2016… I’m excited!

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What a year! What a fantastic year! I moved to Arklow this day last year. As I unpacked my things I had no idea of why was ahead of me. In fact, I was a little nervous…

I’m sitting here today looking back in the last 365 days and realising that in that time I have established myself as a music teacher in a completely new town, performed with some amazing musicians, songwriters and groups, set up an adult ukulele group and even joined the steering committee of Music Generation Wicklow. I know I have left some things out, the year flew by and I’m ready to take on 2016.

I owe all these successes to the support of friends, family, colleagues, students, fans and most especially to my fiancée, Laura. Without their support I would not be where I am now! We’ve had some amazing times and I can’t wait to take on what 2016 has in store for me.

Happy New Year!

Grá gan ceist!

Ronan McCauley

New Song / News / Updates

by  on  in News, Projects

Since my last entry so much has happened… The world around me has completely changed! In light of recent tragedies I am reminded of all that I am grateful for. I will admit, part of me is ashamed at how much I took for granted… I sit here watching the sun rise and can’t help but look back with a smile and yet be reminded of how quickly it can all be taken away.

Since moving to Arklow, Co. Wicklow I am completely taken aback at how welcome I have been made feel. To become “one of the locals” in an Irish town can take a long time. It’s not down to hostility but rather how they refer to you. I have gone from “Ronan McCauley: the guy from Dublin” to being referred to as one of Arklow‘s local musicians in a matter of months. It’s good to be made feel at home in such a short time.

Work at Arklow’s Youth Centre (The Vault) continues as the music program keeps going strong. Under the leadership of a new coordinator, Laura Dunne, a complete change of atmosphere can be seen. These days, our focus is on building confidence among our less experienced musicians. From week to week it is brilliant to see kids who would hardly say a word suddenly take centre stage. I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling proud of the kids who come to this program.Guitar_Nature

Music Generation Wicklow also brought me on board to be part of their Music Education Partnership committee. The committees duty to set down policies and guidelines on how funding should be used. Music generation has done so much to provide facilities for kids to explore their passion and interest in music. I’m overjoyed at having the opportunity to help with this!

The music school itself is going great! It’s taken a lot of hard work to get going but it’s flying along now. Lessons take up most of my time these days when I’m not helping Music Generation and The Vault. I’m arriving home after a day’s work tired beyond belief but with a smile on my face. Music has always been a passion of mine and continues to be. It’s fantastic to be able to be able to pursue this passion as a career!

Finally, recent tragedies around the world have weighed heavy on my mind. History repeats and we all get dragged along for the ride. My heart is with all those affected wherever they may be.

Grá gan ceist!

Ronan

 

New (Old) Song – The Road

by  on  in Songs

RonanThe purpose of a muse is to provide inspiration to artists. They come up with some great ideas and send them your way.

HOWEVER!

What a lot of artists have to deal with is muses with really poor timing. They’ll suddenly float by with an idea when you’re driving and unless you pull over to write/record the idea it will be lost. So I decided to combat it!

While doing some practice I decided to film it. During this time I captured every idea that floated into my head AND even managed too revise the very first song I had ever written. It’s called “The Road” and it’s about remembering someone who was close to you. I do hope you enjoy it. If you like it, please share it with the rest of the world!

Here are the lyrics:

Here I am on my own again down this long and lonesome road
Should have been going home again.
Where that is I don’t know.

Here I am I’m on show again
I’m a stealer on the street
Not sure where this road began
Or if I’ll ever rest my feet

Search me out and I’ll come to you
And we can start anew
Search me out and I’ll follow you
And we can find what’s true

On the road I still think of you and the places we have seen
All I’ve left is your photograph and the thoughts of what might have been

Stay far out and I’ll come to you
And we can start anew
Stay far out and I’ll follow you
And we can find what’s true

Here I am on my own again down this long lonesome road
Should have been going home again.
Where that is I don’t know.

Gig Announcement – Brady’s Sessions

by  on  in Events, News

The Brady’s Sessions is a great platform for up and coming talent to showcase their work. The night itself has a wonderfully relaxed vibe that’s perfect for enjoying music and hanging out with friends.

As well as myself there will be other great acts including Fox Owl Crow, Dawn Chorus and Gary O’Neill.

I can’t think of a better way to start of the weekend than with a few good tunes, good mates and a few drinks. So come along and help make this night magical!

Be sure to go to the Brady’s Session page and hit that like button!

As always, thank you for stopping by and reading this. Be sure to check out my own Facebook Page to keep up-to-date on everything. Oh, and check out my other pages listed below!

R

 

Aside

It’s amazing how  many times the simplest little phrases inspire you. The following came to mind:

“If you can’t get what you want, make what you want.”

Musicians will tell you that finding decent manuscript paper is a real chore. It seems that almost every company that makes it only knows how to print them on odd-sized paper and stapled together in the form of a book. It’s expensive and unless you’re really skilled with a scissors looks a mess when you remove it from the book. A4 manuscript paper seems to be unbelievably rare and when you go online there’s usually a watermark that gets in the way of things.

So I decided to make my own manuscript paper and make it available to the public. So without further adieu, here’s the link!

ronan.ie/mp

Be sure to share this and let the world know!

September 2014 – What’s been happening

by  on  in News, Projects, Songs

Well a lot has happened since last May. Lets start at the top:

I was at the Rory Gallagher festival in Ballyshannon, Donegal. There I met an Australian Harmonica player called Patrick Fairchild. We spent one of the evenings playing music in the hotel lobby. Here’s a video of one of the songs. An improvised number called, “Ramblin’ Man”. I may include this on the “Plugged Out” EP.

Further work on other songs continued including “I’m Gone”:

The purchasing of a new loop pedal lead me to return to one of my older songs called “Falls”.

The work I’m doing in the Youth Centre in Arklow has varied from arranging songs to music tuition and recently shooting a video titled “Arklow is Happy”. This is in the final stages of the editing process so I hope to have it online soon.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m going to make a conscious effort to keep you guys up to speed on a more regular basis! While you’re here, why not check out the links below for more tunes, videos and other lovely things!

May 2014 – Announcements

by  on  in News, Projects

A number of amazing things have happened recently which I would really like to tell you all about:

Firstly, the songs I’ve uploaded to SoundCloud are doing quite well. If you haven’t checked out the songs yet, click here and have a listen.

I’ve also started volunteering with the Arklow Youth Centre who have an amazing music program. It’s great to get the opportunity to work with everyone here. Most recently we put on a concert showcasing the amazing musical talent that’s in Arklow and it was a huge success.

I have set up a Facebook Page to help promote my work. If you haven’t already, please click the like button to keep up-to-date on all that’s going on.

Finally, I’m starting work on an EP. It’s provisionally being called “Plugged Out”.  As a wee treat, here’s one of the concept pieces made up for the cover:

Ronan_Plugged_Out

Click to go to the Ronan McCauley Facebook Page

Ukulele Lessons Available

by  on  in News

So the weather is getting nicer as we get closer and closer to BBQ season. One of my favourite things to do is kick back in my garden with a few friends and play a few tunes. The Ukulele is especially handy for such times because of its size. It’s just so easy to pack a Ukulele with you!

With the summer in mind I’ll be offering Ukulele lessons in Arklow, Wicklow. To book your lessons simply email lessons@ronan.ie or send me a message on Facebook. A list of prices can also be found here (Click)

I also wrote a song for Ukulele recently. Have a listen and be sure to let your friends know about how they can get lessons to learn the Ukulele!

News: March 2014

by  on  in Events, News

2014 has been a great year so far and has involved meeting and performing with a lot of very talented people. This included 2 amazing nights of music in Mother Reillys in Rathmines, a brilliant spot at the Three Rock Sessions in Rathfarnham, and a very interesting spot as part of the St Patrick’s Day Weekend celebrations in Arklow. Not to forget an amazing night at the Acoustic Room with Tallaght Songwriting Collective where Enda Reilly played a brilliant set as the main act of the evening.

Next Friday (28th of February) sees me play at the Brady’s Sessions held in Gub Dandy’s (next to Brady’s Pub in Terenure). The night sees me play alongside some great songwriters including: Carol Faherty, Miriam Donohue, Katie Laffan, James Guilmartin and White Oak Barrels.

Everything’s due to kick off around 9:30pm on the 28th in Gub Dandy’s in Terenure (next to Brady’s Pub). Come along, bring your friends! Check out the poster below and be sure to share it with everyone you know! Click the poster to go straight to the Facebook Event!

Click the picture to go straight to the Facebook Event

If you’d like to discuss something in this post, or anything else for that matter, please contact me:

Email: hi@ronan.ie
Twitter: @RonanMcCauley
Facebook: Ronan McCauley
LinkedIn: Ronan McCauley