THE DRUNKEN PRIESTS...On the Road!

Tetélestaí.
It is finished.

After a solid 11 months of hard studio work, reworking, editing, mixing, drinking, mastering, remixing, remastering, drinking, graphic design, drinking, contracting and drinking and drinking and more drinking, finally...

It was time to celebrate.

The debut studio record was done. And it was perfect.

The band is now about to head off now across Canada. From Vancouver to Cape Breton island (Nova Scotia) and back in 6 weeks and 25+ shows. The Pooka (or *Púca,* for you gaeilgoirs out there, is our ride: A 1973 VW (read=hippie)Van. BUT, it has an 1800 CC engine from 74.

So we should be fine, right?

Oz, our guitarist, has documented some of the details (with pics) of the first venture of the Pooka in his blog, Teacher Turned Folk Star.

To summarize the journey of the Pooka, since buying it from a German man in his 70s, who bought it new, we have:

1. Broken down in Banff, AB.
2. Been towed to Canmore, AB.
3. Replaced the Starter Motor in Canmore, AB.
4. Broken down in Salmon Arm, B.C.
5. Where we replaced the fan belt.
6. Broken down at midnight on the Hope-Princeton (Trans-Canada) Hwy.
7. Been towed to Hope, B.C.
8. Reconnected the Generator to the Starter (a mistake made by EUROKAN AUTO in Canmore.)
9. And taken it in for a muffler/fuel-line repair in Surrey, B.C.

(Now, if you have booked shows with us, please do not worry. It will be in tip-top shape for the summer, plus, remember that the Pooka is not human. NO indeed! It is a changeling. Half-car, half-sídhe, this faerie-mobile slowly turns half horse in second gear, pulling into a canter in 3rd, and in 4th! Well, I will tell you, the Pooka becomes The Steed. And at its whopping 60 MpH will get us anywhere we need to be in no time at all. And when in doubt...we rent a van.)

And so, us wandering minstrel lads set off, new record in hand, to bring our myths and music to the world. Well, Canada, for now.

(Pic of The Canmore Hotel, a waitress for whom a customer bought one our shirts. A kind donation to our Pooka repair fund!)

This will be the first Damanta tour to rival our great journey across Ireland and Europe in 2005; from our home-base in Galway, Ireland to Vienna, Austria and beyond. Only now we have a solid record.

THE DRUNKEN PRIEST and the ghostly hymns of autumn
(IMRO & SOCAN 2008)

The first review for it came out the month of the CD release, by the renowned publication of Western Canada, The Celtic Connection (see here). Catholine Butler, who gave me Irish soda bread she had baked after the interview, also did a feature story about the original songs and how they came to be.

With more reviews on their way, what else can we say? Except, like I mentioned, we did not really stop working on the record till every little trouble spot that we and Jesse Waldman, my co-producer, could find. After which we had the disc Mastered by Vancouver*s one and only, Marc L*Espérance.

[My apostrophe key is broke.]

It is a very satisfying thing to know you have done your absolute best on something. Especially after 3 years of under-budgeted, often rushed, and imperfect recordings. These have ranged from mini-disc sessions done in basements, to $14 computer mics (our *Cúnla* recording) to single-track from a mixer, live-off-the-floor recordings done in a Church (2006 Alive On Pentecost) all of which very few copies exist (read=collector value!:)

We are also proud of the Limited Edition track Faerie Childe which is on the CD and will only be on the first 1,000 copies, and never downloadable. This recording was a lucky one of from a show at Falconetti*s on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. It is just myself with drum and bass, but really captures the moment.

In fact, much of the last year has been Damanta without the well-known tenor banjo and fiddle additions. While working out bed tracks (drums and bass) for THE DRUNKEN PRIEST, Todd and Colin and I did many trio show to get the right ideas. The song, *Rambles At Night,* for instance, changed just before recording. The last way we played it live, the old way, can be seen in a video we recently put on YouTube. But you can see it here:



I think that the final, recorded version more dramatic with changes we made to how the song begins. And Jesse Waldman has some crazy ideas for the remix, when we throw the fiddle melody, Grapes, back into it (as heard on Pentecost) and add a little electricity.

So, rather than say more about the shiny, fay-touched album we will be selling for gas money on our tour, do go and read Catholine Butler*s hard work in review and article for The Celtic Connection. After that, you will have to judge for yourself:

Buy now!
DAMANTA
THE DRUNKEN PRIEST and the ghostly hymns of autumn



And of course, do visit us at our other online venues, as well as when we pass through your town!
REVERBNATION
MYSPACE
RedCappe Promotions
FACECULT!
and
The DAMANTA Official Website

PS: If you want to check us out more before giving us hard earned euros, you can DOWNLOAD some songs for free on our MySpace...yep, enjoy!