Dave McGilton: News

Just a quick note to say the Podcast/ Session myself and my great pal Mary Courtney did with the great Mazz O'Flaherty on New Yrs day is now uploaded on her website  www.dinglerecordshop.com  -It's on her main page,right hand side, just click on the link and away you go... hearing it today brought back lovely memories of a brilliant afternoon spent with Mazz in her record shop in Dingle.

Mazz had thought we were going to do two separate interviews but time was against us a little and even though Mary and I had planned to do the session together poor Mazz was landed in it when we arrived and announced "shur we'll do it together as the one interview". Being always ready to roll and unflappable as she is, Mazz switched on the mic, kicked off and just let things happen as they happened and songs that hadnt been rehearsed or planned were sung and other stuff went by the wayside and thats how it should be-a live event ,a bit of fun and a few tunes and stories. Hope you enjoy it- We had a lovely couple of hours in great company-what more could you ask for... thank you and Bless you Mazz for a chance to connect with your listeners and for a session that was great fun and magic to do.

Well,my great pal Mary Courtney was home from New York for New Year and as we always meet every New Year we decided we'd love to do something new and very special for this New Year's day and so,armed with guitar and bodhran off we went to Dingle town accompanied by Mary's sister Debbie who is a great pal and musician too.We had been invited by the great Mazz O'Flaherty to do a podcast in her shop the Dingle Record Shop and no better day than the first of the year to do it.

Mazz runs a great shop there in Green St. in Dingle and for the last while she has been quietly recording sessions in the shop and putting them up on her website for all to hear-there are some great sessions up there for the listener-The sessions have received hundreds of thousands of hits and it's great to have a chat, play a few tunes and get the word out.Mazz is a gem and so easy to chat to-we had a magic afternoon in her company,sang a few songs ,did a couple of spoken word pieces and chatted away.We were saying afterwards what a perfect way to start the New Year,to be performing music ,singing in harmony and having a good chat and plenty of fun thrown in for good measure.Start as you mean to go on!

The session we did will be up there on the site in due course as there's a list of sessions to be edited and put up there before us but keep an eye out for it. In the meantime there are plenty of other sessions you can listen to now -Mazz's site is www.dinglerecordshop.com    

God bless you Mazz,you're a great woman and a true supporter of Irish music-go raibh mile maith agat...Dave 

A very Happy Christmas to everyone and here's to 2012 bringing good news-hold on tight -I've a feeling 2011 was just the warm up act  -stay safe and well throughout the year-the darkest hour is just before dawn.

slan, Dave

I've been following with huge interest the ever growing movement globally that is using the model of Tahrir Square in Cairo to peacefully protest the criminal inequality that exists in this world as a result of a handful of people (the 1 %) greedily exploiting the majority (the "99 %") through extremely dishonest and unethical business practices, particularly in the banking /mortgage areas.This relentless push for short term profit at any cost in major corporations,banks included, whether it be through outsourcing jobs in order to exploit cheap labour,through deregulation in banking, or through the relentless attempt to privatise everything from health to education has destroyed the world for most of its occupants and has turned everyday life for the majority into a constant struggle to just survive. Well, we didnt come here to just survive,we came here to develop and learn more about ourselves, the world and the universe we live in and we came here to make life a fascinating and hugely enjoyable experience,not a nightmare of unnecessary poverty, made for profit war and the daily struggle to keep a roof over our heads and food in our mouths.Add to that badly managed health services, unaffordable education and greedy politicians with their noses in the trough.What kind of world is that to pass on to the children coming after us.

People have had enough and a line has been crossed with the bailouts of huge corporations at the expense of ordinary taxpayers.The bailouts that have occurred globally ,but especially here in Ireland are not only immoral and unjust ,they are an imposition of a debt dictatorship where ordinary citizen's rights have been trampled on and their concerns brushed aside.  In the name of God when did we decide as a nation that Banks and Property Developers were more important than the Sovereign State or the people in it-that's just it,we DIDNT decide it...that decision was taken for us, in the middle of the night by a handful of terrified politicians, completely out of their depth, acting in the interests of the 1 % and not the 99%. And those that created the mess expect that we will now trust them to get us out of it? I dont think so.They had their chance.They blew it. They made their choice when they ran to help the 1 % and turned their backs on the 99. Their time is over. We will never be forgiven by future generations if we dont stop these financial predators and their corrupt enabling political servants in every country.

In an Irish context that fateful decision in Dublin in 2008 was totally undemocratic and cannot and should not stand.If these protests and the speed at which they are growing worldwide are any indication, then we are in for a winter of serious discontent. The protests will become the biggest public rejection of a deeply corrupt and bankrupt way of conducting the affairs of nation states and the deeply unethical and obscenely greedy attitude of "profit before everything else" will be met head on and defeated.By the 99 %. On behalf of the 99%.

CHECK OUT  WWW.OCCUPYWALLST.ORG 

AND WWW.OCCUPYTOGETHER.ORG  AND WWW.OCCUPYDAMESTREET.ORG 

There's something in the air...troubled times ......change is coming...   Dave

 

Hi everyone, just to let you know that my pal Aidan Dooley is back in Cork with his great new  play O'SULLIVAN BEARA-THE LAST GAELIC CHIEFTAIN-it plays in the Everyman from tonight 18th July to  Sat the 23rd.July-one week only as there are other dates in West Cork.

I was proud to contribute some dialogue and to do the music/sound effects for the play and it will be great to see it in this beautiful theatre. If you're near or in Cork come along and check it out.It's message of resilience and defiance is timely.

Dave 18-7-11

I thought I had posted on this already,apologies-The great Aidan Dooley is back in Ireland and doing a 6 week  tour of his new play "O'Sullivan Beara-The Last Gaelic Chieftain"-i'm delighted to have collaborated with Aidan on the play and have done the music /score for it.His performance is top notch as always.-

Dates are below:

APRIL

Belltable Arts Centre-Limerick Fri 15th/Sat 16th April www.belltable.ie 061 319886

Mon 18th April- Simon Ryan Theatre,Tipperary www.tipperary-excel.com  062 80250

Tues 19th April- Village Arts Centre-Kilworth Co.Cork  025 32227

Tues 26th April -St.John's Theatre Listowel www.stjohnstheatrelistowel.com 068 22566

Wed.27th April The Glen Theatre,Banteer Co.Cork 029 56239

Thurs 28th/Fri 29th April -Friar's Gate Theatre,Kilmallock www.friarsgate.ie  063 98727

MAY

Tues. 3rd and Wed 4th May-Castlecourt Hotel,Westport www.quayschool.ie  098 26062

Thur.5th May- The Glens Theatre-Manorhamilton www.theglenstheatre.com  071-9855833

Fri 6th and Sat 7th May- Balor Arts Centre-Ballybofey www.balorartscentre.com 074 9131840

Tues 10th-Sat 14th May- Town Hall Theatre Galway- www.tht.ie 091 569777

Tues 17th and Wed 18th May- Garter Laner Arts Centre,Waterford www.garterlane.ie 051 855038   

 

Well,

It's just over a year since I began this project and I'm delighted to say, having had great assistance,musically and engineering wise, from the brilliant Donncha Moynihan(thank you Donn) at the helm in his Rise Studio and with great musical contributions from top class artists, the album is finished. In addition to being a collection of songs about the people places and things that have inspired me these are among the best of my folk songs from nearly 20 years of writing.More than anything though it is a tribute to my late Dad,Alan.

I hope I 've done him proud with the recordings and I hope you all enjoy it as you get to hear it . 

The CD is on sale for 12 EU including P&P -you can obtain a copy by emailing me here at the site or at dmcg79@eircom.net 

thank you,Dave -March 2011

 

Hi all, i've just put together a small video clip for The Sky Belongs to Dreamers. I hope you enjoy it and that it pays proper tribute to an extraordinary man and to all those who gave their lives trying to save the lives of countless others. It seems so long ago now considering all that's happened since and very little of it good but hope springs...  it can be seen here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4q28P_VcHc

Hi to all, when you visit the website a song will automatically start playing .The songs will be varied week to  week and if you want to stop a song playing, the player is at the very top of the page in that black strip you can see across the top of any page.You'll see the songtitle in the narrow strip at top of page.That is the player,the controls are to the left of the songtitle...that way if you choose to prefer to watch the video clip at bottom of the home page you wont be blasted with two songs at the same time ! god forbid !:)...

Just listening now to the mastered CD which arrived yesterday .  I’m more than delighted with it-it sounds just fantastic, great mastering of the CD by Ruairi O’Flaherty.  I’m very excited to have the full and completed album as we began this over a year ago and it’s so fitting that it arrives now as we’ve  just marked a year since my Dad passed on and the album is a tribute to him.

 I’ll be sorting the sleeve this coming week and will include the lyrics to all the songs. The song you’re hearing on arriving to the website is a song called Sky and Sea. It’s on the album, the album is called  “ ALL OUR DAYS” .

This particular song along with another of mine called Roses from the Heart was chosen to be part of an amazing project put together by Tasmanian artist and great friend Christina Henri. You’ll have heard me mention it before on the site. The project is called Roses from the Heart and is a commemoration of/tribute to all of the Irish and English “convict” women transported to Australia over a 60 year period up until 1854 or so. For more see www.christinahenri.com.au

More on the album as we get the sleeves sorted out.

 

-Dave 12/3/11 

P.S – the deepest condolences to all those caught up in the nightmare unfolding in Japan. Nature can be so cruel at times-prayers go out to the people of Japan, particularly in the worst hit areas.  

Hi to all who might be visiting the site,thank you for the emails and lovely comments. I'm in the process of putting together a few clips on windows moviemaker to co-incide with the new album being almost ready for the off.

they're very basic videos but they give an idea and feel of some of the songs to come and one  can be found on my youtube channel at present,a clip for The Day Has Yet to Come. The link for it is just below my  words on the opening page of the website.

I received a huge compliment from Christy Moore in relation to the singing of the song and it was an emotional thing to receive considering Christy in my mind is one the all time greats in irish folk along with Luke Kelly and Makem and Clancy.Thank you Christy, it put a spring in the step when it was needed!

The album is being mastered today in fact so I'm hoping to have it next week and once  its ready i'll get it up on to i-tunes and will have some physical cds made up too . I'll also post some of the songs up here so people can hear whats on the CD. I'm very proud of the album and will talk more about it when it arrives next week.

The album has 11 songs,its basically some of the best of my folk writing over the last 20 years or so and strangely it feels like the "debut" album. In the oddest way I feel like I've just served the apprenticeship as a writer and singer and can say this is a brand new beginning. Well,who said it was going to be easy or quick! ...:)..a slow burner !

Like so many worldwide I’ve been glued to the unfolding events in Cairo and the Middle East.The revolutions that have taken place in Tunisia and Egypt have been extraordinary and show how powerful people are when they are united in their desire to bring real change to their lives instead of living in increasing desperation and frustration.

One look at the story and accompanying horrific and heartbreaking photos of KHALED SAID in Cairo or the story and pics of MOHAMED BOUAZIZI in Tunisia or the horrifying video clips of NEDA dying on the street in Tehran and you can fully understand the rage and the fire driving these revolutions.

Tahrir square in Cairo in particular was incredible to watch as it veered from peaceful demonstrations to the sight of pro democracy protestors fighting for their lives against vicious onslaughts organised by Murbarak and his thugs. Then to see these incredibly brave people gain victory over a 30 year old brutal tyrannical regime was just something to remember forever. They’ve a long road ahead but they will never allow that kind of repression or tyranny rule them again, a tyranny I might add, backed and supported financially and militarily by many western governments, utter hypocrites that they are.

Having seen the rise of Solidarity and the shipyard protests in Gdansk in what was then occupied Poland in the early 1980’s and then the revolutions of Eastern Europe in 1989 and early 90’s as the Berlin Wall came down these protests have a very similar feel but they are also different in that the Egyptian Revolution in particular seems like the beginning of something very new for the world.

This was virtually a leaderless revolution and was conducted peacefully and with the minimum of violence and could almost be called a graceful revolution and it’s not going to stop within the borders of Egypt. This has resonated deeply across the world particularly in the light of the recent economic turmoil and sense of despair felt by so many worldwide in terms of their economic future and in terms of people instinctively feeling they’ve been “had” by a small self- interested incredibly greedy, deeply corrupt collection of bankers and corporate parasites in collusion with equally inept and corrupt politicians.

The game is up and people are waking up and pushing hard against what they perceive to be a rotten system globally which has benefitted a tiny few at the expense of the majority of humanity. What’s so interesting to me personally is the speed and ease with which these so called immovable dictatorships and corrupt governments are being overthrown. It feels like they’re so corrupt they’ve rotted from the inside out and so it doesn’t take too much to pull them down and destroy them. For many decades, probably longer, a small handful of people have kept us dependent on fossil fuels for our energy despite there being alternative sources of energy, they have destroyed entire nations with their financial practices and flooded the world with weapons of every description, each weapon system more horrifying and disgusting than the last. Their days are numbered. I truly feel that 2011 will bring massive changes.

As they were and are saying in Tahrir Square and many other countries - KEFAYA: -ENOUGH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKLunyiOjBc

Well,its the 4/10/10 and August has been really really busy.I'll sit down soon and give a proper and full description of the two events that took all of my time during August,namely Aidan Dooley's new play "O'Sullivan Beara-The Last Gaelic Chieftain" and Christina Henri's "Roses from the Heart" Project.

Both projects were really successful and were an absolute pleasure and honour to be associated and involved with.I'll post some pics of both events and give a more detailed description of what occurred.

For now,on the heels of the last couple of months appalling drip feed of what state the country's finances are truly in I'm posting a small clip of a video I put together with Windows Movie Maker.My blood boils when I see people who were elected and expected to look after our interests doing everything but that and how they've totally lined their own and their cronies' pockets at everyone else's expense.

I suspect the reckoning is far from over and the extent of the fallout has yet to be truly established or measured.This has become a matter of justice not merely setting records straight as to who did what.Suffice it to say nothing will ever be the same and trust in politicians and indeed in institutions that were supposed to work towards the benefit of the citizens of this country has been shattered and will remain so for many years to come.

We've survived worse and we will survive this too, not because of politicians' help but because we are an extraordinary and resilient people and we dont do surrender,not least to a handful of greedy pathetic creeps whose entire reason for living is to accumulate and to exploit those weaker or poorer.Their time will come.

Dave-4/10/10

Roses from the Heart ™

Roses from the Heart™ is impacting on thousands of people, influencing them to travel and reconnect with family members on the other side of the world. Families living in Great Britain and Ireland are visiting Australia to travel in the footsteps of their convict ancestors. Australians are traveling back home to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to see the land from whence their ancestors came. In some cases families are meeting for the first time as people learn about relatives across the sea whose existence had previously been unknown. Participating in Roses from the Heart™ has facilitated this experience for a great many people.

Hundreds of Australians are visiting Tasmania to personally hand their bonnet tributes to Christina Henri and to visit Female Factory Sites and colonial homesteads where their female convict ancestors spent time.

Background

Roses from the Heart™ is a unique memorial to the 25,566 convict women transported to Australia from Britain and Ireland from 1788 to 1853.

The concept of Christina Henri, an artist completing her PhD in Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Tasmania, the project involves the making of a bonnet, similar to that worn at the time, to commemorate the life and contribution each of the transported women made towards the founding of a new nation. Already 15,000 bonnets have been contributed from all parts of the world, many of these from descendants of the original transportees.

To learn more about this enduring, extraordinary memorial to Australia’s convict past visit Christina’s website (www.christinahenri.com.au) for more information and details of how to obtain a bonnet pattern or make a purchase.

Christina's art is featured in the World Heritage Convict serial nomination (11 Sites) presented to UNESCO members in Paris. Christina Henri is the only artist featured and her work has been commended for attracting attention to the lesser known story of convict women. Her work has been shown on a number of the 11 nominated sites including, the Cascades Female Factory Site, Tasmania; Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasmania; Fremantle Prison, Fremantle, WA; Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney, NSW and will be shown on Norfolk Island; Woolmer’s Estate, Tasmania and at Old Government House, Parramatta, New South Wales in 2010.
(See Australian Convict World Heritage Nominations - pps 151/152)

Bringing the Spirit of the Convict Women Home …..

On 28 August 2010 Christina, in response to an invitation by Elizabeth Kearns, Manager of the Cork City Gaol, Heritage Centre, will ‘take some of the girls (the bonnets symbolise the convict lasses) back home’ to present their unique stories in words and music. This event will especially commemorate the 194 Irish convict women who, in 1828, were condemned to transportation in the prison ship Elizabeth, for often trifling crimes committed in their native land.

Irish convict woman Mary Walsh will also be remembered. Mary, a resident of Clonmel, was sentenced, to seven years in the harsh penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land for allegedly stealing cloth from a local shop. She arrived at Hobart Town in April 1842, accompanied by her one year old daughter. In 1843 her husband James addressed one of the most moving love letters to his wife on the other side of the world. This letter, now in the keeping of the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, forms the basis of an intriguing mystery surrounding both Mary and her family back in Ireland.

Mary’s tale has been encapsulated by the composer of the Fields of Athenry, Pete St John, in a new tribute song The Bells of Ireland. Cork musician, Dave McGilton, likewise moved by Mary’s plight, has also written an especially poignant song, Sky and Sea which looks at the transportation story from the point of view of those left behind. Fred Rea has also penned a song performed by local Perth duo Fiona Rea and Latiesha Boucher), titled Christina Take Me Home.

On Friday 27th August, a concert will be held at the West Cork Hotel as part of the Skibbereen Heritage Week. Fiona Rea, Latiesha Boucher, Fred Rea, Maria Forde from Australia along with local singer Dave McGilton and Sean Roche. Local members of Comhaltas and a local choir will also take part.

Christina Take me Home will be performed in the Cork Gaol on Saturday 28th August. Also performing, Dave McGilton and Western Australian Corkonian musician and songwriter Fred Rea, who is also owner/editor of The Irish Scene which he produces for the Irish community in Australia. The whole event will be narrated by Christina Henri.

At the Cobh Heritage Centre on Sunday 29th August, a concert will be held. This concert will be narrated by Christina Henri and will again have the above mentioned artists performing plus Maria Forde and Sean Roche. At the time of transportation to Australia, Cobh was known as Queenstown and was the port where many of the Irish Convict women embarked from in the 1800’s. There will be a blessing of the Bonnets at 12 Noon

On 4 September ‘Bringing the Spirit of the Convict Women Back Home’ will be staged in Dublin organised by Pete St John and a ‘Blessing of the Bonnets’ ceremony will be held at an Inchicore.

The following weekend, 11/12 September, a ‘Blessing of the Bonnets’ ceremony and ‘Bringing the Spirit Back Home’ show will be presented in the picturesque fishing village of Kilkeel in Northern Ireland as a mark of respect to the many convict women transported from County Down. Additional performances and bonnet ceremonies may be staged.

See attached for other events.

To support these presentations, a CD featuring all the musicians and again narrated by Christina Henri, is being produced and will be available for sale at each event.

Christina has also been invited to have an exhibition of 13,000 bonnets at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham, England on the 19-22 August, 2010. This Festival sees over 40,000 people visit and Roses from the Heart™ is a main draw card for the Festival as interest in connecting with the convict story and making a bonnet tribute is spreading rapidly throughout the Country.

See:
http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=25&view=features http://www.twistedthread.com/uploads/pdf/FoQ Additional Features.pdf

Following Christina Henri’s Irish tour she has been invited to hold both a ‘Blessing of the Bonnets’ and an exhibition of bonnets in Jersey, the Channel Islands England on September 19, 2010.
_______________________________________________________________________


Christina Henri
Roses from the Heart
www.christinahenri.com.au

Earlier this year I had a meeting here in Cork with Aidan Dooley,the writer and actor whose brilliant play Tom Crean Antarctic Explorer has been so well received and celebrated in the past few years.We had first met in Gougane Barra in 2008 and collaborated a little on that play in that the chorus of one of my songs is used in the play.Shortly after that Aidan mentioned he was researching background for a new play on O'Sullivan Beara,one of our long lost heroes in Irish history.

Aidan confirmed during the meeting in January he was going ahead with the new play.It was to be called "O'Sullivan Beara -the Last Gaelic Chieftain" and he asked if I would do the music for it.It was a great honour to be asked and a great challenge to work on the sounds/music for the play.

The months have flown by and here we are ,on the eve of it's debut in Theatre by The Lake in Gougane Barra.It has been a very exciting and interesting process,watching and being part of the play as it has developed and equally interesting for me to write/create the music/links to match the moods.I hope I've done the work justice and I'm hugely looking forward to seeing it performed before a live audience.I've seen first hand how much blood sweat and tears go into the writing and rehearsing of a one man show such as this and I've an even greater respect and appreciation for the process now and for Aidan in his undertaking of such a challenge.

It's a riveting,powerful and poignant story and Aidan has a very strong piece of theatre in his hands once again.On a personal note its a HUGE pleasure to be part of it. See you in Gougane Barra ! Munster abu.

Hi to anyone who has come here over the last few months and was looking for news/updates.My apologies for not keeping the site up to date,I've been so busy with family events and commitments I havn't had a chance to visit and update.I'll be updating music and news in the next couple of weeks.Thanks for visiting and stay safe and well.

Dave

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope this year sees you staying healthy and happy and that its not as harsh as last year was for most.
-Dave

Where to start...for a few months now I've been in contact with John Hagan a journalist originally from Ireland but now living in Tasmania.We got chatting following a very interesting article of his in a national sunday newspaper here,(there's a link to the article on the links page)..long story short I had written a song called Sky and Sea which echoed very strongly the subject he was talking about ,namely the plight of those that had been transported to Australia/Van Diemen's land in the 19th century.I sent the song to John and he loved it and suggested it might be sent to a friend of his, Fred Rea in Perth, Western Australia as he is involved/connected with a project being put together in Tasmania.
Little did I know how powerful this project was to be but I had a great conversation with Fred last week. Fred hails originally from Shandon St in Cork and now is very involved with the Irish Community in Western Australia,Perth in particular.There's a link to Fred's site in the links section.
The project Fred is connected with is the singular vision of an amazing conceptual Artist in Hobart Tasmania by the name of Christina Henri.Christina has called the project Roses from the Heart(tm) and it is one of the most inspirational and powerful projects I've heard about in a long long time.Please visit her site for more information but having corresponded with her and chatted into the wee small hours (!) on Skype I'm convinced what Christina is doing is a deeply moving and very spiritual work. It appeals on so many levels and in essence what she is doing is according all of the Convict women of Ireland, the U.K.and Australia the respect and acknowledgement and humanity they were never given as prisoners and Christina is going further than that ,she is having a Bonnet made for EVERY SINGLE WOMAN that was transported in prison ships to Van Diemen's Land.-some 25,566 Bonnets..yep..25,566 Bonnets!! It doesnt get any more powerful and extraordinary in my book,this is a very special and profound gesture. I wrote a new song almost immediately on speaking with Christina as the story was so inspirational and gave the song to the Project as my contribution so far to the amazing work. The song is called Roses from the Heart(tm) as Christina very kindly gave it that title and it will be sung at various Roses from the Heart(tm) events next year .It is such an honour to be associated with this project and I urge anyone reading this to visit the site www.christinahenri.com.au and see for yourself what is happening and maybe offer some assistance if you can.Christina is coming to Ireland at the end of August 2010 and will be visiting Cobh and Cork City Gaol in Sunday's Well for a blessing of the Bonnets event and to "bring the girls home" as it were. It will be an amazing weekend as the Cork City Gaol are hosting Christina in tandem with launching a book by Australian author Suzanne Voytas about one particular ship of convict women that left Cork in 1828 ,the prison ship Elizabeth. 9 years of painstaking research has gone into the book and the subsequent contacting of descendants of those women and it is hoped some of those families will also be present at the events the same weekend at the City Gaol in Sunday's Well Cork.
More info as I get it but please check out the sites mentioned.I will post an early version of the song shortly,a better recording will be done in the New Year but this will give a flavour of what is involved.
Thanks for reading.
Dave

I didn't want to jinx anything by mentioning this before now but I've just received confirmation that the song of mine that i'm most proud of writing , "The Sky Belongs To Dreamers" is to be included on John McDermott's (ex irish Tenor) new album to be released later this month.The album is called Journeys and details can be found at www.johnmcdermott.com
John has done a fantastic version of the song,its very beautiful.
This song was first covered in 2007 and is sung beautifully and to this day by my great friend Mary Courtney in New York and to have it covered now also by John is a huge honour and I'm very excited that it will reach a new audience now as it's my ambition to have the song heard as far and wide as possible as it's a song for peace as well as a tribute to the heroic Fr Mychal Judge and the emergency responders of 9/11.
I'm hugely honoured that the song is getting heard.
More details as we go.
Dave

I've spent the last few weeks, as everyone has I'm sure,reading about the banks and the financial institutions being bailed out by the government or should I say by the tax payers and ordinary citizens of Ireland.
It just seems beyond belief to me that we are rewarding incompetence and gross negligence and furthermore underwriting any future mismanagement by guaranteeing bailout funds and getting very little in return for it.
No-one seems to be responsible for the mess we're in or falling on their sword, in fact quite the contrary ,what's happening now in America and no doubt here, is that banks are still rewarding bonuses to their executives but now its from bailout money and the creeps who led us down this road to disaster who,inexplicably, still hold a job, now they're filling their pockets before they "retire "early.
It really is the stuff of "let them eat cake and stuff the public as long as we're alright"...
I watched a friend in a certain glass factory in Waterford on the news last Friday,a highly skilled man turfed out of his job after 30 years and shown the utmost disrespect in the process.
When are we going to wake up and see the wholescale corporate plundering and unjust social structures that exist here?
I've written a song out of sheer frustration and anger about what I feel is going on,it's on the music page in Acoustic demo form,a better version will follow and I know they say never write something in anger but sometimes you just have to voice it LOUD N CLEAR.
Stay safe n well and though its small comfort I hope better times will come to all those being cut off at the knees as a result of the greed that has been allowed to run riot through this country for the last decade...Dave

It was fantastic to watch Barack Obama become the 44th President of America yesterday.It was also such a huge relief to see George Bush and Cheney exit the White House.It will take years to repair what they've visited upon America and the world."By their fruits ye shall know them" and the destruction and removal of trust ,social responsibility and honesty in public service and discourse has been almost total after 8 years of their catastrophic policies of division and discord yet strangely Obama wouldnt have got to where he has so quickly without them making such a mess of their time in office.So there u go George & Dick,you two more than anyone,helped to make yourself and your politics obsolete.
Here's to a new beginning and my hearfelt hope that Obama is REALLY the personification of the change that everyone wants to see.Time will tell.Onwards and upwards !

Hi to all who are passing through...I hope 2009 is good to you and kinder to all esp.in the light of how 2008 ended up.Its a rough rough time for many and we're in very uncertain times so let's hope for a year that brings us all closer as family and friends and let's also hope for a year that marks a turnaround in terms of it being, if not the end of, then a huge move away from the "me me me" selfishness that has poisoned society since the early 80's.We're in a bind but we can fix it if wise heads prevail but that being said we can't be waiting around forever for politicians to get their heads out of the ground and out of their behinds.This one's down to all of us.
Here's to 09 ..STAY SAFE AND WELL WHOEVER AND WHEREVER YOU ARE.
xox Dave

This is great news for me personally and a great honour.I met with the playright and actor Aidan Dooley earlier in the summer while he was doing a three week sold out run in West Cork of his incredible play "TOM CREAN ANTARCTIC EXPLORER".

Aidan has performed the play all over the world and won awards for it.
I saw it first in the Everyman Palace in Cork in January of 2008 and was hugely impressed by Aidan's writing and performance and his ability to command and hold the attention of everyone in the theatre for the best part of two hours.

The audience hung on every word and it's an incredible story,very well told.

Long story short, I had written a song called Tom Crean in 2007 and when I met Aidan and played it for him in Aug. 2008 he connected very strongly with it and wrote the chorus of the song into the play.

It's an absolute honour to be connected with this incredible play because it is a story that is timeless.It's inspirational in its description of the incredible power and resilience of the human spirit, especially in the case of the various Antarctic expeditions that were undertaken by Tom Crean and his fellow explorers in conditions that were extremely hostile. Life and it's ability to triumph in the face of almost certain death and the importance of friendship,courage and determination feature largely in the work and give the play it's great strength.

My thanks to Aidan for including my work and for his act of faith in my writing.

Please go and see the show if it comes to a theatre anywhere near you,it is a fantastic night's entertainment. You wont regret it.

If anyone is looking for a copy of the song TOM CREAN you can email me here dmcg@davemcgilton.com and in 2009 it'll be available more widely along with a few more songs as part of a project that i'm working on.

Louder Than the Drums of War Vol. 1 is the very first project under the banner of an organisation I created in March of this year called Artists for Healing and all of the proceeds from it are going to two charities: Aware www.aware.ie and the Red Cross ( Iraq division) www.redcross.ie For all the info and sound clips etc on that please go to www.artistsforhealing.com.
Also please check out the Aware website should you wish to buy a copy through them.
There will be 3 Cd's in the series of "Louder Than the Drums of War" and Volumes 2 & 3 will follow in 2009.All will contain spoken word and music.I'm very much looking forward to putting Volume 2 and 3 together.