I'll try to stop short of shameless self-promotion, but ... I bid goodbye to 2005 reluctantly last night. It was the year of the great adventure of producing "Creekside Rhapsody," a CD on which 18 good friends made music out of my lyrics, referred to on the cover as "the folk poetry of Mark Flanagan." Mudcatter Alba does the vocals and pulled together two cuts ("The Fire at Slane" and "Postcards from the Fleadh"). Three cuts are performed by the Blue FOs (and what a rush it was to hear them New Year's Eve at Chan's in Woonsocket, R.I.). Other vocalists include Ken Lyon, Aubrey Atwater, Andy Solberg, Sheila Masterson, and Ron Pen. Putting it all together was mostly fun and I don't feel immodest to say the results were pretty damn good. Sorry, I don't have a vehicle to post sound clips, but I'm working on it. Happy New Year to all at the Mudcat. -- Mark Flanagan (Pinetop Slim)