This is a bit of a concept album, anchored by original songs that trace the emigration from County Kerry Ireland to Kerry Park in Holyoke MA.  The album was recorded at Signature Sounds in Pomfret CT with the great recording engineer Mark Thayer at the dials. The tunes were recorded over a weekend done largely live with the band sitting in a circle with some solo and harmony overdubs.  Mastered in Cambridge MA by Ian Kennedy.

Better Late than Ever was recorded over a couple of years around the turn of the century… self-produced by the band and recorded on an early version of home recording software on a computer that, thought advanced for its time, is probably the equivalent of what is flying around in the Hubble telescope. It was a slow process- hence the title- but it sure sounded good! Robbie Griffin of Western Mass was part of the band during the recording and remains an awesome fiddler. Robbie and Pete often doubled on fiddle or fiddle and mandolin in live shows. Noah King of San Rafael CA mastered the album. Better Late than Ever won the MassLive award for best local album from the Springfield Newspapers.

Written by Jim to celebrate the graduation of his sons Evan and Andrew from college.  Both boys have performed and recorded with the band.

Jim- vocals and guitars

This song was written by Jim to be included on Marc Gunn’s Celtic Christmas compilation album. Jim’s dad served as a Chief Petty Officer and medical corpsman on LST 54 which participated in the Normandy invasion. The song details the period where sailors were stationed in Pittsburgh while the ship was constructed. The song has been downloaded thousands of time on YouTube and for several weeks was a top 5 Celtic Christmas tune on iTunes and Amazon.

Jim- vocals, 6-string guitar
Jon- vocals, 12-string guitar
Evan- flutes
Tara Getchonis- viola