[NewCD] Half Moon Bay by Gerry O'Beirne

[Gerry O'Beirne]

Gerry O’Beirne's new CD "Half Moon Bay"   
Contact:  http://songs.com/gerry


Irish songwriter, guitarist and singer Gerry O’Beirne was born in Ennis
in County Clare. Gerry is not only a self-taught master of the six and
twelve string guitar, he is also a renowned songwriter.

Several of his songs have been covered by artists on the Irish music
scene. Maura O’Connell recorded Half Moon Bay   on her album Stories  as
well as Western Highway, Shades of Gloria  and The Isle of Malachy.
Mary Black recorded The Holy Ground and named her CD after it. Cathie
Ryan recorded Shades of Gloria  andThe Lights of San Francisco.

Gerry O’Beirne has released his first and long awaited solo album Half
Moon Bay, which is receiving much deserved critical acclaim, and which
features his own compelling performances of his songs, as well as his
beautiful instrumental music. His songs tell of a yearning for home,
romantic love, and the spiritual qualities of place. Gerry has called
many places home (Ireland, Africa, England, California, Mexico), but
after listening to his music, it is clear that ‘home’ is anywhere he can
sit with his twelve string guitar and play.

As a boy, O’Beirne was raised in Ghana in West Africa as well as in the
West of Ireland, and listened to the music of those places as well as
contemporary artists such as Bob Dylan and The Beatles. It was while
working for a book publisher in London that Gerry bought his first
guitar. He soon returned to Ireland and became involved in traditional
Irish music.
His own writing is a hybrid of the passion found in traditional music
and the freshness of contemporary song.

Gerry O’Beirne has toured around the globe with several bands and
artists including Patrick Street, The Sharon Shannon Band, Midnight Well
(which featured his slide playing), The Waterboys, Andy M Stewart,
Martin Hayes, Kevin Burke and Andy Irvine.
He has performed at the White House, opened for the Grateful Dead, and
played electric guitar with Marianne Faithfull. As a producer Gerry has
a large number of albums to his credit including Promenade  for Kevin
Burke and Micheal O’Dhomhnaill (winner of the Grand Prix Du Disque at
Montreux), Irish Times  by Patrick Street, Man In The Moon  and
Donegal Rain  by Andy M Stewart, First Footing by Anam, The
Connaughtman’s Rambles
by Martin O’Connor, Up Close  by Kevin Burke, To Anyone At All   by
Clandestine, and many more.

Gerry’s album has been chosen as one of the best 12 independent releases
of the year by Performing Songwriter  magazine, who feature him in an
article and interview in their May 2000 issue, and the album has also
been chosen as one of Folkworld’s top ten albums of the year.



 GERRY O’BEIRNE


“Gerry O’Beirne has written some of the best new tunes to come out of
Ireland’s Celtic music scene. O’Beirne’s guitar playing is always a
thing of wonder and his lyrics have become increasingly poetic and
emotionally deep.”

- Dirty Linen

“The instrumentals are out of this world. A self taught master of the 6
and 12 string guitar, the playing of O’Beirne is superlative and subtle
beyond words.”

- The Sunday Times

“His works are simple, elegiac and exquisitely worded pen pictures of
life’s experiences.”

- Rock ‘N’ Reel

“A masterpiece.”

- Folkworld

“He’s a lovely singer, a powerful performer and a master musician.”

- Evening Herald

“While much of his material (Isle of Malachy, Shades of Gloria, Western
Highway, The Holy Ground) is best known sung by others, Gerry reclaims
his songs. He involves the listener with a gentle intensity that allows
the beauty of his melodies to envelop and sweep them along: images
abound of mountains and deserts, foreign lands, and County Clare, loves
lost and loves won.”

- Irish Edition

“The highlight of the recent Waterboys concerts at the Olympia Theatre
was a truly mesmerizing bottleneck solo.....by guitarist Gerry
O’Beirne.”

- In Dublin

“If you like poetry in music, and a soulful performance, ‘Half Moon Bay’
is for you. A virtuoso whose guitar is an extension of himself.”

- The Music Matters Review

“Material comes from Paul Brady, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin and
Lennon & McCartney, but the highlight is Gerry O’Beirne’s beautiful
‘Half Moon Bay’.”

- Q Magazine

(of Maura O’Connell’s ‘Stories’)

“He should be compulsory listening for any aspiring ambitious guitarist.
It’s not just his technical dexterity and brilliance that catches the
imagination, it’s the inventive use of arrangements, lyrics and melody.”


- The Word