For those of you who don’t know (lol) I spent the majority of my teen years and early twenties playing in “Calley McGrane & the Exiles” 🎻 We played primarily Celtic music so this time of year was especially busy, with up to four shows in one day (but I think that was only one year 😅).

My dad played guitar and we performed in so many wonderful, memorable places, as well as the most utterly bizarre, somehow even more memorable places... Trust me, when you frequent Irish clubs, bars, and festivals at that rate you see it all 🤣 (and keep playing the song no matter what happens haha).

Anyway, it’s been years now since we’ve truly performed but I have SUCH amazing memories and this year everything hits a little differently.

I remember this holiday marking the start of covid last year, and here we are, a year later, still in the thick of it but with some optimism of an “end” of sorts on the horizon. Felt like as good a time as any to break out the fiddle and play an old favorite. Honestly, it had been a while.

“The Fields of Athenry”, written in Dublin in 1979 by Pete St. John, is a song about a man and his family torn apart as he is exiled to Australia at the hands of the British after stealing corn during the Irish famine. The lyrics are rather depressing (not surprising... the Irish sure love to sing about drinking, fighting, and dying 🇮🇪) but the song has become an anthem of Irish pride and perseverance.

I always loved singing this song and seeing everyone in the audience stop what they were doing to yell, “hey, baby, let the free birds fly” during the chorus, usually led by Eldon, who never missed a gig (or an open bar tab 🤣), no matter where it was. We always joked that he was our unofficial hype man. I miss him dearly and treasure the decade-plus of memories, St. Patrick’s Days, and late nights at the New Britain Irish Club.

And to those of you who have also been with us/me through all of these years... you know who you are and I know who you are - you f***ing rock. 💚 I hope someday we can get back to live music again!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!! Cheers! ☘️

#threeiphonesonetake #happysaintpatricksday