We hope this post finds you well and enjoying your Christmas break. We’ve have had a fantastic 2019 and we’re excited to see what a new decade will bring as we release our music to the world.

For the first three months of 2019 there was nothing doing. O’Reilly & Vincent wasn’t even a gleam in Finn’s eye!

It was the weekend of 13th April when Finn started putting Rod’s verse to music and we ended up writing a whole album in one weekend (for more about that read The Story Behind The Songs). Those eleven songs now make up our debut album Clearance Sale, to be released early in 2020.

The month of May saw many a Skype call between Ludlow (Rod’s town) and Dublin (Finn’s) asking: What shall we do? Shall we record the songs? Shall we make some videos?

On 16th June, Finn visited Ludlow again and we wrote eight more songs in one day. The concept emerged for a second album (more about that when the time comes!). Also during that visit, we planned for the recording studio, making demos and discussing instrumentation ideas for the various songs on Clearance Sale.

July saw us record our first three songs in Dublin. Finn sang at Rod’s wedding. We also started learning to make the videos.

In August we shot the video for Anna and the Apple in Spain with Finn gate-crashing Rod’s Honeymoon for the filming. We also returned to the studio in Dublin to record a further four songs.

As autumn approached in September we shot the video for The Inspector on the railways.  Rod visited Dublin a final time to record the remaining four songs for Clearance Sale.

In October, song mixing started alongside video editing – plus the launch of our website and the setting up of social media profiles (thank you Futureproof).

November saw the album get mastered and videos created for two more songs: A Single Step and Through The Clouds. Two listening parties were held to share the songs with friends and neighbours.

As Christmas approached in December, Finn visited Ludlow and came to the third listening party. We also wrote four more songs for the second album. Admin chores stepped up, with the registering of songs and setting up of distribution to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and other platforms. We published a Lyric Pamphlet and started rehearsing for our first gig at the Wheatsheaf in Ludlow on 4th Jan with future gigs being sought and arranged – watch this space!

Our first single Men & Books will be released on all digital platforms on 17 January. The next two singles and the full Clearance Sale album will follow soon after.

This year has seen – twelve songs for our second album, eleven songs for Clearance Sale, ten plates of Perl Wen, five recording sessions, four videos ready, three singles uploaded, two happy campers, and a partridge in a pear tree!