Bloggerhythms Is 20 Years Old This Month

Larry Kirwan in concert

The exact date of Bloggerhythms' birth is unknown because some of its very early posts have been revised and republished using more recent dates. Regardless, to commemorate its twentieth anniversary this month here's the story of how this little outpost on the web began. With the cooperation of alternative music radio station WXPN-FM in Philadelphia this article was first posted here on August 1, 2007 for an on-air event they were sponsoring that summer. It too has been updated.

Most people do not get to meet the musicians they love the most. However, on the night of March 1, 2001 I got lucky. I met, shook hands, and interviewed Larry Kirwan, the former leader and co-founder of the since disbanded, Irish-American rock band, Black 47, before a concert at Finnegan's Wake in Philadelphia.

This all came about in a rather odd way. After discovering the New York City sextet at a listening booth at a local Borders store (R.I.P.) I fell completely in love with their 2000 release, Trouble in the Land. Prior to that January day I only knew the band's name. I didn't know anything else about them.

Later that year I was writing CD reviews for a local news website that my brother-in-law, Steve, launched with some friends. At year's end he asked me to submit reviews for my top five albums of the year, and Trouble in the Land was my number one pick. He also asked me if I would be willing to interview the star of my favorite current band.

Steve decided to try and get some publicity for his website so he emailed my review to Kirwan. While the review was highly complimentary of the disc, the band, and Kirwan's songs, there was one "small" criticism. In a very ungraceful way, I wrote that his lead vocals could be problematic. Unfortunately, Kirwan shot an email back to him with the following response: "Thanks, although I'm less enthused regarding his review about my voice. Tell the ****** to meet me on 42nd Street and choose his weapons."  Trying not to act too offended he immediately sent a second email saying he was only kidding. (For what it's worth, I've since removed the poorly worded criticism from the original review because - like Bob Dylan - Black 47's music transcends his voice, and I honestly don't remember what I wrote).

When I received the email chain back from Steve I still had enough gall to send Kirwan an email asking him for an interview when the band came to town. To my surprise he agreed, but he also wrote, "Nice to hear from you, even if you are the ****** who says I can't sing."  Kirwan was very gracious all during our conversation, and he even offered to buy me a drink. You can read the full interview here.

Time went by. Steve's online news site never survived its infancy, and he removed it from the web. I still had the interview and a handful of orphaned CD reviews I wrote for him. For awhile I didn't know what to do with them, but eventually I got the idea to start this blog where they all found a brand new home.

The multi-talented musician is quite prominent within the Irish-American community. In addition to formerly fronting a unique rock band Kirwan is a novelist and a playwright, plus he's the host and DJ on Sirius XM's weekly Celtic Crush radio show. Black 47 - who has gigged on major, late night TV talk shows hosted by Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and David Letterman - was a big enough act that Kirwan still could have pulled the prima donna routine and not fulfilled my request. So, kudos to you Mr. Kirwan. I thank you for your great music, and to my late brother-in-law, Steve, I thank you for inspiring this fun hobby known as Bloggerhythms. It would never have seen the light of day without the entire series of events chronicled here.