Singer Songwriter Leslie Rich - Leslie Rich - News

New CD

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

This Sunday, July 25th, the Hounds Of Finn will be releasing their new CD, Songs About Men In Boats, in the Poetry Room at Kieran's Irish pub in Block E, downtown Minneapolis. We will be greeting everyone, signing CD's and doing give-aways from around 4pm and then performing the album around 6pm. It's going to be a great bit of craic and a relaxing early night. Please consider this an open invitation to join us for some great food and particularly excellent music!
We will be also schmoozing with record company types, signing our new contract with New Folk Records and mingling with some of the great Caribou people that are current champions of ours right now.

If you are not able to make it out on Sunday, then please make sure and put August 13th at 4pm in your calendar to catch us open the main stage at this year's Minnesota Irish Fair.

Back Home

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

A little Of The Ready are back at their adopted home bar this weekend, O'Donovan's. Strike the stage at 9 (Irish time... meaning 'ish') both nights. Glad to be home!

Birthday Celebrations

Mon, 31 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Thank you so much, everybody, for coming out on Saturday night and indulging me and the wide variety of music I do. I had so much fun playing with everybody - And Renatta, it was an absolute pleasure! - And getting a chance to play you some of the new tunes. For those of you that pine hearing the original acoustic stuff, you should know that I'll be performing at Peavey Plaza on June 18th before the Hopefuls... Nothing like sitting around, avoiding the evening time rush hour and listening to some great music. 5pm, June 18th, Peavey Plaza, 11th Street and Nicollet, Downtown Minneapolis - There'll be food and beverages available, too.

Charlie's

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

You know, I was talking to Mr. John Wright the other day while we were in the middle of recording for the Hounds' CD and we were discussing the fact that for the most of us, being a musician is about trying to find that balance between art and entertainment. Part of our time is about trying to show off how incredibly awesome we are as performers and writers and the rest of the time is spitting whiskey at each other and trying to make you dance! You find after a short while that the more boisterous the audience is, then the more of the whiskey spittin' there is and that is much harder work - when it comes to our "art" the hard work has already been done, now all we need is for someone to sit back and listen.

The last Hounds' show was at the new Kieran's on Block E and was definitely hard work (that paid off), so it's with a small amount of relief that this weekend is a show at Charlie's in Stillwater. Yes, I know, it might SEEM as if Stillwater is a long way away, but it's really not and the ability to be able to squeeze into thast little room and get a chance to hear us talk and communicate is such a breath of fresh air. Come up and see us. The food's good, the craic is mighty and the music is altogether triumphant!

A Quiet Cup Of Tea And A Pancake

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

You know sometimes on special holidays that's all you really want... A wee cup of tea and a nice sit down with something sweet. But actually if you're lucky you'll get to write and record a bit of music, stuff it into 86 sleeves and 100 jewel cases, perform a little on breakfast news TV, drink a loch of beer, wine and whiskey, sing along with three bar's worth of adoring fans (albeit with a little liquid encouragement in their part!), run around town laughing with the mates you love the most, put a little ready in your pocket and stumble into bed, exhausted, at the end of the day with someone adorable (and preferably curly headed!) and fall into a nice 15 hour nap! I might have just given myself a bit of a presideion there folks!...

Holy Saints!

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

A Little Of The Ready will be at their home venue, O'Donovan's, from 1pm until 4pm, dressed accordingly.

I will then be running over to St Louis Park to do a set with Hounds Of Finn at the new Irish pub over there, Cooper (Yes, it's not plural, it's just plain old Cooper) from 5pm until 8pm.

We'll be firing up the jet again and racing downtown to the brand new Kieran's to close out an awesome day of music from 9pm until bar close. The new address for Kieran's is 601 1st avenue in Block E on the site of the former Bellanotte restaurant.

I'm looking forward to dressing up and rocking out (er... so to speak!) and getting to meet you all and wish you all the luck for 2010!

This was written in the blog, but I put it here too, in case you missed it...

So, I thought it would be beneficial to explain what's happening this St Patrick's Day, so you can plan where you want to go, and what music you want to hear. Rumor has it that A Little Of The Ready might be starting the day off down at the Best Buy headquarters for a mid-morning showcase to allow the Irish community in the BB HQ to rightly celebrate. This is all being coordinated by a Scotchman, if that makes any sense! If this comes to fruition I will let you all know the time and place, so that those of you that are able to visit, can.A Little Of The Ready will be at their home venue, O'Donovan's, from 1pm until 4pm, dressed accordingly.I will then be running over to St Louis Park to do a set with Hounds Of Finn at the new Irish pub over there, Cooper (Yes, it's not plural, it's just plain old Cooper) from 5pm until 8pm.We'll be firing up the jet again and racing downtown to the brand new Kieran's to close out an awesome day of music from 9pm until bar close. The new address for Kieran's is 601 1st avenue in Block E on the site of the former Bellanotte restaurant.I'm looking forward to dressing up and rocking out (er... so to speak!) and getting to meet you all and wish you all the luck for 2010!

TwennyTen

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Happy New Year everybody - Thank you so much for coming out and supporting me and the Hounds and the Ready last year. I picked up a pretty sweet axe from Santa and have some plans cooking for some amazing music this year.

I hope you get everything you wish for this coming year and decade - It's like a whole new set of rules this time every year. It's a wide open, huge big blank page - so, congratulations in advance for chasing down those dreams!
Please come up and say hi at the next show you make it out to.
I'm expecting new recordings all around this year, so feel free to badger me for those, too.

Don't be too disappointed that we don't have robot maids, personal jet packs, or holiday condo's on the moon - I promise it'll be this decade though!

Leslie

Breakfast In Belfast

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

So, I'm tearing my hair out at 4:46pm on the final Monday before Irish Fair, with the CD mix and master just not working out right, and my deadline for Copycats Media is 5pm. For the fourth time the vocals put the levels over the top in one or two places and my head is full up and I have no idea what to do... No. I'm not going to share with you any secrets of the mastering process, of which I am pretty mediocre, I just messed with it a little more, stared it in the eye and said, sorry... Done! Turns out it wasn't a bad decision, with only one or two loud vocal parts in Foggy Dew.
The thing that mattered most, I think, about this whole process is that we did it ourselves. We bought a Presonus Firestudio and Michelle taught herself by fire how to work it and find her way around Logic and between us we managed to stumble, roll and hop to what we think is a win. We did all of the artwork ourselves, redesigned the Hounds website and threw together a few pieces of merch. You know, you put your heart and your soul in, because it's something you love and don't trust with anyone else, and if that means that we might only reap average rewards, we know that heart and soul doesn't cost the same as owing it to a record, or management company... Plus you know, and I know, that what you put in, you get back out again... So, here's to global dominance! Actually it is pretty good, so you should pick up a copy at www.houndsoffinn.com

Rare Sighting

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

There was a rare and unusual sighting of the great, ostrich-like bird Rocketus Soulum Choirus up around the Dubliner area at University and Vandalia in Saint Paul this past Friday. It seems that its migratory patterns should guarantee regular sightings for the next two Wednesdays. Due to its nocturn habits the best time to catch a glimse of it will be between 9:30pm and 1:30am.
The Rocketus' song is quite unique, being somewhere between country and rock usually with a lo-fi, bedroom, acoustic, singer/songwriter quality, but recently it's had attributes of a slacker, Irish pub song nature. Normally quite pleasing to the ear, this new sound has an added attraction that needs to be heard for a better understanding. The Dubliner's less than city-priced beverages have also been known to add an extra quality.
Rocetus is not a shy bird, so no visitor limit has been placed on the local ornithologist community. A great opportunity to see this rare and glorious creature.