Happy Meanderings of a Minstrel

Today's entry:

I am busy hustling up show for summer and fall. You say, "Liam it's May!?". My friends, that is how it is done. If you wait all the cool venues are booked up two months or more in advance. It is kind of exciting because there is a lot of correspondance. One thing I am very appreciative of is how much of this networking and organizing I can do with e-mail and MySpace. It saves a lot of time and I get to talk to folks all over the state and further very expediciously and inexpensively.

There are many highlights to the bands performance schedule coming up. In June we have some wonderful shows in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Saginaw and Mt. Pleasant. We'll be visiting with good friends Mound, Mumble and Corndaddy in A2 for Mound's going away show. Dave and the other members of Mound are responsible for fostering a nice community of bands through their stint as hosts of an event called Tribute Night that was held primarily at The Elbow Room in Ypsilanti MI for a couple of years. It was a great way to meet lots of other bands and play some fun music. Since those times several friends met there have journeyed up to play shows with me and the band in Mt. Pleasant.

I am especially excited by a pair of shows with new friends Dutch Henry. We get to share the stage with them on Friday June 15 and Sat. June 16. First in Grand Rapids at a wonderful venue called Jukes. Also on that bill are the incomparable Truckstop Cobras. These fellas are pretty great in their own right. They are a band of Grand Rapids' musical all-stars headed up by my buddy Brian Higgans. We get sandwiches between both of these cool bands, the 'sweet spot'. It will be sweet!

Other items of note recently include the addition of two awesome gentlemen to the band. First the re-emergence of my favorite bass player Rev. Dr. Joel Lewis. You may remember Joel as the original bass player for the band the Saints that helped get this whole Liam McKay project off the ground. Yes the wild guy is back a little less wild but still full of surprises. The other addition is Mr. B or Brian Hansen. Brian is a celebrity in MT. Pleasant by virtue of his being a member of several prominent local bands and the owner of the best darn music store in Mid-Michigan, B's Music. The arrival of these two guys ushers in a very exciting and welcome chapter to the Liam saga. They've even renamed the band "the Sinners". there may still be some debate on the name but there may not be. Please welcome, Liam McKay and the Sinners! We are practicing diligently and planning for a new recording by the end of the summer. We will make it available at shows and online likely in September. We will soon have some MP3's posted of songs from practice so you will get to hear the new tweak to the sound of the group.

Do not fear loyal followers of the band. Mr. Steve Barber will still be very involved and will make regular appearances with the band especially at Mt. Pleasant shows and on recordings. We might be able to rope him into another album cover too. We'll see about that as the plans continue to move forward.

That's all for now,

Liam