Turk McNamara was born on Thanksgiving Day 1971 in New Orleans, LA. The nickname Turk was given to him immediately by his family because of the holiday connection and it has been with him ever since. Turk lived in New Orleans for only four years before he and his family relocated to Westport Ct., a suburb of Manhattan NY. Although raised in the northeast listening to singer songwriters like Jim Croce and James Taylor, his Louisiana background played a major role in his musical development. Country, Zydeco, Blues, and old time Rock and Roll have always been close to his heart.
In 1995, Turk moved to Nashville to pursue his dreams of succeeding in the music business. He quickly made a name for himself playing Irish music and has established himself as one of the most prolific performers in town. He has played over 250 dates a year for the past twelve years. This schedule has allowed Turk to hone his songwriting and performance skills. In September of 2007, Turk signed an exclusive publishing deal with Ash Street Music as a staff writer. Co-writing with other successful songwriters in Nashville has helped guide Turks songs towards the commercial world of Country music while still maintaining the Celtic influence and Folk roots that have always made his songs unique and memorable.
With a fan base that grows with each show, Turk continues to perform and sing his own music to packed houses in such clubs as The Bluebird Cafe, Douglas Corner Cafe and Dan McGuinness Irish Pub right in the heart of Music Row.
Thank you for taking a listen to my music. Glad you liked what you heard!
I hope you'll stop by www. davidshelbymusic. com to hear a sampling of all the tracks from my debut CD, I Came to Play. I look forward to hearing what you think.
“May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”
I forgot to tell you my most recent Loch Lomond story!! So, I teach 1st grade ELL. That means none of my kids have English as their native language. Most are Hispanic, but I have a dash of Kurdish thrown in to make things fun. Well, I have a "thinking music" playlist on my iPod that I play for them as they're working. Of course, I put Loch Lomond on it. They've heard it so much that they know most of the words...If you want to experience heaven, listen to LL sung with a Spanish accent. hiLARious!
stopping by to say hello. hope everyone is well and doing great. hopefully i'll make it to your next show at finley's. is there one next week? tell paula i said hi. take care and god bless.
Thanks for the add Sean. I hope the next time I get back in the Nashville area to catch a show or two. (My yearly conference got moved from Nashville) John (the library guy from Chicago)
Hey Turk, That was so much fun last night at Douglas Corner....Thankyou so much for inviting me to be 'in the round' with you.....let's do it again soon! Karen
Hey Turk, I am looking forward to playing at "Writers on the Row" tonight! I have some new songs and I am excited to share the stage with such a talented group of songwriters.
~Tim
Hi Sean, thanks for adding me and thanks for all the wonderful evenings that we have enjoyed watching you, Josh and David at Dan McGuinnis's!! Wishing you the very best! See ya again soon!!
