Happy New Year from The Troubles!
To all of our supporters, fans, friends, and family, thank you for making 2012 a wonderful year for our band. Our music has been slowly spreading across the world. We are just a little Irish band, with a lot of heart and soul, but somehow, our songs and YouTube videos have managed to reach out to listeners in America, the Philippines, Ireland, the UK, India, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Poland, Turkey, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Belgium, and Mexico. Our song, No Chains, has had over 200+ plays on Reverb Nation and the video, over 160 hits on YouTube.
We are committed to bringing our original music to our live performances as well as to those who listen and watch us on the internet. We want to give you all an honest and authentic acoustic experience with Irish music as you might hear it live in any pub. No sound enhancements, no gimmicks, no frills. We are a 3 piece Irish band with world influences from bluegrass, rock, and folk overtones and we like to keep things fluid and interesting. We mix up our sets alot and have a wide repertoire of tunes to work with.
The Troubles adore our live audiences and thank every person who booked us this past year and previous years. Thank you to our audiences. Whether at festivals, pubs, colleges, or just riding along singing our songs in the back of an ole pickup in the Girardville St. Patrick's Day parade, the band appreciates your clapping, toe tapping, sing along approval.
The band has a great new site on Reverb Nation that has brought us a lot of attention and fans. Our Facebook site is picking up "Likes" and fans. We even made it to the TOP 100 Celtic bands in the USA there for a while! Our music is starting to get air play on Celtic stations and we have a new album in the works.
A word about "No Chains"...we are an Irish American band but all 3 of us are of Irish descent and feel very strongly about our roots. No Chains is dedicated to Marian Price and the Irish POWs. The Troubles are not a rebel band but as our name implies, we cannot or will not forget the history of Ireland. We, whose grandparents immigrated over here, come from a blood line of Irish forcefully evicted from their homeland by a foreign presence that created a cataclysmic exodus of that country's people. What was one was divided and not without force or without bloodshed.
The plight of the Irish Political Prisoners and POWs is dear to my heart and evident in my songs. One cannot hope for peace in the North without understanding that the political persecution and misuse of justice that is being wielded against the Irish Republicans is a violation of their universal human rights. No Chains is a song of resistance, of hope, and of heroism. No peace without freedom. No freedom without justice. No justice without mercy. May Marian and all those imprisoned unjustly for their beliefs be released to their homes and families in 2013. It is only then that a new era of freedom may finally begin healing the gaping wounds that still divide the county and true peace will be made possible.
The Troubles are looking forward to a great start in 2013! We are joining with the fantastic McCormick School of Irish Dance on March 9th, 7pm, at the Tamaqua Performing Arts Center for "An Evening of Irish Song and Dance" that will benefit the St. Joseph's Center of Special Learning in Pottsville. We're also looking forward to sharing out tunes with a new bunch of folks at the Berwick Brewing Company on March 15th, as well as another great St. Patrick's Day Parade in Girardville on Saturday, March 23rd. Right now, we're waiting to work out the details on a few other shows, possibly at one of our favorite venues, McNiff's Irish Pub in Mahanoy City, and a few other surprises.
Thank you for everything in 2012 and now, it's onto more Irish music and craic in 2013.
Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh! Happy 2013!
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The Troubles / Blog
Facebook Fans
The Troubles just want to shout out a big "Thank YOU" to all our Facebook Fans. We just hit 500 likes.
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On Dublin Radio!
The Troubles are pleased to announce their original track, Along the Road to Donegal, received airplay tonight on DublinCity.FM radio during the 9pm Sin E Irish folk show with host Kieran Kelly. We were honored to be featured on the show along with several other performers including Irish folk great, John Breen, a fellow Reverb Nation musician. The show was promoting a new CD that is going to be released in a few weeks which will include Along the Road to Donegal. Much thanks to Christy Davy from the Dublin Twangman (also on ReverbNation) and Kieran Kelly for making this amazing opportunity possible for a little Irish band from the coal regions of Pennsylvania.
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The Troubles on DublinCity.FM!
This is brilliant news for The Troubles.
Just heard from fellow ReverbNation Irish folk musician,Christy Davy, about a track we were proud to share with him for a project he was doing with several other Irish musicians, including the amazing John Breenm another ReverbNation shining star. This is the post I just saw on Facebook:
Sin/e folk and ballad show on 103.2 fm,or dublincityfm.ie tuesdays show presented by kieran kelly 2100 -2300 feature's tracks from: ADRIANN O KEEFFE JOHN BREEN BEER MATS HETTY LANE DAMIEN QUINN LORETA MURPHY,THE TROUBLES TEXT KIERAN 087-655-9738,FOR YOU REQUESTS. CHEERS,
This is a wonderful honor for The Troubles - not only if we indeed make it onto Dublin radio - but to be featured with such excellent Irish musicians.
If my memory suits me, 2100 is 9pm Irish time. I am not sure for those of us on the Eastern Seaboard, Daylight Savings time, if we are 5 or 6 hours behind Ireland this time of year. If 5, Kieran's show would start at 3pm. Please note, I believe you can pull up DublinCity.fm on internet radio.
A big thanks to Christy for including us.
Loretta and The Troubles
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New friends, fans, and listeners...
Just want to take a minute to say "Thank You" to everyone who visits our pages, here on Reverb Nation, on Facebook, and our home page, www.thetroubles55.webs.com. It is hard being a small, independent band. It's not easy trying to get the music out and develop a fan base when resources are limited. The Troubles are are hoping to bring new Irish music and a new sound to all of you. We humbly thank you for listening and for helping us move up the Reverb Charts. Please share our music with others. Thanks to our 12 new fans today and for all of you who have been here for us all along.
If the above time is miliary, it would be 9-11pm Irish time, but US time, I'm working on. For Daylight Savings on the East Coast, we are either 5 or 6 hours behind Ireland (not sure because of daylight savings) so our time would be 3 or 4 pm. DublinCity FM should be available on internet radio. With love, Loretta and The Troubles
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We'll Bring You Home, Marian
After announcing earlier today that Marian Price was granted bail to attend her sister's wake and funeral, the Northern Irish Parole Board and other powers that be went on to ignore Marian Price's plea to permit her to grieve the loss of her sister with her family and yet again, denied her bail along with justice and her basic human rights.
When the pain is so fierce you can barely breathe When your heart is as heavy as lead When they've once again tried to buckle you at the knees With the lies and the hate that they spread Do not listen...the howls deep from Pandora's Box That moan and cry out on the wind Are the ghosts that now stalk them Though they try hard to lock them Nothing will keep those ghosts in Marian, you've inspired the birds on the wire Knowing freedom will come one fine day We will not be silenced nor resort to violence Beside you we'll stand, sunlight or gray They shall reap what they sow But they never shall know The pure heart of a heroine like you And when all's said and done It is you who'll have won For you've stood for the right and the true ~~~~~~~ We are the eyes of the world We are watching We are the voice of the world We are singing songs of freedom and the universal rights of mankind.
Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed individuals for they are the ones who will change the world.
Oh, and yes, we will bring Marian home.
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Not a Chord of Irish Music (cont.)
We'll be performing "Down We Go" at our concert event Saturday, March 9th, 2013, 7 pm "An Evening of Irish Song and Dance". The show is being held at the Tamaqua Performing Arts Center, Tamaqua, Pa. Check out our websites for details.
In addition to our original, contemporary, and traditional Irish folk songs, The Troubles will be doing a full set of our "Molly Maguire" and Irish coal mining songs based on Schuylkill County history. At least 4 of these songs were written as companions to my historical fiction novel "The Pipes are Calling", about the Wiggans Patch Massacre in 1875. Tamaqua is a fitting place to perform these tunes for a number of reasons. Jimmy Carroll (who was hung on The Day of the Rope) and whose wife Annie, is the subject of Annie Carroll's Lament, had his bar in Tamaqua. This is where the Bernard Yost murder - which Jimmy was accused of participating in - occurred. Jack Kehoe's wife, Maryanne's family, the O'Donnell's, originally settled in Tamaqua before emigrating to Wiggans Patch outside Mahanoy City. She and Jack - who was also hung as a Mollie- as well, as her parents, Manus & Margaret O'Donnell, her murdered sister, Ellen, and brother, Charlie - victims of the Wiggan's Patch Massacre, are also buried there in old St. Jerome's Cemetery. A number of other alleged Mollies are also buried there. Tamaqua, like my beloved Girardville, was a focal point of Molly history.
The other Molly and mining songs we will be spotlighting are "The Ballad of the O'Donnell House", "Annie Carroll's Lament" and "Come Back to Ireland". In addition to these, we'll be singing the infamous "Sweet Little Borough (aka The Girardville Song)", Walkin' for St. Kieran's, and a new one that features Patrick on lead vocals "Always A MIner". There are a lot of Molly Maguire songs but some of these will be new to a lot of folks.
If you'd like to have a listen, The Ballad of the O'Donnell House and Come Back to Ireland - and I think Walkin' for St. Kierans - are on our Reverb Nation music player.
There are two other very other special reasons why folks need to come out and support this show. One is to see the talented and inspiring McCormick School of Irish Dance. If you haven't seen these girls dance, you are missing out. Led by our own Caitlin McCormick, a championship Irish stepdancer herself, these girls are a special treat. I'm one of Caitlin's "old lady" dancers, but I've been taking a break from class the last year due to some other commitments. From personal experience, I can tell you, she is not only one helluva dancer but one heck of a teacher as well (which is what she does in her day job as well).
The other special reason, and probably the most important, that folks need to come out to this event, is that is goes to a wonderful cause. This is a benefit performance for the St. Joseph's Center for Special Learning, Pottsville, Pa. All proceeds from this event will be donated to the St. Joseph's Center to help some very, very special folks there.
So, this St. Patrick's Day, make sure you not only hear a chord of Irish music AND the joyful sound of battering hard shoes. Plan to come to "An Evening of Irish Song & Dance". Admission is only $5 at the door.
The Troubles hope to see you there!
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Not a Chord of Irish Music
Back in 2008, I went out looking for Irish music on St. Patrick's Day and not finding any, came home, wrote "Not a Chord of Irish Music" and vowed never to have another Patrick's Day pass without celebrating Irish song.
It was that single event from which The Troubles sprang and "Not a Chord of Irish Music" is in many ways, the band's mantra. Paul, Patrick, and myself are committed to not just bringing Irish music to those who long to listen, but to bring new Irish music to the table. We love the old songs and the new contemporary ones, but we want to infuse our own unique brand of Irish music into the mix as well. Listening to Patrick jammin' last night at rehearsal on an original called "Down We Go" - an Irish coal mining song that focuses on the Molly Maguires and the damp, dank blackness of the miner's workday - it struck me how blessed I am to have found two musicians who share my vision. Patrick's guitar work brought a whole new dimension to the song. You almost feel like you are down there "in the hole". (to be continued...)
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Thanks to our Listeners!
The Troubles want to thank all our listeners and fans who have been visiting our sites. We just broke into #30 nationally here on Reverb Nation and it is because of all of you.
We promise to keep the tunes coming and a new CD is in the works.
For our local fans, we look forward to seeing everybody at Berwick Brewing Company, Tamaqua Community Arts Center and at the Girardville Parade. Some other shows are in the works and we will keep you posted here on Reverb and Facebook.
Thank you again. You are awesome.
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Happy New Year's from The Troubles!
Happy New Year from The Troubles!
To all of our supporters, fans, friends, and family, thank you for making 2012 a wonderful year for our band. Our music has been slowly spreading across the world. We are just a little Irish band, with a lot of heart and soul, but somehow, our songs and YouTube videos have managed to reach out to listeners in America, the Philippines, Ireland, the UK, India, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Poland, Turkey, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Belgium, and Mexico. Our song, No Chains, has had over 200+ plays on Reverb Nation and the video, over 160 hits on YouTube.
We are committed to bringing our original music to our live performances as well as to those who listen and watch us on the internet. We want to give you all an honest and authentic acoustic experience with Irish music as you might hear it live in any pub. No sound enhancements, no gimmicks, no frills. We are a 3 piece Irish band with world influences from bluegrass, rock, and folk overtones and we like to keep things fluid and interesting. We mix up our sets alot and have a wide repertoire of tunes to work with.
The Troubles adore our live audiences and thank every person who booked us this past year and previous years. Thank you to our audiences. Whether at festivals, pubs, colleges, or just riding along singing our songs in the back of an ole pickup in the Girardville St. Patrick's Day parade, the band appreciates your clapping, toe tapping, sing along approval.
The band has a great new site on Reverb Nation that has brought us a lot of attention and fans. Our Facebook site is picking up "Likes" and fans. We even made it to the TOP 100 Celtic bands in the USA there for a while! Our music is starting to get air play on Celtic stations and we have a new album in the works.
A word about "No Chains"...we are an Irish American band but all 3 of us are of Irish descent and feel very strongly about our roots. No Chains is dedicated to Marian Price and the Irish POWs. The Troubles are not a rebel band but as our name implies, we cannot or will not forget the history of Ireland. We, whose grandparents immigrated over here, come from a blood line of Irish forcefully evicted from their homeland by a foreign presence that created a cataclysmic exodus of that country's people. What was one was divided and not without force or without bloodshed.
The plight of the Irish Political Prisoners and POWs is dear to my heart and evident in my songs. One cannot hope for peace in the North without understanding that the political persecution and misuse of justice that is being wielded against the Irish Republicans is a violation of their universal human rights. No Chains is a song of resistance, of hope, and of heroism. No peace without freedom. No freedom without justice. No justice without mercy. May Marian and all those imprisoned unjustly for their beliefs be released to their homes and families in 2013. It is only then that a new era of freedom may finally begin healing the gaping wounds that still divide the county and true peace will be made possible.
The Troubles are looking forward to a great start in 2013! We are joining with the fantastic McCormick School of Irish Dance on March 9th, 7pm, at the Tamaqua Performing Arts Center for "An Evening of Irish Song and Dance" that will benefit the St. Joseph's Center of Special Learning in Pottsville. We're also looking forward to sharing out tunes with a new bunch of folks at the Berwick Brewing Company on March 15th, as well as another great St. Patrick's Day Parade in Girardville on Saturday, March 23rd. Right now, we're waiting to work out the details on a few other shows, possibly at one of our favorite venues, McNiff's Irish Pub in Mahanoy City, and a few other surprises.
Thank you for everything in 2012 and now, it's onto more Irish music and craic in 2013.
Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh! Happy 2013!
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The Troubles #89 on US Celtic Charts!
There are no words to describe how wonderful it felt to see our rank as #89 this morning on the Celtic Reverb Nation US Charts! We are moving on the Global charts as well, ranking at 157 last time I looked. WOW!
The response to our new songs, especially No Chains which is dedicated to Marian Price and the other incarcerated Irish POWs, has been nothing short of amazing. The Troubles have been creating original music since the day Paul and I started working together as a duo, and even more so when Patrick joined the group. We also have dozens and dozens of other traditional and contemporary Irish songs that we perform live. We love those songs, for they are our history and in our blood. But it is in our original music that you will find the heart and soul of our little Irish band. All three of us are nothing less than passionate about our Irish roots. Knowing that all of you are listening - to No Chains, Dublin City, Along the Road to Donegal, Come Back to Ireland, and all the others - is more important to us than you will ever realize. It is never easy to find your audience as a band. Most of us play for the shear joy of it. Then one day, if you're lucky enough, you look up and there is someone standing there watching, and the next day, someone else has joined them...
Thank you for listening and being part of our journey. As our song "Down Many an Irish Road" says, "There's an old wives tale, two shorten the road, won't you come along with me?" We are so glad you came alone for this leg of our sojourn. It shortened the road in a way I never dreamed possible. If you stick with us, there's no telling where we might end up.
Thank you again. Slan! - Loretta & The Troubles
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