Howdy Folks,
It's been a long time coming and the journey has not been without setbacks, surges forward and ultimately bittersweet priority.
I met Michael at Newstead festival in 2010. We had a brief introduction and very rapidly got deep in conversation about music, albums, recording and the difficulties of striving for artistic integrity. The time flew by in that initial conversation and at the end of it I felt I had met someone following a parallel path - the constant search.
What followed was a long distance process of demos, correspondence, phone calls, punctuated by our respective hospital visits. A few years have passed and last year Michael left us the challenging task of releasing his wonderful new material without his presence.
I have records of all our discussions for each song and what he wanted for them. We had assembled his dream band, John McCusker, Mike McGoldrick, James MacKintosh and myself prior to his passing and that band - supplemented by Kate Burke on Guitar will form the crux of the recordings.
This is an important album and together with the new material, Michael's wife Carla and I, will release a second disc taken from live performances. I feel privileged to be entrusted with the musical outcome and wherever he is, Michael - your songs are in respectful hands.