On the Irish road

Thanks to Colin Henry for this first instalment on the current tour by Ferguson, Holmes, & Henry:

Well, Gary, Janet, and I began our Irish tour with our first gig at the Seamus Ennis Centre at Naul. It was an 'In the Round' gig with the great songwriter Charlie McGettigan. The place was sold out and the atmosphere was perfect for a first gig. We had no rehearsal time at all, so it was seat-of-the-pants stuff. You can see us in the photo taken in the green room [above] five minutes before the start with Charlie and Gary 'learning' a song that Janet wrote. The night went well with a great reception from a listening crowd. Two encores - not bad for an opener. I even got to play the mandolin on stage for the first time in my life - Sean McKerr showed me some chords last week - I think his mandolin seat in the Tennessees is safe though!


The following night we had another great gig for Uri Kohen in Westport [see yesterday's post on the BIB]. Again a great crowd. Uri is a wonderful guy. I wish every town in Ireland had a Uri!

A rest back in Belfast for two days, and then Gary and I go to Cork and Tipperary and then Janet joins us for the Ardara Bluegrass Festival on Friday 16 July. Looking forward to it.