Ken McGuire

Tag: kilkennymusic.com

  • Work Continues on KilkennyMusic.com

    Work Continues on KilkennyMusic.com

    KilkennyMusic.com

    Work continues on KilkennyMusic.com. Having resurrected the site at the end of January after about 18 months of relative inactivity, this weekend replaced the straight up blog style design used to get things back on track with a more interactive magazine style for the homepage. The Mashable-inspired MashMenu is a handy plugin to use for navigation as well.

    With the content side of things returning, it was back to catching gigs on camera at the weekend with KRB, Riain, Evan Prendergast and Feibhar Baldwin-Wall all on stage at Billy Byrne’s. Photos first, then video.

    Similarly, from March, the plan is to return to podcasting.

    Funnily enough, it was around March time each year over the past 4-5 years that the interest in podcasting for me swells up. First with the Playlist Mix, then with trying Indie Switch for a month or two, followed up by last years testing of the waters with the Stereo Mixtape, the format for which will likely be borrowed for the latest round of KilkennyMusic.com podcasts.

    The on-air experience gained having presented for KCLR for the past two years should hopefully lend itself both to the lead podcast and similarly with the return of the One Take Sessions as an on-air offering.

    Let’s see how it goes…

  • KRB at Billy Byrne’s

    KRB at Billy Byrne's

    KRB at Billy Byrne’s earlier tonight. Get more over here.

  • Revisiting KilkennyMusic.com

    Revisiting KilkennyMusic.com

    Mugger Dave, Performing at KilkennyMusic.com's One Take Sessions a few years ago
    Mugger Dave, Performing at KilkennyMusic.com’s One Take Sessions a few years agokilke

    I’ve got unfinished business with kilkennymusic.com. As an online resource, it was borne out of a passion for music and local music in particular. Kicking things off in 2005, I built the platform to share and promote activities of bands on the ground in Kilkenny. In a pre-Facebook era it was the go-to place for music information, videos, gigs, photos, MP3s and had a bustling forum with membership in four figures.

    Expanding from a one man operation to a four man operation, we produced countless videos, podcasts, picked up award nominations, funding, ran countless weekend shows, toured with bands, booked venues, spent way too much on printing, pints and petrol money but had huge craic along the way.

    For me, the foot came off the pedal in 2011/12 as the gigs began to slow down and there wasn’t any activity at all in 2013. Local music listings and writings shifted out to the Kilkenny Events Guide, which I kicked off in 2011 and still continues today with new content partners on board for 2014 to help with the workload.

    In the time since things slowed down, I’ve started in radio, reconnecting with acts we had put on the stage and reconnecting with things on the ground in terms of music. Plus, after a break that mirrors that of the One Take Sessions, I’m back playing music myself and expect to be gigging somewhat this year.

    I’ve felt over the past two years or so that I could be doing the site much more the justice that it deserves, that unfinished business feeling eating away at me. So, I’m dusting things off, rebuilding from the ground up, clean slate and going for broke in 2014.

    Here’s to it paying off and returning to its somewhat former glory.

    Visit KilkennyMusic.com, find KilkennyMusic.com on Facebook or follow @kilkennymusic on Twitter.

  • Breaking 100 Podcasts

    Ken McGuire's home podcasting setup

    I started podcasting on a monthly basis back in November 2006 (though it could have been every three weeks to coincide with the One Take Sessions).

    The monthly turned tri-weekly, turned fortnightly, back to tri-weekly and now weekly. That’s just with KilkennyMusic.com who during the week (yesterday in fact) managed to deliver the 61st Sound System Podcast. Admittedly, if we kept the same schedule throughout the year and didn’t take a summer break we’d be a lot closer to the one hundred mark for that particular podcast.

    In March 2007 I started the Playlist Mix, abandoning the podcast after three shows. PodCamp Ireland in Kilkenny (September 2007) gave me the much needed inspiration to set out a regular podcast schedule for that show, and as of this Tuesday night gone (again, incorporating a summer break due to a hectic three-show schedule with The Devious Theatre Company) the Playlist Mix has reached show number 39.

    Put the two together – you get 100 podcasts, which considering the average lengths of the podcasts (45 minutes and 30 minutes respectively) you’re looking at over 65 hours of podcast content, chat and music.

    Then I got involved in the weekly PodCamp Ireland podcasts as well, but that’s another story altogether.

    There’s an awful lot of learning in producing 100 podcasts, something I’m putting into the production of a further two podcasts (one monthly show due to start in November) and something that has also opened the doors to professional work through podcasting. Both podcasts have settled into a nice groove and with the Sound System Podcast in particular (which went from a four-host show to a two-host show) I’m delighted that it’s taken on a life of it’s own, something these two gents know all to well about in recent weeks.

    So for this week, why not check out the 61st Sound System Podcast (download) or the 39th Playlist Mix (download) and let me know what you think.

  • Playlist Mix 37 Goes Live

    Pato Banton

    Recording in a studio with no lights is no fun. Just like stubbing your toe is no fun. When you do the two together and podcast in the dark, it’s bound to become a little interesting.

    As I wait on this week’s KilkennyMusic.com podcast to upload I point you in the direction of the 37th Playlist Mix podcast featuring this 90s reggae-loving gem (above), Pato Banton.

    The 37th podcast brings you another 30 minutes or so of podsafe and independent music, six acts, six tracks and some background in between. It arrived online later than expected, due to unforeseen technical difficulties with lights, a crashing browser and ultimately electricity but it’s there for all to grab now.

    You can download here (about 28mb) or stream below. You can also check out PlaylistMix.com for the podcast archives, see past shows and subscribe via the feed (opens iTunes) to find out what I’ve been listening to during the week and just what’s been hitting my inbox.

    Playlist Mix 37
    [audio:http://www.playlistmix.com/podpress_trac/web/87/0/podcast037.mp3]

  • Shortlisted At Irish Web Awards


    My morning-after coffee at the 2008 Irish Blog Awards earlier this year

    Two of my babies (can I call them that if I’m *that* close to them?) have been shortlisted at the 2008 Irish Web Awards.

    While I was secretly delighted to see KilkennyMusic.com and the Playlist Mix Podcast (new podcast later this morning) make the longlist last week, there was not one but two high fives given yesterday when I discovered that KKM and PLM have made the shortlist for Best Music site and Best Podcast respectively.

    Needless to say I’m all surprised and happy and I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone again in Dublin on October 11th. I’m should be dragging the blog awards ninja with me again to represent Kilkenny Music on the night but can’t wait for the show.

    Congratulations too to all the individuals and companies who also find themselves on the shortlist. Registration for the awards, taking place in the is currently open with numbers already well in three figures

  • Podcasting Takes Time, But They’re Coming Back

    As I mentioned yesterday, I’m currently ‘Smitten‘. In a pure theatrical sense that is. Since the third week of May this year for three nights a week or more, plus weekends (taken up with theatre and gigs) I’ve been spending my nights at a variety of rehearsal venues, nights I had previously dedicated to other things I thoroughly enjoy such as the Sound System Podcast and the Playlist Mix.

    Now that we’ve hit show week on our second of three productions for the year I can look forward to having my evenings come back and getting into the podcasting groove again.

    There’s a perk in this for me as for the third production, I’m looking at producing a radio play. We had been speaking to one radio station to look at carrying the play in October but whether the show goes across the airwaves or not, we’re going to be releasing it as part of a short series of podcasts from the theatre company, a nice way for us (as the theatre company) to embrace podcasting and reach a new audience.

    What I’m also looking forward to is returning to the Playlist Mix (Tuesday nights) and the Sound System Podcast with KilkennyMusic.com (Wednesday nights). Producing podcasts, the way we’ve gotten into producing them, can take anywhere up to 3 hours if you allow a half hour for pre-production and notes.

    While the Playlist Mix will return with it’s regular and healthy dose of podsafe music, the Sound System Podcast will be showcasing highlights from gigs since May this year, for the first few shows with five weeks worth of live music to offer (20 live tracks) though an overall format change has not yet been decided by myself and co-host Ross Costigan.

    Thanks to my theatrical commitments and weekend engagements, three hours is a lot to ask when you’re in “show mode”. So from the first week of September, both podcasts (which collectively have almost reached the 90-mark in the last year) will be returning to an iTunes store near you.