Greetings from the heart of New York City where the weather today is probably the best it will be until next May.

I was born in the Midlands of England. My mother is from Co. Kerry and my father was half-Irish. I was raised in England, Ireland, Toronto and New York. We always had folk songs and other Irish national music in our home. My father had a few traditional songs from his grandfather, Patrick McKay, who came from near the far-famed Spancil Hill crossroads in Co. Clare. My grand-uncle, Lot McKay, was an NCO on HMS Victory.

It was not until until 1961 when I returned to NYC from a stint in an English boarding school that I first considered what made the folk songs different from any others. My older brother, Liam, introduced me to a copy of a little 10-inch Robin Hall & Jimmy MacGregor recording of songs from Gavin Greig's "Last Leaves of the Traditional Ballads." It was a revelation.

I sang at South Street Seaport and The Irish Arts Center in the early 1970's. I met Joe Heaney among other fine singers. Later, Margaret Barry stayed with me for 4 or 5 months. I never learned any of Margaret's songs but I learned a lot about life! Some of my favorite singers: Dominic Behan, Ewan MacColl, Peter Bellamy, Frank Harte, Almeda Riddle, Len Graham and Dan McGonagle. I play guitar and the bodhran.

I formed The Flying Cloud with the Co. Longford fiddler Paddy Reynolds and Brian Brooks (later of The House Band) in 1975. We had a number of personnel changes over 3 our years and recorded an LP in 1977. Brian and I started the folk club at The Eagle Tavern and I ran it for 10 years; it continues at The Blarney Star under Don Meade. In the early '80s, I put together a folk song book, "A Bonnie Bunch of Roses," for Oak.

Music became an occupational hazard and I stopped singing altogether for 14 years. Brian Conway, the great All-Ireland champion fiddler, and some of my old buddies from South Street Seaport got me singing again in 1996. That same year, I resurrected some old master tapes which were for an LP I started in 1982 with Lou Killen, Mick Moloney, Andy O'Brien, Billy McComiskey and Brendan Mulvihill. It's been finished as "Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea" and it will be issued as a Folk-Legacy CD sometime next month. It has some great old standards on it and some totally unknown songs too. William Main Doerflinger very kindly helped me write the notes.

In August, I retired after 30 years in the airline business. I'm trying to avoid taking another full-time job. I've been doing Irish sessions around NYC with Brian Conway and some concerts too. A very talented but totally unknown Irish-American singer, Bob Conroy, and I are working on another theme CD and have put together a touring repetoire. We'll be at the Nomad Festival in CT in a few weeks and we're going to San Francisco, Ireland and England next year.

My "Rip Van Winkle" experience causes me astonishment every day. One of the most pleasant surprises has been DT. What a real treat!

All the best, Dan