Hi to everyone,  I am writing this,  as promised from Sarasota,  Florida,  USA.  The weather has been co-operating wonderfully.  When I arrived on Tuesday last, it was 90f,  which suits me greatly,  thank you very much,  so my last two days were spent relaxing on the beach and swimming.   The ocean was hotter than my shower each morning………………HAPPY  DAYS.   The weather forecast says that there is a cold front coming in and the temperature will go down to 80f for a few days,  I am devastated, HA, HA.,  but will be back again to high 80s by Sunday.

I arrived on Friday last and spent my first 4 days in Maryland, (near Washington) with Kevin and Lolly Bennett.   They went above and beyond the call of duty.   I had a wonderful time there.   The big focus of my stay there was the Vic Heymen Celebration.   I sang a song for Vic and Reba on Sunday night.   What a day!!!!!!!

There were  some wonderful entertainers performing,  including Tom P – R,  Amy Speace,  Patti Larkin,  Kate McDonald,  Cosy Sheridan etc.  It was amazing.  I was so proud to be sharing the stage with such talented people.  I did get a huge dose of stage fright though.   I was never so afraid in my life.   I was shaking in my boots.   I had great support though from members of the Ish Tour, (Marl,  Kevin, Lolly, Scott, Paula,  Sheri, Steve, Russ)  They got me through it.   I must also mention Steve for his wonderful introduction from the stage and Kate for holding me up after singing my song.   To Reba,  I want to say that I was so proud to sing for you.  See you in December.

There was a really nice reception after the concert and I met  so many really nice people,  some of whom I hope to see in Ireland.   Kevin,  Lolly,  Scott,  Paula and their son,  Andy took me to see the Washington Capitals lose to New Jersey in a shootout on Monday night.  I really think Ice Hockey is a great game.

So then it was on to Florida.  I am really looking forward to seeing the Rowan Brothers play a gig tomorrow night. and we are going to a Rattlesnake Festival on Saturday in Dade City.

I got my US Cell phone and my number is:-  941 350 3421.   I will be doing a lot of driving before I leave the US at Christmas and while my schedule is pretty well planned,  please feel free to call me if you think I am in your area.  Maybe we could have even lunch together.  My schedule includes the following:-

Georgia,  South Carolina,  North Carolina, Virginia,  Wisconsin,  Chicago,  Toronto,  New York, (NERFA)  Louisiana,  Texas, (on tour with Butch Morgan) Oklahoma,  Colorado(on tour with Johnsmith)

So,  that’s all the news I have for the moment.   I will write in about two weeks time.  

TOM

Once again I am writing my Blog from a Dublin Hotel.   I finished my last tour of the year,  with Johnsmith on Friday last,  but I am doing an extra 4 days in Dublin with 2 old tour friends from North Carolina.

This has been a wonderful year.  I do feel that we upped the standard of our tours,  without changing the concept of what we are trying to achieve.   I still believe that we do very unique tours.   I love when our people interact with local people and musicians and we encourage everyone to mix with the local people. We have had some very special people tour with us this year.   I have some wonderful memories and I will share some of them with you in future blogs.   During the Fall and Winter I hope to write a Blog every 2 weeks.

Irish History and Culture have become a very important part of our tours and we are going to expand on these subjects next year.  I will let you know soon,  how we intend to do this.   We will have 3 private gigs on each tour next year,  with some of Ireland’s best singers and musicians performing for us.   I will be working very hard over the Winter getting ready for next year.  

On a personal level,  I have just completed the recording of 6 songs,  which will go on a promotional CD with music from Geraldine MacGowan,  Cyril O’Donoghue,  Don Stiffe,  Johnsmith and Foolin in Doolin,  all of whom perform for us as we tour around Ireland.   Donogh Hennessy produced the music for me and I must say “THANKS A MILLION DONOGH FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ESPECIALLY FOR YOUR PLAYING”  Donogh is an incredible guitarist,  in my opinion,  one of the best in Ireland,  so I am honoured to have him play a part on the CD.  Also I must thank all who allowed me put their music on the CD,  especially Johnsmith.  I now have to get it mastered in USA and then get the artwork completed before I can get the finished product.   I hope to have it all done before Christmas.   If anyone has any ideas about mastering,  printing etc. in USA,  please let me know.

I will be flying to Washington, DC on October 9 and will be singing a song in Olney, MD at the Vic Haymen Celebration.   Some of America’s most famous Folk Singers will be performing at this event,  so I am petrified,  but I know I will be OK.   I then fly down to Sarasota,  Florida for some R & R.  I cannot wait to get some heat on my back.   I will then be going to NERFA in November and meeting Johnsmith in Colorado in December,  before flying home for Christmas.

I am doing a tour with John Spillane in February/March and we are working on  gigs in Chicago,  Columbus OH,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North Carolina,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Florida and Texas.   We hope to have all organised with the next 4 weeks,  so I hope to meet many ex Enchanted Way Tourists along the way.   I will let you all know when the schedule is complete.

My son Gary has got involved in my web site,  so you can expect to see a lot of improvements here also.   He has inserted a u tube piece of Johnsmith singing Kilkelly,  so I am pleased with that.

Just to finish this blog,  I want to thank all my tour leaders ,  it has been wonderful,  despite the terrible economic situation worldwide.   All my tours have been full this year,  I just cannot thank you all,  enough.   I also want to thank all of  our musicians.  The music this year has been out of this world.   Thanks a million to John Spillane,  who did 4 lovely gigs for us.   Our hotel stays were great this year,  I don’t recall a serious problem.

I want to thank Paddy Downes for his fearless driving.   He has become a great team member and is a very important part of our tours.

Last,  but not least I have to say Thanks to Johnsmith.   I would not be writing this but for John.   He was here at the start and we grew together.   We have come a long way,   it has been an incredible journey and it is getting better.   The sky is the limit,  JOHN

My next blog will be written from USA and I will keep you up to date on all things enchanted and otherwise.

Just to let you all know that I will be posting my 2010 TOUR SCHEDULE tomorrow,  so if anyone is interested in travelling,  please let me know.   I have scheduled a tour with Donogh Hennesssy, so it will be interesting to see how a tour with an Irish performer will work out.

                               SLAN

Hi, Gary (Tom’s son) here. I was just tweaking some of the pictures on the website with Tom and one of the pictures was of Johnsmith singing a a song called “Kilkelly” in Kilkelly, Co. Mayo a couple of years ago. I wanted to put in some background info on the song and I turned to Google for help. The first hit was a Youtube video of the performance filmed and uploaded by Dave Kleiner who travelled with Tom and John earlier this year.

Once again my blog is being done from a Dublin hotel room.   It seems a long time since July 9.   I have done 2 tours with Johnsmith,  one with Peter Pavarini and I am  half way through a tour with Anne Feeney.

I am feeling a little tired now as I cannot remember having a day off since early May.  I have to pace myself now,  but I am not complaining.   We had a long journey up from Galway today and we were supposed to go into Dublin tonight,  but to my great delight,  everyone seemed to be tired.   I now have a few hours to catch up on emails and some sleep.   We are going to The Abbey Theatre tomorrow night,  so I am really looking forward to that.

My first tour in July was with Johnsmith to Dingle, (Ballyferriter) Doolin and Clifden.   It was a wonderful tour but we found music pretty hard to tie down in Clifden,  but I do know that our daytime activities more than made up for it.   This was a really wonderful group.   We laughed our way through the 10 days and then it was on to Donegal,  again with John.   The weather was not very kind to us on this trip,  but we had a plan B prepaired every day.   Our 2 big daytime festival days were cancelled due to heavy rain,  so that was dissapointing but the evening concert at Ballyshannon with Altan was tremendous.   My thanks to Dave,  Dave  and Liz for all the music and songs.   You were great guys.

With little or no rest we went headlong into a tour with Peter Pavarini and friends.   This was new , as we organised golf,  for the first time.   It worked out great though.  Peter and his friends did 2 nice gigs at Shanley’s,  Clonakilty and The Brog Inn, Tralee.   Brendan, (Stoney) Wall joined us for this one and I hope it will be his first of many.  He did a great job.   Tom Ruegger did some wonderful cartoons for us.   He won 14 Grammys for his work,  so I will be very proud to put some of them on my Web Site.   I have got to learn how to do it right away.   He was great and his wife Annie told us that we had to say that she was great also.   Marc,  another very special guest pulled some strings for me and got me a new Munster Jersey 2 weeks before they were due in to the shops.   Thanks a million Marc.   They were a very diverse,  but wonderful group.

I am now in the middle of an Anne Feeney Tour and I have just one more to do this year,  with Johnsmith,  starting on September 16.

I then head for USA on October 9.   I cannot wait to get away from the rain and experience a little sun on my back.

I couple of very good and positive things have happened to me within the last week or so.   I have very good and positive feelings about business and life in general is very good for me at this time.  LONG MAY IT LAST

I am writing this in my hotel room in Dublin at the end of a one week tour with two Southern Belles.  (That’s their story anyway)I will be dropping them of in the morning and getting home to get a bit of relaxation before the mayham starts again with Johnsmith on July 16.

I enjoyed another wonderful tour with Chuck Brodsky and his fans.   We covered new ground by staying in Galway City,  Dublin and Doolin.   There were so many highlights,  but I have to mention an incredible night with John Sheehan of the Dubliners in our hotel in Dublin.   John is so humble,  he is a wonderful man and he made one of our guests very happy by talking fiddle playing with him for over an hour.   His stories and playing  mesmerised everyone.  It was a very special night.   There were many great people with us,  but I must thank the Canadians for their input.   All in all it was such a special tour.   I must thank Chuck for his input also.   He sang for us almost every night.  His wife Jenny was also a joy.   We had a great first night with Foolin in Doolin and I want to thank Blackie,  Carl and Cyril for this.   Galway was really great and was very exciting at night.   Dublin,  of course is a great city and we explored it to the full.

I then had to go to Florida and Boston for 5 days and was very happy with the way it turned out.   I will be talking later about the Boston part of the trip.  I did a little business,  which may turn out well.  Next years tours are filling in very well and I think at this stage  my schedule is  pretty much full.

I had some bad news earlier this week when my former cab partner in Doolin, Noel O’Connor died.   This was very sad as Noel was only 49 years of age.  I could not get to the funeral as I was on tour,  so that made it more devastating for me.   Some of my very early guests would have stayed in Noel’s B & B in Doolin.

We have two very exciting back to back tours planned with Johnsmith.   I am really looking forward to John coming back and can’t wait to hear his new CD.   I have heard the tracks and I think it is his very best CD.   We have great artists lined up to play for us including:-  Don Stiffe,  Eilis Kennedy, Foolin in Doolin,  Fiddle Case,  Eoin Duignan,  Donogh Hennessy, The Howley Sisters,  Geraldine McGowan,  Altan.   What a music line-up !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to hear your comments on the blog.   Please feel free to leave them on the site.   I look forward to reading them.

This blog is going to be a little different as I am again basking in the afterglow of another wonderful tour.   I have just finished a tour with Denise and Gerry Dignan and 19 of their friends.  This tour was a little different to my usual tours,  as I heard expressions like Mystery School and Soul School etc. before the start and I wondered if I would GET IT,  but I can assure all,  that I DID.   I am smiling as I write this blog.   You were AWESOME.   I promised you that I would journalise the tour on my blog,  so here goes.   (Please let me know if I forget some event)

Day  1.   We left Bunratty and headed for our first night in Skibbereen without our glorious leader who had to stay back in Chicago for an extra day.   Our first stop was in Adare,  Co. Limerick where we did the introductions in glorious sunshine.  Who said it always rains in Ireland ?  We stopped for lunch at Charles Fort in Kinsale and were greeted by Padraic O’Rouirc who is a noted historian and he gave us a wonderful tour of the Fort.   This was a really nice introduction to Irish history.   We had dinner in our home for the next 3 days,  The West Cork Hotel.   The dinner was superb and we finished off the day with an  AUDIENCE WITH JOHN SPILLANE.   It was a glorious night of song,  laughter and even a few tears.   John is a superb entertainer.   Our group responded by buying up all available CDs.   This was a lovely gesture.   I was also really pleased that my brother Joseph and his wife Celene joined us for the night.   They are great John Spillane fans and they too were not dissapointed.

Day  2.   We drove to Clonakilty and had a very cold walk on Inchadoney Beach and went back to the town where we did a little shopping before having lunch.   This was a WAIT FOR GERRY morning.   We got back to Skkibbereen and did a tour of the Famine Centre.   Teri,  our guide was wonderful again.   She tells us famine stories with such passion and her knowledge is wonderful.   I should tell you that Terri was on a day off and came in especially for us.   THANK YOU TERI.  My friend Blaise picked Gerry up at the Airport and drove him down to Skibbereen and they arrived just as we finished the tour.   Blaise spent the next couple of days with us and he spent most of his time teaching our group some Irishisms.   We went to The Corner House for some Irish Traditional Music.   It was packed there,  as it was Saturday night,  but the music was grand.

Day 3.   We drove to Gougane Barra where we spent a lovely couple of hours.   We had a little service which was carried out by Chris Collins and Gerry sang a couple of songs.   This was my first experience of what our group was about,  and I got it.   It was lovely.   We then drove to the Buddhist Retreat Centre which again was very special.  It rained hard all afternoon but it did not dampen our spirits in any way.   We also got a great welcome from the Buddhist Midges.   I think everyone got a bite or two.   We stayed in tonight and had a sing-song which was enjoyed by all.

Day 4.  Today is a travel day and we leave Skibbereen for Tralee.   We drove by Bantry,  Glengarriff and onto Kenmare before stopping for a photo opportunity and coffee stop at Ladies View.   What a view !  We then drove to Killarney where we stopped for shopping etc.  (etc. means drink – you know who!)  It rained again for the entire day,  but we had an incredible nights entertainment at Siamsa Tire,  which was enjoyed  by all.   It was the story of the Blasket Islands. Just to mention that we had a lovely Italian meal, (yes,  in Ireland) in La Bella Bia,  before Siamsa Tire.

Day 5.  We got up a little late today and headed on to Dingle at noon(ish)   We stopped at Inch Beach where we learned about a certain Bishop……………….  Lunch was great and we headed for Dingle and then The Slea Head Drive.   It also rained today and we could not do the things which we wanted to do.   But the mist was not down so we could see the Blaskets and also Skellig Rocks.   We visited the Blasket Heritage Centre and watched a great documentary on the islands before having dinner in Ballyferriter.   We met Danny Sheehy and he took us on a walk around the town and onto the beach,  telling us stories of the area.   Another great experience.   We sang a couple of songs, (I think) and then headed back to our hotel in Tralee.

Day 6.  Today was a rest day and everyone did their own thing in Tralee.   A lot of people contributed handsomely to our economy.   Thanks a million.   We had an unusual night tonight.  This was a really painful night for me,  which gave me nightmares for a couple of nights and I think I am still traumatised by the experience.   I don’t think I will ever stay in our hotel again,  just in case we get a repeat of the night.   Gerry was in fine singing form !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!He sang for some Fresian (sp?) people.   Well,  they seemed to enjoy it anyway as well as some of our group.   A lot of people went down in my estimation that night,  but,  it takes all kinds.   I must tell you that Gerry apologised to me, (in private)  so all was well.

Day 7.  We drove to Doolin today.   Gerry had visited a stone circle in Grange Co. Limerick a couple of years ago and liked it,  so,  being a flexible gang,  we headed to Grange.  I must say that it was well worth the trip.   We lunched and shopped in Bunratty before visiting the Cliffs of Moher.   WHAT  A  SIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We ate in McDermotts Bar,  where the food was enormous and really great and relaxed to some Irish jigs and reels.

Day 8.  This was my favourite day.   We went by ferry to InisOirr,  the most easterly of the Aran Islands.   Everyone truly loved this day and we had a SUN BURN competition and I think it was a tie between,  Dillon,  Jim and myself,  but it was great.   I was joined by my friend Mick O’Shea and we just spent hours strolling around the island.  After the island we went to McGann’s Pub,  where we had a great meal and another wonderful night’s entertainment.   Kevin Griffin gave an exhibition on the banjo and Geraldine McGowan absolutely enthralled our group.   She is another wonderful entertainer.   Everyone went home smiling.

Day 9.  Today was our last full day in Ireland and we went to The Burren Region.   We were met by PJ Curtis who gave us a wonderful talk on the Burren Region and also talked about Irish History.   His story was very moving and many tears were shed.   He is a National Treasure.   We went for dinner to McHugh’s Pub in Liscannor,  where we all spoke of our wonderful tour.   It was a very happy night for all and there were also a few tears shed here also.

Day 10.   Back to Shannon Airport and reality.

I must at this stage say a few special thank you’s.   In fact I am going to mention each and every one of you.

Mary Lou……………For you enthusiasm and smiles

Ingrid…………………Again for your smiles and it was lovely to see the interaction between Mary Lou and yourself

Don and Diane………..Don,  you are perhaps the most relaxed American I have ever met and Diane was a joy.   Diane,  you remind me of someone and I just cannot think who.

Judy………………….You were also a joy and I know how much you enjoyed the experience.

Mary Beth…………I will never forget your poetry. It is amazing.    I look forward to my poetry email from you.

Regina………………Your devotion and love for your family shone through right through the trip.

Rosemary………………Your knowledge and love of Ireland also shone through

Erin…………………………Erin was the quiet one of the family,  but  I got a lot of joy also watching you ease yourself in to the tour

Geene……………………..It was lovely to see you enjoying yourself with Dillon.   Look forward to seeing you run in The Dublin City Marathon.

Dillon…………………..I know how much you enjoyed your first legal drinks.

Liam…………………………….What can I say about Liam !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!You were AWESOME  I hope you find some Murphy’s back in the USA

Kris………………………………Your talks were wonderful and your understanding of all things touched me greatly.

Jim………………………………..I loved to watch you watching Chris

Mary…………………………………The most Irish of the group.   It was lovely to watch you grow in to the group.

Barbara……………………….We had some really good conversations.   I hope to see you both next year.

Joyce……………………Joyce was lovely.  Your head was always up in the air.   Always excited and wanting to learn.

Jack and Jan You both also smiled through the trip and your calmness was lovely.

I  must of course also mention Paddy our driver.   As usual he was incredible.   Nothing was too much for him.  Thanks a million,  Paddy.

Last but not least I must mention Denise and Gerry.   You were wonderful.   I don’t think there was one problem.   You were both so easygoing.   It was just a joy.   Just one thing for next year.   Our new contract will not allow McNamara’s Band.

Well,  there is our tour in a nutshell.   I hope I did not leave anything out.   I would love some of you to leave a comment or two on my web site.  I know I will meet most of you again……………….’Till then……………………Slan

I am just back from a wonderful Johnsmith tour.   I am basking in the glory of perhaps the best tour ever  ?   there are a few reasons for this.   The first one is that I was able to walk every day,  for the first time and this makes the experience so much better.   I walked on beaches that I could only look at before.  It was wonderful.

Another reason was that the organising of the tour was at another level this year and this really pays off,  especially with the music.   We had much more input into music this year.   It was amazing almost every night.

Last,  but not least was our wonderful gang of 21.   They were incredible.  Perhaps the most punctual ever,  but most of all,  they were FUN,  each and every one of them.   I would like to thank Reba,  Jan,  Jean,  Scott M,  Paula,  Lolly,  Kevin,  Steve,  Sherry,  Cathy,  Scott L,  Greg M,  Diana,  Greg B,  Sheri,  Terri,  Linda,  James,  Katie,  Maryl and Russ for being such splendid travelling companions.   I will miss you all.  The emails have started coming already,  which is great.Paddy also did a great job of driving and everyone felt comfortable in the bus,  but most of all John was really great.   We will have to tie him up to slow him down.   He wants so much to make everyone happy.   I think he sucseeded on this trip

The weather was good,  so we did exactly what we wanted each day.   there were many highlights,  some old and some new.  John Spillane did awonderful gig at De Barras in Clonakilty,  but the music was was wonderful in Dingle and Doolin also.   We did a lot of new things,  most of which really worked well.   It was AWESOME.

I now start planning for the next tour, which is with Gerry Dignan from Chicago.   that is also sold out and is going the same route a the last one,  except we will be staying in Tralee instead of Ballyferriter.   I am really looking forward to touring with Gerry and his wife Denice.   We will be doing some different things,  which I will talk about on my next blog after the tour………………..Until then………………….

Well,  as you can see I did not write a blog as promised in the USA.   I am now approx.  6 weeks late in writing this one.   I was so busy in America and since I got home.(That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it)

My trip to America was wonderful.   It started with the Folk Alliance in Memphis and I made a lot of great contacts,  which now have turned into solid bookings for 2010.   I was a little intimidated at first by it’s size,  but when I came to terms with it I really enjoyed it.   I met an old friend Drew Nelson, who is a great singer/songwriter from Michigan and he really steered me around the event.   Drew will be hosting a tour with me next year .

When that was over I went to see Graceland,  which was a longtime ambition of mine and I enjoyed it so much,  but I will have lifelong memories of my visit to the Civil Rights Museum.   To stand on the spot where Martin Luther King was assasinated was a humbling experience.   I would advise anyone who visits Memphis to go there.   Memphis is such a great city.

I then rented a car and drove to Charlotte, NC to visit my friend Paul Finnican and his wife Stephanie.  I stopped off in Nashville and spent a night listening to great music in The Bluebird Cafe and then went on to Asheville and called on Chuck Brodsky to finalise details for his upcoming tour in June.   I then had 5 days in Charlotte and one day in Greensboro, NC,  where I met Jill and Brian Higgins,  who are friends who toured a few years ago.  We had a great night.   Paul and Stephanie were wonderful hosts and Paul and I hope to do a lot of business together in the next few years.  I then drove back over the Appalachian Mountains in a snow storm and stayed another couple of nights in Nashville,  where I listened to music in The Bluebird again and went to the Station Inn on the second night to listen to some Bluegrass.

Texas came next and an unforgetable tour with my dear friend Johnsmith.   This was the icing on the cake.  We had a wonderful trip there.   I did my little piece on stage every night and to see John perform on 8 nights was a joy.   I met some incredible people and of course met some old friends from past tours.   I had a meal in a little roadside cafe in Texas,  but I will not talk about that,  as I thought I was going to  die after it.   the weather was strange in Texas.   We arrived in Kerrville at 3.00pm and the temperature was 86f.   By 6.00pm it had dropped to 36f.   Incredible…………..

I have been doing some work in setting up an American Tour for the wonderful Irish Singer/Songwriter,  JOHN SPILLANE.   I am so excited about this project.   It looks like he will be doing it in February/March,  2010.      As of now it looks like he will be performing in Texas,  Arkansas, Tennessee,  Alabama,  South Carolina,  North Carolina,  West Virginia and Maryland.   Don’t miss him if he is in your area.   I will keep you  posted both in the blog and on my web site.

I then flew to Savannah for the last leg and met my friend Billy Hogan who flew out from Ireland  to spend St. Patrick’s Day with his cousins Marty and Colleen Hogan.  We had a pretty wild time but we behaved ourselves,  after all we are not getting any younger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We then drove to Florida and stayed mostly in Sarasota where I have friends.   We also went to Everglade City and has such an exciting trip on an Air Boat.   Back to Savannah then and home to reality.

Well,  that was my USA trip.  I will never forget it.   I have been working hard since I got home getting ready for Johnsmith’s Tour,  which starts on May 5th.   I am looking forward to getting going again.  I feel we have stepped up a notch again this year,  so hoping things will go as well as other years.

My wonderful rugby team, Munster have been giving us great joy again this year.   They are about to win their league and are in the last four of the European Cup again.   My home club, Shannon are in the All Ireland Final.  I will be on tour the day of the final,  so that is sad.   Ireland also won the Grand Slam in European Rugby for the first time in 60 years.   We actually saw the winning game on TV in Tampa,  Florida.   What a day !

That’s all for now.  I hope I will get to write a blog after every tour.   Well……………..that’s the plan anyway

I have to get this blog done before I leave for the USA on Tuesday.   Yes,  I am back to USA again.   This time it is for about 5 weeks.   I am starting off in Memphis TN for The American Folk Alliance.   This is the biggest folk music convention in the USA.   There will be about 2,000 folk singers and just about everyone in the folk music industry will be represented in some way.   I hope to make some really good contacts.   I am really looking forward to this as I will also be meeting some of my heroes.   Also we will be visiting Graceland,  which really excites me.   From there I will be going to the Carolinas where I will be meeting some friends and doing some business also.   I am also thinking of doing a detour on the way to see the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.   When I am finished there I fly to Houston,  where I join my great friend Johnsmith on a ten day concert tour of Texas.   I just cannot wait to meet John.   We will be also meeting many people there who have travelled with us in the past.   Some of my favourite people come from Texas.   When I finish there I fly to Savannah, Georgia where I spend St. Patrick’s week.   My old friend from home,  Billy Hogan is joining me there and we will be hanging out with his cousins,  who of course know how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.   Billy and I then head to Florida,  where I spend the last 5/6 days of my trip.   Pretty exciting……………………….yea.

At this stage I must mention some very sad news that I got in January.   I learned of the death of Vic Hayman,  AR DEIS DEI GO RAIBH A AINM.  DILIS.  ( translated from Irish………..May his honourable name be at the right hand of God)   Vic was a giant in the world of folk music.  There are many folk singers who would not be on the road only for Vic.   Also many CDs’ would not have been made only for the generous intervention of Vic.   But for me Vic was an inspiration.   He travelled with us in 2005, (I think) and we went to see a wonderful ancient site called Beltony Stone Circle.   There was about a half mile climb up a dirt road to see it.   Now I have had back problems for about 15 years,  so I was feeling sorry for myself and did not try the walk,  but Vic,  complete with walking frame did it.   I thought to myself that I would never miss the Beltony experience again……………..and I did not.   My back has been improving steadily since and now I walk every day.   Last week I did a 10km, (6 miles) walk,  so I am feeling really good about it and I think of Vic very often during my walks.  It was a joy also to see how Reba,  his wife looking after him and I am so happy that Reba is joining us for our Johnsmith May tour.   I am really looking forward to seeing her again.   I in fact met Vic and Reba in Fort Lauderdale in December at a John McCutcheon concert,  which actually was Vic’s last one.

I have almost all arrangements made for the 2009 touring schedule.   Hotels have been booked and we have a really exciting Summer on the way.   We will be visiting Dublin for the first time and I am really looking forward to that.

That’s all for now.   I hope to write my next blog from the Good Ole US of A.

I really don’t know where to begin.  I had hoped to be writing this on a beach in Florida,  sometime in November,  but I was so busy in the USA,  I just don’t know where the time went.

I suppose I will start with a quick run-down of my trip.  I left Shannon on October 30 headed to Sarasota, Florida.   I had a wonderful time there and especially enjoyed the sun.   I went to a Blues Festival there and also had one of the most memorable nights of my life watching the election results come in at a Democrat Party in Sarasota. I will bring that one to my grave.

I then spent about 10 days in Key West, (what a life !!!!!!)  This is one of the most wonderful places I have ever been to.   Everyone is so happy there.   It’s like going back to the sixties.   I hope to get there again next year.   Thanks a million Jay and Caroline…………  Now I had to do some work and flew to Chicago and from there on to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving where I had a wonderful time with Anne Feeney and family.   We even had an Irish night in her house.   It was wonderful.

From there I took a flight to Nashville,  spent a night there and drove to Norman, OK where I met some friends.   I spent a wonderful night there and really enjoyed the drive.   On then to Colorado Springs, CO.  The weather really got bad there and the snow was difficult for me,  but I got used to it.   I did a presentation there,  but really enjoyed being there.   We went to see my great friend Johnsmith perform there also.   As usual he insisted that I sing a couple of songs,  which I really enjoyed and we met some wonderful people after the gig.  The next night it was on to Fort Collins, CO.,  where i did a couple of songs with John,  again.   I am getting used to this thing now,  but I think I will stick to my day job, ha! ha!

I now got a notion that I would like to see Cheyenne, Wyoming,  so I drove through the snow there,  spent an hour there and started a 1,400 mile journey back to Nashville.   I was just ahead of the weather all the time but it was a wonderful drive.  I am so happy when I am driving the American highways.   I has always been my dream to do this,  so I thank my lucky stars and of course, GOD for my good fortune.

I then flew back to Florida from Nashville where I met Dennis Devine,  who is hoping to put together a tour with me this year.   He helped me so much with my computer problems.   Thanks a million Dennis and Peggy.   Also,  thanks a million Martha.   Jan and Jean were also so good to me there and looked after me so well.  While there I went to see a hero of mine,  John McCutcheon.   I was not dissapointed.  As the Americans say,  “He was AWESOME”   I am in fact listening to his album………Hail to the Chief,  as I write this.

I got home two days before Christmas and I rested all over the holidays.   I will write again next week and tell you of my plans for 2009.   I now am in the middle of getting a brochure together,  so things are still busy here.

TOM