Conal O'Kane and Tim Hill
Who knew we had so many friends?
Last Saturday morning, we launched a website to raise funds for our CD project, “Ceili Drive: The Music of Irish Philadelphia.” The goal: $3,000. We figured it might take a few weeks to hit the $3,000 mark, and even then, we might not hit our goal.
How wrong we were–in a really good way.
As of midday Tuesday, we were just $830 short of our target, which was, all by itself, pretty amazing. We never thought we’d get so far, so fast. But we weren’t prepared for the incredible surprise that greeted us the morning of Independence Day, by which time we had officially crossed the $3,200 mark. All that was thanks to amazing generosity from many people, with a big assist—$500—from the great Delaware Valley band Blackthorn.
All told, 55 people or organizations contributed to our fund. Even more surprising: More money continued to flow in, even after we had ripped past the $3,000 mark. As of Friday midday, we’d raised $3,420.
With that, we can now very comfortably move on to production of our CD, which showcases Irish traditional music from many of the area’s finest players and singers, moving them to center stage—right where they belong. Our plan was to share the talents of mature veterans and young upstarts alike, and to draw attention to the role families play in upholding the tradition, and moving it forward. (Kudos to the the Boyces, Brennans, and McGillians, all of whom contribute tunes to the effort.) Of course, Irish music in Philadelphia probably wouldn’t be as rich and as vibrant as it is without the contributions of Irish natives who now make the Delaware valley their home. Their influence on the making of “Ceili Drive” is also significant.
That we are where we are now is actually pretty remarkable, given that we’d never done anything like a recording project before, and often had no idea what we were doing. (Thanks to our musicians for their patience, and for setting us straight when we needed it.)
Clearly, we had a lot to learn. Then again, maybe recording a CD really is just that challenging. Harper Ellen Tepper, in an email a few weeks ago, helped us put it all in perspective: “Recording projects, like home improvements and divorces, take longer than you think, cost more than estimated, make a big mess and are SO nice when they are over.”
Ain’t it the truth.
So, here is where we are.
We recorded six original tracks in Milkboy Studios. We have six additional tracks donated by musicians who have previously recorded on their own. Now we move on to final production. All of that is what the $3,000 is for.
There are some loose ends we need to tie up, but we expect to release “Ceili Drive” toward the end of the summer. (And, though we’ve mentioned it before, it bears mentioning again: Our gratitude to Facebook fan Pete McDermott for suggesting the clever name.)
Thank-you gifts should be mailed out to all of our donors at about the same time.
The ultimate thank-you, we hope, will be “Ceili Drive” itself. We’re onto something special here, and we can’t wait for you to hear it.
