Hey folks!

Hope you're enjoying "Bound Far Away!" Order your copy online or download it today on iTunes!

We're booked pretty solidly for the next few months and keep finding new gigs every week! Check out our upcoming events to make your arrangements to come hear us play!

Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
Stratford, CT - McCoy's Pub - 10 PM - Info

Friday, Feb 10, 2012
Berlin, CT - Hawthorne Inn - 5 PM - Info

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012
Farmington, CT - Get Your Irish Up For MS! - Marriott Hotel - Time TBA - Info

Friday, March 2, 2012
Berlin, CT - Hawthorne Inn - 5 PM - Info

Saturday, March 3, 2012
West Hartford, CT - The Sounding Board Coffeehouse, Universalist Church of West Hartford - 8 PM -Info

Sunday, March 11, 2012
South Windsor, CT - Wood Memorial Library - 2 PM - Info

Friday, March 16, 2012
Hartford, CT - Arch St. Tavern - 8 PM - Info

ST. PATRICK'S DAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012
Worcester, MA - Fiddler's Green - 4:30-8:30 PM

Saturday, March 24, 2012
Hartford, CT - Center Church - 7 PM

Stay tuned for any more upcoming news. We love you!

Stay thirsty, our friends.

- Greg

Happy Holidays from the band!

Hey folks,

Long time, no update. Apologies! For those who don't know, our next record is currently being edited, mixed and mastered by our buddy Jake, who produced our last record, "Sunshine and Shadow." We've heard almost half of the record and it sounds really great - we're going down to visit him in NYC next weekend to have a listen.

We performed with my Junior Choir and the rest of Chorus Angelicus and Gaudeamus out of Torrington (link) and it was an absolute blast. I am so thrilled that two of my passions could come together to create a wonderful project - we did "The Parting Glass" with the choir, and if a video ever surfaces online, I will post it to this blog.

We'll be playing a few times before the new record comes out (by Christmas, if all goes well), and we'll have the CD available for pre-order soon. We think it'll be called "Bound Far Away" and we have some thoughts about the record design, but nothing is set in stone yet.

I'll try to get a video at our next rehearsal of one of our new songs...we've added "Leaving of Liverpool" to our rep and we're working out arrangements of "Rant and Roar," "Four Green Fields," and "Whiskey in the Jar," as well as a new instrumental set.

Greg, Dave, and Chris J lost power all week due to the storm. Chris V never lost power. Jeff moved. We haven't heard from Matt in a while, but he's down south and probably didn't get hit as hard as those of us in West Hartford.

- G

Jake spends a lot of time looking at this.

Slammers n' pogz

We're going to the studio this weekend with our good friend Jake! He's going to record us making pretty music over the course of the next two weekends. Stay tuned for updates on our progress. We still don't have a name for the record, but we're pretty set on which songs we'll be recording. Old songs in our rep that never got recorded (The Blacksmith, Oldstrumentals), some more recent songs that have been played out for a while (Step It Out Mary, Johnson's Motor Car), and some brand new songs (Tell My Ma, Hector the Hero). Plus, David's dad will be guesting on fiddle for a few songs.

It'll be cool. I hope to get some footage from in the studio...but we're on paid time and it might be a little trickier.

- G

We played at Pipes in the Valley. It was fun.

Tour blog entry - Raleigh, NC

And the video blog entry from our last day on tour! It's good to be home.



- G

Tour blog entry I don't remember - August 5

And from Weaverville!

Tour blog entry 19 - August 2, 2011

Sorry for the delay! A few more coming. This was from our stay with Dear Creek in Winchester, VA.



- G

Tour blog entry 18 - August 1, 2011

Two videos today...one from Maryland and one from Virginia! We love Dear Creek!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SYDNEY!

Greg's a happy camper with Sydney.

- G

Tour blog entry 17 - July 30, 2011

We send our love to Windsor from Little Ugly today...we just found out he was in a rough car accident and is now recovering in a wheelchair. Windsor is one of the nicest people we know and we hate to see something like that happen to someone so great, but we know he's getting support from his awesome bandmates and friends while he goes through recovery.

We left David's cousin Anders' yesterday and headed over to my Uncle Mark and Aunt Kiki's house about half an hour away in Havertown, PA. We played in Bryn Mawr at the Milkboy Café Acoustic stage. It was a blast - the venue had a lot of family and friends (Our buddy Jake's family showed up! Thanks so much Judy and Scott and the crew!) and some new people to meet who stayed to listen. David Falcone opened for us and played a stellar little set on guitar and sang some songs, including one called "Buddha" that Chris LOVED.

Today we're heading down to Washington, D.C. to stay with my Aunt Sarah and cousin Mark after we play in Baltimore at Bohemian Coffee House at 7 PM. We'll get to see The Garrett and Chris Jasinski again, which is totally exciting!

I hope he takes a bass solo tonight.

Only one week left!

- G

Tour blog entry 16 - July 29, 2011

Last week, David and I looked up towns between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. We found Hammonton, New Jersey. We looked up "Coffee houses Hammonton, NJ." We found Casciano Coffee Bar and Sweetery. David called. They booked us for Thursday, July 28.

We can't thank them enough for booking us on such short notice, and we can't thank them enough for the wonderful time we had in Hammonton. The venue is a nice, small coffee and pastry shop right on the downtown strip of the blueberry capital of the world. The venue filled up around our second set, with djembe players standing by the pastries and a dancer/finger cymbal player standing next to the band. During our old instrumental set, the venue was filled with music and dance and energy.

Shows like that make us so glad to be touring as a band. Folk music, traditionally, is interactive, and last night's show felt like an old folk show might have felt. We got to talk to everyone in the bar in between songs and it was, I hope, as rewarding and fun for everyone else there as it was for us. We got some leads on places around New Jersey to play, so hopefully we can work out some weekend in the future when we can come down and play some shows!



Today we'll leave David's cousin's house, say goodbye to Anders, PJ, Astrid, Ellis, and Louie and head over to Bryn Mawr to stay with my Uncle Mark and Aunt Kiki and my cousins Timothy and Bennett. Tonight we'll play at Milkboy Café on the Bryn Mawr Acoustic Stage at 7:30. David Falcone will be opening for us and then we'll play our set. The show is FREE and we hope to have a nice crowd there!

- G

Summer Tour Blog - July 28 - Philadelphia, PA

We've gotten to hang in Philly with David's cousin Anders, his wife, PJ, and their awesome children, Astrid and Ellis. We ate Ethiopian food before our show at Triumph Brewing last night, which was a really neat venue. Thanks to Nick for running sound for us and making our lives that much easier!

Today we're playing in Hammonton, NJ, which apparently is the blueberry capital of the world! We didn't know that when we booked the show, but now we need to look up blueberry jokes. Here's one we might try.

What do you get when you mix IBM and Apple?
Blueberry Macs.


We don't get it, so we might try to find one that actually makes sense.

We'll be at Casciano Coffee Bar and Sweetery at 7! Hope to see you there if you're in the area!

- G

Tour blog entry 14 - July 27, 2011

It's been a blast staying in Long Island for the past two days. The Uhls were wonderful hosts and we got to see David's father play in his band at Molly Malone's on the shore. We'll be hitting the road for Philadelphia this afternoon to stay with David's cousin Anders. We've been so lucky to stay with wonderful family and friends this entire tour thus far and we're looking forward to everywhere else we'll get to stay!

Yesterday, we began actual discussion about a new record in the fall...we're mapping out what songs to put on it and how to feature singing by the most people in the band as possible. We're going to slowly work out a few new arrangements while on tour (Matty Groves, Tonawanda Too, Tell My Ma, among others) and see if we can get any of them on the record.

Hope to see you at Triumph Brewing Co. tonight in Philly...we'll start at 9:30 PM.

- G

Tour blog entry 13 - July 26, 2011

Last night at the Congregational Church of Huntington was wonderful. Check out the video to see two of the guest appearances! Annie also played accordion on "Courtin' in the Kitchen," which I'll get on Youtube soon.

This afternoon, we played a storytelling workshop at a youth center in Huntington Station. It was a really neat experience and we were glad to make that a stop on our summer tour.

We gave the kids mad libs to rewrite "Sally Brown." We got awesome verses!

See you in Philly tomorrow night! Triumph Brewing Co. is the place, 9:30 is the time.

- G

Tour blog entry 12 - July 25, 2011

Tour is fun. We replaced some equipment for tonight's show and it will be a blast. We're performing at a storytelling workshop in Huntington Station tomorrow afternoon, which will be a blast for the music educator side of the band.

Plus, David landed a job for the fall teaching infant music classes in North Haven. So give him a high five when you see him.

- G

Tour blog entry 11 - July 24, 2011

Playing at Explo at Yale tonight, then we're hitting the road to Long Island! It'll be an adventure! In one van! With a trailer!

Wave if you see a hopelessly nerdy minivan with trailer and turtle somewhere on the east coast!

- G

Joisey

New tour date added - Thursday, July 28 at Casciano Coffee Bar and Sweetery in Hammonton, NJ! We'll be playing sixteen shows in seventeen days between July 21st (tomorrow) and August 6th. Hoo boy! Hope to see you at the Red Door in Watertown tomorrow night!

- G

With our friend Arielle's dad on fiddle in Schenectady! It was awesome!

Tour blog entry 9 - July 9, 2011 and entry 10 - July 10, 2011

Sorry they're belated! I was away from internet for a week in the Finger Lakes. This is what I have to show from our day in Albany.

- G

D.C. venue needed - 7/30

Hello folks,

Our Washington, D.C. venue cancelled our show on Saturday, July 30 due to understaffing and lack of volunteers. It's quite unfortunate, but we're looking into other venues around D.C. and MD for that night. If anyone knows anyone in the area, or knows of a venue that might have us play on short notice, email thejollybeggars@gmail.com right away! We know people were expecting to see us and we absolutely don't want to skip any of our destinations on tour.

- G

Happy birthday, Dave!

The Beggars are fortunate enough to have a member can, simultaneously, present us with a rock-steady musical foundation and clear, thought-out plans for our future while also laughing at any mistakes any of us make (in rehearsal and on-stage) and provide us a wonderfully relaxed and down-to-earth presence. He's an integral part of this group and the best bass player that I've ever played with. It's safe to say that the band wouldn't be the band without any one of us, but anyone who's ever seen us perform can attest to his importance in the group's vibe, groove, musicality and stage presence.

Today is David's birthday. And we love him dearly. Happy birthday, David!

I think we played a stupid note together and it made us laugh.

- G

Heave away!

Apologies for the absence of video blogging. I know how much you all look forward to those. We haven't been around internet for a while, and the connection here by Seneca Lake, NY, is not good enough to get videos online in less than three hours. So I will get belated videos up as soon as I can.

Albany's show at Professor Java's was wonderful.
Schenectady's show at Moon and River Café was wonderful.
Hector's show at Hector Presbyterian was wonderful.

I'm going to go jump in the lake with Chris and Jeff now. David's on Long Island.

See you soon! Tour starts back up Thursday the 21st in Watertown, CT.

- G

I thought I rotated this but I guess I didn't.