Auntie Katie O'Conner, the Clancy Brothers, the Dubliners, Mick Maloney, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements, Old & In the Way, Jorma Kaukonen, Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, The Band, Johnny Cash, Skip Rasta, Ray Kelly...
Sounds Like
what would happen if the Grateful Dead kidknapped Bob Dylan and took him to Ireland.
Once Removed formed around two decades ago, a short time after first cousins "once
removed" Pat Speer and John Hurley both moved back to the Bridgeport, Connecticut
area from separate lives.
John had been, among other things, following the Grateful Dead and playing in several bands across the country.
Pat had been working in the D.C. area, singing mostly at marches, rallies, demonstrations, and coffee houses.
After they met one night at a traditional Irish concert in Bridgeport at Skip Rastas'
restaurant, The Merry Widow, they started to get together at the Gaelic American
Club to play sessions. John brought Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band influences;
Pat brought mostly Irish folk he had learned as young teenager in his home. Bob
Dylan was one influence they held in common.
The duo went public with their first gig on St. Patrick's Day, 1988, at a rundown,
now-boarded up joint in Bridgeport called the Club TipToe. That was with one
acoustic guitar and two vocals.
Some time after, good friend and lawyer Jim O'Donnell started to jump up to sing harmonies.
About eight years into it the band ran into Fred McKay, a bass player who had showed up after a gig for a nightcap in a bar the duo was playing. Pitying them, he enlisted in the band to add his (mostly) smooth bass lines.
A short time later, Hurley brought in an old friend and bandmate, Chuck O'Donnell,
who added his own splendid guitar work along with harmonica and his vocals.
This foursome and occasional fivesome always felt incomplete, and wanted two
things: a fiddler; and an underage squirt we could pick on. We never dreamed we'd
get both in the same package, but with the addition of 16-year old Ms. MorganEve Swain, the band got a fiddler superb far beyond her age and the sound it had
been looking for. In a good Irish session, everyone should sing, and it wasn't long
before MorganEve added her graceful, beautiful vocals, too.
Now, 7 or so years later, the band has evolved into the orchestra it appears to be. With the substitution of Pete Blossom for Chuck O'Donnell, and the addition of T-Bone Stone ..s, Once Removed has become a regular powerhouse.
Once Removed has been described as "The Grateful Dead and The Band getting drunk, kidnapping Bob Dylan, and going to Ireland." Isn't that something you want to witness?!
Still sounding great! Just wanted to let you know that Dan Tressler and Dan Carlucci as "String Fingers" host a Bluegrass & Acoustic Exploration Night every first Wed. of the month. It's a great night, bring your beautiful instruments and swing on down if you ever have the chance. Cheers! www. myspace. com/stringfingersband
Hey Guys...I was going to post our banner, and then decided it was a little cheesy, considering we know you. So...I'll just say thanks for the add...see you soon.
