Just a quick note: the KOA Chocurua Camping Village gig, scheduled for this Thursday, July 29,  has been cancelled for reasons undisclosed. Apologies to all who were planning on attending. I’ll be back there next year.

Killing Troubadours at Hot Summer Nights, 7/15/10 (photo by Joe Simes)

Summer 2010 has been irrepressibly beautiful. It’s everything we want our summers to be here in New England.  We daydream about these days throughout the hollowest days of winter, where all hope but the premise of a long drive on a warm evening with the windows down is sometimes the only thing that pulls us through. After four years of County Cork summers, we were due. …click here to read more →

Great news! Lost Sailor Records will release my debut solo effort, Razed and Reconstructed, in stores on Tuesday, September 28. The CD release party is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 1. Location and details soon. Can’t wait to share it with you!

This Friday, July 9 I’ll be opening for Mercuryhat at one of the finest live music venues in the Seacoast, the Press Room (Daniels Street – Portsmouth, NH). Doors at 8:30 PM, music at 9:00 PM. I’ll have a couple of new songs to share, and some news you just won’t want to miss. Hope to see you there.

On Wednesday, June 30 (6-9 PM) the Press Room in Portsmouth, NH will host the Independence! Art & Music Showcase/Benefit. I’ll be performing at the event, along with Tan Vampires, which will also include art work from a host of local artists.

This from organizer Dustin Ruoff: “Independence! will feature stunning live music performances from two generations of NH Seacoast singer songwriters and a brilliant selection visual art and photography from the regions artists. Enjoy the company of Portsmouth’s colorful business and arts community and sample fine foods from our area’s best restaurants and cafe’s. A fundraising event to benefit The National MS Society and The Molly Rowley Fund and the Team Mountain Triathlon Team!” Arrive early. This event will sellout.

This Friday, June 18, I’ll be bringing the Martimus Pyle Road Show back to the Hilton Garden Inn (100 High Street – Portsmouth, NH). It’s going to be a beautiful summer evening. Stop in after dinner, before last call, or better yet, come spend the whole evening with me. Music starts at 8:00 PM. No cover. Send me your requests.

Over the last year or so, I’ve been trumpeting the importance of taking music to new places. Saturday’s show at the Portsmouth Farmer’s Market was a great example. …click here to read more →

The Portsmouth Herald published an article on me yesterday featuring the new solo record. Read it here.

This Saturday, June 5 from 9Am to 12:30PM I’ll be performing at my first-ever Portsmouth Farmer’s Market. The show is all ages and free. Eat local food, buy local music. Hope to see you there!

I’ve always been obsessed with time. From an early age, my Ma used to tell me, “you’re gonna be one of those people who worries about your life passing by too fast.” Bingo. But I also have a deep respect for time. Since the passing of my Pop in 2005, I put nearly everything on a time/energy scale and try to figure out what it’s worth (sometimes this includes arguments – sometimes I just can’t help myself – for worse or better). This isn’t to say I’m one of those folks who thinks time=money, I’ve just realized that on my short time here on earth, it’s best to let some things fall away so you can get to the good stuff.

Another aspect of time I’ve always been fascinated with is how much or little you can do with a song’s duration. Some of my favorite songwriters are folks who can take three minutes and distort it so it always feels like an eternity (not like church, mind you, but in more of an alien abduction way, where you almost lose your sense of time completely – not that I’m advocating for alien abductions here). Hank Williams instantly comes to mind (Cold, Cold Heart – wow), as does Richard Buckner, who not only wastes no time on his masterpiece Ariel Ramirez, but also uses it efficiently and effectively. Even if you don’t know who Ariel Ramirez is, it doesn’t matter. Bucker makes you care about him in a unique way. In fact, Bucker’s Devotion and Doubt album may be one of the best demonstrations in the absolute arc of life that can be endured in a relatively short time, and yet, when you listen to the record, you’d swear it was hours long. It’s quite literally a lifetime of emotion uncorked in 40 minutes. …click here to read more →