An Irish Duo in Finland?

Well, actually, it's a duo playing a lot of Irish music sailing the northern Baltic between Sweden and Finland. So, I have returned, once again, to work on the Viking Line (www.vikingline.fi), playing music and having adventures, and this time I have brought a new duo partner in the form of Andrew Keenan, a Philly boy who's brought not only his guitar, but his banjo and a lot of Irish tunes as well.

We'll be working on the M/S Isabella for a few more weeks over the next month and a half and, so far, we've just got one weekend under our belts. I think the sound we have is particularly cool but what really excites me is the sound of the banjo and the harmonica harmonizing together. I think when we return I'll have to get us into the studio.

The ship is a 2,500-capacity ferry cruise that serves not only the travelers between Sweden and Finland, which includes cars and commercial truck drivers, but also the drink-happy overnighters and bargain hunting tax-free shoppers. It's a strange world that I discovered in my trials and tribulations of being a working musician, and this is just another edition in my perennial visits over the last few years and, like I said above, this time, it's a little different because of the Irish music theme they've got going on over the month.

At the moment, Andrew and I are off the ship for a few days in the Holiday Inn of Turku, the former more "ancient" capital of Finland, and the two of us, along with some colleagues called the "The Cats Meow," a trio of Irish girls working on our sister ship, the Amorella, are in town, looking for some last-minute gigs or just some trouble to get into.

Anyway, I'll be posting some more over the next couple days and, with luck, I'll even get some video for you all to see...

Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Email me at james_dalton@hotmail.com.

Thanks!