Cady Finlayson: News

So far the most exciting thing in my life this week is that the Budweiser Clydesdale horses came to my neighborhood for a visit. They are beautiful!
Next week, though, is Make Music NY Day (June 21st) and there will be free music ALL over New York City.
Vita and I are doing three fiddle/guitar sets (see showdates page).....

This week Vita and I played two electronic shows. He is the King of the Wah-wah pedal so we had to try it. Fun! We had a rehearsal before the show and most of it was spent playing with foot pedals. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

The first show was GoGirls Nite at Otto's Shrunken Head, which is a Tiki bar on 14th st. We had the pleasure of hearing all sorts of music, and you can see a nice photo collage of the show at www.myspace.com/gogirlsnyc
Then we did a demonstration at the United Nations School and had the kids improvising and trying out different sounds. I had written a a bass part out for everyone that was basically three notes and then I wrote an "advanced bass part" that had 4 or 5 notes. Of course everyone wanted to play the "advanced part".
So that's the latest news. We have a show coming up on Friday June 6th in Park Slope Brooklyn with the full band
(Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor 8 pm, 53 Prospect Park West bsec.org). This is a great place to really listen to music and it's in the neighborhood so please come!

I'm back from the "Almost Heaven: songs of John Denver tour" and will soon post photos of our travel adventures. We went a lot of places, in fact we flew to CA from the East Coast twice in one week. The biggest highlight for me was in Arizona where we went to the Grand Canyon. Vita and I took our instruments and made a little video (playing Dunmore Lassies) which he's putting on youtube.
The other highlight of the tour for me was going to Mike's guitar shop in Cincinnati, where I bought an octave pedal. This means I can sound like a bass player when I want to, and that's a lot of fun.

Now back in NY, there are a few NY shows coming up
(note: if you like Dive Bars, there's a GoGirls show we're doing at a cool Tiki Bar called Otto's Shrunken head - May 22nd), several in June in NY (see show dates page).
If you'd like to see our Grand Canyon video it's at

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tKRcBeSZgwc

Counting down two more days until we go on tour again. It always feels like an incredible rush to get everything done before I leave.

I am really excited about some of the places we're going, though. For one thing, one of my goals is to play in every state and we will be adding a few states I have never played in, like Kentucky and Missouri.
and we are going to sunny California....

Ever since I started playing Irish music, I have noticed that all of a sudden as March approaches, the phone starts ringing and everyone from the senior center to the catering halls is asking about Irish music. Last year I had 34 calls about St. Patrick's Day, and many of them were the DAY BEFORE.
Nothing like a little last-minute inspiration!
I don't know if this once-a-year idea happens with other kinds of music. I mean, I don't listen to only rock music in August, or only soul in October....maybe Christmas music in December, but that's an exception.
I'm glad that people do go for Irish music in March, just keep in mind, the music goes all year long!
If you do especially like to celebrate in March and you're looking to get in the mood for that infamous holiday, my band will be kicking if off on March 2nd with a free concert at the Queens Central Library.
3pm at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica Queens. I have a stellar international line-up with Dublin singer Marina Meyler, French guitaristi Vita Tanga, and my favorite bodhran player, Tim Alworth who I met in LImerick, Ireland, even though he is from New Jersey of all places.
We hope to see you there!

The holiday season starts for me when I have my first "holiday gig", To me this means playing Christmas music.
Sometimes it's a church concert with a choir which reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas (that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of mad shoppers).
Last year I did one at this beautiful Church in the village, and in the middle of the concert we heard loud sirens and music -it was the Chanukah Mobile passing by. Just a reminder of NY's many people and holidays.
Last night Vita and I played for a holiday party and we had a chance to get to most of my favorites, including a French one he taught me on the tour called Papa Noel....next to the muppet theme, it was our soundcheck song.
It looks as if I may be going on the road again soon, so in the meantime I am going to enjoy one of my favorite holidays, and I hope you do too!

Having just finished one month with the "Almost Heaven" show (about John Denver) , I'm already missing those tasty biscuits they have in the South....
There were a lot of highlights on the tour. Here are mine.
1. Watching some very talented actors create their magic night after night.
(if you missed the show, they are: Alex Hanna, Rosie Mattia, Benjamin Zep Misek, Ryan Nearhoff and Vernae Taylor)...

2. Playing with great musicians (Vita Tanga on guitar and Seth Weinstein on piano)

3. Seeing the chest of drawers in High Point, NC that is bigger than a house
(also John Coltrane's childhood home was here)

4. Being welcomed by one of the presenters in Albemarle NC who said, "Don't y'all have any grownups with you?"????

5. Checking out the Biltmore Estate!

6. Tasting the scones and breakfast casseroles at Mimi's Solutions (Albemarle, NC)

7. Being told at the hair salon in the Super Walmart , "You let a MAN do your hair!!"

8. Playing catch phrase with the cast.

9. Bojangles biscuits

10. Having the ladies in the hair salon at the Super Walmart tell me that when they had a bomb threat they took the money from the cash register and went straight to Bojangles.....


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We had a great time at the East Providence Heritage Festival - Rhode Island was beautiful!
I have 2 more September shows and then the big news is that I'll be going on the road in October with a theatre show. It's called "Almost Heaven: The songs of John Denver".
We are going to North Carolina.
I love NY, but more than that, I love getting out of NY! This is my chance!

We had a great time playing at the Jalopy and now we're onto the new Woodside Show (7/20 in Windmuller Park) and a visit to Rhode Island for the East Providence Heritage Festival (7/22). We are the only Irish band at this festival -the headliner for the night is Starship with MIckey Thomas, so it could be an interesting mix of music. We are in the "cultural tent" and I'm sure the rockers will be somewhere else.
I had a chance to be on a cable tv show called "ALive with Clive", which is Westchester Cable.Padraig Allen and I went on it and did a few songs/tunes and chatted with Clive about music and our dreams for the future.
The host has all sorts of guests on there, and while we were waiting we saw him interview an author about her new book which is called "Goaldigger". We''re not sure yet when the segments will air, but hopefully soon.

On Friday June 29th at 9 p.m., we are doing a very special concert at the Jalopy Theatre in Red Hook Brooklyn. It's a very cute place, they have great coffee, and most importantly it's a wonderful place to hear music because it's set up for that.
I have a great line-up for this gig-Mari Reisberg is singing, Padraig Allen is singing, Shane O'Sullivan is playing the Djembe! and I'm on the fiddle.
Then we have a band called Devilish Merry playing at 10:30 (folk fusion) and they have all sorts of instruments like whistle, bodhran, etc. (check them out at myspace.com/devilishmerry
It's $8 for this show and we'd love to see you there!

June News


There is a guy named Marc Gunn who runs an internet site all about Celtic Music. He makes a point to feature independent artists and has all sorts of info, cd reviews, podcasts, things to vote on, etc.
He had an idea to bring attention to independent celtic music and it follows the "top of the charts" idea....to bring a celtic tune to the top of charts on itunes...and the tune he chose for the first one is track one, Tuttle, from my Irish Coffee CD. It's such an honorto be chosen. Here's how it works.

The idea is that everyone goes to itunes on FRIDAY june 15th and buys the tune (Tuttle is the name of the tune). If you like it, write about it in your blog or review it....he explains it all at www.celticmusicpodcast.com/topthecharts/
We'll see if we can get the world to know about independent music!

Thank you for your support!
p.s. we have a Brooklyn show on June 29th at The Jalopy (see calendar dates)

I just got back from my trip playing for the Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County....they go every year to Cleveland to participate in a Police Memorial Weekend- remembering all the police officers killed in the line of duty.
There is a parade, memorial service and a concert (Pipe and Drum Tattoo). This year we did the Irish song, "Spancill Hill". It's always such a pleasure to play with the pipes and I have to say that the Theater in Cleveland is a really beautiful one.
I also went to the swap meet and added two little police cars to my collection...

My Irish Coffee CD is now available! Featuring "Spirited Irish fiddle with a global twist", this CD combines Irish fiddle tunes with American folk influences and world music percussson. I also wrote some original tunes inspired by my Brooklyn neighborhood, my stint at jury duty, and my brother's cooking.
I realized after listening to the final product that it has all my musical influences: Irish fiddling /African drumming to my years of playing harmonies in a string quartet. But somehow they all came together in a way that works -it's my "signature sound" and that alone is a reason to have an Irish Coffee.