Global Rhythm, one of the top US world music magazines, just chose Dark of the Moon for its Global Top Ten list for December 2003!

Matt Molloy, flute player with The Bothy Band and The Chieftains, writes of The Essential Guide:

"Grey has, through his research, patience, and diligence, completed a work on Irish flute and tin whistle that I feel is essential reading for anybody interested in getting it right."

What is a Tune Packet?

Three downloads, neatly wrapped together in virtual brown paper (actually an easy-to-download ZIP file):

1. Grey's musical transcription of a traditional Irish tune (as a PDF file), with suggested ornamentation, variations, and breathing spots for flute and whistle players.

2. A recording (an MP3 soundfile) of Grey playing that tune, exactly as transcribed.

3. Grey's written commentary (as a PDF file) on the tune, including its background, and insights on how to play it well.

• Holiday CD Bundle: Dark of the Moon, The Green House, and The Orange Tree, (my three latest CDs) all for $33.97 ($5.00 off the regular price).

• All orders of $45.00 or more receive a 10% discount.

• If you order books or CDs and need them to arrive in time for Christmas, please note that in the "comments" box in the online order process.

Dark of the Moon

"These wonderful, playful tunes are as twisty and turny as the best back-roads, or the best storytellings. With seven instruments between them, Larsen and League present a varied palette of Celtic colors, delivered with consummate grace and warmth." - Bryan Kelso Crow, host of Public Radio's "Celtic Connections"

Ready to hear some?

You can listen to two complete tracks from Dark of the Moon right now (or excerpts if you prefer) by clicking here and then clicking on the appropriate Listen button.

If you'd like more information, click here to read "The Making of Dark of the Moon". See photos, get Paddy's recipe for Gigantes sto Fourno, and find out what's behind the CD’s title.

The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle

480 pages, with two CDs. $39.95

This is the first of four Irish flute and tin whistle books (each with companion CDs) that I will publish in the coming year with Mel Bay Publications. Release is slated for the first week of December and you can order it now. Meanwhile, help yourself to some excerpts from The Essential Guide, by clicking here. Some of you have been waiting a long time for this book, eight years in the making. Thanks for your patience!

The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox

This second book is coming in April 2004.

Approximately 160 pages, with one CD. $29.95.

"An essential set of tools for the beginning and intermediate tin whistle player. I highly recommend it!" Joanie Madden, tin whistle and flute player with Cherish the Ladies

You may place advance orders for The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox now if you like.

This book is based closely on The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle, but it is much shorter, is only for whistle players (not flute) and focuses on the beginner and intermediate levels, with expanded materials especially for beginners.

Coming later in 2004

Celtic Encyclopedia for Irish Flute
Approximately 140 pages, with one CD. An Irish tunebook customized for flute players.

Celtic Encyclopedia for Tin Whistle
Approximately 140 pages, with one CD. An Irish tunebook customized for tin whistle players.

Do you have ideas to share that could help me promote these new CDs and books? Please let me know. I value your input.

You can help greatly by recommending my recordings and books to your friends and family. When you order from the store, you'll see a "Tell a Friend" box on the right side of the screen. (You can enter multiple addresses there, separated by commas.) Word of mouth is such a large part of what makes it possible for me to make a living creating music.

For more ways you can help me promote these projects, please visit my How You Can Help page.

I hope you've had a great fall and have a fruitful winter to look forward to! Best wishes, and thank you for supporting independent musicians.

- Grey

My other recordings are also available in the online store (all with samples for immediate listening), including these titles:

The Green House - With Paddy League - Our debut CD, including my originals Cabbage Night, Dusk Among the Willows, and Very Kind and Gracious, plus three bonus tracks of Michael J. Kennedy himself, playing and reminiscing about his years in Ireland, 1900 - 1923. Copious liner notes.

The Orange Tree - An underground classic with André Marchand, newly reissued on my Sleepy Creek Music. CD Review Magazine awarded it Runner-Up World Music CD of the Year in 1993. A very fresh integration of French-Canadian and Irish music, great vocals from André. Includes my originals First Snow and Horses, Geese, and One Old Man. Liner notes include all lyrics, in French and English.

Banish Misfortune - With hammer dulcimer wizard Malcolm Dalglish. Our first recording (1976) and one of the records that ignited the American Celtic music scene.

Thunderhead - With Malcolm Dalglish - our 1982 classic - with contributions from Kevin Burke, Micheál Ó Domhnaill, Tríona Ni Dhomhnaill and others. Features my original tune Thunderhead which has been performed/recorded by Lunasa, The Tannahill Weavers, Kevin Burke & Micheál Ó Domhnaill, Andy Irvine, North Cregg, and others in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the US. Also Stormy Night and Glen Helen.

The Gathering - This is an Indie award-winning CD of all original compositions. Includes Malcolm, Pete, Tríona, Lisa Ornstein and others (and cover art by my grandmother, Sadie Rosenblum). Includes Hardanger fiddle (Norwegian 8-string fiddle) on the title track, and on Oldenfjord.

Metamora - The trio's debut CD - Malcolm Dalglish, Pete Sutherland and me - with group vocals, including Little Potato, Fiddler's Hymn, Endless Chain; plus my original tunes Plum Creek and Narnia.

The Great Road - Metamora's second CD: great, fresh, upbeat instrumental creations, including my originals The Great Road and Seven Seas.

The First of Autumn - With Malcolm Dalglish, our second duet recording (1978), newly remastered and finally available on CD. Includes Shawneetown and Malcolm's popular anthem, Shake These Bones. The copious liner notes from the LP are faithfully reproduced in the CD booklet.

Snow on the Roof, Fire in the Furnace - Field recordings, collected by Malcolm and me in 1978, of Cincinnati area elderly traditional musicians. Never released commercially before. Irish, Old-Time, Blues, German, and Lebanese music, plus Sousa marches from the Liberty Cornet Band (established in 1900). Remastered CD or the original LP.

Celtic Mouth Music - Now out of print, I have the last 40 copies of this fantastic book/CD compilation from Ellipsis Arts. 67 minutes, 37 tracks of incredible mouth music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec, even Tennessee. The 64-page page book is full of great photos and information on the music and musicians. Hear the opening cut from The Orange Tree, Acadian Mouth Music/Horses, Geese & One Old Man, side-by-side with the original field recording by Acadian singer Benoît Benoît that inspired André Marchand's rendition. There is also Colm O'Donnell's great rendition of Molly Brannigan, the same tune Paddy and I play on Dark of the Moon. Some of the 37 artists are: Seamus Ennis, Dolores Keane, Madame Bolduc, Talitha MacKenzie, Paddy Tunney, Josie McDermott, and Norman Kennedy.

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