I like to think that I come by my Irish bona fides honestly. My dad, as most of you know, came from Monaghan. He was quiet spoken man with a sailor’s gait. You could see him walking a mile away. He loved traditional ballads, and made me fall in love with the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and the Dubliners. I owe most of my early musical inspiration to him. When Makem and Clancy filmed their TV show in Calgary in the early 70’s Dad and I were more often than not in the audience. I can still hear Makem’s vibrato in my voice, the result of endlessly singing along with the records when I was 13 or 14.
The storytelling, though, that comes straight from my dad. Though quiet spoken, he was a great teller of tales. I have always wanted to be as good as he was, and this song is about as close as I have gotten.
Happy St Patrick’s day.