Kickin' Out the Jams w/the Fighting Jamesons

@ Shamrockfest 2015.

We spent the end of February having a blast in Indiana at all three of the 9 Irish Brothers locations in Lafayette as well as the new one in Indianapolis. Leading into March we zipped out to Charlotte, North Carolina to perform at Amos Southend. After that we went to Salisbury, Maryland to play at the brand new Headquarters Live venue-- they have a really unique and fun setup; a converted firehouse turned into a music venue and bar, we had a wonderful time and those folks are definitely putting Salisbury on the map for concert-goers-- we can't wait to return!

We came back home to Norfolk after Salisbury to play Shamrockin' In Ghent; the Deloreans kicked off the night with their stylish 80's tribute set. Despite the weather, the rain and cold wasn't holding anyone up-- Colley Avenue was filled with people ready to party, and we had a blast jamming out for the St. Paddy's celebration.

The next day we were quite busy in Raleigh, North Carolina-- luckily the rain stopped just in time for us to play-- though the wind and runoff water from the roof of the stage provided a serious challenge, we prevailed. We opened for Carbon Leaf at the festival during the day, then we had the honor of closing out the night, as they had been having numerous groups all day long; with a full set later that night a Tir Na Nog. The house was packed full of people and they were most definitely a fun wild crowd that night: full of moshers, happy boozers, and people pumped up for the pre-St. Paddy's celebration! We had a killer night, and were glad to see some new faces as well as folks who had came to see us before.

@ Tir Na Nog

For St. Paddy's this year we performed at the National in Richmond. Born Crooked opened up the night with their bluesy hard-hitting brand of rock' n roll. They remind me a bit of the White Stripes and the Black Keys. It was refreshing to have something that fit the bill with us, it's great to have a band opening for us that is particularly different from us and adds variety to the lineup for the night. They came along and played with us once more when we rode out to play at the Southern in Charlottesville. Unfortunately the Newport News show was cancelled, however stay tuned as we will be doing a make-up date for it in the near future.

Then we set off for Shamrockfest 2015 in Washington D.C. where we took to the Dewey Beach stage after the energetic Go Go Gadget and gave D.C. an hour of our finest raging celtic-punk tunes; we did a set consisting of some classic Irish folk covers as well as some original material from both the first and second album. Our bassist Ryan Ware and our buddy Cooper even met up with some of the dudes in Reel Big Fish while walking around! Afterwards we came back home to Viriginia Beach to play the Shamrock Marathon and the marathon's after-party at Murphy's as well.  

Fairly recently we added several new shirt designs to our merchandise catalog-- so be sure to check that out at our online merch store (personally, the new fist logo design is my favorite!)-- we've got some exciting plans ahead-- so stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter, and our official website for the details to come.

Out on the road with the Fighting Jamesons.....

Our lead guitarist Geo Bauman.

We kicked off May with a pleasant return to McGrath's Pub in Dalton, Pennsylvania. We had a great time, as Dalton is a beautiful mountain town, and the owner Jimmy is a huge fan and highly hospitable towards the band; he and his staff treat us like kings, every time we visit his place is something to look forward  to. The next day we played nearby in Scranton, Pennsylvania for the Scranton Celtic Irish Festival as well. It was a great festival set inside, with a multiple stage layout; we were really stoked to be headlining it and hope to return to it again.

Niagara Falls, NY.

Following that, we did a make-up date at the Rapids Theater in Niagara Falls New York on May 18th, as our original date back in March got snowed out by the blizzard at the time. Rapids is truly a blast, its an incredible venue full of history, charm, and style. The building is massive, the sound in the room with its immaculate mural ceiling is incredible, and the owner and the staff are the greatest any band could hope to have the pleasure of working with. It used to be an opera house and still has a very neat intricate look to it on the inside. Also, as we found out on the ghost tour last time- apparently it's haunted and was once even featured on the  TV show Ghost Hunters. Luckily while we were there I also got to take a quick peak at the falls for the first time, definitely an impressive sight to see.

at 9 Irish Brothers Lafayette, Indiana.

Shortly after the Falls, we came back down for a street festival in Rockville, Maryland. The event had a great layout with several stages spread across the area with multiple blocks shut down, completed with numerous vendors lined up in between. Following that, were several dates playing for the independent 9 Irish Brothers chain again in Lafayette, Indiana. We were really excited for them to have us back again after having us last March, although the new location was delayed its grand opening, we played the other two locations for three days and had an excellent time. We're looking forward to whenever we do return and the new location when it is ready, but in the mean time we had a blast playing the other locations.

Next up in was Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at the Dog Fish Head Pub, where the beach crowd was definitely a fun bunch of people to play for, they were ready to dance around and have a great time; we gave a killer set and were glad to finally make it a stop along our route. It was particular interesting since it was a new stop for us, and we always love exposing our music to new audiences everywhere. The next day was Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey for their 42nd Annual Monmouth Irish Festival. It was located near the horse races, it was a nice family oriented event; with both traditional Irish acts and more fusion groups such as ourselves.

Last stop for the month of June was the Fairfield County Irish Festival, it was a wonderful large outdoor event, with 3 beautiful tent stage setups, food and beverage stands, topped off with a nice roster full of a variety of different acts-- both music and dancing groups. During the day we were lucky enough to have some down time to watch some of the other groups, pipe bands, and some dancing, before setting up on the main stage to have the honor of closing up the night as headliner. We'll be hitting the road again in July, and in the mean time are cooking up some ideas for some new original material.