CHAPTER TWO:
"We'd been wanting to change the name of the band because we couldn't get booked down South! To us it was just a Celtic-sounding name, but people down there were like, 'We'd like to hire you but we don't know who-all might show up......!' So this was the perfect excuse to change it. We went through dozens of names- it's hard to come up with a decent band name!- and finally settled on Lenahan, mostly because we figured nobody else was likely to be using it.
"So, we booked a couple of bar gigs out in Jersey to get things rolling. I think the name of the bar was Lenahan's actually, so it seemed like, fate!"
"So, we booked a couple of bar gigs out in Jersey to get things rolling. I think the name of the bar was Lenahan's actually, so it seemed like, fate!"
"That was an interesting summer. We played the
Bronx Botanical Gardens again, where we were attacked by giant insects............. |
"And went out to the Cleveland Irish Festival where Rich and Clarence decided to go swimming in the hotel pool at one in the morning and Clarence dislocated his shoulder."
|
"The first really big gig we played as a four-piece was the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas............Rich's uncle had a car lot on Rockaway Boulevard and he came up with this Dodge van for us, a couple of days before we were supposed to leave. We'd been
renting vans, because nobody wants to own a car in New York, but this was pretty nice, and the price was right. We named it the LENAVAN and piled in..............
"The tour STARTED in Dallas. New York to Texas in one straight shot. We actually got within two hours of Dallas before we broke down! Middle of nowhere, middle of the night, but we got fixed up the next day and made it all right." (The Lenavan, with the help of one rebuilt engine along the way, held up for eight more years of heavy touring.)
renting vans, because nobody wants to own a car in New York, but this was pretty nice, and the price was right. We named it the LENAVAN and piled in..............
"The tour STARTED in Dallas. New York to Texas in one straight shot. We actually got within two hours of Dallas before we broke down! Middle of nowhere, middle of the night, but we got fixed up the next day and made it all right." (The Lenavan, with the help of one rebuilt engine along the way, held up for eight more years of heavy touring.)

Lenahan always had a good time in Texas, but this gig was special for Tom.
"After our show the first day, Tommy Makem's manager came up to me and said,
'Tommy wanted me to tell you that he likes what you're doing, he thinks you're doing a great job'.
"I'd been listening to Tommy and the Clancy Brothers since I was a little kid, my Dad used to play them all the time. Hearing that from Tommy.............I can't tell you what it meant to me. I could've quit right there, never played another note and I'd be satisfied.
"Well, almost."