The Rock n Roll Real Deal – 6 Weeks In The Life of a Busy Musician.

Well hello there, it’s been a while hasn’t it! Over the past couple of months I haven’t had time to scratch my butt let alone blog, but thankfully a number of quality guest posts kept things going for me around here. You can check some of them out below if you missed any:

Know What Feeds Cancer So That You Can Starve It!

5 Steps to Developing Self Discipline through Martial Arts!

Starting from early years – cope with your offenders and reach Zen

Tips for boosting your blog with SEO

So what exactly have I been up to? The answer is music, music and more music. Rehearsal, recording, gigging, filming, booking, radio, newspaper and repeat. I’ve played 12 shows with my band The Dublin City Rounders so far in 2012, with another 8 already booked for the rest of March! We’ve played everything from 3 hour shows in Dublin’s wine bars and pubs, to supporting grammy award winners like Jim Lauderdale at Whelan’s, one of Ireland’s more respected music venues.

My experiences over the past while have taught me so much, and I know there’s at least 3 blog posts I want to write in the near future:

* How to Perform a Live Gig With Every Cold and Flu Symptom!

* Why 99.9% of People Will Fail To Live Their Dreams!

* The Simple Secret To Success: One More Kick!

I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, I’ve rubbed shoulders with the stars and high society, I’ve experienced all the fear and elation that comes with running your own business and I’ve pushed myself further than I thought possible As we decided to start our gigging in the middle of Irish winter it was no surprise that both Alex and I spent most of our first gigs totally under the weather. I had to deal with running noses during the first shows, and let me tell you, it’s not easy finding the time to sneakily wipe away the drip while singing and playing guitar! Later I had to sing a 2 and a half hour show with a sore throat, and later still we had two 3 hour gigs which I had to perform with bronchitis and a sinus infection. That was not nice.

And yet we did it, and no one noticed! Somehow when you hit the stage and begin, everything changes and you just push through. I’m happy to say that as of March all our colds and flus are behind us and just in time too, as this past weekend we played the KC Peaches Wine Cave from 8PM till 11PM on the Friday, The Horse Show House from 10:30PM till 1:30AM on the Saturday and then a major support slot for Jim Lauderdale on the Monday evening! That was some weekend! And here’s a video I put together from the Jim Lauderdale show for those into their country and roots music.

Next up we have 3 big shows within a week, first with awesome Canadian band Petunia and The Vipers at The Grand Social, then headlining The Whelan’s Folk Club and then ending the week with a cool 2 and a half hours at La Dolce Vita Wine Bar where there treat us oh so well, I think I love Italians!

In February myself, my brother Alex and our dad David Virgin teamed up to record an album called “Boots N Tooths”. I’m really proud of all our work on this one, and I’d recommend the album to anyone into their alt country/alt folk. Think Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and so on. I urge you to check it out on Bandcamp and grab yourself a copy to enjoy some good sounds and support original, independent music. Disclaimer! the album does contain some course language (oh dad!). Click the album cover to preview or purchase:

Then in March Alex and I released the second Dublin City Rounders album titled “Dis Am The Dublin City Rounders With a Collection of Exquisite Improbabilities” (bit of a mouthful). If you like your old timey, western swing and Americana it’s well worth a listen. Both albums were recorded live Click the album cover to preview or purchase on Bandcamp:

So as you can see things have been busy, and as the weather improves and the tourist season picks up into spring and summer life should just get crazier for The Dublin City Rounders! But I tell you, playing rock n roll and forging your own destiny, well there’s just nothing like it and we wouldn’t trade it for anything

I’ll be back with more blog posts and stories when I have the time. Until then enjoy the music and enjoy the upcoming guest posts! Oh and before I go I just want to add a big thanks to the lovely lady behind the camera and behind the scenes, it just wouldn’t be possible without our very own Anna Kozielska; the 3rd Dublin City Rounder.

Hugs to all, keep well

Rohan.