Celtic Spring Band ::

Celtic Spring has just finished the busiest month ever in its history: 22 performances in the month of March and 7 performances so far for the month of April. Our extremely full performance schedule has barely left me any time for Celtic Spring business such as updating our web-log. It is now 1:17 am and I am finally finding a moment to check in before we leave for a week performing at the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts.

This last month provided the highlight of Celtic Spring's history. The band was invited to appear "live" on the cable network, EWTN, based in Birmingham, Alabama. We loved everything about our time spent in Alabama. The crew at EWTN were absolutely wonderful. We were thoroughly impressed at how truly kind and professional everyone was. The set designers built a beautiful stage for us that had intricate Celtic knotwork painted all over the floor. More beautiful knotwork and a beautiful Celtic cross were our backdrop. We could not have been more pleased. The sound and film crew were fantastic, and Amalia, the producer, was a delight to work with. The show we were on was a celebration for St. Patrick's Day. It featured an interview with the whole band and a 35 minute performance.

Besides our TV appearance, while in Birmingham, we also performed for a school run by the Nashville Dominican Nuns, St. Rose Academy, did a theater show at the Work/Play Theater, and performed for Mother Angelica and the nuns at their monastery, Our Lady of the Angels." Mother Angelica was the founder of the EWTN cable network. Our visit with the nuns was the all time highlight of our performing. Our Lady of the Angels is a cloistered monastery of 40 joyful nuns, and we were invited to perform in the parlor for the sisters. It was a gift to be in their presence. They radiated peace, joy, and hope in a setting of tremendous beauty. God deserves the best that man can give to Him, and these nuns have been responsible for the building of an exquisite church and convent such as one would see in Italy from long ago that brings great glory to God. After we performed, the sisters treated us to their beautiful singing and then brought us a nourishing lunch of sandwiches on homemade bread, juice, and fruit. Our visit to "Our Lady of the Angels" concluded our stay in Alabama. We returned home in pouring rain, had all the luggage drenched outside the airport, got home around midnight, hung up wet items all over our house, to continue our whirlwind performance schedule. The next day we performed for a music festival in Ventura, and at a theater in Santa Barbara.

Two weeks ago found us performing in San Diego where we stayed with my brother, Joe, and his wife, Jennifer, and their precious baby, Aine. It is those visits with dear family and friends that make our very full performance schedule possible. Last week we were visited by my brother in law, another Joe, who was just home from being an engineer on a ship to China. In a few days we will be with Greg's parents in Dallas, where we will spend Easter, before heading to Oklahoma for the festival. So, though our lives are very full with Celtic Spring, we are grateful for it helping us to cross paths with our dear ones. Even with the demands of constantly packing and unpacking, cramming in all the school we can in between trips, the children still love their performing and always look forward to the next audience. Thank you for all being such great audiences! Aidan, our two year old is the only one who voices complaints, "I don't want to stay in a hotel!!" We try to make the trips fun for him by breaking them up with trips to zoos, botanic gardens, long walks with me while Celtic Spring performs, and lots of reading time. Aidan gets more of me when we are on the road, for then my homeschooling has halted, my band managing is done, and Aidan and I just get to enjoy ourselves. God Bless you all... Happy Easter!!!