The Story of Blue Mountains

March 29, 2021

<a href="https://peterdoran.bandcamp.com/track/blue-mountains-feat-haley-heynderickx">Blue Mountains (feat. Haley Heynderickx) by Peter Doran</a>

It’s a Monday afternoon and I’m listening to Anais Mitchell’s Young Man in America record. Outside there are birds flitting around the feeders hanging from the cherry tree. The day is grey but thankfully dry.

On Friday the second single from my upcoming album Voices was released. The song is called Blue Mountains and you can listen to it at the link above or wherever you stream your music.

This song is the most straight ahead folk-country thing I’ve ever written. I wrote it quickly on a guitar that I inherited after the passing of one of my favorite people and musical mentor, Vinny Baker. Vinny was a huge fan of bluegrass and country music and I’m convinced there was a lot of that energy still in the instrument when I picked it up for the first time and the song kind of came from that and from his spirit. Strange thing to say, but I believe it.

Check out the great Vinny Baker blazing away on this beautiful Bourgeois guitar:

I’VE BEEN THERE IN A SONG

Around this time I saw the American songwriter Sam Amidon performing in Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland. He played his song “Blue Mountains” and I was completely spell bound by it. Whatever it was about the mood in the venue and the hypnotic nature of the song and his performance but I felt transported to these Blue Mountains, I felt like I was there.

This feeling stuck with me in the coming days, how it was so amazing that music can sometimes completely lift you out of yourself and transport you into an other world. So this gave me the first line of my song “I’ve never been to the Blue Mountains, but I’ve been there in a song”. That was the song. From there the rest of the song just flowed… I imagined a guy, a simple, clean living man going about his days, working his 9 to 5 just getting on with things… He’s got a good relationship on the go and things are going just fine. But there at the back of his mind is the idea of leaving the whole world behind and moving with his lover to live out his days deep in the Blue Mountains.

That’s it, it’s a very simple folky love song but it’s got some quality of peacefulness and contentment in it that I like and I hope others do too.

“I HEAR A WOMAN’S VOICE ON THAT ONE…”

Before we made an official start on recording the album, I spent an afternoon with producer Hally (Ronan O’Halloran). We sat together in the studio where we would record the album and I played all the songs that I had, just voice and acoustic guitar. I wanted him to hear the tunes and get his feedback and ideas about production etc. After I finished playing Blue Mountains he immediately said “I hear a woman’s voice on that one”. That sounded like a good idea to me so I told him I’d think about who might be around that could work on the track. As luck would have it, one of my favorite songwriters and people, Haley Heynderickx, happened to be on tour in Ireland around the time we are set to start on recordings.

I opened up a few shows for Haley on that tour and even promoted a sold out show for her in my hometown of Mullingar. She and Andrew Stonestreet spent about a week with myself and my wife at our old farmhouse in the Irish midlands. It was a fine time we had. I asked Haley if she would be up for singing on a track with me on the new record and she kindly obliged! The recording turned out really well I think. On the morning of the session we worked on it a little over the breakfast table and played through it a couple of times. It was very easy and relaxed. At the studio we set up together performed it live. I think the album recording is about the third take we did, and listening back now it makes me very happy just how well our voices locked together for the phrasing and emotional intensity. Haley is genuinely one of my favorite artists so it’s just a real treat that we got to make this little audio document together.

I first met Haley maybe six years previously when she was visiting Ireland and performing at some open mic nights. It was just pure chance really that we ended up on the same bill. I was struck by her quality and her spirit then and still am. I was playing a show in Dublin that week and I invited her up to sing a song mid set. Captured here on camera by Musicians with Cameras:

At that time I was recording an album called Outlines, and I asked Haley about singing on a track called Bright White Hearts , we didn’t get to make it happen for that song but it just goes to show that if a thing is meant to be… life is long.

Anyway I really hope you enjoy the song. Thanks for reading and thanks for listening.

If you’re on Spotify you can follow my artist page here

~ Peter

“Delicate and absolutely stunning” – Ed Smith, Today FM
“Peter Doran and Haley Heynderickx weave a wonderfully gentle slice of folk with their duet “Blue Mountains”. Simply a joy to listen to – The Last Mixed Tape
“Blue Mountains” may be a perfect folk song. Doran and Heynderickx’s voices blend perfectly together. It’s such a chilled out, beautiful folk song that is impossible not to be sucked in by. There aren’t many perfect songs out there, but “Blue Mountain” is one. – If it’s too loud.com (music blog)
Ahead of the release of his upcoming album Voices (out May 7), Peter Doran shares his stunning new track ‘Blue Mountains’. Incorporating elements of folk, Americana and country, he’s joined on the track by American songwriter Haley Heynderickx – Hotpress

~ Peter

Nothing New Under the Sun

February 11, 2021

Cover Pic by Kevin May / Graphic Design Eugen Kern-Emden

11th February 2021

“Nothing New Under the Sun”, the first single from my upcoming album “Voices”, will be released tomorrow on streaming platforms world-wide. Special thanks to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media. I am so excited for this song – and the record as a whole – to at last see the light of day. I hope that you love it every bit as much as I do.

“Nothing New Under the Sun” is a song about those moments when you feel uninspired and sleepwalking through your days. It’s about recognizing that feeling and figuring out a way to shake yourself free of it. “Give me one time, something tribal, something bloody for my survival”. The final verse offers hope of reinvention and the belief that there is something yet to become.

It’s been six years since my last single release – “Moon” from the “Outlines” album in 2015. Six years seems like an eternity, and maybe it is, but things take the time they take and sometimes you just have to follow the flow – or lack thereof as the case may be.

In those years I have gotten married and moved into an Old Farmhouse just outside my hometown of Mullingar. Since moving here I have tried my hand at growing vegetables / lime-plastering / digging holes / fixing stone walls / chopping Timber / planting fruit trees /basic wood-working / Concert Promotion / painting / music-studio building and of course continued adventures in Songwriting. All this is to say I haven’t been in complete hibernation these last years.

Having such a space of time between records makes this new one feel in a way like a debut album. There was lots of time to work on songs, time to live with them and let them grow organically until they were at a place that I was really happy with. I am very proud indeed of this bunch of songs.

At the beginning of 2019 I had songs enough to make what I believed could be a very good record. But I had no plan in place about how I would record them. One of my ambitions then and now is to make a record in my own home studio here in the farmhouse. But work was progressing slower on that front than I had hoped so I needed to find a place to record. An early idea was to try and get access to the closed-down studio where I recorded my first album “Wood”. I could bring in some mics and try to work away myself like I had done for “Outlines”, but I quickly abandoned that idea because I really wanted to work with other people on this one. To surround myself with good people. Good musicians. So that we could kind of bounce off each other in an inspiring and musical way and hopefully bring the best out of these songs.

I reached out to my friend Hally who has a studio a little over an hour away from me and asked if he would be interested in recording / producing the album with me. I knew Hally for a few years at that point and admired him both as a musician and an engineer / producer. Hally, thankfully, was excited by the idea and we set to work planning out a timeline for recording and discussing recording philosophies and approach etc. and who we might try and get to play on the album.

I will write more about the whole process in the coming weeks but for now I am just so excited for people to hear the first fruit of this labor tomorrow. The first single “Nothing New Under the Sun” was the first song we tackled on the day one of band recordings so it seems fitting to put it out ahead of the other songs as a taster of what’s to come.
I’m so thankful to the musicians involved and I feel blessed to have so many incredible artists add their musicality to this project. The first notes of the song are played by cellist Mary Barnecutt who made the wonderful string arrangement for this song. Violin & Viola were played by Aoife Ní Dhornáin.

The stupidly talented Lenny Cahill played drums, bass, piano and organ on this track and – as with the majority of the record – he is the musical glue of this song. Without his sensibility, musical intuition and creative input this would be a much different record. The icing on the cake then was to have Emmett Tinley sing harmony on the song. Emmett is one of my favourite songwriters and to have him be part of this song was such a great treat.

Well that’s it, I’m excited to take these first steps with the new album. There will be no shows for a little while yet so I will do all I can to get the music “out there” as they say. You can listen to the song on my Spotify page or stream / download on Bandcamp from tomorrow. Please do follow me on either or both platforms to keep up to date with all the new music that’s coming this year.

Thanks for reading,
thanks for listening

~ Peter

A fascination with Hally

March 29, 2017

I first came across the artist known as Hally sometime around the end of the 90’s. I saw him play at the small “Stables” venue in Mullingar, which was at that time, a kind of musical church, with a different preacher passing through every weekend. I don’t remember the exact year but it was one of the earlier shows I had attended at the venue. A friend of mine had invited me along to the show, he was keen to see the opening act… some guy that had once been the lead singer with a band called Juniper. That was the first time I ever heard the name Damien Rice. It was the first time I heard those songs. First time I had heard songs of that power in real life.

That was the beginning of my years of enchantment with Damien and with the singer songwriter genre as a whole. In truth the name of Hally only stayed with me because he played that first time I heard Damien. That was it. The name Hally remained there, lodged in some corner of my brain, frozen in frost, preserved, but rarely visited. I had no reason to think of the man. For 17 years I moved through my days happy and Hally-less. Then, earlier this year, a friend of mine sent me a link to a video … “check this out, I think you’ll like it…” and there he was again, this Hally, with his face painted white, dressed in a striped jumper and waistcoat, singing about beach balls and handstands:

My friend was right. I did like it. It turns out that this was the first song of a proposed 52 song project called “Peeling Onions”. The project will run throughout 2017, with one new song & video being released every Sunday. I had never heard of such a thing! What a wonderfully ambitious project ! I loved how Grand the whole thing was, the very idea was seductive. My main thought: Could it be done?. Well so far so good… At time of writing the project is in it’s 14th week, and each week, as promised, a new piece has been released online. It’s been at different times dark, playful, explosive, wild. The quality has been consistently high and the music eclectic. There is a jazz element running through many of the tracks. Some are spoken word, some are half sung – half scatted. All of them are interesting and fall left of field. Already this is becoming an impressive body of work.

In the years of Hally’s “absence”, his time away from live performance, he was still writing, still learning. He spent some years in New York City at the beginning of this century where he became more and more interested in the recording side of the music business. Here, he made his first steps on the road towards becoming a record producer. Upon returning to Ireland, Hally studied Music and Media technologies at Trinity College Dublin and eventually set up his own “Arthouse” studios in Naas, Ireland. This has been the headquarters for the Peeling Onions project for these past months. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him there for a few hours recently, drinking tea and eating biscuits and laughing about the ups and downs of a musical life.

Equally impressive as releasing a new song each week, is the fact that each one has an accompanying music video. These videos are made in collaboration with visual artists, illustrators and creators the world over, many of whom Hally met during his time in New York. Some, I believe are compiled from footage sourced online that is in the public domain, spliced among footage that Hally and team hally have produced themselves. Whatever it takes to get it done. As this project is developing in real time, and there is still some way to go, Hally is always looking for people to collaborate on these videos. So if you read this, and that’s your world, and you think you’d like to be involved with this project, do reach out to Hally on Facebook.

The latest song from the project “White”, is one of the strongest so far. The production and instrumentation is of the highest quality as always. The song opens with the line “White powder falling out my nose, my clothes have been the same for almost a year”. “White” is accompanied by maybe the strangest video of the bunch to date. It was taken down by facebook for excessive nudity. As Hally told me over the phone “It’s not in the least bit sexual”… The video, as with almost everything in this project, is challenging… it pulls you out of your ordinary day and makes you shift your thinking in the way that only art can. You can watch all the skin and nudey parts here:

His is an unusual musical world and this work will not be for everyone. But I’m very excited to see and hear what’s coming down the track. This is a brave and Grandiose project and I for one applaud it! and I really hope that it reaches the audience it deserves.

Click here to check out all of the songs at Hally’s Youtube channel

The first of four album release concerts is happening on Saturday April 8th at Dublin’s Unitarian Church. It’s a full band show for Hally & I’m honoured to have been invited to open up the show. If you’re in the area do come along. I’m planning on playing a bunch of new songs too.

Tickets, €15, are available here.

Older Post: 10 Years of Rain ↠

10 Years of Rain

March 15, 2017

Last September my debut album “Wood” turned 10 years old. I gathered up some of the original guys who played on the album and had an anniversary show in my favourite home town venue, The Stables in Mullingar. The concert was captured for posterity by the talented and lovely folks at Kerbute Productions.

We’re going to be releasing individual songs from the night over the next couple of months, but right now I’m delighted to share the first in this series. I thought we’d start off with something with a little bit more energy than is usual in my songs. I do hope you enjoy. This one is called “Rain” … It was a lot of fun.

Please share as far and wide as you can and help the musics to reach new people. Thanks!

…and here, if you’re curious, is the same song, played on the same stage, from about ten years earlier…

↞ Newer Post: A fascination with Hally

Older Post: Anthem ↠

Anthem

January 21, 2017

Last week I finished the great book “Sapiens: A brief history of human kind” by Yuval Noah Harari… It’s a wonderful book that I came away from with a better understanding of our species, where we’ve come from and where we might be headed. I highly recommended checking out the book… Some nights after finishing the book I had dream in which I heard or spoke the words “change the anthem”. When I woke I thought this was a cool idea. Around this time I had a new piece of music on the go… So I combined the dream-phrase, the after thoughts of the book and this piece of music together and a new song started to form…

Here’s a snippet from it. Hope you enjoy.

~ Peter

New song in the works… "Anthem" Rewrite the anthem rip up the contract(s) I feel a golden age coming on rewrite the anthem – rewrite the song when the Kingdom falls and the king don't come When the dam won't hold and the water runs When the veil lifts and the pieces fit We trade our skin for a new skin We trade our skin for a new skin Oh – let's play Oh – let's play on Oh yeah let's play Let's play God #singersongwriter #acousticguitar #bourgeoisguitars #irishmusic #originalmusic #indiemusic

A video posted by @peterdoran on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:51am PST

↞ Newer Post: 10 Years of Rain

Older Post: Bowie, Spooky Ghosts & Creativity ↠

Gerry Leonard on Bowie, Spooky Ghosts & Creativity.

January 11, 2017

Image credit: Hotpress.com

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending an IMRO Seminar by Dublin-born / New York based guitarist and producer Gerry Leonard. In the past couple of decades he has played with and co-written songs with countless artists, best known among them being David Bowie, Suzanne Vega and Rufus Wainwright. He’s also released a couple of records under the project name of “Spooky Ghost”. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen him play live with both Bowie and Rufus. He’s a very creative and atmospheric player so I was very excited to spend some time in his company.

During the talk, which lasted for a little over an hour and a half, he played some of his own compositions and some David Bowie material and talked about his working methods and how he approaches various creative projects. It’s always a pleasure to listen to good musicians speaking about their passion and very often, the best musicians are the most down to earth generous people you could meet. Gerry seems like an incredibly humble and gracious guy who continues to love and work hard at his craft.

I took a few pages of notes at the seminar which you can read through below if you like.

I will highlight some of the core ideas he touched on below and my thoughts on the same.

Notes from Gerry Leonard @ IMRO Jan 2017

1. What’s a perfect Day?

“A perfect day for me involves playing guitar, good espresso and being involved in good musical projects, projects with substance. There is a time for input and a time for output.“

~ I’m forever fascinated with how other creatives spend their time. Good to know coffee is high on Gerry’s priority list too! It’s a nice thing to think about dividing the time between input and output … you can’t always be in creative mode or you’ll burn yourself out. There must be time too for gathering thoughts, experiences, stories and impressions. Creativity then is putting all these strands together in new and interesting ways. He also talked about how he will spend days just figuring out new pedal arrangements and other technical things like this.

2. “Figure out what you’re good at …”

He talked about moving to New York for the first time and realizing that he was now just one more guitarist in a city full of great players. In order to find work, he said it was essential for him to take a step back and figure out exactly what it was that made him unique. That was a nice idea for me, to take the time to look at your own unique set of qualities and figure out how to move forward from there, to step into the maze knowing exactly what you’re about.

3. Solutions

He spoke in terms of projects all the time. From years of working with so many different artists it makes sense that he would have a very definite sense of a project and the clear division between each one, and of course the unique challenges that each one brings. As a solo artist, I am forever working on my own stuff… of course I experience different album and tour projects (and the co-write project I’m most excited about The Great Trade) but it’s easy for everything to kind of blur and to lose a sense of direction. I like this language of thinking in projects and solutions. It’s almost scientific. Figure out what the hell it is you’re trying to do and do it.

He talked about working with Suzanne Vega. They set a schedule to meet once a week, every Thursday and work on songs. This is how anything gets done. In small steps. They add up you know. Work out a plan to move the project forward. In fact he even spoke of songwriting as a way to move the project forward. For me the project is the songwriting, but I can see the logic in this though process too. You’re not going too far without songs.

4. First Thought, Best Thought

“Make bad demos, work quickly, play with ideas, first thought best thought” …

He talked about getting the ball rolling when starting on new recording projects… I liked the advice he gave to make bad demos. Don’t be too precious early on, be playful. If it works … great. If not throw it out!

Notes from Gerry Leonard @ IMRO Jan 2017

5. Our art doesn’t have to be everyone else’s art

“Be kind to yourself. Try to do our work, but always be kind. Our art doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else’s art. The process is important. You need the input and the output, the highs and the lows” – Gerry Leonard

Here’s Gerry himself speaking on Irish TV about his process in working with David Bowie:

Compliment this article with Peter’s cover version of David Bowie’s Lazarus, then dig into Mason Currey’s wonderful book “Daily Rituals: How Artists Work“.

Discover more about Gerry Leonard on his own blog and at his official twitter.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your reactions / further thoughts on the creative process in the comments below.

↞ Previous Post: Anthem

Next Post: The EPIC Manifesto ↠

The EPIC manifesto

January 6, 2017

A new year begins. Some things continue, others start over, slates are wiped clean. It’s raining in a grey Dublin. What’s on your mind in these early days of 2017?
I have no clear resolutions this year, I’ve not yet written a list of goals. Be that bad or good I don’t know. But there are some ideas that I’m thinking about, that I think of over and over again that I want to be more mindful of going forward. There are four essential themes for me, pillars that, when kept strong, can help everything flow smoother.

These pillars are ENERGY, PURITY, INTENSITY, CONSISTENCY. Hence EPIC … a little cheesy I admit, but also I think, too good to ignore. I’m just trying to go into every day thinking about the importance of these qualities.

ENERGY

To me, your Energy energy is your life force. It is the most important thing and should be guarded like it’s some kind of holy flame. I got to thinking about this a lot last year. Maybe it’s something you think about more the older you get. It became clear to me that everyone has a well of energy that fills and empties on a daily basis… when it’s full you feel like you can do anything, take on any challenge and just waltz through your days with a smile.

But of course the well empties. Some days it seems like you have absolutely nothing to draw on. These are the days I’m trying to avoid. I know it’s the most natural thing in the world for these things to go up and down, but being aware of the well might be enough to not waste energy on things that don’t light you up.

Things that fill the well: Sleep, good food, meditation, exercise (to a point)

Things that empty the well: Alcohol, excessive travel, late nights watching mindless tv, exercise (beyond a certain point), sickness

You will have your own list. We generally know what lights us up and we know what burns us out. There is often a Trade of course… Wine is good, hangover is no fun. One hopes to find a balance along the way, or if not be willing to accept the punishment gracefully 🙂

PURITY

This is deeply tied to energy… the purer you can get in your body and mind the more energy you will have at your disposal and the happier you’ll be. One of the things I experimented with last year was Fasting. The deepest fast I did was three days on water and lemon juice only. Afterwards I felt more alive than I could remember. It’s definitely something I want to do more of this year. Other musicians that have experimented with Fasting that I know of include Leonard Cohen and Steve Vai, two favourites of mine at opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Leonard said “I like to fast so I can be empty, when I’m empty I can receive”.

I’ve also had good results on short rice fasts and juice fasts. It’s all a case of giving your digestive system a rest and freeing up some energy for your body to get to some healing work. There is lots of good information online on how fasting can help with diseased and longevity. Interesting stuff I tell you.

INTENSITY

I haven’t quite figured this one out yet. But it’s on my mind. This, as with all things is a question of balance… Get too intense and I guess you’ll be a ball of rage. But I’d like to think more about the level of intensity I personally bring to things. I come from a pretty long line of relaxed folks and am for the most part pretty grounded about things. I would like to keep that in mind is all, be aware of my tendencies and look out for projects or areas where a little more intensity might be helpful. I suppose it just means to give 100% to the things that are important. For me that is: Music, Relationship, Family and health.

CONSISTENCY

This may well be the most important pillar of all, and the most difficult to achieve. I struggle with this a lot. Perhaps everyone does. I believe now though that in order to get anywhere with anything, you must be super consistent. You must show up over and over again. I tend to go through bursts with things. I’ll write a bunch of songs together and then nothing for months. I’ll completely obsess about running and get deep into marathon training only to not put on the shoes for weeks on end after the race is done. Then what happens? The fitness goes away. Songwriting muscles can atrophy too. So this is something I want to be very aware of this year. I want a solid process that I can come back to over and over again. Even if it’s just something small every day. It’s important to keep the chain going. To have ideas flowing into each other regularly. This is all energy too. Energy energy energy.

I will do the same with this blog, go on a run of writing and then radio silence for half a year. I will try to bring consistency to this too. Small regular efforts have to be more useful that mammoth bursts sporadically.

So this is all pretty straight forward stuff really, and all of it could be wrong. I don’t know. Maybe it is better to burn up in a blaze of glory than to gently glow steadily for a long time. There are no rights or wrongs. In any case these are some of the things that are on my mind early in this new year and some ideals that I will try to embody.

Hope you have an absolutely fantastic year ahead of you full of extraordinary health and joy.

Best,

~ Peter

06/01/2017

↞ Previous Post: Lazarus – A Resurrection Story

Lazarus – A Resurrection Story

December 24, 2016

In a year that has taken so many musical lives, I bring you a story of resurrection.

Almost six years ago, I was in a car crash near my hometown of Mullingar. The whole story of the incident can be read HERE . No human life was lost in the accident thankfully, but my guitar was ruined. The instrument was an all mahogany Martin acoustic, not a vintage or anything, but of big sentimental value as it was a gift for my 21st birthday.

Before the crash:
Original Martin J15

After the Crash

Somewhere, about halfway between then and now, the idea was formed to build a new body for the guitar and to bring it back to life. Only the body had been destroyed in the crash. Everything below the neck was lost. The idea was to build a new body – front, back, sides – from the same type of wood, and then hook it up to the original neck, and Boom – Your guitar breathes again.

All the wooden parts…

It’s taken a little longer than planned, but last week I collected the new guitar from Dublin-based Luthier Frank Tate. I always knew it would be a cool story and a fun project but I was floored by how good it sounds and plays. Frank tells me that the wood was salvaged from a Church (front) and a Ship Yard (Back). He assured me these are very much Luthier cliches, but I enjoyed the added depth to the history. To think that people would have knelt and prayed at this wood in a past life is a pretty cool thought. During the build, Frank started referring to the new guitar as “Lazarus”, the Biblical character that Jesus restored to life four days after his death. The name has stuck.
The guitar feels familiar yet new and I am excited to write some songs with it and play some shows.

I am the Resurrection and I am the life

For now though, I’ve made a little home video for David Bowie’s song “Lazarus”, from “Black Star”, his final recorded, released earlier this year.

↞ Previous Post: Go Slow – Live on the lake

Next Post: The EPIC Manifesto ↠

Go Slow – Live on the lake

December 14, 2016

It’s less than two weeks to Christmas. I’m sitting in a coffee shop, surrounded by Christmas lights. On the radio – “I don’t like cricket – I love it”. A painted snowman wearing a black top hat stares at me from the window with two uneven black eyes. Today is Wednesday and I’ve made an arrangement with myself to make Wednesday website day. Tell me why is it hard to make arrangements with yourself?

This week I want to share a song that I recorded last month in Switzerland… This song has been in the air for a year or more now and has taken a long time to come together. Some songs are like that… tricksy, crafty things. I can’t say for sure if it’s done yet, or if it’s as good as I think it should be. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what a song is. But with this one I must be patient. That is the central theme of the song… to be patient with things as they unfold… that every step in becoming is important, that it’s not good to rush things.

This was filmed on the lake in Brienz, Switzerland, which is one of my favourite places in the world. Filmed on an iPhone by my friend René, a guitar maker, a Jedi of wood and an altogether wonderful human being. He filmed with the phone in one hand and an oar in the other. You can hear the oar cut the water has we slowly turn around to take in all the mountains behind us. Hope you enjoy the song – if you do, please share on your Facebooks / Twitter / take a screen shot, print it out and put up on your fridge … however you can make the songs travel is good 🙂

Go Slow

“Noise, when the lights go out in your playground mind.
Noise in the dance club that’s your heart sometimes
and there’s noise in your muscles aching to climb
but there’s quiet underneath this that you’re trying to find

Go Slow, Go slow, good change will slowly come
Go slow and know that this is your becoming
Yours alone

Well a man gets lost in the stories that he tells
Be kind with the names that you give to yourself
and I know that you’re running to be more than you are
don’t the stars have their rhythms , it’s the same in your heart

Go Slow, Go slow, good change will slowly come
Go slow and know that this is your becoming

In your rise, in your fall, in your dusk, in your dawn
In your changing mind, in your animal heart
Go Slow…

Go Slow, Go slow, good change is slowly coming
Go slow and know that this is your becoming”

–

↞ Previous Post: Leonard Cohen

Next Post: Lazarus – A Resurrection Story ↠

Leonard Cohen

December 7, 2016

Leonard Cohen considered himself nothing more than a minor poet. I considered him a master. I fell in love, first with his work, and afterwards with the man. I loved the wisdom in his words and the deep calm of his speaking voice. He could sing too. His voice changed a lot of over the decades, in the end there was little difference between Leonard singing and Leonard speaking.

For me, he was an inspiration, as a songwriter of course, but equally so as a human being. Somehow, Leonard’s brand of greatness seemed like something you could dare to reach out for in a lifetime. Whereas someone like Bob Dylan seems like an altogether different creature, Leonard was human, vulnerable and not perfect. He wrote slowly, carefully. He spoke in the same way. He was drawn to hard work and discipline, and had an unerring commitment to his craft. These same impulses showed up in his spiritual life. In 1996 he was ordained a Zen Buddhist monk following a five year retreat to Mt. Baldy Zen Center near Los Angeles, a well earned break from Boogie Street.

from Leonardcohenforum.com

In reading about the man and watching many interviews, his humility and humour always shone through above all else. His presence, clarity, his thoughtfulness and charm was always deeply inspiring. Truly inspiring, as in … “this is the type of human being I would like to be someday”. These are the type of qualities I would like to nurture in my own life.

one of my favourite interviews with Leonard Cohen

When he passed, It felt like the death of a friend or a family member. A disturbance in the force. We have lost a master and the world feels darker for his light not being there. But, like Bowie earlier this year, he has left us with a last parting gift. His final album, “You want it darker” is to my mind, one of his best. Lyrically and musically it’s pretty much flawless and the production – courtesy of his son Adam – sounds warmer and truer than maybe anything he’s done. If you haven’t heard the record yet I can’t recommend it enough – so beautiful. I hope it brought him some comfort to know that he was going out with some of his best work. Maybe he didn’t think about those things at the end. Maybe he was just doing what he always did, waking up early and getting to work. He said in recent interviews that he knew his time was coming to an end and that he was simply trying to put his affairs in order; to finish old poems and make sure all his business affairs were taken care of, that his children would be okay.

Leonard Cohen with his young Son Adam.

I am deeply thankful for all the gifts Leonard Cohen gave to the world. Thankful that he continued to work through years of anxiety and depression and come out on the other side. Thankful for his songs and for his Grace. He is gone now to stand before the Lord of song, with nothing on his tongue but Hallelujah. He will be missed.

For further reading I highly recommend Sylvie Simmons excellent book “I’m Your Man”.

My version of “Bird on the Wire” , Switzerland, November 2016

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Next Post: Go Slow – Live on the lake ↠

First Champions

July 20, 2016

There is a book called “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron. It’s a work book of sorts for artists and aspiring artists. For some reason my Mother had a copy. I think she skimmed through it before deciding it wasn’t for her. She gave it to me and I immediately put it in my desk drawer, where it sat untouched for about a year.

Now that I’m beginning to get over all the excitement of getting married, I feel a desire to re-commit to the business of living a good creative life. So I’ve started working through the book. One of the exercises in the first week is to write a letter to one of your early artistic champions. Someone who believed in your abilities from the start. So I wrote a letter. I wrote to Vinny.

Vinny Baker was a friend of my Father and the greatest guitar player I ever heard. He was the single biggest influence of my first musical years. An inspiration, he was the ideal to work towards. The gold standard. Together we picked out my first real acoustic guitar and together we recorded the album “Wood” in 2006 at his VeeBee Studios. He passed from this life suddenly and unexpectedly three years ago today. I think about him all the time.

Letter to your champion:

Dear Vinny,

I want to thank you for letting your love of music spill over into everyone who met you. I’m thankful to have been exposed to your passion and musical knowledge at such a young age. Music lit you up and then it lit me up. You were the wise man handing out knowledge with kindness and warmth. You were my teacher and guide. When I was a boy you were a God and now you are gone. You were discipline and joy. You loved your instrument and the hum of electric amplifiers. You hated all pretence.

I remember hiding, spellbound and underage, in darkened corners of pubs all over the country, watching you performing miracles on a red Fender Stratocaster. I remember a note that went on forever. I knew then that I wanted more than anything to be a musician.

“Wood” is almost ten years old. That record wouldn’t exist without you. I remember clearly, early mornings at the new VeeBee studio. Before any work could begin, we would have coffee, and maybe a sandwich or a slice of toast. It was a very important and exciting time. Thank you for your enthusiasm and patience on that project.

This was my education and music was a warm blanket I was wrapped up in. I was in love. I owe you more than I know and now you’re gone. Your guitar is under my care and I try every time I pick it up to do it justice, to honour your spirit in the wood, and in the world.

I will be forever thankful for the time you gave me and for the sparks in your hands.

Vinny’s Bourgeois Sloped-D Dreadnought guitar (Now owned by Peter)

↞ Previous Post: The Great Trade

Next Post: Leonard Cohen ↠

The Great Trade

June 22, 2016

Introducing “The Great Trade”

For the past couple of years, in fits and starts, with great bursts of creativity quickly followed by long periods of distraction or working on other things, songs have been coming together for a new project called The Great Trade. These songs have been co-written with my friend Brian Murphy, a fellow Mullingar native who has contributed electric guitar and lap steel on my last two records.

The first beginnings of this project came when we were on tour in the UK and Holland in 2013. We were both looking for a way to play some shows outside of Ireland and somehow this tour came together. The entire tour lasted about three weeks I think and in that time we spent a lot of time together in vans, trains, hotel rooms, back stage areas and coffee shops. So much of being on tour involves waiting. You’re always waiting for the show to start it seems. Hurry up and wait. We filled these spaces with chatter and dreamings and wandering conversations. Out of some of these conversations came songs, or the beginnings of songs, the outlines of ideas.

It was interesting to be kicking around song and melody ideas with another human being for a change. It was exciting and had a speed and energy that I don’t often encounter when working on my own. This was the first signs of something coming together. There was a feeling, still is, that we could write some good songs together and more importantly enjoy challenging each other to write well.

: The Great Trade

: The Great Trade

After this 2013 tour I went on to write and record my “Outlines” album and then tour that. Brian has been busy with his other original project “Arrow in the Sky” and playing guitar with the band Cronin. In this way the time gets filled. We grabbed some time here and there in 2014 / 15 but have really turned our attention back to the project this year. In April we recorded our first video with the help of Mark Bennett and Darragh Glennon. The song is called “Blackberry Wine” and was inspired by a book I read about the life of Billie Holiday. I hope you enjoy:

Please let me know what you think. Does it sound different to my solo stuff ? If you have a moment to share the track on Facebook / Twitter so other folk might here it that would be super!! Songs get lonely too you know. Share it aboot.

Good wishes and thanks for reading

~ Peter

Blackberry Wine (Lyrics)

Meet me in the after-hours We’ll drink blackberry wine
There’s a place not far from here I think you’re gonna like
Caroline has fixed a little something for your mind
I’ve picked a dress to match your eyes
You’re gonna sing tonight

Let’s go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let’s go to the good time house where nobody sees in
INTO this LOW HEAVEN

Pull the sheet from the piano they wanna hear you sing
Fly on up there don’t be frightened, show a little skin
Try anything you like
Little Bird don’t be shy

Let’s go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let’s go to the good time house there’s no such thing as sin
DOWN in this LOW HEAVEN

-solo-

Fire cracks, opera echoes, Suzie cuts the deck
Horn players all blown out just blown in from the night
Here on top of the world
Little bird why so still

Let’s go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let’s go to the good time house where nobody sees in
I won’t hit you too hard honey no just a little sting
HERE in this LOW HEAVEN

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Grapes of Wrath – favourite lines

September 23, 2015

Dust Bowl photograph from the manuscript collection of Margaret Bourke-White.

First Edition of John Steinbeck’s Classic 1939 Novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”. Cover art by Elmer Hader

“The Grapes of Wrath” is quite rightly regarded as one of the finest books of the 20th century. I have just finished it for the second time, and enjoyed it even more on this reading. The writing is wonderful from start to finish in this timeless story of human strength and weakness, greed and love.

The following are some of the lines and phrases that I really loved, from what is one of my all time favourite books.

If you haven’t experienced “The Grapes of Wrath” yet, I can’t recommend it enough.

“The Grapes of Wrath” – Favourite Lines

“And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself.”

“He had never been angry in his life. He looked in wonder at angry people, wonder and uneasiness, as normal people look at the insane.”

“We got to figger close. It’s a sad thing to figger close.” Read More

Songwriter’s Journal – August 26th 2014

August 27, 2015

I write every day. I write digitally and in a physical notebook. I write to keep track of thoughts & events, conversations & dreams. I write so I don’t forget. I write to help process things. I write to wake up. As far as habits go I think it’s a good one. It’s another form of documenting, just in the same way as a song is, or a movie is, or a poem is. This little Journal Romance has been blossoming now for almost two years. Long may it continue. The following entry is from one year ago and was written in a period of creativity and excitement right before the release of “Outlines“.

I hope there is some small insight or value in this to you dear reader:

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

ALCOHOL: 1 whisky
ENERGY: 7
MOOD: 8.5
WAKE: 6:52 am

It is a grey day, not pretty, windy, not inspiring. But it is a day all the same and I will be thankful to have it before me. For some reason I woke up pretty early this morning, before 7am. It was still quite dark then – these days are getting darker and darker – but I felt strangely awake for such an early hour.

Sugar Rush – Dublin, June 20th

June 15, 2015

Live in Munich last month.

A week from now, I play The Sugar Club in Dublin city. I last played this beautiful venue in 2006, almost ten years ago, for the release of my first record “Wood”. It’s crazy how much has changed since then. It’s a whole new cast of characters, a whole new bag of atoms, instruments and songs! I was 22 years old then and bringing my very first record into the world. It was a good night and an exciting time. I must have been nervous as hell because I remember breaking a string on the very first song! I never break strings.

Live at the Sugar Club at the Wood album launch, September 2006.

Sadly, two of the musicians that played on that night in 2006 have passed away in the last years – Vinny Baker (who was my musical mentor and great friend, and who produced the album we were launching that evening) and Cani Bruton, a fantastic bassist and long time friend who played on my first two albums. Both are hugely missed and have left deep holes in man peoples lives. I’m sure some of their spirit will be in the music next week. In fact, recently I had the opportunity to acquire one of Vinny’s acoustic guitars, It’s a stunning instrument and I’ll be playing it next week, trying to do the great man proud!

The Late Greats. Two hugely talented and deeply missed friends -Cani Bruton & Vinny Baker.

The venue is beautiful with a great vibe and warm, clear sound. I’ve seen some great shows there in the last years. Among them Jazz singer Gregory Porter (one of the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard in the flesh), fellow Irish songwriter Rhob Cunningham, and most recently the mind-bendingly good Snarky Puppy. The room has the feeling of a classy old cinema or theatre, with it’s comfortable tiered seats, oval tables and wood pannelled walls.

The Sugar Club

For this gig on June 20th, I have the good fortune to be joined by the stupendously talented Nicky Brennan on electric gutar and Darren Sweeney on Bass. We’ll mostly be playing songs from the “Outlines” and “Overhead the Stars” records, along with a couple of brand new ones that I’m enjoying playing recently.

With a week to go I’m starting to feel that usual mixture of and excitement that comes with putting on a big show. On a Saturday night in our Capital City… I’m not nervous about the performance, the stage is where I feel the most at home and comfortable… the most relaxed. The songs are in good shape after two months of touring here and abroad. The guitars have just been re-strung. I’ve done good advertising, having put probably more money than is sensible into postering in the city and online stuff too… I’ve individually reached out to almost everyone I know and told them of the gig.

But yet, there is still the worry. The nervousness comes from that little voice in my head that Steven Pressfield calls “resistance”. Resistance appears whenever you try something bold, whenever you create something, whenever you go out on a limb… For me the voice says things like “

1. Nobody’s coming to your show.
2. Nobody cares what you have to sing about.
3. Bob Dylan already wrote all the songs.
4. Everybody is going to see the Script instead.
5. Acoustic guitars are stupid.
6. Art is stupid.
7. Why don’t you get a real job.
8. Nobody’s coming to your show.”

But that’s not real, it’s just the resistance talking, the fear. As an artist you can’t let the fear get to you. Instead we do the show, we keep believing, we make the art, we sing from our f**king hearts and no matter what we a never ever give up. That is the only thing that matters. To have the chance to sing to people and to bring some joy to their evening is a very special thing and I’m thankful for that.

I’m so excited to sing some songs with friends in the Sugar Club next week.

Hope you can be there with us and bring all your song loving friends along.

Tickets on sale through ticketmaster.ie and tickets.ie ( with the latter being the slightly cheaper option)

Best wishes

-Peter

The Black Boar

March 28, 2015

(A dream, a short story …)

Inside the grand old Circus Marquee, the people strolled from cage to cage, taking photos of the animals, eating candy floss and laughing happily. A small boy, drinking from a coke the size of his head, gasped and stretched a fat shaking finger at a sleeping lion. Read More

A week in Germany

March 14, 2015

Photos and journal entries from my recent German tour:

Last September, quite out of the blue, I had a mail from a German lady called Shel, inviting me to Cologne to play some shows. She explained to me that she organises private house concerts and other small shows there, and that artists like Mundy, Mark Geary, Liam O’Maonlai etc. had all played at her place. I’ve always wanted to play shows in Germany so I jumped at the chance! The tour was arranged for the end of February – last month – and I went into it with an open mind and high spirits. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weeks I’ve ever had, musical or otherwise.

Exceptional Irish Songwriters: Damien Rice

February 11, 2015

In this series I take a look at some of my favorite Irish songwriters. Some you may know, others you may not. With any luck you’ll make some new musical friends along the way… Please enjoy… Mr. Damien Rice

Damien Rice – Manhattan.
photo by Lisa Carpenter Photography

There Once Lived a Beast and Beauty

I remember it well… The first time that I saw. He was wearing a duffel coat the color of sand, hood-up like a monk. It was a winter night in Mullingar and Damien Rice was opening a show for a songwriter called Hally, who had just released an album called “A fascination with Poppy”. I was around seventeen years old, with a great love for music, but no particular interest in songwriters. But something about this Rice guy caught my attention. It may have been his intensity? his voice? the songs? Probably all three. There was a sense of mystery about him, a story… That story was that he had walked away from a band seemingly on the edge of success (Juniper), travelled around Europe, and even spent some time living as a farmer in Tuscany. So far, so romantic. Read More

In the Beginning.

January 15, 2015

Young Peter with curly hair & dirty Cheeks

I’ve been told that when I was very young, I would sometimes sit in the field behind my Grandmother’s house, hitting on plastic bottles and singing “Let it be” by the Beatles. Mrs Byrne, a retired music teacher who lived next door to my Grandmother, would tell my Granny that she saw some ability in me. I have no memory of this, but it’s a nice picture to have. Read More

Meet the Muse:

August 14, 2014

Things are busy in Doran-Ville at the moment. “Outlines” is finished, artwork, videos and shows are all on the way. But this weekend is a very special one for me on a personal level. My good lady Therese and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary as a couple. This is starting to get serious!

Excuse me while I bite your head off.

Diving with a clear mind + Album release dates

July 23, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for free newsletter here

Swedish high diver Arvid Spangberg at the 1908 Olympic Games from the fourth Olympiad.

I was chatting with a friend recently, let’s call him Brian – because that’s his name – we were listening to my soon-to-be-released album “Outlines”. I told him that I was starting to feel a bit stressed out about what to do next. The recording process had been so natural, organic and peaceful the whole way through, but now that the record was done I was starting to feel overwhelmed about next steps. Read More

Exceptional Irish Songwriters – Rhob Cunningham

July 16, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for free newsletter here

Photograph by Tristan Hutchinson

In this series I take a look at some of my favourite Irish songwriters. Some you may know, others you may not. With any luck you’ll make some new musical friends along the way… Please enjoy… Mr. Rhob Cunningham. Read More

Video: Live From a Dublin Café

July 9, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for free newsletter here

New songs “Things You’re Dreaming of”, “Always Kind” & “Tug”, filmed live in Dublin May 2014.

A few weeks back, I played a show at Bewley’s Café Theatre, one of my favourite venues in Dublin. Musicians With Cameras, the good people behind the “Every Little Thing” video, were in the crowd on the night and made this short musical film:

“From the opening swaying notes of ‘The Things You’re Dreaming Of’, Peter Doran’s music seems to fill the venue as the soft ambience of shimmering guitar backing the songwriter’s gently performed vocal. With the camera work cutting from Doran and his band performing to reactions from the captivated crowd, the musician’s clear talents are visually conveyed to great effect.”

– The last Mixed Tape Blog

Enjoy the Video? Feel like being awesome?…

Help us get the music to more people by sharing the video on Facebook / Twitter / etc. Grab it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thiu_o-SpRo

I hope these songs bring you some kind of joy. ~PD

Credits:

Filmed at Bewley’s Café Theatre, by Luke Byrne and Stephen Allen, Thursday 29th May 2014. Edited by Stephen Allen

All songs by Peter Doran. Performed by Nicky Brennan (Electric Guitar), Darren Sweeney (Bass) and Peter Doran (Acoustic Guitar & Vocals)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the songs and the video! Would you like us to do a show in your town? Write to me at peterdoranmusic[at] gmail [dot] com or use the comment box below. I will get back to you.

“Outlines” – New Record is DONE

July 2, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for newsletter & get free music here

Here, in this little house, we made a record.

“Outlines”, the fourth album from Peter Doran is due for release this Autumn.

My fourth album, “Outlines” has crossed the finish line! The album was mastered on Monday by Roger Seibel of SAE Mastering, in Arizona. Roger did an amazing job and the record sounds absolutely gorgeous! I chose Roger because he has mastered albums from many of my favourite singer/songwriters including Bill Callahan, Alela Diane, Laura Veirs, The Decemberists and Elliot Smith. He’s pretty much the man for this genre of music. Read More

Casey Black – “I’ve spent my whole life”

June 25, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for newsletter & get free music here

Every now and then a song comes along that completely grips me and won’t let go. Read More

Musical Values in a digital age:

June 19, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for newsletter & get free music here.

Photo by Sergey Sergeev (Wet Plate Collodion)

Some thoughts on abundance vs scarcity, & the values of recorded and live music in the digital age:

Shooting the Lighthouse: Video Day 1.

June 11, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for newsletter and get free music here.

__________________________________________________________________________

On shoot for “The World is Wide” Video – Photo by Lucy Jones, June 8th 2014.

I’m feeling a bit hyper and caffeinated this morning. Last night was another late one. It came after a long but enjoyable day of trekking and adventuring with Lucy Jones and John Hennessy of Kerbute Productions (Video-makers extraordinaire). It was day one of making a video for a song of mine called “The World is Wide”. The song is about two children with adventurous hearts. We spent the day at Howth, a picturesque village on the outskirts of Dublin.

The Story of Sleepless Street

May 28, 2014

My second album “Sleepless Street” celebrated its fourth birthday this week. If you haven’t heard it yet, now is the perfect time to discover it… For a little while, “Sleepless Street” is available as a free download over at bandcamp.com.

> CLICK HERE TO GET SOME SLEEPLESS STREET IN YOUR LIFE <

Name-your-price Download of “Sleepless Street” at Bandcamp.com

Please share this music with anyone who might enjoy it. That’s what it’s there for after all.

Things You’re Dreaming of (Rehearsal Video)

May 23, 2014

With a show coming up next week in Dublin, we took to the serious business of rehearsing… The day was bright and warm, a day for playing outdoors. So that’s what we did! Nicky had a camera, so we decided it would be a fine idea to make a video. You can check it out below. If you enjoy it, and we hope you do, please share it on your preferred social media platforms !

The Song is “Things You’re Dreaming of” and will be on the new album “Outlines” which is comes out this Autumn.