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We had a blast at Byrnes Pub last night, thanks to all that came out. We'll be back there on St Pats Day at 1:00, so come party again with us!
Just after soundcheck, we had some photos done. Ryan and I needed to change clothes and we discovered that Byrne's has a basement! Close to a crawl space, really, as I banged my head on the rafters a couple times. We heard it's Murt's lair (thanks for an awesome job running sound, Murt, and for coming in early for us! Lots of cool old stuff down there, including some old cymbals. Ryan got to snooping and found an old Zildjian cymbal, circa 1960's, that matches a set he has. So, he struck a deal and bought it. It's very cool to stumble into things like that, and Ryan's a very happy kid now. When he texted his wife, Jen, she was like "what the heck are you doing in a basement?". Apparently, shopping.  Livin' the Dream
Lately I've taken to a new phrase to decribe my day. You know the standard greetings you get every day, the "how are you doing" or "how've you been". Well lately my answer has been a sarcastic 'livin' the dream', implying the frustrations I was having, whether it was with work, home, music, what have you. But today something happened that made me ponder that response, or rather, the implications I was placing on that response. And it was just a simple phrase by a guy I've spoken to on the phone several times but have never met in person that gave me pause. When met with my response, he simply answered "well, probably closer to it than you think".
I'm not exactly sure what his meaning to that was, if anything at all, but later in the day that popped back in my head and I really began to think about it. And he's actually right! I AM closer to it than I truly appreciate. When I think back to what my plans and dreams were when I was young, I'm not that far off the mark. I get to do all that stuff I dreamed about as a kid; writing songs, playing shows at small pubs and big festivals, recording music, playing guitar at chruch and for other groups, all the stuff I dreamed of. Sure, I'm not in U2, touring the world as a big rock star, but I have something even better. And it's better because it's what fits me. A balanced, exciting, fulfilling and adventerous life, and a family to share it all with. I have a beautiful wife that I've made a great life with over the past 10 years. She and I have our first child on the way (due in July!). We have a modest but comfortable home. We can afford (finally) to go out when we choose, although we both really enjoy just staying home together and watching movies. I play in a fantastic band with a great group of people who are some of the best musicians I've ever played with and I'm proud to call friends and bandmates. And I have a great family and a great circle of friends, both in and out of the music scene. For all the complaints I feel I have sometimes, and for all the times I think I've missed the mark, I truly am living the dream. When I look at others who've had great success in their life, it's easy to doubt the success of my own. But when all is calm and quiet and I start to day dream, those dreams are not about life changing turn arounds or giant shifts in lifestyle. They're actually about what I already have and how to make them better. They're about new goals to put in place, new achievements to strive for to make each relationship and endeavor stronger. To me, that means that I'm already successful and now am looking to build on that. Nothing is perfectly rosey, we all have our own problems and frustrations, and I have a lot. But today, right now, I can say that I'm very happy and content with what I've managed to build. Content, but not satisfied. When I become satisfied, that's when the dream stops and when I stop living. There's always more to reach for. So I'll keep striving, keep reaching, and keep working. Working to maintain a happy marriage and build a happier and stronger one; To work as a team to raise our child to be a kind, compassionate, hardworking and earnest person; To become better at my craft, to improve my guitar playing, writing better songs, making better music and to expand my musical horizons even further. And I hope to encourage you to do the same. To quote a recent commercial, "stay thirsty, my friends". Because to stop working would be to stop livin' the dream. Patrick
 2010, Begin AgainWell, 2010 is finally here. Are you ready for it? We're getting pretty excited ourselves. There's going to be some good music and fun times in the year ahead! Our first stop of the new year is at Byrne's Pub in Columbus. Great place to hang out and hear live music, one of our faves! So make sure you come out on Sat, Feb. 20th for that. Between now and then, we'll do a much better job of beefing up our web presence and trying to get some good content on the site. So keep an eye out for more updates and news coming very soon!  Black Friday Night Live!
So, this Friday, affectionately known as Black Friday, will be the first gig with the new 9CC lineup. All the usual nerves and anticipation kick in a little more when there's new folks around, but we're more than ready for it.
For those that haven't heard, we've brought on two new members; Beth Hicks, the fabulous flutist (or flautist, your choice) from Knot Fibbn', and Stuart Brand, fiddler extraordinaire. We are so very honored and happy that they have come on board and we're very excited about what we can accomplish together. So, the Dublin Pub, 300 Wayne Ave., Dayton, OH is the place to be on Black Friday Night! We're throwing out some new tunes, reviving some older ones and just kicking back for a great time. So grab the family (or ditch them if you've had enough family time) and come on out for good pints and great music! We hope you all have a very wonderful, safe and happy Thanksgiving with your families. Be sure to tell them how much you love and appreciate them! Cheers! 9CC  Next on the HorizonWe had an absolute blast at the Dayton Celtic Fest this year! Getting to hang out with the guys from Roger Drawdy, Homeland and Slide was very cool. Ric and I swapped a couple stories of misadventures of band life, which was very amusing. I also got to sit and chat with Mary Ellen, a DCF volunteer, Irish Dance Academy contributor and a lovely lady in general. My family got to hear us live for the first time on Friday night and that was quite interesting as it made me a bit more nervous for a gig than usual . They seemed to really enjoy it and I hope they can make it out again when they're in town with us. My 12 year old nephew absolutely loved the whole fest and really wanted to get a kilt of his own, but those things are amazingly pricey, ya know? But he settled for some delicious fish 'n chips and good music. Once our set was over, we took him, my brother, sister and another nephew over to catch most of Gaelic Storm's fantastic set. Those guys put on a great show, always very enjoyable and entertaining. This was my first time catching Scythian live and all I can say is WOW! They were excellent, very energetic and very tight. All in all, it was a very awesome weekend. Plus, I'm in a band with some of the greatest guys in the world and they make all of this even more fun than it already is. Now, the Dublin Irish Festival is up. 9CC is not playing it this year, but our good friends Homeland and Knot Fibbn are, so you don't want to miss that! As for us, we're going to disappear for about a month to bury our heads in recording. We'll be at a cable wakeboarding park in Fairfield, OH on Sept. 5th for a fun festival there. What does Irish music have to do with cable wakeboaring? No idea, but we'll find out! We're also heading to Byrne's Pub in Columbus, OH on Sept. 19th for what promises to be a rousing good time! As we work to finish this album, we'll be in touch, occasionally poking our heads out for a gig here and there. We'll see if there's any cool stuff we can pass on to you along the way as well. So, stay tuned. Lots of good stuff coming your way soon, we promise! Cheers, Patrick  UpdatesWell well well! It's been a while, but we're still here, still alive and kickin'. And how have you been? We hope you and yours are doing well. Can you believe it's July already?? Like busy little bees behind the scenes, we've been making preparations and shifting things around. It seems like it's been forever since we've poked our heads out of the sand, but that's about to change, at least it is for a little bit. Which leads us to today's announcement: Let's take a moment to welcome our new addition (or New Edition for you Bobby Brown/Bell Biv Devoe fans), fiddler extraordinare Ken Roberts! Ken is now a full-fledged member of 9 Castle Close and we're super-excited to have him onboard. Ken has been a standard on the Celtic scene for a long time now and he's one of the best fiddlers in the region. Already known for his other group, the Roving Rogues, and for his teaching at the Riley School of Irish Music, Ken teamed up with 9CC after doing some jamming with Kevin and Larry for a trad side project. That blossomed into his showing up for a show one night and joining us on-stage. Then he showed up at the next rehearsal, so we figured we had to keep him! And we're so glad he accepted the invitation. He's already jazzed up our rehearsals and he's going to make the live shows even better than before. The mix of Ken's fiddle along with Larry's pipes and the rest of the band is sounding better than we even imagined. So make sure you don't miss Ken's debut with us on Friday, July 24th at the Dayton Celtic Festival! Speaking of the Dayton Celtic Festival, we hope you can all make it out. It's a tremendous festival, it's family-friendly and it's FREE! Great music, great food and cool little shops to buy clothing and all sorts of other things, so why miss it?? Great national acts such as Gaelic Storm, Scythian and Slide will be performing. As for us, we'll be taking the Five Rivers MetroParks Stage at 8:40PM Friday night and again at 1:10 Sunday afternoon. While you're there enjoying the atmosphere, make sure to thank at least one of the many volunteers that donate their time and energy to make this such an enjoyable event. For those that didn't know, we now have our own official Facebook page as well! Check it out! We'll update that from time to time and we'll try to keep it different than our MySpace and Official site, just to keep it interesting. Well, we're off! We'll update you with more info soon! Cheers and God Bless! -9 Castle Close  Great time at The CladdaghWell, we had a great time playing the Claddagh this past Sat. night. Lots of friends, lots of dancing and drinking, a good time was had by all. We'll throw a few pics up soon. Big thanks to J.T. and the staff there for being very open and friendly, we really appreciate it and hope to see you guys again soon! We have been completely slacking on updating this blog, we've had our heads buried in the sand for a while now. We aim to change that and actually keep you more up to date on what's happening in 9CC land. More pics, maybe some video blogs, that type of stuff as we keep working on this album. So keep an eye out here. Talk to ya soon! Patrick  St. Paddy's Day Fallout!Well, its taken a couple of days for us to recuperate sufficiently from one hell of a Paddy's Day. You guys know we've taken some time off, but we kicked the door in this weekend with two back to back shows. We started out at The Pub in the Greene and warmed up with the lunch crowd. The Pub in the Greene isn't a big place for butt-whooping, whiskey-slinging bands like 9CC (remember its an "English" pub--not an Irish Pub). We didn't expect much because, we know their moms told them not to jump around until 1 hour after they'd eaten. But the place really got hopping by the second set and everyone had a great time...and the manager was already trying to book us back in as soon as possible! We'll see if we can do it! Then, there was the Dublin Pub. What can we say about that awesome place...even on a bad night, the Dublin Pub loves them some Celtic Rock. Paddy's Day at the Dublin Pub is like nothing you've ever seen! We laid down 2 straight hours of Celtic Rock - 9CC style - and the place went crazy! We even had a special guest, champion Highland dancer Erin Petkus, join us for a set. You guys loved her, so we plan on having her back as much as she'll join us! So, thanks to Steve and the staff at the Dublin Pub, Erin, all our roadies (Matt, Hugh, Ky, Shannon, & the rest) and all of you hardcore Celtic rock fans for coming out and supporting us. YOU made Paddy's Day the best Paddy's Day so far!!! We're still working on the CD and hope to have it out and in your Guinness soaked hands by the Dayton Celtic Festival this year. That's the last weekend in July for you folks with the wrong priorities. In the meantime, stay tuned to our website: www.9castleclose.com for details and news about shows, etc. While you're there be sure sign up for our email to get notifications immediately. Also, tell your friends to add us on myspace (and soon Facebook). And one last thing...be sure to mark your calendar for our next show on Saturday, May 30th, at The Claddagh, Mason, OH. We're gonna bring it big. So YOU bring your friends, your sister, and your sister's hot friends to the show! We're gonna be brining Paddy's Day back again on May 30th! Don't miss it! Slainte!!!!  
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