Latest News...

Pretay good...pretay..pretay..pretay..pretay good

2007-10-18T07:21:00.002+01:00

Not so good it seems....having some odd problems with this blog at the moment I dunno what's goin' on...will try get it sorted later this evening...

Blue Moon

2007-03-24T19:28:00.001Z

Still alive. Watch this space...

Please vote for me in the Pringles Unsung competition!!

2006-11-24T09:46:00.000Z

http://www.pringlesunsung.com/submissions/view/205

Hello there,

If you get a chance today, please vote for "An Angel In The Sky" on the Pringles Unsung competition website :)

It only takes a second to do, basically just click the link below and when the page loads, click on the "Nominate" button. It asks you to enter a 5-digit code (just to prove your not a programs set up to submit cheat votes) and press "ok". And that's it!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE !!

I'd really appreciate if you could take a moment to do this, it seems like a good competition so I'd be very grateful for any support with my entry :) And of course if you like the song enough, please tell others to vote for it aswell.

Thanks for your time and hopefully your votes!

Regards,
Neil

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ME IN THE PRINGLES UNSUNG COMPETITION !!

I'm on WLR doin the Top 5 at 8pm tonite!!

2006-10-13T19:41:00.000+01:00

Ok idiot boy here forgot to tell anyone he was doing the show this week, so with 25 minutes to go I'll announce it now..

Mark Graham (you may remember I said he was my favourite Waterford musician on my last Beat102 interview) who hosts "Sideshow with Mark Graham" on WLR every friday nite between 19:30 and 22:00 asked me to come on the show to play and talk about my top 5 favourite records and I was only DELIGHTED to accept...

How cool is that tho seriously, I love the show and I've only been DYING to pick my top 5 since I heard about it, you get to talk about why you like the songs and that aswell so can't wait ;)

My top 5 songs (not my life or death definitive top 5 cos that was IMPOSSIBLE) are as follows:

1. Make Your Own Kind Of Music - Mama Cass Elliot

2. That Close To You - John Prine

3. Inside Of Me - Steve Van Zandt

4. Nevertheless - Brian Jonestown Massacre

5. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down - Bob Dylan

Tune in and check it out if you can...it's on WLR FM and you can stream it live online from here:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!

2006-10-05T02:18:00.000+01:00

Happy 6th birthday Dylan...daddy will be home in few hours to play with the new castle with his best buddy ;)

Long lost memories...

2006-10-05T01:58:00.000+01:00

Dya remember the time when I raided my own house!!! Oh my god I only thought of this tonite for the first time in about 5 years...it was just after my dad died and my mother was gone to visit her sister for the weekend...me and Killian decided to throw a party in the house while she was away and invited all our mates over. Later on in the nite, I went out to the garage and put on my fathers old security guard jacket and hat from his old job (they are almost identical to the yellow garda jacket and the garda hat) and snuck around the side of the house to the front door...I started banging on the front door and as soon as someone answered (I think it was Phelo or Noel Curran maybe) I burst in the door shouting about warrants and the like...What are you holding in your hand mister!! WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING!!" I made such a commotion that nobody spotted it was me at first, the colour just drained from everyones faces and nodges were fired in all directions around the sitting room. Absolutely scared THE LIVING BEJEUS out of everyone at the party for those couple of seconds, once they realised it was me it brought the fucking house down, we were still laughing about 2 hours later...

Good days, good friends and good memories. I have a million more of them all stored in my head, ready to bring a smile to my face when I dig them back out again and reminisce :)

It's the funny stuff that happens along that way that keeps me going. And in the small town of Tramore, I've met more funny people and seen more funny things than I ever thought could be possible in a place this size. I just can't wait to find out what the next thing is going to be ;)

Stingray not to blame...

2006-09-06T02:48:00.000+01:00

Go Shawty..

2006-07-18T03:35:00.000+01:00

Well. And well enough to say it. Yep, the summer is definitely here right about now and the girls in Tramore are just unreal. Really tho. I'm not making that up. The town is just bursting with little hotties. Locals too I might add. I love girls girls girls...girls I do adore...

Anyway, I'm gonna be burnin it up this weekend like it was 1666..my favourite group "Correkt Minds" are playing The Baldy Man this weekend, and having prioritised my priorities that's top of the priority list. Who knows, we might even throw someone down a well afterwards and if they float then they must be a witch.

urban intelligence & correckt minds. baldy man. friday. 22nd july. 10pm.

the place will be hopping. the hotties will be bopping. dom p poppin. chocolate sprinkle topping. over spending money meant for next weeks shopping.

So come one, come all..not since the glory days of Rome I tell ya, has mankind known such valent mysteries...

3 Songs from "First Thoughts" finished and ready to download..

2006-06-26T05:17:00.000+01:00

MYSELF AND EAMON ARE PLAYING IN THE SHANTY FOR THIS YEARS TRA FEST. THE GIG STARTS AT 10:30PM IN THE SHANTY BAR ON FRIDAY, JUNE 30TH, 2006. FULL LISTINGS FOR THIS FESTIVAL CAN BE FOUND HERE.

The McGrath's were said to be from the descendants of Brian Boru's brother Ahearne, and were appointed to be bards and historians. This we know from many sources and from the many appearances in the Irish Chronicles listing the McGraths as bards, historians, poets, chroniclers, antiquarians, singers, story tellers, and termoners.

3 songs from the album are done. well whatever next eh...

Edit: There seems to be an issue with the www.myspace.com/neilmcgrath link. The page is there and you can locate it inside of myspace if you are a member or a friend but for some reason that direct link is not connecting to the page. I've mailed them about sorting it out but for now they are all available to download free here:

Vision Inc. - http://www.speedyshare.com/801802499.html

An Angel In The Sky - http://www.speedyshare.com/863487702.html

First Thoughts On Forever - http://www.speedyshare.com/998624894.html

I hope you enjoy them :)

And if you are reading this Niall you will be ready for my call tomorrow about getting them up on this site asap ;)

needless to say, none of this would have been possible without the help and guidance of my trusted sidekick and pal mister Eamon "Malso The Magnificent" O'Malley. These songs have been with me a long time and they are both important and dear to me, if that doesn't sound too corny. They are like old friends but Eamon has given them new life and they are closer to the sounds and ideas I had in mind for them before I ever had anyone to play other instruments on them..

As you know, I'm not too keen on the myspace music aggressive marketing initiative currently sweeping the net and so I won't be promoting this thing to death or in your face too much..I will probably send out a bulletin and also a mail from my own mail account but there won't be any ridiculously large Neil & Eamon posters plastered on your comments section for all your friends to see. If the songs are any good, you'll tell them yourself like you do with any new music you find and like..and they might just like the songs too...

the only other thing i wanted to say is that you should check out the lyrics too if possible and if you can't get them from this page (tho hopefully you can as i uploaded them with the songs) then you can get them from my website (there's a link to it on my profile)..

thanks to everyone who supports our music

CHARITY NIGHT IN AID OF CANCER RESEARCH

2006-03-29T22:39:00.000+01:00

Hey..

There's a charity night in The Forum, Waterford on Saturday, April 15th which is the Easter bank holiday and it would be great if you all could show some support for a great cause. It's a cause close to my own heart as I lost my own father to cancer so it is an honour to be invited to play and be involved..

Bands on the night include Relish, The Answer and myself and Eamon amongst others so expect a top quality nite of musical entertainment!

And lastly, please tell anybody else you think might want to come along on the nite :)

Thanks,
Burger

R.I.P. B.I.G.

2006-03-09T01:46:00.000Z

Christopher George Letore Wallace
21st May 1972 - 9th March 1997

R.I.P. The Greatest MC of ALL TIME...

Movin On Up :)

2006-03-01T07:51:00.000Z

good grief i cant believe i havent updated this thing in so long, truth be told tho i haven't had a whole lot to talk of on the music front of late, but with pretty good reason...i've been busy buying a house and going through the million and fifty things that go along with buying a house..never stopped to think really of how much stuff has to be done in order to make it all go thru and the stress levels have certainly been fluctuating from day to day...

..but it's just about done now and all i can say is i'm absolutely delighted, it's a lovely big house and we should have the keys for it next friday..honestly cannot wait :) :) :) needs a good bit of work so we'll be painting n stuff for a couple of days but sur that will be half the fun...

...and of course that's the reason why the oul recording has been on hold recently, i'm a couple of hundred grand in debt at the moment so haven't really been able to afford any studio time, what with solicitors fees, deposits, valuers, surveyors and oh my god we've only started on the furniture and fitted kitchens and stuff like that and oh my god i was living in 1987 as regards prices of things...nearly had a heart attack the first day we went shopping hahaha but i'm recovered from the shock now and really starting to get into the swing of it lol...

i hope to be in the house in the next two weeks or so, everything should be finalised this week so i'll be trying to get back into the studio asap...i know it prob seems like i have been putting this off forever or at least about 15 months or so but fuck it what can i say, these things take time n money and i only have so much of each...i'd rather hold off until i feel it's done properly instead of rushing it out as cheaply as possible, it just doesn't work that way...trust me if i was signed to a label and had them paying for studio time, we'd be on our fourth album by now, it would be a double album and Eamon would already have his own solo box set out aswell..but as it is we just have to keep plugging away, it will get there tho don't worry ;)

on a positive note (and to be honest i can't get much more positive than the house right now) i had a listen to the album recently as it is now, i stuck all the tracks in their current state on a cd in their current order and im currently still happy with it. so there ya go...sur have a listen to some samples on the music page here or on my myspace site...

talk soon, sooner than last time anyway ;)

Burger

hApPy nEw yEaR...

2006-01-16T06:43:00.000Z

the new year is here and we gotta get this album finished off but before I talk about that let me first of all take this opportunity to laugh at Malso the Malfunctional for breaking his laptop within 7 days of purchasing it..he was only using my laptop for about 20 minutes over xmas and it stopped working for about the same amount of time..anywayz his replacement has arrived and I'll be taking small bets in the forum section of the site on how long this one will last him..

..anyways we've both been taking it easy over xmas on the musical front, I had a good few days holidays left to take from work so I had a couple of weeks at xmas to just chill with friends and family, we only did the one gig which was xmas eve and from there on it was pure munchies, cubase and the xbox 360 (yep..we got one. yep. we booked it in July) until Jan 8th when the fun finally had to come to an end...

...highlights were xmas nite and new years eve spent in the O'Sullivan residence...that's as much as I can say about that for now but those who were there know ;)

So now it's back to work and back to recording again very soon..the tracks are all recorded at this stage so we just gotta spend a couple of weeks polishing them up (i.e. making them sound like they were recorded in Poland) and adding final vocals and that sort of stuff..I'll be putting up the album cover pretty soon aswell and the album itself will be available to purchase in the very near future too..(or The Very Near Future II)

Once the recording is out of the way we are looking forward to getting around the country a bit more in 2006..Galway and Cork are big plans on the big plan board but I want every town small or big (or even biggie smalls) in the country to know our faces and hear our songs (and eventually put pictures of us in their windows when we are coming to town) so expect to see us pop up at any occasion from a housewarming to a deportation...

Thanks to everyone who supported me in 2005: people at gigs, people who sent emails, posted in the forums, asked me for a copy of the demo or told someone else about it...it's a long way from the bottom to the top but it all helps and I appreciate it...

...and if one person that likes your music turns in to ten people that like your music..and if ten people turn into a hundred people and a hundred people turn into a thousand then a lot of that has to do with the ones that were down with you from the very start...and if that thousand turns back into ten people then your music career is f**ked hahahaha....

Death by Caffeine...

2005-12-14T07:38:00.000Z

http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine/

F-izz-irst Th-izz-oughts on For-izzle EP-izzle

2005-11-10T06:57:00.000Z

Well well well...

...what can I say??.....thanks to everyone who is appearing weekly in my new docu-sitcom-rom-drama "Hi-B Corner Uncovered" which is written, directed and even filmed by my self on Nokia's 6630 camera phone..thanks of course to the cast: Fla, Bruno Martelli, Chad Nixer, Steve-O, Tommy T, Ken Kunnife (from Conneticut), James Mór Scrunch, Sarah-Ann the Hood Rat, MC Mook, Cookie, Tucker, the Swedish one from Cork, Fat Neck, The Gardai (drive-thru cameo), Part Two McGrath & Noely C...will keep you posted on the Season 1 box set...

..Anyways back to the other little project of mine which is this album...things are shaping up nicely I have to say..in my possession is a rough cut of the entire album and tho rough it's definitely heading in the right direction now..

..so yeah all the tracks have been recorded now..we even re-recorded Vision Inc. to make it sound more like a part of this album and I think that's worked out very well..Eamon is doing a super little riff on the acoustic which is a little like the older version but I have to admit I like this new one more..hope you do too :P

All thats left to do now is work through each song individually polishing them off, replacing the guide vocals with final ones and choosing the final mix of instruments on each..I'm too mysterious to put a finish date on it as of yet but we are definitely approaching the light now..Eamon's piano and string arrangements has really brought the songs to life and made them bigger so I can't stress his contribution enough...

Ladies & Gentlemen: EAMON O'MALLEY

By day he is a mild mannered musical genius:

But nite he is the Bohemian and Near Alcoholic Nihilistic Anarchist Stoner (B.A.N.A.N.A.S)

1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Thoughts...

2005-10-11T02:00:00.000+01:00

There are 4 track samples from First Thoughts on the Music & MP3 section now...check them out and post your feedback in the forum...

LOST...but at long last...

2005-10-04T02:17:00.000+01:00

First Thoughts Sample Tracks - Click Here To Download

...things are coming together with the ep..and what has been the delay you might ask??? well having looked at some other bands sites and projects and interviews and bla bla bla I see that everyone always has such a "musical" excuse for going nowhere fast ("We've been tweaking eq's".."Some of the drum tracks had to be re-recorded" etc etc ad infinitum) so instead of me harping on about family and work and the real world and all that sort of nonsense let me just say - I was tuning my guitar.

Yep. Four and a half months tuning the guitar. It was finally tuned last Tuesday and once I finished I had a quick tuna sandwich and a cup of tea. Then I rang Eamon and we booked the studio for the weekend. Isn't it mad the way things happen.

So myself and Eamon were recording this weekend and after I write this I'm gonna post samples of some of the tracks to give you an idea of how things are coming along, they aren't final cuts or anything but they will give you a definite idea of the kind of sound I am looking for on this record..

..I'd also like to take a moment to gloat (before anyone has even heard it) about being right to include An Angel In The Sky..

...so there it is...hope you enjoy the tracks and thanks to those who continue to encourage and support thru the four and half month tuning periods..it is definitely A.P. Preciated.

The tracks won't be available in the music section until tomorrow nite, in the meantime you can download them here..3 sample tracks which are about a minute long each..they are An Angel In The Sky, Artist Of The Century and Turn My Name Away..the download is in .zip format so you'll need www.winzip.com to open it if you don't have winzip and the file is less than 3mb in size so it should download quickly regardless of your connection type..Enjoy!!

First Thoughts Sample Tracks - Click Here To Download

more recording next week..catch ya later ;)

Burger

Recording...

2005-09-29T07:01:00.000+01:00

...myself and Eamon go into the studio this Friday to begin recording the First Thoughts ep...will keep you posted...

4 8 15 16 23 42

An Angel In The Sky

2005-08-31T02:37:00.000+01:00

Yep folks...that's the name of the late inclusion on the "First Thoughts" ep...I know ya'll thought I had dropped off the face of the earth and I must admit I had a kinda strange August to say the least but I'm alive and well so not to worry...as if you would...

So yeah this new song..it's actually quite old...I was fooling around with the guitar the other day and something just made the song pop into my head..I think I wrote it when I was about 17 and I haven't played it in a couple of years...anyway I started playing what I could remember of it and after a few run throughs I had it down...and I admit I had to chuckle at myself for having enough songs at this stage to forget older ones...anyway I really think it fits where I will be coming from with this ep and personally it is one of my favourite songs..I'll get it posted on the songs section of the site in a couple of days and maybe a rough demo version too..

...as I write this Kanye's new album is blaring from the speakers..it only came out today but I gotta confess I couldn't wait and I've had my "preview" copy for about 2 weeks now..tho I'll still be picking up the original cd from the music store on the way home from work in the morning..still can't decide whether it's just a superb album or an actual masterpiece but either way it's the only thing I've been listening to...and not to mention managing to get both Jay and Nas on your album..well for some eh...

That's it for me tonite folks..talk to you soon ;)

El Burguerre

The L.A. Test

2005-07-27T03:00:00.000+01:00

ok so the latest updates on the musical front...I unfortunately had to postpone the recording session at the end of June due to studio availabilty..basically I had booked a couple of days there and TooSkin had arranged time off from work to do the recording on those dates..studio rang back at short notice and said they weren't available for the dates after all...so needless to say I was a little stressed after the lads getting time off for it etc...anyways we move onwards and upwards and should be doing some recording in the first week of August...

..as regards the recording I am contemplating some changes to the original plan..as you probably know myself and Eamon are gigging as a duo at the moment..we are getting great feedback on our sound with just the guitar, harmonica and piano..so I am leaning towards the idea of using the same sound for the ep...that's not to say we are never going to record another "Pull Me Up" or "Charles" again..as you know I love my 4 piece band set up more than anything...I'm just personally enjoying the vibe of what we are doing at the moment and it would probably show on the ep if we were to record in the same way..we'll just have to wait n see I guess..

so that's where it's at for the moment...thanks to those of you attending the shows..am really enjoying them and I plan to do as much gigging as possible this year whatever the line up may be..

...the good news is there is a new love in my life...I bought a Takemine last week and I have barely put the thing down since..joy is all I can say..

and last but not least...shout our to my partner in crime and one of the famous five..Keith "Thanks Harry" Harrington...gone back to live in Thailand again for another while...thinkin' of ya buddy ;)

see u soon

Burger

The Birthday Bash

2005-07-21T07:14:00.000+01:00

ok folks if you are around this weekend I am having a bit of a party in The Vic Cafe...it's my birthday so you better be there ;)

I'll be kicking off about 10ish..Eamon will be with me on the nite too so that in itself is an excuse to come along...not sure where the "after-show party" is but I'm sure we'll all end up back to mine in the early hours of the morning..

btw the support slot with The Devlins went amazingly well...very big audience but they seemed to like us a lot..myself and Eamon did all our own tracks for it, finishing with Psycho Killer (like the version on StopMakingSense) which if I do say so, blew the roof off the joint hahahahaha...

The Devlins were pretty sound too, spoke with them for a bit afterwards and they seemed pretty down to earth...was most impressed with the drummer tho, he played some brilliant beats during their set..

so thats it for the mo, only other news is this new guitar i'm getting on friday, it's the Takemine i borrowed for the Devlins gig..fell in love with and decided she had to be mine...and so she will be..

right im falling asleep here on my last nite in work this week...7:14am now and i'm wrecked...talk to you soooozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tra Fest 2005

2005-06-14T05:29:00.000+01:00

July 1st - 3rd in Tramore..a weekend of live music both indoors and out..I'm gonna be playing on the Saturday nite (the 2nd) in The Seahorse on Main Street..am delighted to announce my fellow TooSkin BlooSkinner Eamon "Malso" O'Malley as guest for the evening..he will be joining me on keyboards for the evening so be sure to stagger in at some stage during your drunken trail around the town...

For those of you not familiar with Tramore, here is a picture of it from space:

* FRIDAY 3RD JUNE @ THE CAPE, TRAMORE *

2005-06-02T03:43:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know I'll be doing my unplugged set here on Friday nite with the usual 10:30pm start...see you there ;)

SATURDAY 28TH MAY @ THE SHANTY BAR, TRAMORE

2005-05-24T05:17:00.000+01:00

...will be playing from about 10.30 so come early for those comfy chair kinda seats at the front..looking forward to the gig after the warm reception there last time and i'll be using this opportunity to play a pretty revised set of songs which i'm gonna test out and hopefully use for a while..

NO COVER CHARGE so no excuse for not coming ;)

Burger

MySpace ruined my life...

2005-05-19T09:07:00.000+01:00

Cool gig last weekend in the Vic Bistro out in Tramore..it's a restaurant but they have a special salsa nite with all sorts of finger foods so you don't have to get a 3 course meal just to hear me play..

..because of the setting I got to play a really mellow acoustic set, stuff I could never play in the pub because it would just be too quiet..so if ya wanna hear me doing the John Prine fingerpicking, the Dylan D-Tuning stuff or indeed my own songs from the ep etc. then this is the place to go on a Saturday nite..I'll keep you posted when the next one is..

btw..may I recommend the house white wine..was my first time drinking this year, the place was hot and the sweat was rolling off me so I quenched the thirst with about two bottles..barely even remember leaving the gig to go and meet Harry and Fla in the Vic..and as for the antics when I did catch up with them..apologies to Derro for spitting hardcore raps in his ear..ya know the way Derro..and if ya don't know well now ya know..

here's where I sign off for another couple of days..I gotta go and get the press release sheet printed this morning and and a few other bits n pieces..try and locate my speakers after the last gig..get the mic stand back from Gorbachov..try and flog two old speakers to John Palmer..you know the deal..

see u next week...

The MAIN BURGER