Former Colorado Irish Festival entertainment chairman Tom Quinn has entered a new realm with the publication of his first book, American Massacre, Fort Pillow and the Day That Changed a War.
The book chronicles an event known as the Fort Pillow Massacre, one of the great remaining controversies of the American Civil War. The battle is controversial because of allegations that Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest ordered the massacre of African American soldiers in the attack on the fort.
Quinn’s book provides an exciting, fast-paced narrative of the Fort Pillow Massacre and surrounding events. The book also contains a strong element of creative nonfiction including an in depth examination of the evidence and fictional prosecution and defense arguments for a war crimes trial of Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The book will be available on by July 10th at www.amazon.com
rel=”attachment wp-att-1468″>, through the Create Space e-store and Create Space direct. Quinn is also scheduling local book signings in the near future. For more information please check out the Facebook page for American Massacre going live on July 5.
Tom Quinn is a lawyer, city councilman and former adjunct professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has authored several articles on legal and historical subjects, He has given presentations on the Fort Pillow Massacre and Centralia, Missouri Massacre to the Last Word Society of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, of which he is a member. American Massacre is his first published book. He lives in Lakewood , Colorado with his wife Carol

An interview with Founder and Photographer Sean McKernan
By Jennifer Dempsey
—

How was Belfast Exposed started?

Thirty years ago, in the period following the intense social and psychological trauma of the 1980 -­ 1981 Hunger Strikes, I started Belfast Exposed with my friend and teacher Danny Burke. We shared an interest in Photography and agreed to start the project which would encourage local people to comment on life in Belfast from a local/community and personal perspective. This was in response to the representation of Belfast by the main stream media restrictions which was set against a background politically imposed state censorship.
We invited local photographers to participate in an exhibition of amateur photography that would reflect the experience of Belfast from the inside. A call for work inviting “any amateur photographer who wishes to explore any aspects of the city or its people.”

Our approach was that if any member of the public felt offended in any way by the content of work displayed we would offer them free use of a camera and provide them training. This would give all community members the opportunity to have their say within the exhibition.
We have always attempted to forge solidarity’s across Belfast’s sectarian divide, Belfast Exposed, and strive to represent the work of photographers from a range of political backgrounds, while recruiting a ‘cross community’ steering committee and, where possible, bringing exhibitions to venues in neutral and in some cases to loyalist areas of the city
Belfast Exposed has evolved from a one­-time exhibition it become Ireland’s principal photography project. It continues to provide hundreds of community groups to use the medium of photography to explore a range of issues including community relations, cultural identity, sectarianism, housing and unemployment. Today the project employs 6 full­time staff based in our Belfast City Center premises, with 2 galleries, a studio, darkroom, bookshop, digital studio. It also houses a unique archive of over 500,000 images depicting the history of Belfast over the past 30 years.

How did you get started in photography?

On a personal level, my interest in photography stemmed primarily from my mother who armed me with her wee 110 Kodak camera and later a compact 35mm camera. She always insisted to enforce family photographs upon us six kids during birthdays, communions, Christmas and Easter. Much to her dismay, I would then regularly use this camera to document riots, demonstrations, funerals that took place on the Falls Rd where we lived. In school I helped set up a film club with access to a darkroom and camera and continued with my interest in documentary photography.

When did you realize the importance of self-representation through photography?

It was during the funeral of IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands in 1981. I was standing in Miltown cemetery, camera in hand, and I remember not recognizing one person from my own community among the 100 plus international media and press covering this historical event. This resonated with me as to why no member of my local community was part of this press/media contingency. This event ultimately planted the seed for me to confront and challenge the importance of community representation through the medium of photography. Two years later, in 1983 we had the 1st Belfast Exposed Exhibition.

As a community photographer have you come up against resistance from police, military or government?

Many of our photographers, myself included, have been regularly arrested, physically and verbally assaulted by the police and British Army, often with film and equipment being damaged and confiscated. We have been threatened & vilified by members of political/paramilitary organizations whilst running community photography projects in some contentious districts. During the mid-1980s our exhibition was banned from all Belfast City Council property and our funding denied by the same Council at the behest of a Unionist controlled council.

How have the Belfast Exposed exhibitions been received over the years?

Over the past 30 years, Belfast Exposed exhibitions have toured extensively throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe, America and Australia.
The first exhibition was called ‘Belfast Exposed’ and comprised over 500 photographs and slides, articulating the diverse life of the city from predominately working class perspectives. The exhibition opened on 17 October 1983 at the Peoples Theatre, Conway Mill, off the Falls Road, and attracted visitors from all over the city, including Shankill and East Belfast. In fact the Shankill Bulletin gave the exhibition an excellent review, as did the Irish News and Belfast Telegraph.
At the opening the exhibition at the Bank of Ireland Gallery in Baggot Street, Dublin in 1984, Seamus Heaney called the exhibition a “marvelous moment” and remarked on the “powerful, democratic feel running through these photographs” which documented a cross-community experience of unemployment, poor housing and economic deprivation, intensified by the effects of conflict and sectarian division and alleviated by the gritty humor of working class
Belfast life.

A 30th anniversary exhibition of Belfast Exposed” will be held at the Salida Community Center from July 15-August 15. Opening reception July 17, 6-8pm. Sean McKernan will give a free slide show presentation/lecture at the Book Haven in Salida on Monday July 19 at 6pm. For more information call 719 530-1494.

The Colorado Emerald Society George B Kennedy Annual Charity Golf Tournament has been moved to July 21st at 1:15pm– still at the Ranch Country Club Golf Course.
Registration starts at 11:45 AM July 21st and we will have a contest beforehand. Food will be served after the Golf Tournament so I encourage you to invite people to come and eat with us and the cost for that is $25.00.
Colorado Emerald Society is a social group formed in May, 2000 to foster the Irish heritage of law enforcement and firefighter personnel within the state of Colorado. The National Emerald Society has been ongoing in places like New York, Boston and D.C. since the 1950’s.

They host several social events throughout the year and we continue to grow in membership. They have formed our own Emerald Society Pipe & Drum Band, which performs in Pipe Band competitions throughout the western region and is currently the reigning Pipe Band champions of the Denver St. Patrick’s Parade and the Colorado Emerald Society Pipe Band performs at all police and fire memorials within the state.

COEmSoc would greatly appreciate your business or organization making a tax deductible donation by sponsoring a hole or donating an item for a door prize. This is a great cause and it really helps the families of the folks that serve and protect you every day.

CES is a non-profit organization, pursuant to IRS designation as a
501 (c) (3), and your donation is fully deductible.

More information is on their website @ www.coloradoemeraldsociety.com

Cúrsa Tumoideachais sa Ghaeilge

Immersion Camps:
The first immersion camps in Irish language and culture were organized in
the Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking districts) of Ireland in 1901 and quickly became a corner
-stone of themovement to preserve Ireland’s ancient Gaelic culture. It was here that students encountered the
living culture, learned the language, the music and dance and returned home to share their learning and
experience within their own communities. The importance of these camps in saving the
culture from extinction is undeniable. The course offered in Butte againthis summer is designed to give
students the same experience, with the hope that they in turn will help in the movement here in the
United States to preserve and promote their ancestral heritage.
Location:
The course will be offered at Montana Tech, in Butte. Butte was
the entry-point for the majority of the Irish in the state. It was a town built by the
Irish, for the Irish and has a distinct Irish flavor to it.
Curriculum: The course offers both credit [two credits] and non
– credit courses and is open to all who wish to learn the Irish language.
The accredited courses are for beginners only.
The main objective is to impart a conversational knowledge of the Irish
language.
Classes begin at 9:00am and continue until 4:30pm in the afternoon.
There are lengthy breaks between classes so students can work together
and study the material covered in each class.
The evening time is reserved for the student to study or engage in
recreational activities with their colleagues. There is a lot going on in Butte and many enjoy
evening walks, investigating the old city, and visiting some of the many sites
commemorating the history of the Irish in the town. Believe you me, you will not be bored!
All classes are taught by professional teachers with the aid of Irish language teaching
assistants from The University of Montana [UM] Irish Studies program. These young
students have been learning Irish and how to teach the language as part of their course at UM.
Accommodation: For those coming from out-of-state there is room Butte on the
Montana Technical College campus. To view the facilities, please go to www.mtech.edu.
Arrangements can also be made to pick you up from the airport in Butte by
contacting me at toriordain@hotmail.com with your name, flight number and time of arrival.

Traolach Ó Ríordáin, C/O
The Friends of Irish Studies, PO Box 4693, Missoula, MT
59806

News from the Rocky Mountain Music Scene – – –
by Rodger Hara – – –

Barton Abbey is a new band featuring former members of Lalla Rookh that describes their music as “Americana with a Celtic Accent.” They perform on the patio at Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason Street, Fort Collins on the 22nd from 7-9 PM. The band is Paul Honecutt on guitar, mandolin, lap steel and electric guitar, Kay Williams on fiddle, Jim Abraham on bass (both from Lalla Rookh), Eric Barton on guitar and mandolin, Susie Barton on vocals and Deb Bryant on Drums.
Brian Clancy plays at Jack Quinn Irish Ale House and Pub in downtown Colorado Springs at 7:30 PM on the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st and at the Irish Snug on Capitol Hill in Denver at 8:30 PM on the 12th, 19th and 26th.
You can catch The Indulgers at the 4th of July Festival in Firesone at 1 PM. If you miss them there, they play at 7 PM on the 12th at the International Festival in Rock Springs, WY. If that’s too far, they play at Conor O’Neill’s in Boulder at 10 PM on the 25th and for the Arts Picnic in Greeley on the 26th at 3 PM.
Big Paddy is at the July 11th Westminster Brewing Co. on the 11th from 7 to 10:30 PM on the 11th, Mulligan’s in Ft. Collins on the 12th at 9 PM, the Celtic House Pub in Parker on the 25th at 9 PM and the Wonderland Brewery in Westminster from 7 to 10 PM on the 26th.
Mathew Gurnsey of the Muses performs every Thursday, 6:30PM at The Burns Pub, Bromfield, CO
Less Common is on the stage of Mulligan’s Pub & Sports Club, 2439 South College Ave in Fort Collins on the 19th at 9 PM.
The commoners rock out at the Colorado Irish Festival, Clement Park in Littleton at 6:45 PM on the 11th, at Jack Quinn on the 12th at 9 PM and play in the Crown Bar in Cheyenne, WY – 9:30 PM on the 18th.
Ceol Ceili is on the Clontarf Whiskey stage at the Colorado Irish Festival at 10:45 AM on the 12th.
Angus Mohr plays at Lonigan’s in Estes Park at 9 PM on the 5th and at the Colorado Irish Festival at 6:30 PM on the 11th and 1:30 PM on the 13th.
Deb Carstensen and Molly Bennett are showcasing music, dance, and clothing from the Irish tradition at the Rialto Theatre in Loveland at 10 AM and 2 PM on the 29th. The program shows how the history of Irish dance and music has influenced the art and culture of our country today. Deb will fiddle and Molly will demonstrate Irish jigs, reels, and hornpipes. Appropriate for grades K – 8. http://www.cityofloveland.org/index.aspx?page=1779
Deb Carstensen plays for the Boulder Contra dances with a band called “Step in Time” that includes Rodney Sauer on keyboard and Ed Secor on clarinet. Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder. 1st and 3rd Fridays. Lesson 7:15. Dancing 8 – 11 p.m. $10/$8 members (prices may vary for special events). Call Teri at 303 499-1346 for more info. Shoes with clean soles are mandatory! More info at Cfootmad.org
Pandora Celtica weaves their vocal spells at Fantasy Con in Salt Lake City from the 3rd to the 5th, on the Clontarf Whiskey stage at 10:15 and on the Main Stage at 12:30 on the 12th. Then they travel to the Pagosa Springs Renaissance and Pirate Festival where they perform on 6 PM on the 18th and 19th and hurry back north for a show at the Elizabeth Celtic Festival on the 20th.
Delilah’s Revenge performs at the Colorado Irish Festival at 8:30 M on the 11th and 12 PM on the 13th. On the 26th, they perform on the new stage at Scruffy Murphy’s at 9 PM.

Skean Dubh appears on the Clontarf Whiskey Stage for the Colorado Irish Festival on the 13th from 12:15-1:30, at the Elizabeth Celtic Festival on the 19th, in a show at the Hillside Gardens from 6:30-8:30 PM on the 23rd and the 32nd & Lowell Farmers Market on the 27th from 9 AM-1 PM.
The Mountain Road Ceili Band will be outside on the patio at The Margarita at Pine Creek in Colorado Springs on the 18th from 6:30-8:30 PM. A movie is shown afterwards on the patio.
The Juice O’the Barley plays on the Clontarf Whiskey Stage from 5-6:15 PM on the 12th and from 3:45-5 PM on the 13th. On the 26th, they motor to Ft. Collins where they play on Mulligan’s stage.
Adam Agee & Jon Sousa will be teaching and performing at the Shasta Music Summit, Mt. Shasta CA from the 5th-12th.
The Granias (with Esther Terpenning sitting in for Jessie Burns) are on the Colorado Irish Festival’s Clontarf Whiskey Stage from 5:15-6:15 PM on the 11th.
And from the 21st to the 27th, Gadbaw and Krimmel (harp and vocal duo) will be the Artists in Residence at the Caribou Ranch in Nederland.
Colcannon performs at Bravo! Vail on the 17th at 6 PM in Nottingham Park in Avon.
Potcheen plays at The Celtic House Pub in Parker on the 5th at 9 PM, The Local 46 Bar on Tennyson in Denver at 8 PM on the 11th, on the Clontarf Whiskey Stage of the Colorado Irish Festival at 8:30 PM on the 12th and 5:30 PM on the 13th, for the Alamosa Live Music Association in Alamosa at 9 PM on the 20th and close out the month with a show at Naggy McGee’s Irish Pub in Grand Junction on the 26th at 8 PM.
Chancer’s Hooley performs at the July 12th – Colorado Irish Festival at 3:15 PM on the 12th and 2 PM on the 13th then is at Katie Mullen’s in downtown Denver at 9 PM on the 18th.
July 20 Gobs O’Phun plays for the folks at the Elizabeth Celtic Festival during the day then heads to the Celtic House Pub in Parker for a 6 PM performance.

The Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp starts on the 27th and runs through August 3. Instruction and performances will include Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Bluegrass and old time fiddling plus guitar, banjo, ukelele, piano, flute, tin whistle, cello, dance calling, Southwest tunes, O’Carolan tunes, quartets, chamber music, and bluegrass band lab. Featured guest artists include Gillian Boucher, Sheila Falls, Jeremy Kittle, Katie MacNally and the Canote Brothers. http://www.rmfiddle.com/

Colorado Irish Festival, July 11-13, Clement Park, Littleton, CO W/Gaelic Storm, Searson, The Elders, Ceol Ceili, Lougheed, Pandora Celtica, High Kings, the commoners, Delilah’s Revenge, The Stubby Shillelaghs, Chancers Hooley, Angus Mohr, Juice O’the Barley, Skean Dubh, Potcheen, Heritage Irish Stepdancers. And Denver Gaels GAA Gaelic Football and Hurling, Gaelic games youth camp, Irish dance competition (Feis), Pipe Band competition, The Book of Kells, Counties of Ireland, Irish Blessings, The Legend of St. Patrick, Bagpipes of Ireland, Sunday morning Catholic mass, food, fun and merchandise.
Cost: Friday eve, free from 5-6 PM, $10/person after 6 PM. Sat. and Sun.: $16 at
the Gate, $13 for seniors, students and military w/ID. Kids 12 and under free. Discount tickets at King Soopers or online www.coloradoirishfestival.org

Payson Scottish Festival, July 11-12, Memorial Park, Payson, UT. W/ Heather Broch Dancers, An Dragan Ceilteach Irish Dancers, Men of Worth, Harp Irish Dancers, Celtic Country Dancers, Bards and Noble. And: Friday night céilidh, Highland dancing, Scottish Heavy Athletics, clans, Pipe band, solo piper and drum solo competitions, fun, food and merchandise
Cost: FREE EVENT FOR ALL Info: www.paysonscottishfestival.org

Elizabeth Celtic Festival, July 20-21, Casey Jones Park, Elizabeth, CO. W/Gobs O’Phun, Skean Dubh, Delilah’s Revenge, Colorado Welsh Dancers, Renaissance Scots, Ciorcal Cairde Irish Pipes and Drums, Chancer’s Hooley, Bennett School of Irish Dance, 79th Highlanders, Eric Olson, Marianne Goodland, Pandora Celtica, Castle Wall Productions. And:Irish and Highland dancing, Scottish Heavy Athletics, rugby, clans, living history, Celtic Nations and Tartans, Animals of the British Isles, Solo Piper competition, homebrew competition, fun, food and merchandise. Cost: At the gate: Under 12 free, Teens (13-17) and Seniors (65+) $5, others $10 + $3 Parking. Military & First Responders $5 w/ID Info: www.elizabethcelticfestival.com

Colonel Farrell and the Teapot- – –
by Jim Remington – – –

One of the most common Irish ballads is a song called “Whiskey in the Jar”. The song has been performed and recorded by many different artists including the Dubliners, the Pogues, Thin Lizzy, Metallica (really!), and Celtic Thunder. Even the great piper Seamus Ennis took at whack at it. The song is set in the Cork and Kerry Mountains and although there are many versions the basic story line stays about the same. A highwayman robs the Colonel (or Captain) makes off with the loot to his sweetie who puts water in his gunpowder and turns him in to Colonel/ Captain Farrell. The song is told by the highwayman who regrets the whole episode especially the possibility of long prison time or hanging. We’re not sure but the girlfriend and Colonel/Captain Farrell may have become an item. The song has a wonderful nonsense type chorus (“Musha ringum durum da, Whack fo’l the daddy-o, whack fo’l the daddy-o, there’s whiskey in the jar”) and a great foot stomping, hand clapping audience participation part. All and all lots of fun and a great crowd pleaser. But my favorite version by far is one that was sung on a bus going between Cork and Killarney. It was not sung by Metallica.
I was on an extended stay in Ireland and on a tight budget so I was traveling either by hitching or public transportation – both are great ways to get around the country on a shoestring and meet your average Mick. I love traveling in Ireland this way. On a particular part of the journey I was traveling between Cork City and Killarney to do some roaming around Macgillycutty’s Reeks, a remote area on the Ring of Kerry. I was traveling on an older model public transportation bus which means almost anything can happen and you plan for any outcome. A sleeping bag is handy. We were well into the mountains, that is the Cork and Kerry Mountains, when the bus driver announced that the engine was overheating and we needed to stop for some water to add to the radiator. No big problem – there’s water everywhere in Ireland! The driver managed to pull off the very narrow road in front of an ancient looking farmhouse. He turned the engine off and walked up to the farmhouse. The door was opened and the bus driver was in. Being a bus full of Irish (I think I may have been the only Yank) there was no shortage of conversation. But just as if it was written in the script, someone slowly started to sing the first verse of “Whiskey in the Jar”. “As I was going over the Cork and Kerry Mountains…”. The voice was a beautiful Irish tenor and everyone immediately grew quiet. The song unfolded, without missing a word, to the chorus and right on cue the whole bus sang out the whacky infectious chorus including the foot stomping, hand clapping. What a performance! Every verse was taken by the soloist and it was as if this had been practiced beforehand. But this was Ireland and they know their music. Meanwhile, while the passengers were in full vocal ecstasy, the bus driver was filling the radiator – from a very small teapot! Apparently that was all the woman of the house had handy. The driver made trip after trip with a smile on his face adding maybe a pint at a time. You had to see the humor in what he was doing while accompanied by the bus full of splendid singers banging out “Whiskey in the Jar”. The chorus was repeated on and on until the driver was finished. When the driver entered the bus, to applause, he congratulated us on our fine singing style. He did mention something about not quitting our day jobs.
We made it to Killarney without further delay. I got to hike around the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks which were moody, remote and spectacular; a story in themselves. I think I hummed “Whiskey in the Jar” non-stop for the next two weeks I trekked. I still get a smile on my face when I hear the slightest part of that song. And the teapot still cracks me up!

Jim Remington is a teacher and director at the Lakewood School of Music in Lakewood, CO, and lives with his wife, 2 horses and 2 dogs in the Wet Mountain Valley near Westcliffe, CO. Jim can be reached at: remingtonlj@gmail.com

The White House has named Missouri’s Kevin F. O’Malley as its choice to be next U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

A release from the White House Press Office on June 5th stated: “Kevin F. O’Malley, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland.”

Kevin F. O’Malley is an officer in the Litigation Department at Greensfelder, Hemker and Gale in St. Louis, Missouri and has been a practicing trial lawyer for over 35 years. Mr. O’Malley has been an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law since 2013, and taught at St. Louis University School of Law from 1979 to 1985. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in St. Louis from 1979 to 1983 and was a Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department of Justice from 1974 to 1979. In 2009, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon appointed Mr. O’Malley to the Missouri Board of Healing Arts. Mr. O’Malley served as a legal instructor for the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative in Moscow in 1996 and Warsaw in 1999. He received an A.B. and a J.D. from Saint Louis University.

Mr O’Malley, whose grandfather came from Co Mayo, is married with one son.

The Pikes Peak Celtic Festival is back in 2014 after its relaunch by the City of Colorado Springs, The Colorado Springs Friendly Son’s and Daughters of St. Patrick, and the Scottish Society of the Pikes Peak region. On June 20 – 22, 2014, Memorial Park (in Colorado Springs, CO) will fill with kilted pipe bands and athletes, the best in Celtic rock, trad music, authentic food, Guinness Beer, shopping, and more.

In 2013, the Colorado Springs based festival was reborn and is growing in its second year. The 2014 festival has many new offerings to checkout, including the addition of a late night concert on Friday with headliner Albannach, Delilah’s Revenge, and The McDeviants.

In addition, the festival will feature Guinness beer and authentic food from Jack Quinn’s Pub among other authentic food vendors. There will be an entire tent full of shopping from authentic vendors, a large music stage, a more intimate tented performance stage, and live Celtic cuisine cooking demonstrations.

Furthermore, clans and societies will gather at the festival as well as Western Region Pipe Bands, solo bagpipers and drummers, Highland athletes, and more to compete against the best. Competitions will run all day Saturday and Sunday. Patrons will also get to live history in the living history area, witnessing characters and displays from days gone past.

Tickets and more information to the Pikes Peak Celtic Festival are available online at www.PikesPeakCelticFestival.com or at the gate. Guests who arrive at the festival before 5:30pm on Friday night, June 20th, will receive FREE admission to the festival that night.

Celtic Connection: Colorado Celtic Rock pioneers, The Indulgers, are born and bred in the Rocky Mountains. Their distinct sound rocks with the independence of the great American West. Founded by native Dubliner, Damien McCarron, the band began cultivating their brand of Celtic Rock in Denver Colorado in 1998. McCarron and bandmates have since performed their music all around the U.S. and Ireland. Unlike many bands in their genre who primarily perform covers of others music, McCarron and bandmates prefer to write their own. They list some of the bands that have influenced them, including the Waterboys, Horslips, Thin Lizzy, Christy Moore, and Irish Trad – All of this music was played over the radio in the McCarron home as Damien was growing up.

One of the bands on the Indulgers list of inspirations is Spirit. The Indulgers multi-instrumentalist Mike Nile started playing with Spirit in 1978 and became a member in 1985 to 1994.

Spirit was an American rock band that started in the late 1960’s and continued on-and-off until their founder, singer, guitarist, Randy California drowned while surfing in January 1997. The band left a body of worked that included over a dozen studio albums and a load more of live albums and compilations. They had albums and singles on the U.S. chart, the most successful being “I’ve Got A Line On You.” In retrospect, many who are familiar with Spirit and the history of Rock, would agree that Spirit was a band that was ahead of their time.

Fans and musicians alike have long dissected Spirits intriguing music and lyrics. No doubt Spirit did influence other bands. Led Zepplin opened for Spirit on the band’s 1969 U.S . tour and included a version of Spirit’s ‘Fresh Garbage’ in their early live sets. Coincidently or not, in May of this year an attorney hired by Randy California’s estate announced plans to file a copyright infringement suit that will seek a co-writing credit for California on “Stairway to Heaven.” It has been said by some that Jimmy Page borrowed the descending guitar riff from Spirit’s “Taurus” for Led Zeppelin’s signature tune, as California had wrote and recorded “Tarus” a couple of years before Page recorded “Stairway to Heaven.”
Mike Nile, who has no dog in the fight, was recently asked about the resurgent controversy and said, “In 1988 Spirit went on the Howard Stern radio show and Howard brought this up. He took two turntables – one with Stairway and the other with Taurus and dropped the needles at the same time and the match up was remarkable. I can remember Randy saying we are all made up of a million different songs, and if even it was unintentionally lifted, it was great to be an influence of some kind in their music.”

Whether or not Spirit was ever denied fame, fortune, or their proper due, they did add their color to the history of Rock. Below Mike Nile tells his story (in 2,500 words or less) about his early days in music, his time with Spirit, and his current band, The Indulgers.

Mike Nile: I grew up in Denver in the mid 60’s when The Beatles and Rolling Stones were huge, and every young boy in the neighborhood wanted a guitar and was starting a band. I was 12 years old when I joined my first band, and by the time I was fifteen, with signed permission slips from our parents, we were playing in all the Denver 3.2 bars and night clubs, like Mr Lucky‘s, My Sweet Lass, The Godfather, Sam’s, The Exodus, The Galaxy – and making great money for fifteen and sixteen year old kids. Al Roth, (the owner of Herman’s Hideaway) was our booking agent.
Marshall amplifiers were making their USA debut, and our band was picked to back a crazy English rock singer called Lord Sutch, who had just released an album in the UK with a guitar player named Jimmy Page, called “Screaming Lord Sutch”. We toured with him in his Rolls Royce with a British flag painted on it that he brought over from England, playing shows with The Troggs (Wild Thing), and a few other English acts – all using the new Marshall amplifiers.
I received a music scholarship to Colorado State University and did one year there and then finished three more years at The University Of Colorado majoring in sound recording, reinforcement and music arranging. Through Dr. Roy Pritts, I got deeply involved with synthesizers which were new and cutting edge at the time. The members of my band were also college students in the same music class, and we started a group called the Electronic Music Ensemble (EME) using synthesizers along with guitar, bass and drums. We would tour colleges playing for the music departments so musicians could see and hear for the first time what a synthesizer could do. The peak of the band’s performances was playing with the Denver Symphony right after the new Denver Performing Arts Center had been built. We performed a three part movement I had written and arranged for synthesizers, rock band, and symphony.

After leaving school I began engineering and working in recording studios in Colorado like Caribou, Applewood Studios, Mountain Ears, Northstar, and The Music Plant, as well as playing in a Denver rock band. In 1977 I was working on an electronic music album for Mike and Bob Lee at Brown Bag Productions when Randy California, guitar player for the band Spirit, stopped by for a visit. He came into the control room and listened to what I was doing on the synthesizers…he liked the song and asked if he could play some guitar. Of course I said yes. That song ended up being the opening song to “Potatoland”, the new Spirit album Randy and drummer Ed Cassidy had moved to Colorado to write and record.
Randy was living in Boulder, and Cass was living in Evergreen, so while Randy finished writing the songs for Potatoland we started jamming together at small gigs in Boulder, Evergreen and Denver. In 1978 we recorded Potatoland, at Northstar Studios in Boulder. Randy asked me to arrange horns and strings and play some synthesizers. He wanted to use real horns and real strings which was cool, since I didn’t get the opportunity very often to write charts for real strings and horns and mix them with the synthesizers. One of the songs “Turn to the Left, Turn to the Right” was a song that had actually been meant for the Twelve Dreams album, so when I was standing in that room hearing the horn section do the same accents I had come to love on Twelve Dreams, it was truly a rush.
I have always been a composer, and through a friend, A&M Records heard some of my songs. They liked the lead vocalist (who was my wife at the time), and we were picked up by a management company in Los Angeles who set us up in a house with a recording studio in Malibu, California. The band was a Boulder band called Wonderboy, but it was changed to Nile – Kari Nile being the lead singer, and me playing bass, singing and writing the songs. Nile became the house band at a place in Malibu called “Trancas”. It was the only place on the northwest coast of Malibu where you could see a live band. During the late 70’s and 80’s there were a lot of musicians living along that part of the coast and in the canyons of Malibu. Members of Fleetwood Mac, Little Feat, Van Halen, Willie Nelson, Dave Mason, The Scorpions, The Beach Boys, The Band, Bonnie Rait, and many more, came in to drink and jam with us, and of course Randy California would come in and play. There was always something special when I played with Randy.
I was running in a fairly fast lane at the time, and it took its toll on the band and my marriage. I got divorced and began recording and working on new songs. Along the way I had become good friends with Fleetwood Mac producer Richard Dashut, and through him drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Richard encouraged me to start singing lead vocals and began producing some tracks with my band. He took us to Phoenix, where we recorded and stayed at Stevie Nick’s house. Richard and Mick had a house not far from mine and we would hang out with various folks that lived in Malibu – like David Cassidy, Dave Mason, Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys, Bob Welch, actor Nick Nolte, Gary Busey who had just finished the Buddy Holly Story, Jason Miller from the Exorcist, Keil Martin from Hill Street Blues, Jan Michael Vincent from Air Wolf…and many more. I would go to Lindsey’s studio where he and Richard would be working on new Fleetwood Mac tracks, and some solo stuff, and we would listen to new songs and talk music, engineering, sounds, arranging and writing.

I developed a style of music I called “Rock & Swing” with my band Nile using keyboards and guitar synths playing real samples of horn sections, and started engineering and producing other artists at a 24 track recording studio I built in the canyons of Malibu called “Nileland”. It was one of the only public studios in Malibu in the 80’s so I was working with Fleetwood, Mason, the Little Feat guys, Jan & Dean, you name it….country, rock, pop, even disco for Georgio Moroder. The studio was taking off and I was spending most of my time recording and producing, so I decided to let my band “Nile” go, and concentrate on studio production.
Mick Fleetwood introduced me to Pete Bardens an amazing keyboard player from the English group Camel. Pete had a new record deal with Capitol Records and was looking for a place in Malibu to record and put a band together. I began working with Pete in the studio, and then was asked to play bass in his new group The Speed Of Light Band which included Pete on keyboards, Mick Fleetwood on percussion and electronic drums, Neil Lockwood on keys and vocals (Alan Parsons Project), and a superb guitar player named Neale Heywood (Sweet). All mad Englishman except myself and drummer Jethro Foxx – the American rhythm section. After the release of “Speed Of Light” and a cross country tour with The Speed Of Light Band I returned to Malibu. Guitarist Neale Heywood stayed in America working with me at Nileland Studio as an engineer and guitarist. We worked together for several years on loads of bands, labels, publishing companies, and various music projects.

Randy California signed a deal with Miles Copeland and IRS Records for a new Spirit record. He called and asked me to engineer and play some bass on the record. Randy and drummer Ed Cassidy came into Nileland and we laid down tracks for the Sprit album “Rapture In The Chambers”. When the Rapture album was finished we had a big party at Miles Copeland’s house and Randy asked me if I would be interested in joining Spirit. I had just gotten off the road from touring with Pete and Mick and the Speed Of Light Band and it had been a lot of fun. I missed playing live and didn’t want to go back “in the box” at the studio in Malibu quite yet. Neale agreed to run the studio while I was on the road with Spirit. I joined the band for a 5 week tour to see how it would go and ended up playing with the band a little over 9 years.
Spirit traveled all over the world playing 150 days a year. We toured Europe several times a year where the band had a large following, playing shows with Wishbone Ash, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, Buffalo Springfield, and other popular bands of that era. The rest of the time I was home engineering and producing in the studio. I had remarried and started a family and had two sons. It was an incredible time in the studio working with some amazing artists like grunge rockers Alice In Chains, who spent 3 months at Nileland Studios writing and recording their album “Dirt”. At that time I also started a band with guitarist Neale Heywood, guitar and vocalist Walter Egan (Magnet and Steel), and vocalist Sara Fleetwood called LA Rodeo. The band had a country flavor but was more “western rock” sounding than country.
I started finding it harder to be out on the road 150 days a year with Spirit, and realized I was missing my sons growing up. Neale had started playing guitar with Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, and then was asked to join Fleetwood Mac as guitarist. I decided it was time to close Nileland Studios and move back to Colorado and try and spend more time with my family. I played on and off with Spirit after that until the day Randy died in a tragic swimming accident in Maui.
After moving back to Denver I started a recording studio and record label with Dave Fox and Chris Cardone called Alley Recording Studios. I produced and engineered a lot of talented Denver musicians, and released a few CD’s on the Alley label, but nothing stuck. One of the musicians I met at The Alley was a vocalist from Dublin Ireland named Damien McCarron. I engineered, produced and played bass on his CD “Damien Promise – A Matter Of Indulgence”. On the CD Damien called all the musicians that had recorded on the CD “The Indulgers”. There was no real band – but the name sounded good.

Damien started scrapping around Denver playing various bars and pubs and picked up a bass player and drummer. He brought them back into the studio and I worked on another few songs with him. Damien was asked if he would like to open for a band called The Young Dubliners up at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, but unfortunately his bass player was in California. Damien asked me to play bass with the band for the show. The Indulgers took the stage in Vail and played the ska-rock kind of music Damien and drummer Pat Murphy and bassist Chris Murtaugh had been writing and performing. After our set the Young Dubliners came on… their music was lively, Irish, and these guys had fun! My grandfather was from Ireland and my grandmother was from Scotland. I had grown up hearing Irish/American songs. Suddenly something clicked and I was inspired to write an Irish rock song. By the time we had driven back to Denver from Vail I had written the first Irish/celtic rock song for the Indulgers. “In Like Flynn” had a chorus that stuck in your head. Damien wrote some great verse lines and when the CD was released “In Like Flynn” ended up winning “Best Celtic Song Of The Year” at Just Plain Folks. I was hooked and became an Indulger. I did not want to play bass, since Chris was already playing bass, so I became the guy who played the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the mandolin, the accordion, the electric bag pipe and penny whistle, along with the occasional vocal.
We started to work on the “In Like Flynn” CD and needed a good fiddle player. I was introduced to Renee Fine – a violinist who had played with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and after a few rehearsals Renee became our fiddler and an Indulger. Fado Irish Pub had just been built next to Coors Field and The Indulgers were asked to become the “house” band. We played every Wednesday night for four years. The band has never been interested in being an “Irish cover band”, and from the beginning we wrote our own music. Playing weekly at Fado’s established a solid fan base and a foundation for our music which is a mix of celtic melody, western vibe (my LA Rodeo influence), and a splash of rock.
The Indulgers have toured all over America and Ireland for sixteen years, playing pubs, city concerts, and festivals from San Francisco to New York City. Pat and Chris retired from the band after twelve years, and my son Aaron who plays bass, and drummer Cheech Mannone stepped in as new Indulgers. Occasionally we are joined by my youngest son Ryan who has become an exceptional guitar player, thanks to guitar lessons from Neale Heywood , who plays guitar with Fleetwood Mac, lives here in Denver, and still acts as co-producer on all The Indulgers records. I am grateful to the friends and fans who continue to support the band, we are still having fun playing, and The Indulgers are currently recording their 8th record. It will be a VA – Video Album – and will be released on DVD and as a phone application. More information on The Indulgers can be found on facebook and the band’s web site at
I no longer have Alley Recording Studios but instead built my own private recording studio called Grapevine Studios, where I record The Indulgers CD’s as well as both of my son’s music projects. This last year Grapevine Studios added a video suite with capabilities of shooting and editing videos. I have been going through old Spirit footage, as well as old Malibu footage, and posting them on Youtube. You can see old videos as well as new videos of The Indulgers by going to Youtube and searching for “Mike Nile“.

A residential and commercial paining company isn’t the first company you would think to be spearheading a charity initiative that gives away an important, but often overlooked, chore that can truly change a person’s disposition and attitude. But that is what is happening at Ireland’s Finest Painting Company Inc. “We know that a person’s house isn’t just a place to hang their hat,” says Valerie Moore, Office Manager. “A person’s house needs to be a clean and comfortable place for them to be proud of, share time with their family and recharge their batteries. Unfortunately, there are many people out there that cannot afford to maintain their homes because of employment problems or financial challenges.” It is this reason that Ireland’s Finest holds a contest every spring to give away a free house painting to those in need.
Started three years ago by Ireland’s Finest’s owner Andrew Toole, the Hard Times Soft Hearts contest collects nominations from the Denver community of worthy candidates. These nominees can be people or businesses that are going through some tough circumstances in their lives or choose to spend their own money helping others thus sacrificing creature comforts. Partnering with Benjamin Moore, Ireland’s Finest provides the equipment and labor with Benjamin Moore donating the paint and supplies. In addition to a great paint job, they also make minor repairs to the home or business that can include carpentry, drywall and power washing.
“We treat this charity project just like we would any other customer,” says Ben Reder, Lead Estimator. “We pride ourselves on providing a quality, long lasting job no matter what the circumstances. We want each year’s winner to have a paint job that they can be proud of and will last them for years.”
Inspired by the TV show Home Makeover, Hard Times Soft Hearts is a labor of love for the Ireland’s Finest and Benjamin Moore duo. Although there are many worthy charities that really make a difference, the reason for spear heading their own was a conscious choice by owner, Toole. “We could have put together a charity event, raised a bunch of money and donated it to a local organization, but we wanted to work directly with these people that are in need or sacrifice their own dreams to help their communities,” Toole says. “It is that type of interaction that shows us we are really making an impact in someone’s life that could really help them turnaround their situation.”
Andrew, who hails from County Meath in Ireland, and a few friends caught the entrepreneurial bug and started a business, Ireland’s Finest Painting Company in 1995. As with most small businesses, they initially struggled to get Ireland’s Finest established and fought tooth and nail for every job they won, so Toole is no stranger to struggling both professionally and personally. It is this empathy that was the foundation of the Hard Times Soft Hearts contest. Andrew’s partners have since moved on to different endeavors, but Andrew continues to lead Ireland’s Finest and makes it the success it is today.
Hard Times Soft Hearts will accept nominations through June 30th, 2014 on the Ireland’s Finest website at www.irelandsfinestinc.com. The actual painting of the winner’s house will take place in the fall of 2014.