move out more easily and may just clear it during normal play. 

The plastic doesn't mind being played hard and put away wet, but watch for growth inside if this is done a lot. A good way to kill bacteria is to dry them out. 

Hello,

Quick post today, announcing "Wolfhound," a new Irish music band in southwest Florida.

http://www.wolfhoundband.com/

We are Wolfhound, South-West Florida's premier Irish Music Band! From the jigs and reels to the old ballads and the foot-stompin' drinking songs, we represent and celebrate the history of the Irish-American experience like no other!

Check out the sample tracks and let me know what you think. (That's me on the right end)

Slán,

Carey

All Ready

The yard is clear and the house ready. It's looking like Isaac won't hit us too bad, but there are mandatory evacuations of some beach communities. Shelters are opening for these people this morning. Storm surge of 3 to 5 feet is predicted.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but the floor of our house is only 8.5 feet up.

One new thing the last couple years is some shelters are declared pet friendly so people with pets have a place to go.