acoustic guitar – Peter Doran

Anthem

January 21, 2017

Last week I finished the great book "Sapiens: A brief history of human kind" by Yuval Noah Harari... It's a wonderful book that I came away from with a better understanding of our species, where we've come from and where we might be headed. I highly recommended checking out the book... Some nights after finishing the book I had dream in which I heard or spoke the words "change the anthem". When I woke I thought this was a cool idea. Around this time I had a new piece of music on the go... So I combined the dream-phrase, the after thoughts of the book and this piece of music together and a new song started to form...

Here's a snippet from it. Hope you enjoy.

~ Peter

New song in the works... "Anthem" Rewrite the anthem rip up the contract(s) I feel a golden age coming on rewrite the anthem - rewrite the song when the Kingdom falls and the king don't come When the dam won't hold and the water runs When the veil lifts and the pieces fit We trade our skin for a new skin We trade our skin for a new skin Oh - let's play Oh - let's play on Oh yeah let's play Let's play God #singersongwriter #acousticguitar #bourgeoisguitars #irishmusic #originalmusic #indiemusic

A video posted by @peterdoran on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:51am PST

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Lazarus – A Resurrection Story

December 24, 2016

In a year that has taken so many musical lives, I bring you a story of resurrection.

Almost six years ago, I was in a car crash near my hometown of Mullingar. The whole story of the incident can be read HERE . No human life was lost in the accident thankfully, but my guitar was ruined. The instrument was an all mahogany Martin acoustic, not a vintage or anything, but of big sentimental value as it was a gift for my 21st birthday.

Before the crash:
Original Martin J15

After the Crash

Somewhere, about halfway between then and now, the idea was formed to build a new body for the guitar and to bring it back to life. Only the body had been destroyed in the crash. Everything below the neck was lost. The idea was to build a new body - front, back, sides - from the same type of wood, and then hook it up to the original neck, and Boom - Your guitar breathes again.

All the wooden parts...

It's taken a little longer than planned, but last week I collected the new guitar from Dublin-based Luthier Frank Tate. I always knew it would be a cool story and a fun project but I was floored by how good it sounds and plays. Frank tells me that the wood was salvaged from a Church (front) and a Ship Yard (Back). He assured me these are very much Luthier cliches, but I enjoyed the added depth to the history. To think that people would have knelt and prayed at this wood in a past life is a pretty cool thought. During the build, Frank started referring to the new guitar as "Lazarus", the Biblical character that Jesus restored to life four days after his death. The name has stuck. The guitar feels familiar yet new and I am excited to write some songs with it and play some shows.

I am the Resurrection and I am the life

For now though, I've made a little home video for David Bowie's song "Lazarus", from "Black Star", his final recorded, released earlier this year.

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The Great Trade

June 22, 2016

Introducing "The Great Trade"

For the past couple of years, in fits and starts, with great bursts of creativity quickly followed by long periods of distraction or working on other things, songs have been coming together for a new project called The Great Trade. These songs have been co-written with my friend Brian Murphy, a fellow Mullingar native who has contributed electric guitar and lap steel on my last two records.

The first beginnings of this project came when we were on tour in the UK and Holland in 2013. We were both looking for a way to play some shows outside of Ireland and somehow this tour came together. The entire tour lasted about three weeks I think and in that time we spent a lot of time together in vans, trains, hotel rooms, back stage areas and coffee shops. So much of being on tour involves waiting. You're always waiting for the show to start it seems. Hurry up and wait. We filled these spaces with chatter and dreamings and wandering conversations. Out of some of these conversations came songs, or the beginnings of songs, the outlines of ideas.

It was interesting to be kicking around song and melody ideas with another human being for a change. It was exciting and had a speed and energy that I don't often encounter when working on my own. This was the first signs of something coming together. There was a feeling, still is, that we could write some good songs together and more importantly enjoy challenging each other to write well.

: The Great Trade

: The Great Trade

After this 2013 tour I went on to write and record my "Outlines" album and then tour that. Brian has been busy with his other original project "Arrow in the Sky" and playing guitar with the band Cronin. In this way the time gets filled. We grabbed some time here and there in 2014 / 15 but have really turned our attention back to the project this year. In April we recorded our first video with the help of Mark Bennett and Darragh Glennon. The song is called "Blackberry Wine" and was inspired by a book I read about the life of Billie Holiday. I hope you enjoy:

Please let me know what you think. Does it sound different to my solo stuff ? If you have a moment to share the track on Facebook / Twitter so other folk might here it that would be super!! Songs get lonely too you know. Share it aboot.

Good wishes and thanks for reading

~ Peter

Blackberry Wine (Lyrics)

Meet me in the after-hours We'll drink blackberry wine
There's a place not far from here I think you're gonna like
Caroline has fixed a little something for your mind
I've picked a dress to match your eyes
You're gonna sing tonight

Let's go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let's go to the good time house where nobody sees in
INTO this LOW HEAVEN

Pull the sheet from the piano they wanna hear you sing
Fly on up there don't be frightened, show a little skin
Try anything you like
Little Bird don't be shy

Let's go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let's go to the good time house there's no such thing as sin
DOWN in this LOW HEAVEN

-solo-

Fire cracks, opera echoes, Suzie cuts the deck
Horn players all blown out just blown in from the night
Here on top of the world
Little bird why so still

Let's go to the good time house where the wine never spills
Let's go to the good time house where nobody sees in
I won't hit you too hard honey no just a little sting
HERE in this LOW HEAVEN

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The death and life of an acoustic guitar

February 20, 2015

With my martin J15 / Photo by Luke Danniells

January 20, 2011.

The fog was heavy and thick and we could hardly see the road in front of us. I was in the passenger seat staring out into the fog, a little nervous now and uncomfortable. This was not a night for driving. Out of the blackness on our left came another car. It cut across the road directly in front of us. It was too close and there was nowhere to go, we swerved, but our car hit the other and we both spun.

In the Beginning.

January 15, 2015

Young Peter with curly hair & dirty Cheeks

I've been told that when I was very young, I would sometimes sit in the field behind my Grandmother's house, hitting on plastic bottles and singing "Let it be" by the Beatles. Mrs Byrne, a retired music teacher who lived next door to my Grandmother, would tell my Granny that she saw some ability in me. I have no memory of this, but it's a nice picture to have. Read More