Matt Connarton Unleashed 10-24-26 hour 1

0:02 Speaker 1: You're listening to Matt Connerton Unleashed on WMNH 95.3.

0:07 Speaker 2: WMNH 95.3 Old oak road, grey bird skies. She wakes early, slow to rise. A little dispute, a house on roost.

1:00 Speaker 2: Take the old oak road Follow the old oak road Never come home, never.

1:12 Speaker 3: Come home Never come.

1:16 Speaker 2: Home Never come home, never come home Never come home

1:39 Speaker 2: On board ship, song reaches live. Silence opened, the secret broken. Lives unbound, soon run aground.

1:56 Speaker 4: Sail on.

2:06 Speaker 2: Never reach home Never reach home Never reach home Never reach home Never reach home.

2:43 Speaker 5: Shining new stream Bears no retreat Hotel by river Pulse held by.

2:54 Speaker 2: Finger Little body found Cold ribbon bound.

3:04 Speaker 3: Take The old road road Follow the hard.

3:20 Speaker 4: Old road Never return home to me Never reach.

3:31 Speaker 6: Home Oh, that is haunting, isn't it? Old Oak Road. One of the many fascinating songs from a project called Bring Your Own Hammer. And we've had people on the show recently to talk about it, but today we're going to be speaking in just a moment with Richard McMahon, a historian who's heavily involved in the project, and I can't wait to talk with him. He's waiting for us. And we're going to open up that dialogue in just a moment. But welcome, everybody. This is Matt Connerton Unleashed, and we are live from the studios of WMNH 95.3 FM in glorious Manchester, New Hampshire.

4:23 Speaker 6: And, of course, you can stream the show from anywhere. Go to mattconnertonunleashed.com for all of your live streaming options, social media links, contact info, show archives, etc., etc. Today is Saturday, October 24, 2026. But let's go ahead and bring Richard McMahon. He is with us via Restream. Hello, Richard.

4:46 Speaker 7: Hi, Matt. How are you doing? Good, good.

4:48 Speaker 6: I'm glad to have you on. I've really been looking forward to this. And, you know, we have had a couple of artists on who are involved in the Bring Your Own Hammer project, who have recorded things for it. So it's really interesting. And, you know, if I understand your role in the project correctly, you kind of find fragments of people's lives in historical records. And then the musicians who are involved in the project turn those fragments into songs. And The project sort of explores 19th century Ireland and includes people whose lives are in some cases only briefly documented.

5:27 Speaker 6: And your role is, I mean, is historian, is that the correct way to kind of label, if I may, what it is that you do in the project?

5:38 Speaker 7: Yeah, I think that's a fair description of my primary role, at least. I mean, I suppose the project originated when I was actually sitting in the city archives in New York, gosh, maybe 15 years ago. And I was looking at the case that Old Oak Road is based upon. I came across it in the crime records, the district attorney indictment papers for New York. And it was this statement made by a woman describing arriving into New York. She was heavily pregnant. And then later it was discovered there was a dead body in the room she was staying in.

6:11 Speaker 7: And it was the body of an infant. And the way she told the story and her sense of disorientation, I was immediately grabbed by it. But I was also struck that if I put that into my normal historical work, you'd probably get lost, get lost in a page, a sentence or two, maybe a footnote in an article. And I thought that was doing a disservice to the richness of the way she told the story and the kind of sadness of the heart of the story. So I had this idea, well, what if someone else was to take this source and create something from it, an artistic, response to the source and really put her story front and center.

6:48 Speaker 7: And that was the initial spark, I suppose. And since then, I've been sort of collecting lots of these kind of different archival materials relating to different aspects of Irish history, Irish American history, and encouraging artists to create new material from it.

7:02 Speaker 6: How do you kind of figure out, I mean, is it something that you know instinctively when you come across one of these stories or one of these people who, you know, again, you know so little about them, but other than something very interesting happened to them. But, I mean, do you know right away, oh, this might make an interesting song? Or do you have to kind of sit with it for a while to come to that conclusion? Or how do you figure out what to pass on to the artists?

7:30 Speaker 7: Yeah, it's a great, great question. I mean, in some ways, the less we know about someone, the better, because it opens up the space then to have a creative response. If we knew more about them, maybe I'd make it into an academic article or make it part of a book. But the fact that we know so little about the characters often helps sort of develop a kind of imaginative response to the source. So it can be a little bit hit and miss. You know, at the start, I would share an awful lot of material with the artists.

8:01 Speaker 7: Sometimes, you know, 3000 pages of a document and say, you know, just go in and explore it. And actually, we got great material from that as well. But more and more, I've been kind of tailoring it, I think, picking out particular sources that I think might suit particular artists.

8:15 Speaker 6: So how did this all begin? How did Bring Your Own Hammer, did you say 15 years ago was when you started this project?

8:22 Speaker 7: Well, I first had the idea for it in the early 2010s, definitely, when I was working.

8:27 Speaker 8: In New York.

8:28 Speaker 7: And then it took a little while. Initially, I reached out to Cahill Coughlin, who's a fantastic Irish singer-songwriter. Unfortunately, he died in 2022. But through the late 2010s, we worked quite closely together to try and develop a project. And the more we worked on it together, the idea initially was that he would record an album based on a variety of different sources. But the more we worked on it, the more realized we needed to bring other people in. So we had this idea, well, why don't we expand it and invite other artists into the project?

9:02 Speaker 7: And we really didn't know what we were doing at the start, which was good. You know, we had to kind of learn and develop it as we went along and, you know, try and figure out how will this work? And it really, it was actually an artist called Eileen Gogan, who was the first person to produce something for the project. And she produced this quite extraordinary kind of eight minute song working with another artist on the project, Mike Small. And a really kind of striking piece. And I think that really gave a shot in the arm to the project because other artists heard it and they kind of responded and they could see how she had done it.

9:37 Speaker 7: And that really got the ball rolling. So it was trial and error. And it took a while for us to all feel comfortable, including myself, about what we were doing. And I suppose I tried to make the artist feel comfortable so that they didn't feel they were being judged, that there wasn't a kind of professor waiting around the corner to tell them they got it wrong or something like that. I wanted them to feel they could be as creative as possible with it and just see where it brings them and i've i've really tried to stick to that um yeah you know occasionally we might say well i'm not sure if that fits historically but very very rarely i mean most of the time the the artists really respond to it in a really respectful way but really imaginative way sure So, you know, it took us a while to get going.

10:22 Speaker 7: And then it was, I suppose, 2022 when we released the first songs from the project. And I suppose that marks the kind of beginning of the public face, if you like, of the project.

10:30 Speaker 6: Gotcha. Do you ever run into a situation where maybe, you know, you have a story that you think would be, well, this would make a great song, but then for whatever reason, maybe whoever, you know, the artists who get involved in it, maybe it just doesn't work out and you have to kind of, you know, walk away from that one?

10:50 Speaker 7: Yes, that happened. So I got very early in the process. I would get a little sort of feeling, oh, it's a real shame that no one is working with that particular source. I go, you know, there's real potential for that to be a really nice song, you know. And Old Oak Road is actually an example of that. So actually what I started doing with, I have to say, considerable reluctance was sketching out lyrics myself. And so creating a kind of lyrical template for that the artist could then respond to. So Old Oak Road is an example, that first song you played of a song where I wrote the lyric, Mike Small then set it to music and then Cahill, Coughlin and Ja Wobble came on board to play on it as well.

11:30 Speaker 7: So it was a kind of genuine collaborative effort, but it came, I suppose, initially from my fear that that initial spark that had come from the project from that source wouldn't be used by someone. So I kind of, I ended up stepping into the breach myself to kind of fill the, fill the gap. Okay. But sometimes, you know, a brilliant source doesn't, doesn't always spark off a song, but a lot of the time it does, you know, if the, if the source is really strong and there's a great story to it, I'm usually fairly confident that someone will respond well to it.

12:03 Speaker 2: Sure.

12:03 Speaker 9: Sure.

12:04 Speaker 6: So tell me about the process of, um, when you've got, you know, you've got the source, you've got the, the idea, you've got the story and the person it's about. Do you then, um, Do you then go to a specific artist who's involved in the project or has done something in the project already and present it to them specifically? Do you sort of or do you put it sort of out there to several different people who are involved or do you try to pull in somebody new to the project? What's kind of the process there?

12:32 Speaker 6: Or maybe it changes depending on the story. I don't know.

12:37 Speaker 7: It's changed over time. So at the start, I would upload an awful lot of material onto a kind of Dropbox. And people could go in and have a look around and see if it suited them. And that was, I think in principle, that's great. I think that's a really interesting way to work. But I think people, you know, they could go in and they could have a look, but maybe they weren't sure what exactly they would sort of go with or what would fit. So increasingly, I've tailored it. I've said, oh, that source would really suit me.

13:06 Speaker 7: this artist. I think, you know, there are a couple of artists I've worked very closely with on the project. So Michael Small, Mike Small and Michael J.

13:15 Speaker 10: Sheehy.

13:16 Speaker 7: And sometimes I come across a source and I kind of know that in their hands it will be, it will work. You know, I have a sense that it would suit them and they're great. You know, they've, you know, decades of experience in writing songs as well. So I have a lot of trust in them. And they're also very good at coming back to me and saying, actually, this doesn't work or it doesn't suit me or I've tried it and it doesn't work. So there's that degree of trust and that we won't be– nobody's going to be offended if it doesn't work out.

13:45 Speaker 7: And if it works out, it's fantastic.

13:46 Speaker 6: Yeah, we had Adrian Crowley on the show and he was describing how you would send him– stories that might inspire songs. And is he one of the artists whom you've worked with a lot? I kind of got that impression through my conversation with him that he might be kind of one of the go-to artists to work with in terms of these songs and these stories.

14:12 Speaker 7: Absolutely. Adrian's been a mainstay of the project, a wonderful kind of contributor to the project. He initially came in on the as I say, there at the very start of the project. And he brought Adrian on board. And Adrian is, I think, distinctive in his approach in that he will, you know, take a source and he'll work something incredible out of it. But he's actually one of the composers on the project who does his own kind of historical research as well. So you'll find that he's headed off and he's found something that he's particularly interested in.

14:48 Speaker 7: Or he'll ask me, you know, Richard, do you have anything on shipwrecks? And I'll go, okay. I better go around and find what I can find out about shipwrecks. So he's actually very proactive in, you know, taking on board what we have to offer, but also digging out his own material. So, I mean, he's been, he's been fantastic for the project. I mean, he wrote, I think one of the cornerstone songs of the project, which is a song called golden streets, bitter tears, which I'd advise people to check out because it's just a wonderful Irish American story at the heart of that song.

15:17 Speaker 7: You know?

15:18 Speaker 3: Yeah.

15:18 Speaker 6: That was one of the ones that we played actually when we had him on, um, Yeah, My Grief on the Sea was the first album for the project, correct?

15:27 Speaker 7: That's right, yeah.

15:28 Speaker 6: Okay, and it's about sea journeys and migration from, you know, about leaving Ireland and some of the tragedies there, as the title My Grief on the Sea would imply. Why was that kind of the starting point for the project, or was it even intended to be the original starting point?

15:47 Speaker 7: It wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to be Law and Order, which is the album we're bringing out this year. But it just developed organically. Yeah.

15:56 Speaker 11: Yeah.

15:56 Speaker 7: So this is part of the reason why the new album is a double album is that we've been building it up for quite a while. But that first album, it just the songs all came together and gelled very nicely as a collection of songs about the sea. And we were very struck that Irish historians actually, even though Ireland is surrounded by the sea, the sea is central to Irish history. Actually, historians hadn't written that much about it. So from a historian's point of view, it was really kind of fascinating.

16:22 Speaker 7: And we liked the idea of looking at the sea as something that offered you something, a promise. It held out the promise of something better. And yet it also held out the peril, I suppose, of the migrant journey, the tragedy of it. So there was that lovely kind of dual aspect to the sea, the kind of promise of the sea and the peril of the sea. And then the fact that the sea doesn't care one way or the other, I also thought was quite nice, you know, a quite a striking kind of dimension to trying to understand Irish history, 19th century Irish history, the kind of just the difficulty of it, but then the sense of endurance that people had as they took that sea journey across the Atlantic.

17:03 Speaker 9: Yeah. Yeah.

17:04 Speaker 6: Um, I know the, the, the things that we played on the show when I, you know, talked with Adrian really, uh, really kind of, uh, It's just amazing. A lot of these songs, I describe them as haunting. I was very, very impressed with what I was hearing. It really kind of puts you into the moment. I'm not even sure quite how to describe it the right way, which I guess in a way is a good thing because... You know, it shows that the music really moved me in a way that's hard to even put into words. I'm also curious, when you bring a story to these artists, are you ever surprised at what comes back?

17:48 Speaker 6: Is it ever something that's very different than what you had in mind, or maybe it even sort of not changes the story, but maybe what they come up with kind of maybe affects the interpretation of the story, at least that you had in mind for it? Are you ever surprised?

18:08 Speaker 7: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's always a great kind of moment when I get to hear the finished song and hear how it's developed. I mean, I guess the title track from the new album is a very good example of It's called From the Tombs and it's a kind of continuation of the story from Old Oak Road, which you played at the beginning. And Old Oak Road is, as you say, very haunting. I think fits the source extremely well. It kind of captures that story, the sea journey. But for this song, the kind of sequel song, continuing the story when she's in prison, the writer, Mike Small, took a really different approach, which really kind of took me aback because he wrote a pop song, really.

18:49 Speaker 7: And it's kind of, for me it was sort of, Oh, that's really, really interesting. It never occurred to me to, to write a pop song about a woman in prison in New York in 1882. Um, but I thought it worked really well. I mean, and then there's a great collection of people on there like, um, Bernard Butler from Suede and Virgil Oller from the Cranberries and June Miles Kingston from the Communards and Marcus Holdaway from the High Llamas. So they all bring this different textures and different dimensions to the song.

19:18 Speaker 7: It was, for me, just wonderful to see it all coming together and what a brilliant job Mike did of pulling these different strands together and making me think about how we present these stories. You know, it would never, ever have occurred to me to do it like that. And so from a kind of historian's point of view, you're like, oh, yeah, you can do that and it can work. And you can tell these stories in different ways and ways that maybe, you know, in theory seem jarring or out of sync with the source, but actually work really well.

19:51 Speaker 7: So yeah, from that point of view, it's been amazing to see how people work with material.

19:55 Speaker 8: Absolutely.

19:56 Speaker 6: Yeah, we are going to play that one as well at the end of our conversation. We'll play that one too, From the Tombs, which is really good. And then the, so it's a double album and it comes out November 13th, if my notes are correct. And so bring your own hammer. It's something that obviously there's an endless source of material for this. I assume that this is a project that's just going to keep rolling on and will keep releasing more music into the future?

20:27 Speaker 7: Yeah, I hope so. I mean, the double album, we might have to take a little break after a double album. It seems a little... a little ambitious and adventurous to have a double album as your second album. I don't think that happens. That doesn't happen very often. Right. So we might take a little, as they say in Irish, sospyog after that, a short break. But yeah, there are other projects in the pipeline already. So there's quite a famous chief of police, a guy called Chief O'Neill in Chicago, and he collects an awful lot of Irish language material And when he left Ireland, he wrote an account of his life at sea as a young man.

21:07 Speaker 7: So I think we're going to return to that idea of the sea and Captain O'Neill, because he has these incredible adventures. He gets shipwrecked off the coast of Hawaii, and he describes taking the ship's monkey, which they picked up in Indonesia, and, uh, strapping it to his back and swimming to the shore with the monkey on his back. So, uh, if we can't make a song, if we can't make a song out of that one, I think we'll, we'll, we'll retire. But I think, I think there's just wonderful material out there.

21:34 Speaker 7: They're incredible stories, you know, that we want to, that we want to bring to life and let, you know, let people hear about them and know about them and, and feel something from them as well in a way that they mightn't do with a written history or a kind of, uh, a conventional history. So, uh, yeah. Uh, yeah, we'll do our best to keep going. I think would be the, would be the response to that one.

21:56 Speaker 6: Oh, fantastic. By the way, I haven't asked you the obvious question yet. Where does the name come from? Bring your own hammer.

22:04 Speaker 7: So that's in some ways I wish I knew because the, the, the name comes from Kyle Cox and he wrote to me when we were starting the project and he had a list of different names, I think potentially for an album. Um, And I wish I still had the email, which I don't have because I moved jobs. And anyway, it's a long story. But that was top of the list. And so he came up with the name. And I never, strangely enough, I never asked him why. I thought it was a great name. And I think it kind of means, you know, the Irish Margaret experience.

22:42 Speaker 7: You know, you're on your own. Bring your own hammer. Get to work. You know, it's going to be tough out there. I think that's where it comes from. But actually, I never checked with them. So there's a nice mystery to it, I suppose, at least.

22:54 Speaker 6: There is, yeah. Your theory, though, makes a lot of sense. That makes total sense. Very good. Well, Richard, I really appreciate you joining us today. I've been really looking forward to talking with you. I find the project, the whole thing is just really... quite fascinating. And like I said, in a moment, we'll play from the tombs and of course the double album coming out November 13th. So, uh, right around the corner, as we say, um, where, where's the best place for people to go online to keep up with, uh, with the project, bring your own hammer.

23:26 Speaker 7: You can visit www.byohammer.com or you can check out our band camp page where you can, you can download the material, you can order the vinyl CD and, and that's through Dimple Discs, which is the record label that puts the albums out.

23:42 Speaker 6: Absolutely. And what about people who just want to follow you, Richard McMahon, for people who want to keep up with what you're doing, or maybe someone who even wants to reach out, maybe they're interested in getting involved in the project in some way, or have a story that you should know about?

23:58 Speaker 7: Absolutely. So I'm a historian based at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, and And so if you look up the web page there, you can find my email address, which is richard.mcmahon at mic.ul.ie. So drop me a line. Yeah, I'm always interested to hear from people with interesting sources and stories or song ideas. So feel free to run them by me. Or if you just have any kind of questions about Irish history or some of the history to do with the project, I'm very happy to answer any questions that come through.

24:31 Speaker 6: Oh, fantastic. Richard McMahon, thank you so much. We're going to play that track, uh, from the tombs. Uh, so we will let you go, but, uh, we'll, I'm sure we'll do this again in the future. You know, obviously, um, as you indicated, this project is going to keep rolling on and, and again, you've got the double album coming November 13th. So we will, uh, we will certainly have you, uh, back again, but I really appreciate you joining us today. And, uh, keep up the great work. Like I said, it's a really, it's one of the most interesting, you know, I interview a lot of musicians on the show, but this is one of the most interesting projects I've ever had the pleasure of getting to, uh, to discuss with, uh, with someone.

25:03 Speaker 6: So I really appreciate you joining us today.

25:08 Speaker 7: That's wonderful, Matt. Thank you. It's lovely to hear. And it's nice. It's nice, particularly to hear from the American side. There's such an American dimension to the project. So it's, it's really nice to get the opportunity to talk to people based in America and get their feelings and responses to the record. So thanks a million for the, for the interest and for the support.

25:25 Speaker 6: Oh, you are very welcome.

25:26 Speaker 3: All right.

25:26 Speaker 6: We'll let you go. We'll talk again soon. Richard McMahon. Thank you so much. All right. Richard leaves us and we're going to play this track now that he, he discussed from the tombs. And again, the album, the double album comes out November 13th, but let's give this a spin.

26:03 Speaker 12: From the tombs on Elm Street, the light begins its daily retreat. In the bars, boys from the piers, drain their glass. With the girls from the markets On Lennon Street, she can't.

26:30 Speaker 4: Sleep A breath heavy among the.

26:32 Speaker 5: Noise of the city On Lennon Street, she can't sleep.

26:34 Speaker 2: On Lennon Street, she can't sleep On Lennon Street, she can't.

26:37 Speaker 3: Sleep On Lennon Street Thank you.

27:03 Speaker 4: Thank you.

27:32 Speaker 2: She can disappear No sun, no moon No scars.

27:39 Speaker 4: Here In the sun she recalls the.

27:46 Speaker 2: Ship The rising sweat and ocean's dew A passenger from there to here A servant sickly and queer.

27:59 Speaker 11: A passenger from there to.

28:01 Speaker 4: Here, a servant sickly and queer. A passenger from there to.

28:06 Speaker 11: Here, a servant sickly and queer.

28:07 Speaker 5: A winged girl from Ireland, bound for Blackwell's Island.

28:33 Speaker 4: She is tired and it is.

28:49 Speaker 10: Gone The warden says it won't be long A short walk to the prison car Slow steps, slow steps, slow steps.

29:29 Speaker 4: We were girls of mine, of the black line. The wayward girl from Ireland, bound for Blackwell's Island. The wayward girl from Ireland, bound for.

29:37 Speaker 6: Blackwell's There it is from the tombs. The project is Bring Your Own Hammer. And thank you again to Richard McMahon for joining us this morning. All the way from Ireland. I am of Irish descent, by the way. That's why I have such a big head. I got this big Irish melon on. You know, I look like a South Park character. That's what I always say. Irish people have big heads. I can say that because I'm Irish. But anyway, I don't know why I'm telling you that. But thank you again to Richard McMahon for joining us this morning.

30:36 Speaker 6: I was really looking forward to speaking with him, too, because the project is so interesting. And we have had a couple of the great artists who are involved in the Bring Your Own Hammer project. His explanation, too, of where the name came from totally makes sense to me. So I think his theory is correct. But he wasn't entirely sure. because the person who had come up with the name, unfortunately, passed away, apparently. I did not realize that in 2022. But I really like it. I encourage you to check it out.

31:06 Speaker 6: And it is on Bandcamp. If you just search Bring Your Own Hammer on Bandcamp, you will find it. But we go on. Welcome, everybody. Of course, this is Matt Connerton Unleashed, and we are live from the studios of WMNH 95.3 FM in glorious Manchester, New Hampshire. And you can stream the show from anywhere or almost anywhere. It might not be available in, I don't know, North Korea or something, but... If you go to mattconnertonunleashed.com, you can find all of your social media links, contact info, show archives, et cetera, et cetera.

31:37 Speaker 6: There is a searchable archive, too, on the website. So if you are looking for a specific episode or guest, you can find it that way. You can find an even deeper archive at my regular, my regular, my general website, mattconnerton.com. But please check out mattconnertonunleashed.com. I think you'll be glad that you did. And we have a call. Let's see who's online here. Hi, welcome to Matt Connerton Unleashed. Who's this? Hello?

32:11 Speaker 6: Are you the Phantom? The Phantom. The Phantom called. That used to happen a lot when we were on in the afternoons. I think the Phantom might have been our most frequent caller. Anyway, live radio, what are you going to do, right? Of course, I do want to remind you, by the way, Matt Connerton Unleashed is sponsored by Matt Connerton Hypnosis. I think I know that guy. So if you are interested, if you're curious in learning more about hypnosis, you can go to my website, mattconnerton.com. You can even schedule a free consultation.

32:45 Speaker 6: I'll tell you all about it. Let's see.

32:47 Speaker 13: All right.

32:47 Speaker 6: The Phantom is calling again. Let's see if we... Hey, finally got through.

32:51 Speaker 7: How are you doing, Matt?

32:52 Speaker 8: Good.

32:53 Speaker 6: Who is this?

32:54 Speaker 14: Ronnie.

32:55 Speaker 13: Oh, Ron.

32:55 Speaker 6: Oh, my goodness. How are you, my friend? How are you? I haven't seen you in so long, for obvious reasons.

32:59 Speaker 5: Yeah.

33:00 Speaker 6: How are you doing?

33:00 Speaker 15: Oh, I know.

33:01 Speaker 16: I'm doing good.

33:02 Speaker 13: Good to hear your voice.

33:03 Speaker 7: But I have to say, that guy's got a real mellow sound, something I.

33:07 Speaker 12: Could listen to.

33:08 Speaker 6: Oh, do you like that? Did you like that song?

33:11 Speaker 13: I did.

33:11 Speaker 17: I did.

33:12 Speaker 15: I was like, I wish I could have heard it more than once so I could have followed the words.

33:16 Speaker 13: But I just like the sound and.

33:18 Speaker 6: No, I don't know.

33:19 Speaker 1: The instruments, the voice, it was good.

33:21 Speaker 6: I might play it again later in the show, you know, because it is a three-hour show, so sometimes, you know, we repeat things later, and of course, you know, it breaks up into one-hour blocks for the weekday replays. So I might play it again later, but I'm glad you liked it. It's interesting, too, because Richard McMahon was talking about how it's such a tragic story, but then the artists involved in the song, they took a tragic story and kind of made a pop song out of it, and it's fun. I don't know.

33:48 Speaker 8: Well, anyways, it's good to hear your voice.

33:50 Speaker 2: I'm just chillaxing, and have a good day.

33:52 Speaker 6: Good weekend.

33:53 Speaker 8: All right.

33:53 Speaker 6: Thanks, Ron. Good to hear from you, my friend. Take care.

33:55 Speaker 18: Bye-bye.

33:56 Speaker 6: Bye-bye. All right, Ron. Well, that was a nice surprise. Haven't gotten to talk to Ron in a long time. Let's see. I also do want to remind you, too, before we go any further in the show, about our amazing sponsor, Xtrilly, a great rideshare company originating right here in Manchester, New Hampshire. But they are recruiting riders, of course. So if you would like to be an Xtrilly passenger, perhaps you're tired of your current rideshare companies that you've been using. We won't mention any names.

34:27 Speaker 6: You know the big two. But maybe you'd like to try something new and hopefully better. You can try Xtrilly. If you go to the website, sign up at Xtrilly.com slash ride 953. Just like I always spell Connerton for you, I will also spell Xtrilli. It is X-T-R-I-L-L-I. So if you go to X-T-R-I-L-L-I dot com slash ride 953, you can sign up. You can get the app, be a passenger, try it out. I think you'll be very happy. And, of course, every rideshare company needs drivers. So if you'd like to drive, make some money.

35:02 Speaker 6: They are pretty generous with their payouts. If you go to Xtrilly.com slash drive 953, you can sign up to drive. I will spell Xtrilly for you one more time. X-C-R-I-L-L-I dot com slash drive 953. Sign up today. And, again, thank you to Xtrilly for supporting the show and for being one of our many great sponsors here today. at WMNH 95.3 FM. So we appreciate them tremendously. I am going to play, and I'm sort of calling an audible here. We hadn't... Oh, I just got a message.

35:39 Speaker 7: Oh, you know what?

35:40 Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and play this. Our next guest has arrived. I'm going to go ahead and play this song because we referred to it in my conversation with Richard McMahon. from Bring Your Own Hammer. This song, we had featured this on the show before. It's called Golden Streets Bitter Tears from Adrian Crowley, featuring Bridget Maypower. This is also really good, but it's from that same project. So if you're curious to hear more about Bring Your Own Hammer, and again, all of the music is available on Bandcamp, and you can even get it on vinyl.

36:08 Speaker 6: But check this out. We'll give this a spin, and then we'll see where we go from there. But Golden Streets Bitter Tears, Adrian Crowley featuring Bridget Maypower. This is really good.

36:20 Speaker 8: Hurry, hurry over the waves There are riches here aplenty

36:30 Speaker 8: Truly blessed is this land And our days are heavy with honey If you saw me, you wouldn't know me For all my finery Even the ditches here glitter and shine.

37:22 Speaker 8: Long gone are my days Of desperate perdition And no more shall I suffer Devil hunger pains Here.

37:42 Speaker 11: I walk with the best of the town In my crown of glory.

37:52 Speaker 8: And long gone too are my.

37:57 Speaker 11: Misery chains.

38:03 Speaker 19: Golden streets, bitter tears. Golden streets, bitter tears. Golden streets, bitter, bitter tears.

38:44 Speaker 11: Fortune springs eternal From the Arkansas river Wild fruit hanging low Along the eerie canal.

39:04 Speaker 8: Great high windows of shining houses. Some of them even touch the sky.

39:30 Speaker 19: Golden streets, bitter tears Golden streets, bitter.

39:38 Speaker 4: Tears Golden streets, bitter.

39:43 Speaker 19: Bitter tears Golden streets, bitter tears Golden streets, bitter tears Golden streets, bitter, bitter.

40:05 Speaker 6: Tears Your next customer could be listening right now. My name is Matt Conerton, and I want to get your business heard on WMNH 95.3 FM. I'll help you to create a professional commercial and connect with listeners in the Manchester area and online. For advertising information, email me, matt at mattconnerton.com. That's matt at matt, C-O-N-N-A-R-T-O-N.com. Let's put your business on the air.

40:47 Speaker 7: WMNH.

40:48 Speaker 1: Rip the knob off.

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43:00 Speaker 2: Hey, everyone.

43:01 Speaker 20: This is Rob Azevedo, host of Granite State of Mind, and I want to tell you about Pembroke City Limits and the historic Suncook Village. PCL is an award-winning bar, restaurant, and music venue where there's live music five days a week and twice on Saturdays. Everything from blues, country, folk, funk, and a whole lot of jazz. We have 12 craft beers on tap dedicated to local brewers in the area and some of the friendliest bartenders around.

43:23 Speaker 13: Please come visit.

43:24 Speaker 20: Pembroke City Limits at 134 Main Street, the historic Sunkook Village, only six miles outside of Manchester. Open Tuesdays to Wednesdays, 4 to 10. Thursdays to Sunday, 11 to 10. Pembroke City Limits, where it's all about the music.

43:38 Speaker 17: Diz's Cafe is the place to put a smile on your face.

43:41 Speaker 6: Judy and the crew will take care of you, bring your appetite, and treat your.

43:45 Speaker 17: Taste buds right. Diz's Cafe is always a winning choice. Breakfast, lunch, or supper. Diz's Cafe. at 860 Elm Street in downtown Manchester. Dine in, take out, or make a reservation.

43:59 Speaker 6: Call 603-606-2532.

43:59 Speaker 17: Eat, drink, and be happy.

44:00 Speaker 6: Diz's Cafe.

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45:09 Speaker 6: Nana's Kitchen and Pizzeria. 15 Dartmouth Drive, Auburn, New Hampshire.

45:17 Speaker 16: Nana's Kitchen and Pizzeria.

45:29 Speaker 7: Seven times out of ten, we listen to our music at night.

45:36 Speaker 17: Thus spawned the title of this This.

45:39 Speaker 1: Hour on WMNH is sponsored by CGI Business Solutions, located at 5 Dartmouth Drive in Auburn. They serve all your.

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46:11 Speaker 6: Their phone number is 866-841-4600 or.

46:12 Speaker 1: On the web at CGIBusinessSolutions.com. Behold the harmony of airwaves as you immerse yourself in the captivating frequencies of WMNHLP. The sonic heartbeat of Manchester. Transcending through the ether at 95.3 megahertz frequency modulation. Our transmissions emanate from the zenith of 1000 Elm Street. Stranger into the heart of our creative realm at 119 Canal Street. Where innovation and sound collide. We bear the imprimatur of Manchester Public Television Service in the venerable city of Manchester, New Hampshire, USA.

46:53 Speaker 1: Enrich your auditory journey with the depth of our licensed residents. Dispatch your missives to WMNH953 at gmail.com or traverse the virtual corridors of WMNHradio.org. Engage with our sonic vibrations by communing with us through the digital channels your radio beckons. Eager to enthrall you with its mesmerizing cadence and envelop you in a symphony of boundless auditory wonder.

47:22 Speaker 11: WMNH, rip the knob off.

47:26 Speaker 6: We're back from the break. Matt Connorson Unleashed.

47:41 Speaker 14: Guitar solo On the surface where Thank you.

48:34 Speaker 9: In your knees are portable phantoms Breeding chaos within your dreams.

48:43 Speaker 14: Yet you live reality Balladrum, paradox Familiar strangers fill the.

48:50 Speaker 12: Void Nothing ever.

48:52 Speaker 14: Stops Will we ever be what we are? Astral texture on a plane Touched within the stars.

49:07 Speaker 4: Save us, we're wrong.

49:25 Speaker 14: Rub our eyes But once we find our way To.

49:46 Speaker 7: The light We'll finally see What's inside.

49:49 Speaker 4: Decay, flooding with sin Thank you for watching.

50:18 Speaker 14: Like your thoughts, the mind is a present. We're all trapped within. On the surface, we're all alive. Breaking, sinking, far on the rise. But once we find our way to the light, well, finally say what's inside.

51:16 Speaker 6: That is Fathom Farewell. The song is called The Light, and that ought to get the blood pumping. I really like that a lot. Welcome, everybody. This is Matt Connerton Unleashed, and we're live from the studios of WMNH 95.3 FM in glorious Manchester, New Hampshire. And you can stream the show from anywhere. Go to my website, mattconnerton.com, or mattconnertonunleashed.com, the new website for all of your live streaming options. You can go to both.

51:40 Speaker 7: Go to both.

51:41 Speaker 6: Check them out. But right now, joining us in studio, we have Nick Pino, someone who I've not seen in a very long time, but Nick is very active in the music industry and, of course, the owner of Last Chance Booking. And Nick, welcome back. Thank you, Matt.

51:58 Speaker 13: It's been way too long.

51:59 Speaker 6: It's been a very long time since we talked, my friend. But the reason you are here today is, of course, you are back in the game, shall we say.

52:08 Speaker 2: I am.

52:09 Speaker 23: The official return date in the first show is set for April 2nd at the Bungalow Bar and Grill right here in Manchester, actually.

52:17 Speaker 6: I still haven't been there, but everything I hear is really good. So that's going to be, what's the date again? April what?

52:24 Speaker 23: April 2nd of 2027. That's our first official show back.

52:28 Speaker 6: Okay. It gives you a lot of lead time too. Now who's going to be on the show?

52:32 Speaker 23: We're actually now booking for that. I just started as of today. This is the first announcement that LC Show's Last Chance Booking is back, actually.

52:43 Speaker 6: Okay, excellent. Now, when was the last time, because like I said, you're getting back into it. So when was the last time that you were active with this, with Last Chance Booking?

52:54 Speaker 23: The last show I did was actually way back in 2019.

52:58 Speaker 13: Jeez, wow.

52:59 Speaker 6: Do you remember what the last show was?

53:02 Speaker 23: Uh, I believe it was a split with, um, it was up at, I want to say Charlie's Hill.

53:10 Speaker 6: Okay.

53:11 Speaker 23: And I know there was a two day festival. We had a rap and hip hop night.

53:15 Speaker 3: Okay.

53:16 Speaker 13: Um, and then we also had a metal show as well.

53:20 Speaker 6: Okay. Um, and then, so, so why the, uh, I mean, did the pandemic have something to do with it? Because obviously, you know, you talk about 2019, we know what, uh, what, yeah.

53:32 Speaker 23: Around then things kind of went downhill. Um, I also moved to Florida for a little bit. Um, so I've been moving a lot around the last, few years and, uh, just getting my feet set so I could come back.

53:48 Speaker 6: And why, uh, fathom farewell. Uh, that's one of the songs that you asked us to play this morning. Um, and you're not, just to be clear, you're not in the band, right? I'm not in the band now, but it's obviously, is that a band that you've worked with or you intend to work with or.

54:00 Speaker 7: It is.

54:00 Speaker 23: I want to say they go way back to when Rocko's was still here in Manchester.

54:06 Speaker 6: Oh, I remember Rocko's vividly.

54:07 Speaker 2: Yep.

54:08 Speaker 7: Yep.

54:09 Speaker 6: With the wall of mirrors behind the stage.

54:12 Speaker 3: Yep.

54:13 Speaker 13: Yeah, it was always crazy there some nights.

54:15 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, it could be. So, I mean, why now? Like, why come back now in, well, it'll be 2027, right?

54:29 Speaker 6: What is it that got you back into the game?

54:31 Speaker 23: I feel like I'm just more back to a point in my life where I'm able to commit the time, the effort, because booking shows, let's face it, it takes a lot of time. There's a lot that goes into it, especially as a solo promoter.

54:48 Speaker 6: Now, tell me about that, because when I've interviewed you in the past, and again, wow, it's hard to believe it was so long ago, but it really was, you had other people that you were working with. At one point, you were working with Scott Perry.

54:58 Speaker 8: Yes.

54:59 Speaker 6: Did you guys, wait, was it you and Scott, too, who were doing the TSA podcast?

55:04 Speaker 23: Scott was doing that, but he did come on with me.

55:09 Speaker 6: Okay, because Scott was doing, yeah, TSA, the siren agency. Um, but that was separate from what you were doing, right?

55:15 Speaker 13: That was separate. Okay.

55:17 Speaker 6: But you guys, but I did interview you guys together at one point.

55:20 Speaker 9: Yep.

55:21 Speaker 13: Yeah. We've done a lot of work together.

55:23 Speaker 8: Yeah.

55:24 Speaker 23: Scott Perry. Um, there's also New Hampshire booking. Um, if you know, Richie Downs.

55:31 Speaker 12: Yep.

55:31 Speaker 13: Um, another familiar face.

55:34 Speaker 9: Yep.

55:34 Speaker 23: Um, and he's actually working with the bungalow here in Manchester now.

55:39 Speaker 12: Yep. Yep.

55:40 Speaker 6: Um, So you're doing this by yourself this time, right?

55:45 Speaker 13: Yes.

55:46 Speaker 6: You are last chance booking, so to speak.

55:49 Speaker 13: It's me, myself, and I, yes.

55:50 Speaker 6: Okay. And why, I mean, is that a decision that you made consciously or is it just kind of how things have worked out?

55:57 Speaker 13: It's honestly how things have worked out.

56:01 Speaker 23: Honestly, you know, I'm coming into it slow with like a couple shows. And I just find it easier to work by myself. And then if I need some help, I can bring people in.

56:12 Speaker 14: Yeah.

56:14 Speaker 6: For people who don't know what you do exactly, because obviously a lot of people in the scene, both locally and in the music industry broadly, already understand this. But for someone who doesn't know anything about how the business of music works and how the industry works, what is it that you do exactly? Because you say booking shows, but you're really the promoter, right?

56:36 Speaker 2: Yeah.

56:37 Speaker 6: I mean, in terms of being a concert promoter, what does that entail? For the layman, what does that entail?

56:41 Speaker 23: A lot of it entails reaching out, emailing different artists from around the country. Sometimes we have artists that are out on tour from across the country that'll reach out to me. And if I'm able to book the date, then I have to reach out, secure a venue, secure the date. And then go from there. As soon as we get everything official, I start booking, reaching out to the local bands here in New Hampshire and surrounding areas. And then come the day of the show, you know, after promoting and doing everything I can to get the word out, I run the show from doors to loading in the bands.

57:28 Speaker 23: Pretty much everything falls on me to make sure it runs smoothly.

57:33 Speaker 6: It may be too soon for this question, but so far, because you're just getting back in, but so far from just getting back in, is there anything you've noticed right off that's just kind of different about how this all works or is the process basically the same?

57:52 Speaker 23: Honestly, what I've noticed is that there are so many bands that I've worked with over the years that they're just not together now. So the hardest part for me is really finding those groups that are still together, that are out there playing and just getting familiar with all the new venues.

58:13 Speaker 4: Yep.

58:13 Speaker 12: Yep.

58:14 Speaker 6: Well, one of the bands, so we'll play another song because one of the bands that you sent me, was a track by Actor Observer. And it's funny because when I saw the email, I remembered Actor Observer from... So I don't think I've met any of the guys in the band.

58:33 Speaker 3: Ever.

58:34 Speaker 6: But I've been a fan of theirs from afar. Again, I've never met them. Because of you.

58:40 Speaker 2: Yes.

58:40 Speaker 6: Because I became aware of them originally because of you. Because when I interviewed you before, they were one of the bands we featured. So I was thrilled to see that they're still together. Because as you said, a lot of bands have come and gone. I was surprised.

58:52 Speaker 23: Actually, I only learned that they were together when I went to see The Used in Boston, and it just happened that night. Actor Observer was open, and I remember booking one of their first shows.

59:04 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah. So I was very happy about that, because I think these guys are a great band. I do need to get them on. Maybe you can help me with that. put me in touch with them. But let's play this track. This is called Found Wanting, and the band is called Actor Observer.

59:15 Speaker 14: When what you think you want Is kept.

59:19 Speaker 10: Locked behind a door.

59:29 Speaker 9: End up searching for a key Till you forget what it was for Till all you know is wanting That constant need for more A hunger.

59:48 Speaker 4: That can't be sated A yearning with no.

59:50 Speaker 3: Source The yearning becomes

59:51 Speaker 4: A habit From the habit pathways form Carving rivers in your conscience Being forced with every storm