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live-music

Sugar Rush – Dublin, June 20th

June 15, 2015

Live in Munich last month.

A week from now, I play The Sugar Club in Dublin city. I last played this beautiful venue in 2006, almost ten years ago, for the release of my first record “Wood”. It’s crazy how much has changed since then. It’s a whole new cast of characters, a whole new bag of atoms, instruments and songs! I was 22 years old then and bringing my very first record into the world. It was a good night and an exciting time. I must have been nervous as hell because I remember breaking a string on the very first song! I never break strings.

Live at the Sugar Club at the Wood album launch, September 2006.

Sadly, two of the musicians that played on that night in 2006 have passed away in the last years – Vinny Baker (who was my musical mentor and great friend, and who produced the album we were launching that evening) and Cani Bruton, a fantastic bassist and long time friend who played on my first two albums. Both are hugely missed and have left deep holes in man peoples lives. I’m sure some of their spirit will be in the music next week. In fact, recently I had the opportunity to acquire one of Vinny’s acoustic guitars, It’s a stunning instrument and I’ll be playing it next week, trying to do the great man proud!

The Late Greats. Two hugely talented and deeply missed friends -Cani Bruton & Vinny Baker.

The venue is beautiful with a great vibe and warm, clear sound. I’ve seen some great shows there in the last years. Among them Jazz singer Gregory Porter (one of the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard in the flesh), fellow Irish songwriter Rhob Cunningham, and most recently the mind-bendingly good Snarky Puppy. The room has the feeling of a classy old cinema or theatre, with it’s comfortable tiered seats, oval tables and wood pannelled walls.

The Sugar Club

For this gig on June 20th, I have the good fortune to be joined by the stupendously talented Nicky Brennan on electric gutar and Darren Sweeney on Bass. We’ll mostly be playing songs from the “Outlines” and “Overhead the Stars” records, along with a couple of brand new ones that I’m enjoying playing recently.

With a week to go I’m starting to feel that usual mixture of and excitement that comes with putting on a big show. On a Saturday night in our Capital City… I’m not nervous about the performance, the stage is where I feel the most at home and comfortable… the most relaxed. The songs are in good shape after two months of touring here and abroad. The guitars have just been re-strung. I’ve done good advertising, having put probably more money than is sensible into postering in the city and online stuff too… I’ve individually reached out to almost everyone I know and told them of the gig.

But yet, there is still the worry. The nervousness comes from that little voice in my head that Steven Pressfield calls “resistance”. Resistance appears whenever you try something bold, whenever you create something, whenever you go out on a limb… For me the voice says things like “

1. Nobody’s coming to your show.
2. Nobody cares what you have to sing about.
3. Bob Dylan already wrote all the songs.
4. Everybody is going to see the Script instead.
5. Acoustic guitars are stupid.
6. Art is stupid.
7. Why don’t you get a real job.
8. Nobody’s coming to your show.”

But that’s not real, it’s just the resistance talking, the fear. As an artist you can’t let the fear get to you. Instead we do the show, we keep believing, we make the art, we sing from our f**king hearts and no matter what we a never ever give up. That is the only thing that matters. To have the chance to sing to people and to bring some joy to their evening is a very special thing and I’m thankful for that.

I’m so excited to sing some songs with friends in the Sugar Club next week.

Hope you can be there with us and bring all your song loving friends along.

Tickets on sale through ticketmaster.ie and tickets.ie ( with the latter being the slightly cheaper option)

Best wishes

-Peter

 

Tour Announcement: Ireland 2015

March 19, 2015

Up Close & Personal Promotions Present:

Peter Doran Irish Tour 2015

Mullingar Singer-Songwriter Peter Doran takes his new album “Outlines” on the road from April -June with a series of intimate shows across Ireland, with all roads leading to a headline show at The Sugar Club in Dublin on June 20th. Read More

A week in Germany

March 14, 2015

Photos and journal entries from my recent German tour:

Last September, quite out of the blue, I had a mail from a German lady called Shel, inviting me to Cologne to play some shows. She explained to me that she organises private house concerts and other small shows there, and that artists like Mundy, Mark Geary, Liam O’Maonlai etc. had all played at her place. I’ve always wanted to play shows in Germany so I jumped at the chance! The tour was arranged for the end of February – last month – and I went into it with an open mind and high spirits. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weeks I’ve ever had, musical or otherwise.

Read More

Video: Live From a Dublin Café

July 9, 2014

Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for free newsletter here

New songs “Things You’re Dreaming of”, “Always Kind” & “Tug”, filmed live in Dublin May 2014.

A few weeks back, I played a show at Bewley’s Café Theatre, one of my favourite venues in Dublin. Musicians With Cameras, the good people behind the “Every Little Thing” video, were in the crowd on the night and made this short musical film:

“From the opening swaying notes of ‘The Things You’re Dreaming Of’, Peter Doran’s music seems to fill the venue as the soft ambience of shimmering guitar backing the songwriter’s gently performed vocal. With the camera work cutting from Doran and his band performing to reactions from the captivated crowd, the musician’s clear talents are visually conveyed to great effect.”

– The last Mixed Tape Blog


Enjoy the Video? Feel like being awesome?…

Help us get the music to more people by sharing the video on Facebook / Twitter / etc.  Grab it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thiu_o-SpRo

I hope these songs bring you some kind of joy. ~PD


 Credits:

Filmed at Bewley’s Café Theatre, by Luke Byrne and Stephen Allen, Thursday 29th May 2014. Edited by Stephen Allen

All songs by Peter Doran. Performed by Nicky Brennan (Electric Guitar), Darren Sweeney (Bass) and Peter Doran (Acoustic Guitar & Vocals)


I’d love to hear your thoughts on the songs and the video! Would you like us to do a show in your town? Write to me at peterdoranmusic[at] gmail [dot] com or use the comment box below. I will get back to you.




Musical Values in a digital age:

June 19, 2014
Written by Peter Doran for peterdoran.com. Sign up for newsletter & get free music here.

Photo by Sergey Sergeev (Wet Plate Collodion)

Some thoughts on abundance vs scarcity, & the values of recorded and live music in the digital age:

Read More

Tea, Chocolate, Music, Books.

June 5, 2014

My mouth tastes of dark chocolate and green tea. I’m at the kitchen table listening to Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” record, a life-shaking album if there ever was one!  I’m not feeling in full-blown essay mode this week, but I’d like to share some of the interesting things that have crossed my mind, eyes and ears in the last week or so:  Read More

Dreamland for the Evening:

April 30, 2014

 

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Avalon Theatre, Catalina Island, 1993. Gelatin silver print.

I’ve been going to live gigs since I was 12 years old. Music doesn’t get any purer than a magical live performance. What could be better than looking your hero in the eyes and having them sing right to your soul. Last weekend I went to three different gigs, in Mullingar, Waterford and Dublin. Over the three nights I saw four very different songwriters and one band.  Every one of them had a story of their own and each one was trying to move as gracefully as possible through the maze that is the music business…

Read More