iTunes
Bandcamp
“Climbing up the top sails I lost my leg”
I was 17, playing guitar at my best friend Joe’s house, and I can always remember him telling me about this band he was obsessed with. That band was the Dropkick Murphys.
Joe was the man. He played drums every single day, and I would frequently ride my car over, set up my guitar and amplifier, and jam out with him – all while his parents sat in the adjacent room. To this day I’m still unsure of how they managed to not go crazy from us. In fact, they always encouraged us and were interested to have us play for them.
That’s what really hits me hard about this piece – that whenever I think of the Dropkick Murphys, I think of Joe and how his parents supported us. As I got older I started understanding that no one, not even the Dropkick Murphys, can do it without support and encouragement. Haters make their voice with their words, but lovers make their voice with their actions.
So when I decided on arranging a song for Saint Patty’s Day, I knew it had to be the Dropkick Murphys. ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’ was a collaborative piece written between Woody Guthrie and the Dropkick Murphys, and it remains a Saint Patty’s Day staple.
To me, arranging a piece of music is much like writing a story. Before I do anything, I have to determine who my lead characters are, and who are the supporting cast. Right away from this piece I knew what the defining characteristic was – the drums. This loud and energetic celtic group needed a loud and energetic arrangement, and that’s what I tried to accomplish with this piece.
As I write this I’m looking back now at how bizarre everything used to be and all the support I was surrounded by. The late night train rides to go see New Found Glory and Godsmack, the Battle of the Bands where I’d go to support my friends, the random concerts thrown in our basements, and blasting new music from our busted up cars. It was just such a cool time, and it’s one of those things that you can’t really appreciate it until you’re no longer in it. In order to grow you need others to guide you along the way, and in order to look back you have to fearlessly enter a new phase.
