January has certainly been a month of hibernation for us. We’ve been slowly working on the new album. Ok, did I SWEAR that it would be out by the first weekend in March? Hmmmm…..maybe not. However, we are all very excited about it, it is sounding very good and it won’t be too much later than that (I hope!). I hate eating crow. It’s really only good with a really fine burgundy and I can’t afford it right now! We’ve been struggling to find a name for this album…usually they come very easily, but this one is fighting back. I came up with numerous names while doing a boring drive to Richmond but they were all shot down. Cretins. Hey, what’s wrong with “Stairway to Tir-nan-Og”?!?! That said, no obvious contenders have come up. Any ideas? We are dedicating January and February to the album (and day jobs too sadly) so no gigs, but March is already busy for us…New Deal Cafe for the first time in ages – that will be fun. Also, North Texas Irish Festval again hooray AND our very exciting opportunity to open for the great Niamh Parsons at Wolftrap. Check the schedule page for more […]

Work is progressing apace on our new album! No one believes me, I know, but we will have it in hand by the beginning of March! We’ll get some preview cuts up on the website so you can hear it

Hello to all and happy holiday of your choice! Below is some sad news, but also an opportunity for us to help a friend: From: Dannythedoyler AT cs DOT com Dear Friends, Here I come again putting on the “poor mouth,” as they say. It is not for myself but on behalf of the extraordinary Scottish songwriter Andy M. Stewart. For some years now Andy has had serious back problems which in recent months have grown worse which necessitated the cancellation of his Oct – Nov ’05 USA tour. This was a grave financial blow, as you can well imagine. I do not know the full extent of his illness and Andy is not the kind to lay his troubles on other people. I understand he will have a serious operation that will leave him incapacitated for some time. In the meantime he essentially has no job and no income. I need your help. We all of us, or most of us, sing some of Andy’s marvelous songs. Could we between us put our minds together and see if we can come up with an idea or ideas to raise some funds for him. I have already received a most generous donation on his […]

So we have lots of exciting news! We have started recording the new album, which we GUARANTEE to have out by March (stop laughing! We will, really!) For our friends in Texas, we will once again be playing at the fabulous North Texas Irish Festival March 4-6 2006 And a little closer to home, we will be playing the Barns at Wolftrap on March 15th, opening for Niamh (pronounced “Neeve”) Parsons, who you should all come and hear because she is really wonderful. Cool, huh?

Hello Tinsmith fans! For those of you in Virginia, we finally have a gig in that beautiful state! See us tomorrow night, Friday November 11 at the Colonial Tavern in Fredericksburg, 9-11pm – so you have time to get there after work (and so do we) see our schedule page for more information

Do you know of any really cool musicians who aren’t well known? We thought we might do a casual “Tinsmith Pick-of-the-Month” sort of thing….. There is so much good music that this month (or maybe this is officially November’s Pick) we have two. Rowan and I were very fortunate to open for one of them, Quicksilver (Hilary Spencer & Grant Baynham). What an amazing duo! They are from England and were VERY English in their delivery and humor (of which there was an enormous amount!). We laughed so hard I was afraid there would be an accident. And when we weren’t laughing, we were marvelling and the superb guitar playing (Grant) and equally sublime vocals (Hilary). The only downside for Americans is that their albums don’t convey the things that make their live performance so fantastic since they lack the spoken intros…but they are talking about doing a DVD, so watch their website: http://www.grantbaynham.com/quicksilver/quicksilverindex.htm The other supergroup is a duo that I saw at the Cincinnatti Celtic World Festival: Dempsey and Broughton. Kevin Dempsey plays guitar (and some other stuff on their album) and Joe Broughton plays violin (and some other stuff on their album too). I have to say […]

It’s finally here! The nights are cold, the days are beautiful, geese are flying, trees are turning color AND, best of all, it’s time for ROWAN’S BIRTHDAY BASH! It’s very special this year as our own style-hound & chick-magnet is turning 30! Join us November 5th at the College Perk for a joint show with our good friends ILYAimy to celebrate. Also in November, we’ll be appearing for the first time at the Colonial Tavern in Fredericksburg, Va. Finally all you Virginians can come see us without crossing a bridge (shudder!!!). Hey, we’ve got some new music, make sure you get out and see us! And using my crystal ball…….gazing far, far, far into the future……I see…..us freezing our butts off playing FIRST NIGHT EASTON! No, not really. I think we’ll be inside, but Easton is a lovely town and they do a really fun First Night. See you soon!

Well, summer was just so horribly hot that I hibernated in my cellar and avoided as many responsibilities as possible, including updating the news! Sorry. But with the return of decent weather, I’m back online. Tinsmith has some very fun gigs coming up in October, and for those of you who live out in the Shenandoah Valley, you can see Brooke live and solo! I’ll be splitting the bill with Lorraine Duisit (of Trapezoid) at the Bleu Rock Inn in Sperryville, V. These dates are all in the beginning of the month, so get out your calendars and see our schedule page for details: October 5 Tinsmith – the duo (Brooke & Rowan) Focus Inn – Rockville Opening for the amazing British duo Quicksilver Price: $12/15 October 8 Tinsmith – the trio (Brooke, Rowan & Avril) Shenandoah Coffeehouse Series Leesburg, Va Price: $10 October 13 Brooke Parkhurst splitting the bill with Lorraine Duisit Bleu Rock Inn Sperryville, Va free

And here’s a thought…. Did you know that Rowan & Henry play with other bands as well? Rowan is part of the fantastic and exciting band ilyAIMY. You can check them out at www.ilyaimy.com and hear them as well as see Rob’s very cool artwork. Henry also plays bass with Dulcie Taylor, a wonderful guitarist, dulcimer player and songwriter (not to mention one of our favorite people all around). Her album “Mirrors and Windows” has been named one of the 12 Best Recordings of 2004 by Soundstage, along with CDs by such artists as Brian Wilson, Wilco, Los Lobos, and Peter Mulvey. Her website is www.dulcietaylor.com

We were lucky enough to see Andrew McKnight at the Naked Folk Festival…..that is, we heard him. And we saw him too. But only selected bits of him….oh, hell. You know what I mean. Anyway, he has very kindly asked us to play the Shenandoah Coffeehouse Series on October 8th in Leesburg, Va. Should be fun! Check out their website at: http://www.shenandoahacoustics.com/scs