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Hello all and welcome to my new blogging page...

I have just returned from a trip since we departed Heathrow on the 9th October travelling as the Collective Trio featuring myself and singer Isobel Crowe and Pete Gazey on guitar, to the amazing and possibly best festival on earth Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

We arrived after a very chilled Air Canada flight over the wide Atlantic passing my old base and spiritual home of Dingle in West Kerry according to the enroute on my enterainment screen and were met by our Dr'iver Greg Weir a great man whom now lives in Cape Breton. At Celtic Colours they have an incredible volunteer base of people whom give up their personal time and holidays to take part in this epic event ran by Joella Foulds and with a wonderful team including fiddle supremo Dawn Beaton, Heather Frantsi, Mary-Pat and many more folk who make this festival the top of the tops of Celtic music festivals.

The Dr'ivers are a team that ferry all the artistes around the Island and from and to Halifax airport and they are wonderful, fun, loving folk whom love what they do and really, really look after everything you could ever need. For me personally since coming out with Brendan Power last year I have struck up a good bond with many of them including; Blair, Andy, Greg, Janet, Dan, Nelson, Big Jim Stoke, small Jim and medium Jim:)

So we checked into our accomadation after the 3.5 hour ride from Halifax passing through Truro, Antoginish, Canso causeway and Baddeck where we always stop for a Timmys (Tim Hortons) French vanilla is my chosen drink XL and Isobel and Pete had one too and Greg plus a wee maple donut to help digestion and prepare us for the craic and madness that would happen at the festival club that night.

The Gaelic college at St. Anne's in nestled in a lovely forest park on the shores of the sea and about 20 mins drive from the fishing/popular town of Baddeck also home of fiddler Rosie Mackenzie whom I had a great tune with last year when she played with Irish guitar maestro Donogh Henenssy and this year myself and Pete had an all night tune session with her which was a highlight of our club times.

So our first show was in Sydney Mines with the popular and great duo of Mary Jane Lamond and Wendy MacIsaac and Seth on guitar and Cathy on percussion plus Scottish song stalwart Archie Fisher a great night was had and we bumped into our great pals from Dublin the Black family. I hadn't seen Mary, Frances or Michael since a great night with Seamus Begley in the Sibin in Dingle so lovely to catch them for tea and meet Shay,

So much happened at the festival and I would be writing forever so will include a wee bit more and save the rest for another post;

We had another show with the great fiddler and my good pal Troy MacGillivray of Lanark Nova Scotia joined by his step champion sister Sabre, Kimberley Fraser on fiddle/piano (a Berklee graduate) and Magdalen Islands guitarist Louis whom I met last year with Vishten he is a top player and they all rocked. The Cheticamp Acadien band Les Zorvenants were also on the bill and we had some lovely French tunes back stage and fun on stage with the encore.

For anyone whom has not been to Celtic Colours or played here or even doesn't play the experience of playing a concert here is a very very different thing to most venues in the Uk. The audiences in Cape Breton and Canada really appreciate and love music and they make you feel warm, wanted and so alive and willing to perform. I am not saying that you don't ever get that in the Uk but lets face it, and sorry to offend anyone here but with the exception of Ireland, Scotland and a few rare places in England such as Towersey festival, Broadstairs folk week and similar places and folk clubs like the Ram in Surrey its difficult being a Celtic musician as people just don't support it enough. In Cape Breton you are treated like a rock star quite literally and it is an honour and delight as they have possibly the highest standard of folk music I have ever witnessed probably anywhere in the world.

Onto Inverness with Nelson for a schools concert with the trio where they loved Isobel's songs the Weavers especially and then the big one.... JP Cormier's guitar summit! This was my second one since last year and JP is along with Steve Cooney one of my biggest guitar heros, is there another flatpicker as fast and emotive as him on earth whom also sings like a top Nashville singer, plays fiddle like a train, banjo, mandolin to world standard and is just mesmerising to watch... I doubt there is anyone whom could match this guy, he can do it all, and bloody well! I met up with my pal and star of Scottish guitar Anna Massie in the hall at Judique and we were talking about what to play and had coffee with that sweet Scotsburn cream and swapped a few tunes to play together then sound checked and met JP, The Elliott brothers Mike+Bill of Economy Nova Scotia whom are maestro's of the music