THE ROAD WILL RISE - TONY O'MALLEY - News

Georgian Day of Independence

Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Six years ago today, Georgian Day of Independence, Femke & I, along with our two boys Joseph & Patrick, first set foot in Tbilisi! And so began a fabulous adventure, never to be forgotten, but impossible to credit here on this page...

Middlesbrough

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Organized by Yorkshireman Mike Henderson, the village hall gigs in the north-east of England were joyful and exhilarating! Great to be working again with Steve Pearce on bass, Jeremy Stacey on the drums, along with regular legend and amazing Neil Hubbard on the red guitar with the incredible talent of Adam Phillips on an equally red guitar.

The guys were overwhelmed by Mike's generosity and how well the 'tour' had been organized. He did us all proud, so many thanks, Lad! We hope to return next year, so watch this space!

P.S. All future band meetings will now be held in a jacuzzi.

Here & Now

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Writing this from Tbilisi where I've been working for the past few days. Santa's been spotted all over Europe and the other Continents, but here in Georgia and many other parts of the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on 7th January, so it's business as usual and a long rehearsal on 25th December.

However, today I've been blessed with a bit of time off and feel compelled to write a little about Mark Smith, who passed away on 2nd November. But I just can't find the words to describe the emptiness inside...

R.I.P. Mark

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Tragic news which we're all still trying to come to terms with: the wonderful Mark Smith passed away this week. Will write more soon.

"THE ROAD" so far

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

NEW ALBUM: "THE ROAD WILL RISE" now available

A project that began around two years ago, this labour of love features the rhythm & rhyme of some of the finest musicians that money can't buy! A body of work that celebrates love, hope and the power of the human spirit. THE ROAD WILL RISE also marks the first collaboration between Tony and writer/artist Simon David Eden

Richie Hayward Medical Expenses

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

One of the great drummers of all time, Richie Hayward of Little Feat, is in trouble and needs our help. Please go to this site:-

http://richiehayward.chipin.com/richie-hayward-medical-expenses

Lovely guy, beautiful drummer. Sending Richie much love and light to help him though his toughest gig yet... xxxx

OUR BELOVED GEORGIA

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

During the past couple of days, Femke and I have received scores of emails & messages from friends & family around the world who are concerned for our safety here in Tbilisi, where world news has focused its attention on the terrible fighting in South Ossetia and Gori. I would like to use this space to let you know that we are all safe & sound and intend to remain in the city until 31st August, when we are due to leave Georgia to return to Brussels after four years and three months of living in this great country. First and foremost, our heartfelt condolences go out to all the Georgians, Ossetians and Russians who have lost loved ones and friends during this awful conflict. We would also like to extend love and support to all our dear Georgian friends who are very concerned about the future of their country. In May this year, along with my good friend and lyricist, Nana Kalendadze and 12 beautiful children, I wrote and performed a song on national TV called ‘Soul of the Land’, which describes our deep love for Georgia.

Please listen:-

www.tonyomalley.com/music-75.html

With much love and a heavy heart,

Tony

Patrinoti

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A few hours before I flew to London on 20th May to attend Helen's funeral, I sang a song on live TV for a Georgian patriotic song competition, aptly named 'Patrinoti'. I'd been asked by the Ministry of Culture to participate by writing a song about the country my family and I have grown to love, but must leave at the end of August.
There were 40 songs performed over four weeks with two winners from each week making it to the final on 26th May, Independence Day.
As an Englishman singing about Georgia, my hopes of progressing to the final weren't high, but I had to be back from the UK by 26th - just in case.
As it turned out, and much to my surprise, we won our week!
So, after an 18-hour journey that included a 6 hour wait in Istanbul, I arrived back in Tbilisi at 4am on the morning of the final, cream-crackered but happy that we'd given Helen a great send-off. All the surviving members of Kokomo attended the service at Mortlake Crematorium, where Frank, Paddie & Dy sang so beautifully in saying goodbye to H. After the 'service', we took over a club in Barnes in West London where everybody played and sang for the rest of the day in memory of a dear friend.
And so to the final of Patrinoti. Several weeks previously, I'd been asked by the Georgian Ministry of Culture to write a song about Georgia and to take part in the competition, which has been running now for four years. Once the song had been written, I recruited my good friend and lyricist, Nana Kalandadze, to translate half of the lyrics into Georgian for the children's choir.
Anyway, we came 2nd! General consensus of opinion? Not bad for a Brit in a competition to find the best song written about Georgia! In fact, many Georgians really like the song, so, all in all, we feel good!
Sure, of course we wanted to win, but then we were up against a very nice song written about Sukhumi, capital of the politically hot autonomous & beautiful region of Abkhazia, which until the civil war in the early 90's, belonged to Georgia. Read on in the news...

R.I.P. Helen

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

S'been a while....
I'm recording a new album of original tunes and the creative process is taking much longer than anticipated, plus we've had some serious technical problems in the studio.
I was hoping to complete three more albums before we leaveTbilisi at the end of August, but this is now a tall order for the simple reason that time just isn't on our side in co-ordinating the musicians necessary to complete the other projects. For instance, the Big Band are at present in the transitional period of changing premises, so there's not been much action from maestro Givi for quite a while. It would be great to record an album with the Big Band so I'm hoping this can be achieved one day. Maybe next year...?
It'll still be possible to complete the standards album with arrangements by the incredibly talented Otari Kupunia, but again, we need more time!
I also wanted to make a follow-up to The Mansarde Sessions with Paata Andriadze, but Paata is now very busily involved in other projects and can't find time to make a whole album. Maybe a couple of tracks...?
On a note of sadness, our dear friend Helen succumbed to illness and passed away peacefully last week. I'll travel to London for the funeral on 24th May to pay my respects to a very dear soul I'd know for many years. We'll all miss our H!
More anon....

Filming the Shows

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

3.15pm

On October 1st a promotional video was recorded at the 606 Club in London by Dan Hill from the Chichester Youth Theatre. Dan has made a very good job of capturing the great talents of my London based musicians and the unique atmosphere at the 606 Club, one of the best jazz clubs in the world!

My friend Malvern Hostick also filmed the night with his new Sony camera, and has posted a few clips up on You Tube, which you can view on http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tonyo%27malley&search_type=&search=Search

Last week we filmed again! This time the venue was Valeri Kocharov's new Rock Club here in Tbilisi.

Kote and his friend Vakho are now in the process of mixing here at my home in the studio in the mansarde.

If all goes to plan, we hope to continue with recording the new CD next week....