Bloggerhythms

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 discoverin...

A couple of posts ago readers were treated to a discussion about Larry Kirwan's recent novel, Rockaway Blue . Now it's time to talk about what he is best known for - making great rock 'n roll.  As he has done twice  for Bloggerhythms  in the past , Kirwan, the former leader of Black 47, participated in a question and answer session by email. This time he discussed his most recent music, and as always, I thank him for his cooperation. We're going to talk about three separate releases.  Teddyboy  (2019) is a five song EP, Heroes/Belfast  (2018) is a four song set, and in 2020 the Irish native son released two versions of a one-off single, "Stronger and Better." Then the interview closes with one final question. TEDDYBOY I knew Teddyboy was a stage musical but I wasn't able to find anything else about it, so Kirwan was kind enough to fill us in with all of the details. This comes directly from the show's press release. " Teddyboy is a musical writt...

When I first listened to Black 47 I was astonished by their unique sound. I loved everything about them even before I discovered they were considered one of the elite Celtic-rock bands in America. Unfortunately, mainstream success always eluded the New York outfit despite working with highly regarded rockers such as The Cars' Ric Ocasek who produced their major label debut CD and live appearances on many of the biggest late night talk shows. They were guests of David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon. After listening to Black 47's fourth major label studio release, Trouble In the Land -   the CD that was on record shelves when I first discovered the sextet in 2000 - I wrote these words to describe their music: "The band played a loud mixture of Celtic folk music, punk rock, and reggae punctuated by Irish revolutionary politics. If you can visualize Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Chieftains, and The Clash all playing on stage together in the same band...

In 2005 Black 47 released their first studio album after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Irish rockers from New York City gave us  New York Town , this one dedicated to bandleader Larry Kirwan's adopted hometown. The twelve songs Kirwan composed form a loosely connected concept album: every one  is set in the Big Apple. Kirwan has called New York Town his "love letter" to America's largest city. Whether the song concerns romantic relationships, the immigrant experience, people on the dark side of urban life, or the awful events of September 11th that appear to have inspired him, Kirwan composed some wonderfully literate music. As always, he wrote with both humor and sadness and each song makes you feel the emotion he wanted to convey. In a lot of a ways this album is typical Black 47, but the concept and an unusual abundance of star-studded musical guests help set this one apart. Rosanne Cash is great here as she shares lead vocals with Kirwan on "Fiona...

This review was originally written for a small, short-lived website I began in 2001. Later the review was offered to and published online by a popular cultural arts webzine, Rambles.net . Then it was posted here in 2005 shortly after this blog began. Only thirty-two people have ever read it so it's time for an encore presentation, this time hopefully to a larger audience. ______________________________________________________________ I’ve never been a fan of singer–songwriters. You know the genre, music created by folkie minstrels who play guitar while singing their own confessional songs. Most recordings and live performances by these artists feature sparse instrumentation with lyrics that are often far more important than the melodies, harmonies, and rhythms that accompany them. I have often wondered why these musicians just don't become poets. Now, I'm not saying that lyrics are unimportant. Great lyrics enhance any musical experience. When the music and the lyrics ...

Larry Kirwan in 1998 The two part Liverpool Fantasy series ends today, the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show . This second installment is an e-mail question and answer session conducted with Larry Kirwan on June 15, 2003. Due to the passage of time a small part of the interview is dated but please don't let that stop you from taking in the many interesting things the author has to say about his novel. If you haven't already done so please read part one here so the interview will be more meaningful to you. -------------------------------------------- CR: What year was the play written? LK: I can't remember the exact date I began the play, but it was first produced down on the Lower East Side of NYC in Summer 1986. CR: What was the inspiration behind the original play? LK: Reading that "John Lennon would have been a success in whatever field he entered." At first, I thought that this was true but began to doubt...

The following book review of Liverpool Fantasy  - a novel based on the very early career of The Beatles and an email interview with its author, Larry Kirwan - were originally published on Bloggerhythms on May 5, 2005 in the first two weeks of this blog's existence. As a result only twenty-six people read the article in nine years. So, in tribute to the upcoming 50th anniversary of The Beatles' American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show it's time to re-post both parts of the original piece because a lot more eyeballs are perusing this little website today then when it first appeared online all those years ago. However, this time the interview will be split off into a separate entry on the actual anniversary (next Sunday), so stay tuned and don't touch that dial. --------------------------------------------- In addition to leading Black 47, New York City's infamous Irish-rock band for the last fifteen years, author Larry Kirwan is also a playwright, and now he ha...

I had the great fortune of meeting and interviewing Larry Kirwan, the lead singer, primary songwriter, and the spiritual leader behind Black 47 just prior to their live, loud and raucous rock and roll performance at Finnigan's Wake in Philadelphia on March 1, 2001. The band arrived in Philadelphia very late, and I thought there would be no time for our conversation, but Kirwan sent a Finnigan's Wake employee to summon me upstairs at 10:30 where we would talk. This was only 45 minutes before show time. The conditions were not ideal for an interview. The music of the opening act, and the din of the crowd below us, often made conversation difficult. Listening to the tape I made of our chat for the writing of this article was even harder. Larry's words were often buried in the noise of the tape, and were sometimes barely audible, but I was still able to quote him accurately. Unfortunately, after more than 10 years of recording and performing, Black 47 remains an unknown ent...