I have spent the last couple of months putting together a show called INTO THE WEST: The Celts in Texas with my friends, Michael Harrison and Judy Lanahan (both from Dallas). It is a two and a half hour multi-media presentation of songs, stories and images that celebrate the impact the Irish and Scottish immigrants have had on Amrican history and music.

We'll see how well the show goes over, but we've had a lot of interest in repeating the show in various venues throughout the region - so we may actually do it a few times over the next year or so. We've toyed with the idea of developing the show with different subtopics; The Celts in Texas may become The Irish / Mexican Connection or we may work on the Celts of Canada or some sort of twist involving both US and Canada (my mother's Scottish family emigrated to Canada - only came to the US to work the cotten mills in New England) and then maybe The Irish Cowboys (there's a wealth of material, history and stories for this one).

It's been a very interesting project. I've had a great time researching the subject, writing and learning songs for the show - and it's the first time I've worked on stage with a video presentation. I realize this thing could become a "career" and I don't want that - but it sure as hell has been fun - and I am very grateful for the wealth of information there is available on the subject - and by the way, the main focus of the show is music! We kick off the show this weekend with a house concert in Louisiana (a "dress rehearsal" for an intimate crowd of 65) and then we perform the first show in Dallas on Wed Aug 28. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

I've spent hours digging through the DT and then using that info to go off to there sites and research further. Great place, this mudcat.org/DT!

Just thought y'all might find this of interest.