Hello again to all Paul Brady correspondents and a happy Easter to one and all. Apologies for the gap in communication this time. Things were so busy in February and March that the hoped for US tour diary regretably never materialised. It was a rash prediction anyway. I ought to know by now that any free time on tour is usually spent sleeping or ......sleeping!

So, the US tour with Bonnie Raitt has come and gone and hugely enjoyable it was. My first time touring with Her Royal Badness turned out even better than I‘d imagined and I‘d like to take this opportunity to thank my dear friend Bonnie, her band and crew for looking after me so well.

My set lasted 50 mins each night and afterwards I joined Bonnie and her band to duet on those songs of mine that she recorded, Not the Only One and Luck Of The Draw. Several nights we also did Richard Thompson‘s song Dimming Of The Day which I have to say is one of my all time favourite songs. Thanks to Ricky Fataar, George Marinelli, Jon Cleary, Hutch Hutchinson and of course, Bonnie, for making me feel so at home on stage…and on the tour bus! Some serious fun was had (see photos on the Gallery page

It‘s hard to pick out the high points. I honestly enjoyed all the shows but perhaps San Antonio TX on Feb 22nd sticks in my mind as the crowd was really lively and got into my thing from the start (see review on the Press page or in the San Antonio Express ). I liked the feel of San Antonio and Texas in general. Santa Fe, where we stayed for the Albuquerque gig in New Mexico, was so beautiful too. California was, as you‘d expect, cooler, more laid back but none the less enjoyable. Well Californians are hip ’n‘ cool, right?

Typical set list of mine was

• I Want You To Want Me (from Spirits Colliding)
• Smile (from Say What You Feel)
• Blue World (from Trick Or Treat)
• Nobody Knows (from..Nobody Knows)
• Locked Up In Heaven (from Say What You Feel)
• Follow On (from Back To The Centre)
• Crazy Dreams (from Hard Station)
• The Lakes of Pontchartrain (from Welcome Here Kind Stranger)
• The World Is What You Make It (from Spirits Colliding)

It was fantastic playing to large crowds every night (3500- 4000 people). I‘m used to that size of audience at home but I never had consistently played to those size crowds in USA except at outdoor festivals. A large percentage of them would have been seeing me for the first time too which made things that bit more challenging and exciting. The response was really strong and filled me with a new-found confidence. When you play to your own audiences all the time, familiar with your music, as I‘ve now done for over 25 years you sometimes wonder what it really means and how your music might strike a new crowd for the first time. The question was answered on this tour and I was really thrilled to feel the warmth and enthusiasm of Bonnie’s audience. Thanks to all of you who bought cds at the shows, wrote to the site afterwards, downloaded songs.

I was hardly home a week when I went off to Switzerland for a long awaited holiday on the ski slopes of Zermatt. I‘m glad to report that no bones were broken and a lot of fun was had, but I do need to add that Paddy‘s day in Zermatt, Switzerland isn‘t quite the same as in Dublin! Three green balloons outside an English pub with a fictitious Murphy Bros band playing "King Of The Road" and the "Theme from Titanic" is not my idea of an Irish celebration! The Swiss need a couple of Irish lessons in how to enjoy themselves! Anyway, it’s a small gripe! Zermatt is so beautiful and we had sunshine all week.

I"m back home now looking forward to Easter and the Irish tour that starts on the Friday after (See tour dates page). As I told you in the last newsletter, this is an opportunity to re-visit some old haunts that I’ve not been in in years. I"m staying out of Dublin this time round, though I"m planning to do some shows there later this year.

I also had a short trip to Copenhagen at the weekend just gone to do a concert there. It"s a lovely town and we seem to have brought the Spring, or so the locals said. Nice weather and not too cold. Thanks to Paul-Eric and his team for looking after us and also to the mad Swedes who got up at 4 in the morning to drive all the way down to Denmark to see the show. I always knew the Swedes were crazy….good crazy that is!

Right now I"m trying to get in shape for this tour with lots of walks in the Dublin Hills (I can"t really call them the Dublin Mountains any more after Switzerland!) and swimming as often as I can. Writing too, or at least finishing off half written songs and making demos. Also trying to prepare some recordings of the US shows for the website downloads section ) and the radio section ( see the radio icon at the top of the home page).

Next up after the Irish tour is a return to USA for The Irish Connections Festival in Boston in early June (9 through 11th www.irishculture.org/festival ). Details are being finalised and will be up on site soon. Other things beginning to take shape on the horizon are perhaps a visit to Japan in December and then possibly on to NZ and maybe Australia. More as it develops.

In the meantime, let’s hope this crazy world doesn’t get any crazier till we talk again!

Paul Brady

Hello again to all Paul Brady website correspondents. I’m on my way to Los Angeles from London right now aboard Virgin 07. A little tired this morning as I had a latish night after the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards where I was performing and where, to my great pleasure, I was presented with a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award. Dear me, is it that time already? That’s my second in a couple of years (Irish Recorded Music Association 2003)

Is someone trying to tell me something? I’m not going away, you know!

Seriously, I am very pleased to be acknowledged in this way by the British folk music community. My association with the folk scene in UK goes back a long way…to around late 1967 when, as a member of the Irish folk group The Johnstons, I first came to London to record for Transatlantic Records, home at the time to Pentangle, The Young Tradition, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Ian Campbell and many other luminaries of the new acoustic music. We travelled back and forth from Ireland to UK for much of ’68 appearing at concerts and clubs up and down the country and festivals at the time including The Plumpton Jazz Folk and Blues festival outside London and the Cambridge Folk festival. Among the most memorable concerts was The Royal Festival Hall with American singer songwriter Jackson C. Frank and, on her first visit to England, a young Joni Mitchell. One of the laughs (on us) that night surrounded her song ‘Both Sides Now’ The Johnstons had recorded the song as well as another Joni song ( we were huge fans!) ‘The Urge For Going’ on our newly released album ‘Give A Damn’ and we currently had a chart hit with ‘Both Sides Now’ at home in Ireland. As it was arguably our best known and only well known contribution at this stage of our career we asked her management if Joni would mind if we sang the song that night. Word came back that it was fine..go ahead and sing it, which we did. Imagine our embarrassment when, upstairs in the balcony in the second half watching Joni’s set, we heard her say “and now I’m gonna sing a song that I believe some Irish group has a hit with over here...Both Sides Now.” Something got lost in translation between our camp and hers, I guess! No one told her we were actually singing on the same concert. Hot flush time, though with hindsight it’s quite funny really.

There followed many enjoyable years on the UK folk scene. The Johnstons moved over to live in London in Jan ’69 and for the next few years became the darlings of the folk club scene, doing countless radio broadcasts and many TV appearances. Later in the 70s while I was with Planxty and later Andy Irvine, the UK folk community welcomed me with open arms…my first solo record Welcome Here Kind Stranger being voted Melody Maker Folk album of the year in 1978.

So it was a real trip down memory lane for me last night, meeting again with Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, Simon Nichol, John Tams, Ashley Hutchins, Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks and Dave Swarbrick who was sounding as good as ever on ‘Matty Groves’. Good also to meet up with Cara Dillon on whose new album she and I sing a duet of ‘The Streets Of Derry’. Check out her site _ "http://www.caradillon.co.uk" Nice to bump into Chris While and Julie Matthews for the first time since Katoomba’s Blue Mountain Festival in NSW Australia in March 2003. Chris of course did a great version of ‘Nowhere Man’ on the folk remake of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul record broadcast last December on BBC Radio 2 on which yours truly took the reins on ‘You Won’t See Me’. By the way, latest on that project is that it is set for release on cd in the Spring of this year. We’ll let you know when it appears.

So! a special night for me last night and quite surprising and gratifying in that since I released my first album of my own songs ‘Hard Station’ in the early 80s, I haven’t had much of a profile on the British Folk Scene. Nice to be fondly remembered and still supported. Thank you BBC Radio 2’s Mike Harding and John Leonard and all at Smooth Operations.

The reason I’m off to LA this morning is to do a bunch of shows (see tour dates) with long time friend and collaborator and icon of American music, Ms Bonnie Raitt. It’s my first time back in USA since this time last year and I’m really up for it, especially since the shows are in California, Texas and, for my first time, Arizona and New Mexico. Good to escape the grey Irish February skies for a while! I’m hoping to keep a kind of tour diary and share it with you guys.

On other fronts, I’m very pleased to see the response to the new PeeBee Music store on site. The download section has sparked a load of interest, especially the ‘collectors corner’ where for the first time many of my original home demos of my songs and a selection of live show recordings, radio broadcasts, b-sides, alternate mixes and studio outtakes are made available for download. We’ll be adding to this on a regular basis from now on. Of course all my officially recorded work is also available at the download site as well as on cd via mail order. This month we have added some live recordings from some shows I did in Tokyo a few years back as well as some more demos.

We have also added streaming audio to the main site, so if you want to listen to some rare recordings when you browse, just click on the radio icon in the menu

Speaking earlier of my first solo album, Welcome Here Kind Stranger (1978), I know that hardly a week goes by these days without several queries as to why it is so hard to get and when will it ever again be generally available. To cut a long story short, the company who originally released the album, Mulligan Music, lost the master tape. As a result there never was an official CD release although a spurious and dreadful sounding bootleg pressed up from a vinyl copy appeared in UK in the early 80s. I can now happily reveal that a tape copy of the master has resurfaced after all these years (thank you, the music genie!) and it sounds fantastic. Ownership now resides with my own company, PeeBee Music. We have recently re-mastered it and it is now ready for re-release. Firstly however, we are informing all you website correspondents of its availability as a digital download from the website store. To experience the original record as it first appeared we respectfully suggest you download the complete CD and not just individual songs.

It will be released later this year on CD and will be available from the PeeBee Store as well as retail. Let us know what you think of it!

I guess that’s it. We’re about an hour out of LA and the old laptop battery is in the red. Till next time then, best wishes.

News Update December 19 2005

Hi again to all correspondents. Now that 2005 is at an end I‘d like to wish you a happy Christmas, Hanukah, Buddhist New Year, Eid ul-Adha , Chinese New Year, Hogmany, Diwali, Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev, end of financial year festival of devotion to the great god Mammon. Phew! It‘s tough trying to be politically correct these days. Hey, you know what I mean! Happy wotsit to how are yis? Know war-a-mee-in? (last bit in a Dublin accent please). As our doggie mascot above, I hope you all get what you’re hoping for this year!

I’m spending Chris....I mean the Irish traditional end of year festival at home in Dublin. My last public appearance this year was on December 16th when I did an informal duet of ’The Long Goodbye‘ with co-writer Ronan Keating on the very last Kelly show on UTV in Belfast. Also on the show were Westlife, Michael Flatley, Brian Kennedy, The Corrs, Phil Coulter, Peter Corry and many more. A big send off for Gerry Kelly who over the last 17 years was responsible for giving many of the aforementioned their first TV exposure. Granada TV who own all the British regional stations in their wisdom have decided to axe all regional live weekend talk/music shows in favour of…you guessed it...more cheap bought-in American entertainment. Ggrrrrr!!!

I hope some of you got to hear the BBC broadcast of the ’folk‘?? re-make of the Beatles Rubber Soul album (BBC radio 2, Dec 8th last). As I said in the last newsletter, I did a version of the song ’You Won‘t See Me‘ for the program and had a lot of fun doing it. Latest is the BBC are planning to release the collection as an album in the new year.

As well as wishing you a merry wotsit, I‘d like to let you know that, as we flagged a few months back in our newsletter, we are now launching the Collectors Corner page in the Peebee Music store . Just scroll down the pull-down menu at the top left of the page where it says ’catalog‘ and click on ’collectors corner‘. There are three sections in this area.

1. Original demos, b-sides and unreleased masters
2. live recordings of concerts and
3. live performances on radio

There is a ton of stuff in the vaults so we plan to add to this section regularly. Feedback is welcome. Of course the entire official releases, cds, dvds, songbooks etc are available both by mail order and now by digital download from the same page on site.

All that remains is to thank you for your continued interest and support over the past year. I look forward to seeing you at the live shows next year! More as it happens!

News Update Nov 22 2005

Hello again to all Paul Brady correspondents. It‘s been a while, yes, but then I did say in the last newsletter that I was taking a break for a few months. Mind you, it wasn‘t entirely a break. Lots of things were going on. Setting up future projects, tours, etc and recording this and that , not to mention working on developing of the new website download shop which I hope you‘ve visited and explored.

Things are starting to move again now. Firstly some new dates are in. I‘m delighted to announce I‘ll be doing a short US tour in February 2006 as the guest of Bonnie Raitt. Dates are on the West coast mainly with a short detour into Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Bonnie has a new record out (Souls Alike) and I‘m really looking forward to meeting up with her and her band again. I will be performing solo on these shows, playing guitar and piano. Dates projected are below.

• Fri Feb-10 Civic Auditorium Santa Cruz, CA
• Sun Feb-12 Fantasy Springs resort, Indio, California
• Mon Feb-13 Symphony Hall, San Diego, California
• Tue Feb-14 Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, California
• Thu Feb-16 Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona
• Sat Feb-18 Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Mon Feb-20 Bass Performance Hall, Ft. Worth, Texas
• Tue Feb-21 University of Texas Performing Arts Centre, Austin, Texas
• Wed Feb-22 Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, Texas
• Fri Feb-24 Verizon Wireless Theatre, Houston, Texas

Also in April and May next year I am doing something I‘ve been wanting to do for ages and that is to visit some of the smaller venues and smaller towns in Ireland that I haven‘t played in years. On these shows I will be joined by two of my most recent Irish touring band, Bill Shanley on acoustic and electric guitars and vocals and Graham Henderson on keyboards, guitar and vocals. Called ‘Up Close ‘n‘ Personal‘ that‘s exactly what this tour will be. There is nothing like the intimacy of playing in small theatres with the audience up close. It‘s how it all began for me in Ireland and I‘ve missed it. Dates are below. Ticket details are on the website tour dates page

• Saturday 22nd April The Mullingar Arts Centre
• Sunday 23rd April Town Hall Theatre, Galway
• Monday 24th April Town Hall Theatre, Galway
• Wednesday 26th April The Forum, Waterford
• Thursday 27th April Glor Music Centre, Ennis
• Friday 28th April LIT Millennium Theatre, Limerick
• Saturday 29th April Tintean Theatre, Ballybunion
• Sunday 30th April Siamsa Tire, Tralee
• Wednesday 3rd May Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise
• Thursday 4th May Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise
• Friday 5th May Letterkenny An Grianan Theatre
• Sunday 7th May The Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo
• Wednesday 10th May The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
• Thursday 11th May Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Offaly
• Friday 12th May Longford Backstage Theatre, Longford
• Saturday 13th May Longford Backstage Theatre, Longford
• Sunday 14th May The Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork

Latest news on the recording front is that I‘ve just recorded a Beatles song for the BBC radio 2 program ‘Folk On Two‘ to be broadcast on Wed 7th December 8-9pm UK time. Check out www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/folk/harding/rubberfolk.shtml . The program commissioned a ‘folk‘ remake of the Beatles‘ Rubber Soul album for the 40th anniversary of its release and I was asked to contribute a song. Long one of my favourite Beatles‘ records my immediate choice of song was ‘You Won‘t See Me‘. Initially planned as just a radio program there are rumours that it may eventually be released as an album. I hope so. If not then my recording will definitely be available to download on this website. More news as it develops.

Finally, we are now almost ready to make available some live concert recordings, original home demo versions of songs you might be familiar with in a different context and a selection of rarely heard and some never released tracks on our download page . It will be up on site within a few days.

That‘s it for now!

Paul Brady

News Update Aug 23 2005

Hello again to all correspondents. Firstly, apologies for the lack of news recently. Basically it‘s been non-stop live shows, radio and television since February last from USA through Ireland and UK with not a lot of new developments to report until now. I‘d like to thank all of you who came out to see the shows and bought the new record, ‘Say What You Feel‘. I loved the shows, especially with the new band. Real highlights were San Fransisco‘s Great American Music Hall, Boston‘s Sanders Theatre, Edinburgh‘s Queens Hall, London‘s Barbican, Dublin‘s Point Theatre, the Glastonbury Festival, Live at The Marquee in Cork and the Trowbridge Festival in Wiltshire UK. Your letters to the guestbook seem to indicate that you enjoyed things too!

Radio interviews and performances in UK on BBC 2‘s Janice Long Show, Mark Radcliffe Show and Mike Harding‘s Folk on 2 stood out earlier in the year. TV appearances on Ireland‘s ’Saturday Night with Miriam O‘Callaghan‘ where I guested along with Ireland‘s greatest hurler, DJ Carey and the best-selling young novelist Cecelia Ahearne and sang ‘Living For The Corporation‘ and ’Smile‘.... and also the Phil Coulter presented TV show ’Coulter and Co‘ with me singing ’Crazy Dreams‘ along with Phil‘s band and »Smile‘, featuring me a duet with Phil on piano were further highlights of the summer calendar.

An interview and performance on Ireland‘s national music station 2FM where I spoke to presenter Marty Whelan and was joined on electric guitar by new band member Bill Shanley was also a big hit. Songs were »Nobody Knows‘, ’Sail Sail On‘, ’Smile‘ and ’Don‘t Try ’Smile‘ and ’Don‘t Try to Please Me‘ play-listed across many stations and still played regularly. Nice surprise is to hear ’The Hawana Way‘ re-appear on the airwaves again. Could turn out to be a regular summer song on Irish radio. We are just now considering releasing a third single to radio in Ireland to further highlight the depth and variety on ’Say What You Feel‘. This title track is a strong contender.

But let‘s get on to new developments! While I‘ve been out on the road, the worker bees at the website we have not exactly been asleep. Over the past few months we have been working on developing a whole new section of the site. The PeeBee Music Store takes over from the former on-site outlet and we are pleased to announce that my music is now available for purchase via digital download in addition to the previously and still available mail order CDs, DVDs and songbooks. From now on you can listen to any Paul Brady song on your iPod or portable MP3 player of choice. Songs are available in either MP3 or FLAC format, the latter enabling you to create your own CDs with high quality audio. The entire existing catalogue is immediately available, including the bonus song from the Japanese version of ’Say What You Feel‘ called ’Finally It‘s The Right Time‘, available nowhere else. In addition we are further planning to bring you in the near future, previously unavailable CDs, original demos of my songs, even ’live on the night‘ recordings of gigs you may have been at and would love a reminder of. Set out in a user friendly way, it will be possible to download entire CDs or individual songs. Thanks to our webmaster Steve Brickle for his work in making this all happen. We look forward to this end of the site developing in a dynamic way!

Meantime, I‘m having a well earned rest with no more live shows planned until further notice. Writing at home has produced many new songs over the past six months. I plan to spend the next while trawling through demos, tapes of live shows and considering what direction to go in next. Talks of visits next year to Australia and possibly Japan are under way. A tour of smaller more intimate venues in Ireland later this year is also being considered. All will be revealed as it comes on stream and you will be the first to know! Till next time, take care and enjoy the music!

Paul Brady

News Update March 21st

Firstly we‘d like to explain why your email addresses have disappeared from the individual guestbook entries. It came to our notice that the guest book entries were being scanned for their email addresses for use by "spammers" and we decided it would be best to remove them from public view. However we know that a lot of our correspondents like to contact others, so we can still make individual email addresses available on request. Just send an email to info@paulbrady.com stating which message you would like to respond to and we will send you the email address concerned.

Secondly we‘d like to explain why many emails sent to info@paulbrady.com since around about last Novemember may have not been acknowledged or replied to. Answer is we weren‘t getting them until now....this morning actually. Around 400 emails have arrived already and it‘s rising by the minute.. We attached a spam filter to the mail inbox late last year as, like everyone else, we are inundated with spam. Its method of operation is to return the email to sender asking sender to type in a visual code-word to prove it‘s not a machine sending the email. On receipt of that the sender‘s email address is accepted as bona fide and the email proceeds as normal. However, it seems that more than 90% of incoming mail since then has been stored on a server and not downloading to us. We didn‘t notice as we thought when the mail decreased it was mostly spam being caught. We are naturally upset by this discovery and apologise to all those who wrote and got no reply. We now seem to have sorted the problem and will do our best to individually answer all emails as soon as physically possible.

For the many guitar players who have from time to time asked for tabs for Paul‘s guitar arrangements we would like to remind you that complete tabs for the following additional Paul Brady songs can be found in the booklet accompanying The Guitar of Paul Brady ( Playing traditional and contemporary Irish songs) on Homespun DVD-BDY-GT21 (go to http://www.paulbrady.com/discog/default.asp and scroll down for link to purchase). These professionally transcribed tabs are most helpful as is the dvd itself in which Paul is seen breaking down his playing style for many of his most popular songs.

• Mary And The Soldier
• Blue World
• I Am a Youth that‘s Inclined to Ramble
• Crazy Dreams
• The World Is What You Make It
• Nobody Knows

Let us know how you get on!

Finally, the Irish tour is almost upon us ( http://www.paulbrady.com/tourdates/default.asp ). Paul is really looking forward to getting out there with a new band and doing what he does best! We look forward to seeing you.!

News Update March 6th

Back home from the US tour, Paul would like to thank all those who came to see him from Seattle right across to Boston. It was a tough tour with long distances and little time to relax and draw breath. But the wonderful audience reaction made it all worth while. Thanks also to the many who bought cds and dvds at the shows. We hope you‘re getting plenty of audio-visual pleasure!

For those who didn‘t get to see Paul live there‘s a chance to hear some live performance coming up on the World Café. The World Café with David Dye will be broadcasting a Paul Brady interview and four-song session on March 17th, 2005 and can be heard on more than 168 stations throughout US. Fans can find their local station by going to the World Café website: http://worldcafe.org/ or they can listen online Monday to Friday at 2pm EST or 1am EST by going to http://www.xpn.org/listen.php

Paul is now having a well earned rest before further rehearsals with the new band start up the week after Easter. In the meantime we‘d like to wish all correspondents a happy St Patrick‘s Day on March 17th wherever you are!

Finally for those of you yet to hear it don‘t forget to check out the new cd ’Say What You Feel‘, for sale at your local record shop or by mail order on this site at http://www.paulbrady.com/discog/default.asp. For some great media reaction see the press page http://www.paulbrady.com/press/default.asp

Glorious songs delivered with a laid-back freedom we‘ve seldom heard before make ’Say What You Feel‘ the most satisfying album of his 25-year career... NIGEL WILLIAMSON, UNCUT

A songwriter‘s songwriter if ever there was one ...this latest CD in a career that has spanned more than 30 years ranks among his finest...PERFORMING SONGWRITER

...a superbly crafted album choc-full of great songs and sublime performances: a record for all seasons. COLIN HALL, WHAT‘S ON IN LONDON

When it comes to Paul Brady, everything fits like a well-worn cardigan and nobody needs to impress anyone. Brady feels more than most and says it better than anybody. .. ERIC THOM, EXCLAIM

Say What You Feel sounds AMAZING on the air! I don‘t know what it is about his voice, but it just works. It cuts right through and grabs you. -SARAH WARDROP, WUMB

"Paul Brady‘s Say What You Feel stirs the listener the same way David Gray‘s White Ladder did on the first time through. Brady‘s passionate vocals and musical textures draw you into the stories his songs tell - stories that relate to any walk of life."..JACK BARTON -FMQB

Top 5 Calls on this Song! - Ira Gordon, KBAC Santa Fe Brady has a soulful Van Morrison quality in his music, although he‘s more immediately accessible....BILLBOARD

For the better part of 35 years, Paul Brady has succeeded in changing the face of Irish traditional and popular music. ACOUSTIC GUITAR MAGAZINE

Paul Brady is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of rare gifts, an artist who has made an indelible impression in both traditional and pop-rock genres. ..THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Brady‘s open unguarded singing-style gives the album an easygoing laid-back feel. Behind the apparent artlessness of Say What You Feel, however, lie the skills of a studio band whose combined musical talents are off the end of the scale. ..THE IRISH TIMES

News Update Feb 20th

You can have an opportunity to see Paul live on the web on Thursday Feb 24th at 8pm US Eastern Time in a webcast from his gig at Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY.

The URL is: http://www.mville.edu/Streaming/live.html . Enjoy!

News Update Feb 17th 2005

Hello again, PB correspondents and apologies for the long gap between updates. So much has been going on that it‘s hard to know when to stop and record it!

Firstly, as most of you already know, the new record ’Say What You Feel‘ is finally out and on it‘s way. Released in early Feb in USA, Ireland and UK it is doing well at radio and getting exceptional reviews across all territories (see our new Press page at http://www.paulbrady.com/press/default.asp ). For those of you who cannot make it to the record shop just now it‘s of course available here on-site, mail—order at http://www.paulbrady.com/discog/default.asp .

Paul is currently on a US solo tour with dates at Seattle, LA, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Ann Arbor already behind him. Now in the Mid-west, tonight sees him in Milwaukee, on to Minneapolis tomorrow with Chicago on Sat night Feb 19th. All further East coast dates with ticket contacts are on the tour dates page (http://www.paulbrady.com/tourdates/default.asp)

We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to those fans who had bought tickets for the Paul Brady/ Beth Nielsen-Chapman co-bill at the Birchmere in Alexandria VA on Feb 21st. As you will by now know, this show came a cropper because of a booking mix-up (no fault of ours!) which now sees the Lyle Lovett/ Guy Clark/ Joe Ely/ John Hiatt songwriters‘ show there on that night. Having been offered the option to reschedule our date to early March when Paul has already commitments in Ireland or the option where Paul would open the Songwriters‘ show with a 40 min set of his own, we‘ve opted for the latter. Beth has kindly seen the logic in this. Thank you Beth and thank you all those who bought tickets to the original show. Naturally those tickets will be refunded. Hopefully some of you will manage to see the Songwriters‘ show. Paul plans to come back to the Birchmere as soon as it can be arranged.

It‘s been interesting for Paul incorporating the new songs into an already gigantic song canon. Which songs inevitably get left out of the set as the new ones come on stream? Below are some of the set lists. One notable occurrence was that for the first time since it was written, Paul left out The Island, one of his most popular songs, from the show in Ann Arbor. Not one person shouted out "sing The Island!" Perhaps an indication of how strong the new songs are and how the audience is caught up in them? Songs also being given a rest this time out are ’Nothing But The Same Old Story‘, ’Blue World‘, ’The Hawana Way‘ and ’Marriage made In Hollywood‘. Everyone seems quite happy.

Developments for the rest of the year are dominated by the forming of the new Paul Brady band, set to tour Ireland in April and UK in May with several summer festivals coming on stream in both countries (http://www.paulbrady.com/tourdates/default.asp) . Based around the sonic concept of the new album which features acoustic bass and, more often than not, percussion rather than electric bass and full drums, it features from Ireland, Liam Bradley (percussion), James Blennerhasset (acoustic bass), Bill Shanley (acoustic and electric guitars) and from Newcastle-on-Tyne in UK, Graham Henderson (piano/ keyboards). See pics of rehearsals on the gallery page http://www.paulbrady.com/gallery/default.asp .

In March Paul completes the rehearsal of an almost two hour show which will feature a broad cross-section of all his work while concentrating on the new record. He‘s really excited to be fronting a band for the first time in a couple of years. We look forward to seeing you at the shows!

Finally, and for those who wrote in enquiring, yes, it was Paul in the front row at the Grammies in LA 13th Feb. Paul was there accompanying Bonnie Raitt, former multi Grammy winner, who sang a moving tribute to Ray Charles on the night. Yes, Paul had a great time on the night and no, Paul and Bonnie are not an item! Just musical soul-mates and good friends.

Thanks for your continued feedback. Keep ’em coming!

Set List 9th Feb 2005 Tractor, Seattle

• Don‘t Try To Please me
• I Want You To Want Me
• Not The Only One
• Locked Up in Heaven
• Nobody Knows
• Living for the Corporation
• Sail, Sail On
• Follow On
• Paradise Is here
• The Island
• Arthur McBride
• Nothing But The Same Old Story
• Helpless Heart
• Crazy Dreams
• Smile
• The Homes of Donegal
• The World Is What You Make It

Set List 12th Feb 2005, The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco,

• Finally It‘s The Right Time
• I Want You To Want me
• Not The Only One
• Locked Up In Heaven
• Don‘t Try To Please Me
• Living For The Corporation
• Nobody Knows
• Follow On
• I Will Be There
• Paradise Is Here
• The Long Goodbye.
• Sail, Sail On
• Beyond The Reach Of Love
• The Island
• Arthur Mc Bride
• Crazy Dreams
• Smile
• Homes of Donegal
• The World Is What You Make It

Set List 10th Feb 2005 Largo, Los Angeles

• Sea Of Love
• I Want U To Want Me
• Not The Only One
• Locked Up In Heaven
• Don‘t Try To Please Me
• Living For The Corporation
• Sail, Sail On
• Follow On
• Paradise Is Here
• The Island
• The Lakes Of Pontchartrain
• Crazy Dreams
• Smile
• Nobody Knows
• Homes of Donegal
• The World Is What You Make it
• Helpless Heart

Set List 15th Feb 2005 The Ark, Ann Arbor MI.

• Finally It‘s The Right Time
• Luck Of The Draw
• Not The Only One
• Locked Up In heaven
• Don‘t Try To Please Me
• Living For The Corporation
• Nobody Knows
• Follow On
• I Will Be There
• Paradise is here
• The Long Goodbye
• Sail, Sail On
• Beyond The Reach Of Love
• The Lakes Of Pontchartrain
• Helpless Heart
• Crazy Dreams
• Smile
• Homes Of Donegal
• World Is What You Make it

News Update Dec 12 ^th 2004

Hello again to all Paul Brady correspondents. First, an update on Paul‘s Spring 2005 US tour! Dates are finally confimed as below and he‘s really looking forward to the shows. Ticketing contact info will go up on site within the next few days.

• Wed 9th Feb: Seattle WA, Tractor Tavern.
• Thu 10th Feb: Los Angeles CA, Largo.
• Fri 11th Feb: Santa Cruz CA: Kuumba Jazz Centre.
• Sat 12th: San Fransisco CA, Great American Music Hall.
• Tue 15th Feb: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark.
• Thu 17th Feb: Milwaukee WI, Shank Hall.
• Fri 18th Feb: Minneapolis MN, Cedar Cultural Centre.
• Sat 19th Feb: Chicago IL, The Abbey.
• Mon 21st Feb: Alexandria VA, Birchmere.
• Tue 22nd Feb: Annapolis MD, Ram‘s Head Onstage.
• Wed 23rd Feb: Philadelphia, ‘World Cafe Live‘.
• Thu 24th Feb: Purchase NY West Room, Manhattanville College.
• Sat 26th Feb: New York NY, Joe‘s Pub at the Public Theatre.
• Sun 27th Feb: Boston MA, Sanders Theatre.

Secondly, to confirm that Paul‘s new album, called ‘Say What You Feel‘ is set for release in North America on Feb 1st on the Compass label (743962). For more details see the November news update The album will be available for sale in advance from the beginning of January on the website at http://www.paulbrady.com/discog/default.asp.

Almost forgot! Ireland‘s top music paper Hot Press has just compiled a Top 100 Greatest Irish Album list, voted for by Irish artists. Paul Brady had three entries in the Top 100 cut. They‘re now compiling a new Top 100 Greatest Irish Album Chart, this time voted for by the general public. To see Paul further up the top end of the chart, get voting now! http://www.hotpress.com/vote/top100albums/

Finally, We‘d like to thank all of you for your interest and enthusiasm over the past year and to wish you a happy and peaceful Holiday and New Year!

News Update Nov 20^th 2004

Hello again to all Paul Brady correspondents. Well, at long last the new record is finished! Called "Say What You Feel" it‘s due for release worldwide on Feb 1st 2005. It‘s a 12 song record, all new songs...though some of you will have heard live solo versions of a few of them if you were at any of Paul‘s shows over the past year.
Track listing is:-

• Smile
• Don‘t Try to Please Me
• Love In A Bubble
• I Only Want You
• Living For The Corporation
• Say What You Feel
• Locked Up In Heaven
• Sail, Sail On
• The You That‘s Really You
• Doin‘ It In The Dark
• Beyond The Reach of Love
• The Man I Used To Be

Recorded in Nashville over four trips during the past ten months, it‘s a truly organic record in that eleven of the twelve songs were recorded as performances with most all the musicians playing at the same time. There was no extended rehearsal. No ‘recording the drums and bass to a click track, then overdubbing the vocals and everyone else‘! The musicians had at most a half an hour with each song before the red light went on and the song was recorded. Only two, max three takes were done of each song and in most cases the first of those takes ended up as the preferred version. The old fashioned way! We love it. We hope you do too. At the moment, Paul is working on the sleeve notes and artwork. For those who can‘t wait till Feb next check out snippets of some early rough mixes here. The song Finally it‘s the Right Time will not be on the album except on the Japanese release.

On other fronts, two enjoyable events have just come and gone. The first was a short appearance by Paul at Whelan‘s in Dublin to acknowledge and celebrate the launch of the first album by a new and hugely talented Irish singer songwriter Declan O‘Rourke. Declan has been making waves for the past couple of years on the Dublin scene and is now poised to step further afield. Undoubtedly the most talented Irish artist to emerge in many a year, Paul was only too pleased to support the cause. The show was broadcast live on Ireland‘s Today FM. Also appearing to show their appreciation were Paddy Casey and Mundy.

Second was a gig in Dublin‘s revamped Liberty hall, the scene of the recording of Paul‘s Missing Liberty Tapes live album back in the mists of time. This time the occasion was to celebrate the return from New York of James Keane, accordionist extraordinaire and younger brother of fiddler Sean Keane of Chieftains fame. Trad music followers will recall that Paul credits James with seriously introducing him to traditional music back in the mid sixties. A hugely emotional occasion and musical feast, the evening also featured Chietain’s singer/ bodhran player Kevin Conneff, The O‘Connor Family, The legendary Castle Ceili Band and many others. Paul played with James and Sean and sang ‘The Humours of Whiskey’.

Finally, at a gala occasion last week (Oct 26th) in London‘s Savoy Hotel, Paul was one of the recipients of the ‘Gold Badge’from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. A nice surprise and honour it indeed was. The Gold Badge Awards, unlike many music-biz awards ceremonies which are largely industry driven, is more of a peer to peer acknowledgement based on the Academy‘s appreciation of musical achievement, talent and long term contributions to music rather than current chart positions. Among other recipients were Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, Suzi Quattro, Tony Hadley, David Hepworth and long time producer of the Terry Wogan BBC radio show, Paul Walters. Pics to come.

We are working on touring plans for next year to promote the new record. Starting off in USA on Feb 9 with dates on both east and west coast, Paul will then play Ireland and UK later next spring with European and Australian dates to come as we confirm them. Confirmed dates will be posted on site in the very near future and will also be sent out to the mailing list.

For Irish readers, one upcoming little treat comes on Nov 12th. Getting together for the first time since he guested on Paul‘s Vicar Street series of shows in 2001, Mark Knopfler has asked Paul to sit in with his band on his visit to the RTE TV Late Late Show. Mark, who‘s just released a new album ‘Shangri La’ is performing the single ‘Boom Like That’. Check it out!

That‘s it for now!

‘The Fermanagh Way‘
 
Written and produced by Paul Brady
 
‘If your team is a mess, your county‘s in distress
Put your future to the test the Fermanagh way
Throw your worries to the wind, you‘ll find it‘s no sin
Start a new way of winning the Fermanagh Way!

OK! So the Fermanagh fairytale is finally over. Narrowly defeated in the semi-final replay of this year‘s Bank of Ireland Football Championship last Saturday, not even the most negative commentator can deny that they transformed the championship with their exciting style. Coming within two points of a place in the final, this is a young team to watch in the coming year!

In honour of this achievement and to celebrate his family roots, Paul Brady re-wrote the lyrics to his hit song of 2003, ‘The Hawana Way‘ to acknowledge the mighty Fermanagh men of 2004. See lyrics below.

Though born in Tyrone, Paul‘s family, on both his parents‘ side, have strong Fermanagh connections. His mother and all her many brothers and sisters were raised around Irvinestown while his father‘s family spent most of their lives in Enniskillen. Paul‘s late uncle, John McElholm, also from Irvinestown, was for many years the chairman of the Fermanagh County GAA board through the dark years when the county seemed so often destined to be on the losing side. How John would have enjoyed the recent excitement! Dedicated to John‘s memory, the song was to have been released as a CD single for charity in the event of a Fermanagh win.

In the present circumstances Paul has decided to make the song available free of charge on his website to any Fermanagh supporter out there in need of a shot of redemption!

In addition to Paul‘s voice, Irish listeners will immediately recognize the unmistakeable tones of Micheál Ò Muirecheartaigh as the snippets of his unique match commentary weave in and out throughout the song. Enjoy!

Here‘s to next year!

To hear The Fermanagh Way, right click on either of the following two links and choose Save As..
 
The Fermanagh Way (Hi-Fi Quality)
The Fermanagh Way (Mid-Fi Quality)
 
 
The Fermanagh Way (Paul Brady)
 
copyright 2004 Hornall Brothers‘ Music
 
I was down in a hole
Hurtin‘ in my soul
When my friend on the phone told me it‘s ok
There‘s a team you can see,
The football sets you free
Come on over, watch them do it
The Fermanagh way!
 
Ciaran O‘Reilly, Martin McGrath
The Maguires and the Sherrys, Over the bar!
McCloskey, McBarron, stand where you are!
Hey, Raymond Johnston, hold on!
 
Chorus
If your team is a mess
Your county‘s in distress
Put your future to the test
The Fermanagh way
Throw your worries to the wind
You‘ll find it‘s no sin
Start a new way of winning
The Fermanagh way
 
So I scraped up the bread
Set my compass dead ahead
And I‘m standing here in Croker in the white and green
And I‘m roaring out loud with some young one in the crowd
Sayin‘, ‘I‘m from Enniskillen, I‘m a lean machine!‘
 
Out shoots Tinney, Bradley‘s away!
Niall Bogue, Barry Owens, makin‘ my day..
McDermott, and Little, what can I say?
Here‘s to you Charlie Mulgrew!
 
Repeat chorus
 
Gimme one more day,
Ma, I gotta stay
See them heroes play
The Fermanagh Way!
Hey! Hey!
 
 
News UpdateJune 20 ^th 2004

First off, Paul would like once again to say a big hello to all who came to the March/ April shows in UK and last month’s Australian shows. He is rarin’ to come back as soon as possible in the New Year! But now that the Irish summer is here he has a bit of a breather... for the first time since the start of this year.

Just back from Australia at the beginning of June, he now has a few months to concentrate on finishing the new album plus some long needed time at home to relax. Between now and the end of the year it’s a break from touring, with the only date in the latter half of the year at the Clifden Arts Week in Conemara, County Galway (Sept 18th).

The album is progressing well, twelve new songs recorded and in various stages of completion. With a natural organic feel...all the songs performed live, in most cases ‘first take’... the album is a natural successor to the ‘Songbook’ record of last year and a definite move away from the ‘layered’ time-consuming production style of the past. Life is too short to spend six months in a studio ever again! So far, though it’s been spread over the first half of this year, the total time in studio has been less than twenty days.

Nashville has proved to be an inspiring place for Paul to record with great studios, talented engineers and of course, brilliant musicians...though having said that, some of the stand-out players on the record to date include the legendary Danny Thompson ( upright acoustic bass) from London and John R. Burr from San Francisco on piano,. We’ve also had the great pleasure of local boys.. Kenny Malone on drums and percussion, Reese Wynans on Hammond organ, Tom Britt’s electric guitars, Victor Krause also on string bass, Scatt Springs and Andrea Zonn on vocals. Also recorded were some beautiful strings, arranged and played by Andrea. Last to go down in the April session was some ukulele from Ireland’s Gerry O’Beirne.

Anyone who has seen Paul‘s live solo shows this year will already be familiar with some of the new songs, ‘Smile’,‘Sail, Sail On’, ‘Living For The Corporation’ and ‘Locked Up In Heaven’. In fact many of you have already written to the guestbook, mentioning these in particular as show highlights.. These are just some of the high points of what those who have heard the ‘roughs’ say is destined to be one of Paul’s best records. Though not due for release until the beginning of 2005, we have put some snippets of some of the unfinished rough mixes to whet the appetite here on the web site!

All this album talk is not to forget the May trip to Australia. Though not a real tour as such, Paul only played three shows, one private and two public (The Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne 14th and The Seymour Centre in Sydney15th...see Sydney Morning Herald review, below ), the trip in total was a fantastic opportunity to see many parts of that exotic continent that many Australians haven’t even seen. From Sydney on it was holiday time with a trip up to Cairns and Port Douglas to sample the Barrier Reef and the tropical rain forest. Then it was off to Uluru (fka Ayer’s Rock) to experience some of the magic of that special place and then to head off into the outback with some friends down by the Docker River close to the W. Australia border (see photos) to camp out by the campfire under the stars. Yes, yes! A final few restful days with friends in Canberra rounded off an amazing trip.

Back in Ireland on May 4th, Paul was barely home when he was a surprise guest on stage at Gretchen Peters’ gig in Dublin. The pair met last April in Nashville while Paul was recording and hit it off musically straight away. While neither was familiar enough with each others’ songs to try that route without some time to rehearse, a great compromise was reached with a duet on The Everly Brothers’ ‘Dream’ and Buddy Holly’s ’I Guess it Doesn’t Matter Any More’. They parted company promising to get together musically in the not too distant future. Check out Gretchen’s site and her new album Halcyon.

So! Right now a period of gestation is upon us, with some hard work behind the scenes getting ready for the next phase and a bit of relaxation in between. We hope you all enjoy the summer (and the winter down under!) and invite you to continue to check into the site and leave us your comments.

Sydney Morning Herald May 17th 2004

In with the new as a master craftsman refines his art

Paul Brady

Everest Theatre Seymour Centre,

Sydney May 15 2004 By John Shand

It’s one thing to request, recognise and cheer the old songs, but another to be spellbound by the new ones. Paul Brady unveiled several from a forthcoming album on Saturday, including Living For The Corporation, and they drove home just how exceptional this man’s lyrics, melodies and craftsmanship really are.

This has been appreciated by a host of popular artists from Tina Turner to Mary Black, Bonnie Raitt to Cher. What sets him apart is that a background in Irish folk has been mated with pop sensibilities, spawning catchy songs of real substance.

Many writers might get a flicker of an idea for a verse or a chorus, for a lyric or melody, and then beaver away building that up with additional parts.

Few songs are written more or less straight through. Brady’s probably aren’t either, although the point is they sound like they are. His transitions –so often where lesser writers reveal their clumsy stitching for all to see – are logical, seamless and very musical.

Then there are his lyrics. Like everyone else he mostly writes love songs but his are moving grown-up love songs like I Will Be There, where the notion of friendship can count for more than the puerile sexual metaphors and innuendos that spatter our ears so often.

In performance what really hits you, however, is his voice. It sounds like it has been forged and toughened in raucous pubs – a priceless apprenticeship lost to those who slide straight from bedroom the recording studio. On the more impassioned songs such as Nothing but The Same Old Story, Brady uses it with the urgency of a man pulling a friend from a burning car.

There was a touching reading of The Long Goodbye (about the slow-burn disintegration of a relationship) and a cooking The World Is What You Make It, both to be found on his wonderful Songbook CD.

His accompaniment moves from guitar to piano to keyboard, the former being his instrument of choice for the grittiest songs. If he is no virtuoso, the combination of innate musical sense and pronounced dynamics do ample justice to the material.

To hear him with a band would be even mightier because, despite the beauty of the tunes and the perspicacity of the words, many of these songs also want to rock. The legend grows.
 
News Update Mar 8 ^th 2004

Paul‘s second week at Dublin‘s Olympia Theatre (Feb 3rd through 9th) is now past and was a success equal to his sold-out shows there last October. Using the occasion to introduce several of the new songs he has recently been working on in Nashville, the response to these songs in particular was a thrill. Guest spots from Altan‘s Ciaran Tourish, Kevin Doherty on vocals and guitar and Linley Hamilton on trumpet added to the sense of occasion. Concerts later in February at Belfast‘s Waterfront Hall and London‘s Royal Festival Hall, where the surprise guest was Curtis Stigers further spread the news. A big thank you to all who came to the shows and for your enthusiasm and positive comments since.

An unexpected highlight in the middle of February was a visit to Senegal, West Africa from 25th until 28th. Guest of the aid organisation, Plan International.. at the Birth Registration Conference and Concert held in Dakar (see Gallery), Paul‘s travelling companion was Irish broadcaster, novelist and songwriter John Kelly. Organised to draw attention to the plight of the countless thousands of children without birth certificates or registration of any kind throughout Central and West Africa, thereby leaving themselves open to all kinds of disadvantage, abuse including virtual slavery and forced soldiering, the conference promises to be a long overdue breakthrough in the attempt to resolve this problem. Plan International have just opened a new office in Dublin and hope that subsequent publicity on foot of John and Paul‘s visit will help to solidify the Irish public‘s interest in and involvement with this highly respected organisation.

An open air concert on Friday night 27th in Dakar featured many of West Africa‘s most celebrated singers and musicians including Ismael Lo, Thione Seck, Didier Awadi, Malouma, Coumba Gawlo Seck and Alpha Blondy. The grand dame of African music, Miriam Makeba, made a moving cameo appearance on stage with Coumba. It was a fantastic night of music which went on till 4.30 in the morning. During the daytime Paul and John visited several of the outlying villages to meet local people and see some projects initiated by Plan, .a water purification plant, a medical centre and two Koranic schools. A life changing experience indeed and one which has made Paul eager to accept the invitation to become, along with John Hume, a patron of Plan International in Ireland. A final memorable occasion was getting to meet Harry Belafonte whose songs were a backdrop to Paul‘s childhood.

An overnight flight from Dakar to Paris on Sat 28th saw Paul en route to Cork city for the first of his three shows at the Cork Opera House on Sunday 29th Feb. A Cork visit was way overdue for Paul, having last played there several years ago and he was well up for it. This week he is taking a well earned short break between his Irish and UK tours having finished in Killarney on Saturday 6th.

Next up is the UK tour starting In Edinburgh‘s Usher Hall on March 23rd (see tour dates), a trip to Nashville after Easter to do some more work on the recordings started in January and then, in early May, the Australian shows. That‘s it for now. More as it happens.

Finally we are excited to announce the recent release of a brand new DVD ‘The Guitar of Paul Brady/ Playing Traditional and Contemporary Irish Songs‘ on Homespun Video. In a 100 minute DVD, hosted by Happy Traum, Paul takes apart some of his most popular songs showing how he achieves the harmonically rich, compelling sounds that have long been his trademark. He has chosen four traditional and six original songs to illustrate the alternate tunings, harmonies, chord voicings, moving lines, picking techniques and other elements that make his arrangements so distinctive. This DVD, shortly to be available through this website, can be found at most good roots/ acoustic music based record shops worldwide or by contacting www.homespuntapes.com . Enjoy!

 
News Update Feb 14 ^th 2004

For those of you who can‘t get enough of a good thing?? We have now added downloadable Ring Tones for your mobile phones, To kick off with, we have made The Long Goodbye, The Hawana Way, Arthur McBride, Crazy Dreams and The World is What You Make It available. Just by right-clicking on these sing titles and choosing "Save Target As" and saving it to your hard drive you will be able to download and then install on your mobile (if your phone supports it) tunes from Paul to play when your phone rings.  
 
We have cleared the decks of all the news and info postings from pre 2004. These along with some other golden oldies can be found via the archives link page.