Greetings From Ireland

While you were putting on your Sparkly Twilight Vampire costume and preparing for tricks and treats on Sunday, old Uncle Bloggy along with a passel of my fellow Irish Festers were flying across the broad Atlantic to attend the kind-of-annual conference of North American Irish festival directors and promoters. We just landed, bleary eyed and tired. I have every intention of posting from here often, so we'll see how that goes.

Just between you and me, a lot of what goes on at these things to be honest with you is about as exciting as watching a Jack O Lantern rot. Useful and informative, sure. But round table discussions on visa and tax issues related to the hiring of foreign bands to play in America...hell, I got bored just typing that sentence. But here's where the action is at these conferences: the nightly music showcases. Think of these as serial auditions. Bands play short sets, pass out press kits and leave the stage to the next act. What's especially exciting this year is that only bands without North American representation will be performing for us. So we'll be seeing and hopefully booking bands that will be brand new to Irish Fest.

Stay tuned for updates from what I'm sure will be a productive week for all, livers excluded.