West of Galway

Featured Artists from Naples FL.

West of Galway

Born in the USA

We normally feature recording artists from Ireland on these pages, but live Irish music is alive and well across the world and nowhere more so than the USA. West of Galway have been a successful gigging band since 2003 playing pubs and festivals up and down the US East Coast The band members are first and foremost friends who met through music and swapped stories of Saturday Night Kitchen Seisiúns with their families as kids. Irish music is born in the kitchen but it’s at its best in the Pub, made even better with a wee drop of something to oil the vocal chords. 

Philadelphia to Florida

Our friend Bernie Green, the band’s founder learned his trade in the Irish communities around Philadelphia but they are now based in Naples Fl. He has the kind of gravelly, Dublineresque voice that makes people put their pint down and listen. He has a huge catalogue of traditional and contemporary songs, think of a cross between Barney McKenna and Luke Kelly and you’ve got it.

As with so many working bands the line-up can change according to the venue from a duo with guitar and fiddle to a full a four-piece ceilidh/festival band with bodhrán and squeezebox. 

You need more than just décor, sawdust and a Guinness sign.

The true Irish pub has music

 For a pub to be truly Irish ou need more than a Guinness sign and sawdust, you need music, live music and a band that lights the place up. These guys love what they do, and it shows, they are respectful of tradition but not afraid to put their own spin on familiar refrains. There’s a mix of traditional, contemporary and original songs in the set including a track we’ve featured below that Bernie wrote for his Dad who, like so many Irish Americans never got to make the pilgrimage home.In 2010, West Of Galway won an International Battle Of The Bands competition beating 50 other bands from around the world to be named, Best Irish Band. Their prize? The trip of a lifetime to County Down Ireland, to headline at the Celtic Fusion Festival. 

West of Galway

We’ve included a couple of taster tracks below but if you want more including their latest CD  : ar an do’l.  or for bookings contact Bernie Green @ 239.821.1740 or email bgreen250@comcast.net 

Francis Leavey

We came across Francis and his incredible ‘single line sketches on our travels in Ireland.

Frances has a way of capturing the spirit and musicality of Ireland with his simple but oh so elegant line drawings. Known as “Minimalist’ drawings they are done with a single pencil stroke without lifting the lead from the page.

His themes explore emotions and we particularly love his fiddle player. This drawing conveys a sense of the player and the instrument being a single entity, joined by a single line.

BTW, we do not get commission from any of the Artists, artisans or businesses we feature, we just love their work and Francis Leavey prints hang on our wall at home so we thought you might enjoy them too...