2012 Florida Music Tour

We left Boston last night and drove straight through, about 20 hours, to our first stop at Fiddler's Green in Winter Park.

Set up, had a meal and a few restoratives, ready for a dream before the 9PM start tonight.

Out For A Sail

Lynn Tidwell brought us on a sailing trip out of Punta Gorda today.
Lynn and his wife Gale are both educators at Charlotte High School. They also helm Tidwell Travel providing global travel vacations that are designed to immerse the traveler into local customs, traditions, and cuisine.

941-627-FISH

We made our annual visit out to The Navigator.

A large group of folks that we've met over the years from Punta Gorda came out to join us.

Rasher Tierney's

Celtic Clan are performing this weekend at Rasher Tierney's in Bradenton, FL.
We've been entertaining at Rasher's for about 8 years now.

The pub is under new management, but the current owners are honoring the schedule already set. They also plan to change very little about the place.

Frank Ryan's dream...

Saturday was Kilt Night at Rasher's and the New World Celts came out in great numbers.

"Big Mike" joined us on the bodhrán for our instrumental sets, while some champion Irish dancers took flight.

Visit To County Lee

Hughie and I took a trip to Cape Coral to see Carey Parks, a musician and penny whistle maker.

After checking out his shop he brought us to the Waterfront Restaurant & Marina, considered to be a piece of ol' Florida, at the southern tip of Pine Island.

Later in the day we met his wife Ruth Parks, a volunteer for the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, who brought us to see some interesting Burrowing Owls.

We finished up our day in Cape Coral playing tunes with the Boys of County Lee at the home of Ian and Trina Barksdale.

The Celtic Ray's 14th Anniversary

Celtic Clan has been performing at the "Ray," since Kevin Doyle opened in 1997.

We were once again honored to play for yet another anniversary party. We performed Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.


On Saturday we had shows all day starting at 2pm and ending around 10pm, some of the staff said that it was the biggest day they've had next to St. Patrick's day.

Max and Kevin Doyle, owners of the Celtic Ray.

Kathleen Goings - Putting Us Up & Putting Up With Us While In Punta Gorda, FL

Kathleen Goings breaking the woman's time record for the giant 4 pint Guinness boot challenge at the Celtic Ray.

A Call To Arms

Celtic Clan were invited, as guests with some local law enforcement for an outing, to learn how to handle and fire a variety of weapons -- 357 Magnum, .38 Colt, .45, 9mm automatic, AK-47 and AR-15.

This was an amazing experience. I'm not a gun owner but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to shoot these things. There was over $400 of ammunition that was discharged by the Clan that afternoon. I realized at this shooting range, that while I spend all this time passionate about playing the fiddle there are gun enthusiasts who as passionate but with weapons.

New Five String Fiddle

I've been performing on this tour with a new five string fiddle made in Beijing. Bought it at auction from the Old Violin House for $223, put on a Pickup The World polymer film transducer and myself and the band are psyched with its performance qualities. The varnish, woods, workmanship, tone, and usefulness are remarkable. What do you think?

Fiddler's Green, Winter Park, FL

Celtic Clan at Fiddler's Green in Winter Park, we've been performing there for over a decade, one of the best of the Irish pubs in Florida. We worked there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and had the pleasure of really packed rocking nights. The owner and staff at Fiddler's are some of the most welcoming and heartfelt you'll find anywhere.

Bartender emeritus from Fiddler's Green - Chris Baker, currently working as an environmental scientist.

The Pilgrimage Begins, First Stop - Performance in Myrtle Beach, SC

We left Boston Tuesday evening February 8th, drove through the night and arrived at Flynn's Tavern in Myrtle Beach Wednesday at noon. Set up our gear, had lunch, checked into the Best Western, slept an hour, played a great gig to a packed house. We were joined that evening by our old buddy Bing Smedberg on the bodhrán.

Up Thursday morning at 5:30 to make the trek to Winter Park Florida, we arrived at Fiddlers Green in the afternoon and set up once again, we were fed and watered, and checked into the Mount Vernon Inn.