November 04, 2005
‡ The Gift ‡
AN IRISH DESCENDANTS CHRISTMAS
Tickets On Sale Monday, Nov. 7!!
Tickets go on sale Monday, November 7, for The Gift - An Irish Descendants Christmas, touring Guelph, Orillia, Peterborough, Kingston, Brockville, Cornwall, Ottawa, Lindsay and Sarnia between December 13th and 21st.
The Irish Descendants - Newfoundland’s undisputed "Kings of Celtic" - are embracing the upcoming holiday season in true east coast style with a comfortable blend of traditional carols, humour and antics, diverse instrumentation and, of course, a "best of" segment! There’s even a rumour afoot that "Elvis" may drop in and grace us with an unforgettable "Blue Christmas."
From their humble beginnings playing the pubs, the Juno and East Coast Music Award-winning Irish Descendants have gone on to produce ten critically acclaimed albums; they were chosen the official band for Newfoundland’s 500th Anniversary Celebrations, enchanting world-wide audiences with their distinctive blend of wit, traditional and contemporary songs, powerful vocals and terrific musicianship.
The accordian and the bouzouki accompanying sensitive exquisite ballads, a teary-eyed lover staring out to sea, tales of tall ships and the fisherman’s plight, the whistle and fiddle breaking into rollicking toe-tapping, high-energy jigs and reels ... the Irish Descendants have the icy Atlantic lapping off the stage, the salt sting in the theatre air ...
Reserved seating tickets for THE GIFT - AN IRISH DESCENDANTS CHRISTMAS are $30.00 - $33.00 (depending on local facility and handling charges; GST included) and are available from the theatre box offices listed below. Showtime 8:00pm. For more info, pictures and sound bites, visit www.shantero.com
Tour Schedule:
Dec 13 - Guelph River Run Centre, Main Stage - 763-3000 or 877-520-2408
Dec 14 - Orillia Opera House - 326-8011
Dec 15 - Peterborough Showplace Performance Centre - 742-7469
Dec 16 - Kingston Duncan McArthur Hall, 511 Union St
- Grand Theatre Box Office, 185 Sydenham St - 530-2050
Dec 17 - Brockville Arts Centre - 342-7122
Dec 18 - Cornwall Aultsville Theatre - Civic Complex Box Office - 938-9400
Dec 19 - Ottawa Centrepointe Theatre - 580-2700 or 866-752-5231
Dec 20 - Lindsay Academy Theatre - 324-9111 or 877-888-0038
Dec 21 - Sarnia Imperial Oil Centre for the Performing Arts - 344-7469 or 877-344-7469
November 03, 2005
For all the people who have emailed me about Toronto shows, you will have two opportunities to see the band. Friday, December 9th they perform at Lee’s Palace www.leespalace.com
If you want to catch the Christmas show, on Monday, December 12 they will be singing carols plus all the old favourites at Hugh’s Room www.hughsroom.com
That same day they will be on Canada AM at 8:00 AM. What a great way to wakeup!
Mike the management guy.
October 20, 2005
The Irish Descendants will be performing on Canada AM at 8:00 AM on December 12th 2005. They will perform one live Christmas song and record another for inclusion on the Canada AM Boxing Day show.
September 30, 2005
Con O'Brien and Robin gave birth to their first child, Martin Cornelius O'Brien at 4:45 AM on September 29th 2005. The baby weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz. Mother and son are doing fine and the father did not miss one interview for his upcoming tour even though he was up for 47 hours straight.
August 4
I hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful Summer weather. As I write, the band are on a ferry heading from Argentia, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia to perform at the Rockin’ The Dock Festival along with Blue Rodeo and Ray Sawyer from Doctor Hook.
The Summer months have been busy with shows in Western Canada, Ontario and Quebec. The Irish Descendants were scheduled to appear at Mile One Stadium in St. John’s Newfoundland on July 1st as special guests to The Oakridge Boys. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled as the headliner was fogged in and stranded in Halifax and the promoter had to refund all the ticket holders. Never a dull moment.
The Fall will be busy. In September The Irish Descendants head south to make a number of US appearances including September 1st when they will appear live on QVC The Shopping Channel (sorry Con will not be doing a duet with Joan Rivers). Air times will be midnight to 3:00 AM and 3:00 PM to 6:00PM EST and Gaelic Storm will also be appearing. From there, they head of to Newport RI for the Waterfront Irish Festival, on to Chicago and from there to Boston and they will be appearing at a fund raiser in South Windsor CT. The tour ends at The Grape and Wine Festival in St Catherine’s, ON. Then they will fly home just in time for Con to oversee the delivery of his first baby, due September 27.
If you are attending any of the upcoming shows, please make sure you say hello to the band, they don’t bite and you can probably even talk them into signing CDs.
Mike the management guy.
March 27 2005
View the Video for Acadian Saturday Night
Click here - http://www.eirish.com/AcadianSaturdayNight.mpg
January 27 2005
Happy New Year Everyone and Happy 15th to The Irish Descendants!
Well the new video for Acadian Saturday Night is finally ready and has just been sent to CMT Canada. Please send lots of emails to info@cmt.ca requesting that CMT add the video . Check back with us in a few days and I will post a link so that you can view the video on line.
Copies of the single will be going out to radio in Canada and the US so please request Acadian Saturday Night at your favourite radio station. If they do not have a copy or you know of any local cable shows in your area that might play the video please drop me a line to michael.greggs@sympatico.ca
The band will be shooting a video for Acadian
Saturday Night in August in St John's. Will post the shooting dates
once they are confirmed.
CFBX 92.5 FM in Kamloops BC has The Irish Descendants CD "Across The Water"
in the Number 1 position on their World Charts!
Note: July 10 at 9:00 PM the band will be head- lining the Roots and Rythm Stage at Dundas Square, Toronto as part of the city sponsored "Celebrate Toronto Festival"
March, 2004
Well Across the Water is finally out, and we are out on the road again to spread to music.
We did a spot for TVO that will be aired on March 18,and then the Bullard show which was great. I caught a good friend from home Barry Canning, at Clinton's in Toronto the other night, Barry had a great set, half of Petty Harbour and the rest of home where there.
Our first show in Belleville was great. The addition of Paul and Glen Hiscock into the line-up is working out great. These two just had their first children, five days apart, two boys! They are both very excited, we wish them well.
Brockville's show is quite interesting, it is in a beautiful church, and is a fundraiser for the Celtic Festival, which is held in June, we are just about to head off to the show so see ya late.............
Many thanks to Jim Morrison and the Celtic Festival crowd in Brockville. Another Great audience, thanks to the crowd who drove all the way from Ottawa to see the show. We will be back!
Well we are off to Winnipeg, and the West End Cultural Centre. We are looking forward to playing there again. Graham Wells our accordion player will be joining us on the 9th in Regina. with the addition of Glen Hiscock, on fiddle and mandolin, all of the trad guys who worked on the new album will be reunited, its sure to be a magic moment. Paul Hiscock, joining us on the bass guitar is fitting in quite nicely, thank-you very much, be sure to get to know the new boys as we go through.
Mike the manager guy tells us that the response from radio is positive in the United States, hopefully it will continue to spread the good word to our new found fans. We look forward to meeting you all in the months to come. Be sure to call your local radio stations to request a song or two from ACROSS THE WATER, and let us know what you think of it by dropping us an a-mail with your impressions. We are quite happy with it and hope you will enjoy as well!
That's it from here for now, we will keep the updates coming as we head west. Drop by and say hello if you have a chance.
SEE YA AT THE SHOW.............!
Con O'Brien
March 10/04 Road News
Well Winnipeg went great! Nice crowd for a Monday night, and it was nice to meet some old friends from back east, and some new fans for the first time. Many thanks to the West End Cultural Centre, epically for the great meal before the show.
We also had a great night in Regina, at McNally's pub. It was nice for those of us who have hair to let it down, and we celebrated the return of Graham Wells who was in Ireland for the last two weeks with The Crowd of Bold Sharemen. He was a bit tired having flown from Ireland to Regina, (where we made him play right away), in one day.
We awoke this morning to high winds and blowing snow that has closed the highways out of Regina, so we are on hold here until the roads re-open. We sure hope that they do, we are looking forward to Saskatoon, and seeing our good friend Spero at the Patricia. We were kind of hoping that we might get a chance to take in some of the Briar as well, to show our support for the Brad Gushue rink from home who is doing so well. I will catch up tomorrow and let you know how we made out, see ya then .
Con.
March 19/04 Road News
Well here we are in Whistler again, at the Maxx Fish! Great room the crowd was into the show and we had a wonderful night. Thanks to Edel for the rum and coke, much needed. We took the old TCH from Kamploops, a beautiful old windey road through the mountains. Awesome!
We arrived in Vancouver in time to do a spot for City TV, and our new friend Jay who was shooting the Paddy's Day festivities around town. We got the chance to promote the show at the Commodore, and plug the new album ACROSS THE WATER.
When we got to the Commodore it was packed to the rafters, nice to see so many east coasters and Newfoundlanders at the show. The crowd was pumped, and we got the energy right away. We played a ton of stuff from ACROSS THE WATER and loads of older stuff that was all well received.Paul and Glen had a few friends back after the show from the Goulds, they were a bit homesick. It was a great St Patricks Day, one to remember!
We are heading back to Edmonton for two shows (whew!) on the weekend, and on to Grande Prairie for Sunday night at BJ'S where we will put the finishing touches on St Patrick's Week! Be sure to let us know what you think of ACROSS THE WATER, we'd love to hear what you think, so drop us a line!
Check in later!
Con.
March 22, 2004
Hello out there! We have to thank everyone who came to the shows in Edmonton. The JR Ranks Mess was a blast, we saw load of faces from home, and Mike got to spend the evening with his brother Steve, who lives there.
Festival Place in Sherwood Park was wonderful. A sold out show with a great audience. Hello to Al and Susan Williams, along with Francis Mulloney, and Sean Carew from Bay Bulls who made it out. Tanya of O'Rielly's fame was there as well, nice to see all the friendly faces. What an excellent night!
We are off to Grande Prairie tomorrow at BJ'S, as we finish off bringing ACROSS THE WATER across the PRAIRIES. We are at the tail end of the tour and looking forward to the trip home. We are totally over the moon for the response that we are getting for ACROSS THE WATER, the songs are going over nicely!
I will file a final tour update on Monday. Thanks for tuning in!
Con
March 24, 2004
Sorry that I am a little late with the final update. The trip home was long long long!
Grande Prairie, And BJ'S was a great way to finish off the tour! We sang the anthem at the hockey game, before the show, which was won by the home team.
Arriving at the show we were delighted to see such a great crowd. The band was up for the show as well, the thoughts of a few well earned days off had everyone excited! Special thanks to Byron the owner of BJ'S for looking after us once again!
Well I hope you enjoyed the updates from the road, we had a wonderful tour. Special thanks to all who came out to the shows, we hope you enjoyed the new songs. I will do my best to keep them coming as we continue to tour "ACROSS THE WATER", this year. In the meantime keep tuning in for updates, and let us know what your impressions of the new album are, we love the feedback!
Con
If you have any questions for me or the band you can email us at
michael.greggs@sympatico.ca
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