The Dirty Pints: Journal

We are honored to be nominated for a 2009 Washington Area Music Award (a “Wammie”) in the category of Traditional Folk Group. Thanks to those of you who nominated us, and more importantly, thanks for supporting music of all styles throughout the DC area! Information about the Washington Area Music Association is available at its website:

http://wamadc.com/wama/index.html

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you from the Pints!

If you would like to receive an e-mail notification of upcoming Pints’ performances, sign up for our e-mail list! (You'll find the sign-up feature on every page in our website.)

We WILL NOT sell or otherwise transfer your contact information to anyone (not even for a pint of Guinness), nor will we fill your inbox with unwanted spam. (Is there such a thing as “wanted spam?”)

We WILL send you, approximately once a month, an announcement of our upcoming performances, so you'll know when and where to find us!

The Pints are venturing into Alexandria to support Give Back Alexandria, a network of people united in a desire to give back to their community by providing financial and volunteer support to local nonprofit organizations. This year, Give Back Alexandria is supporting Friends of the Alexandria Mental Health Center and The Reading Connection.

Interested in learning more? Check out the group's website at http://www.givebackalexandria.org/index.html, or come out on September 28th between 7:30 and 9:30 to meet with its members while enjoying a bit of traditional Irish music in the heart of Old Town, Alexandria!

Any musician who has had to travel with instruments on an airplane can sympathize with this. United Airlines workers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were none too gentle with Halifax-based musician Dave Carroll’s $3500 Taylor guitar. The airline refused to compensate Carroll for the damage, citing his failure to file a claim within 24 hours. Carroll’s response, after nine months of haggling, was to write a song about the incident; the song has become a YouTube hit. Check out the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

And Dave Carroll’s website:

http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/

We suspect the song’s popularity will encourage United Airlines (and others too, perhaps) to be a bit more responsive in the future . . . .

We've added a few pictures from one of our St. Patrick's Day performances at Ireland's Four Provinces. Thanks to Petr Vojacek for the photographs!

Should St. Patrick’s Day be an official holiday in the United States? The folks at Guinness believe it should be, and are promoting a national movement to make it so. You can read more about it – and even sign the petition supporting this goal – at www.proposition317.com.

The 38th annual Washington, DC St. Patrick’s Day Parade is scheduled for Sunday, March 15th. For more details, go to www.dcstpatsparade.com.

The Pints will be returning to the Four Provinces in Falls Church and RiRa Irish Pub in Clarendon, but look for us at a couple of new venues in 2009. Earlier this month we gave our inaugural performance at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub and Restaurant in Fairfax, and later this month we'll make our first appearance at Ireland’s Four Courts in Arlington. Check out the “Calendar” section of the website (or sign up for our e-mailing list) for dates, times and locations! You’ll also find links to these and other restaurants in the “Links” section.

We've added a few new images to the "Photos" section of our website. Thanks to Melissa Robison for the photographs!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you from the Pints!

"O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama."

It seems that our President-elect is among the 35 million or so Americans who can claim Irish ancestry. Barack Obama’s great-great-great grandfather, Fulmuth Kearney, was a shoemaker from Moneygall, County Offaly, who emigrated to the United States in 1850. The lyrics above are from a song by the band Drew Hardy and the Nancy Boys that celebrates the connection. You can check out the complete song on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk

We understand the band has been invited to perform at the upcoming inauguration party.

We came across this article on the BBC News website.

“The old advertising slogan ‘Guinness is Good for You’ may be true after all, according to researchers. A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US . . . .

“The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease. They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager . . . .

“The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness – just over a pint – taken at mealtimes. They believe that ‘antioxidant compounds’ in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls . . . .

"A spokesman for Brewing Research International, which conducts research for the industry, said she would be 'wary' of placing the health benefits of any alcohol brand above another. She said: ‘We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients. It is possible that there is an extra effect due to the antioxidants in Guinness - but I would like to see this research repeated.”

Volunteers for further research, anyone?

Read the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3266819.stm

Well, it’s official . . . . The Pints bid guitarist Sam Hensley a fond farewell (reserving the right to bring him back as an occasional guest artist) to allow Sam more time to pursue his own musical career. Check out his solo work at www.samhensley.com. Best of luck, Sam! Now welcome Arlington native Tim Griffin to the band. You can check out more about Tim on the “bio” page, or – better yet – come out and see him live at an upcoming Dirty Pints performance!

A fan (or blackmail artist) captured part of a recent Pints' performance on video. In case you haven't made it to a show, take a look and see what you're missing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGu50FGTxUs