Artist description Spade McQuade thrive on unrehearsed, no rule sessions where various musicians are invited to jam.

Music Style Irish, Celtic

Musical Influences Energy Orchard, Bap Kennedy, Pogues, Shane MacGowan

Artist History McQuade's career spans more than two decades, during which he recorded albums with Energy Orchard on MCA Records and Transatlantic Records and toured the U.S. and Europe with Steve Earle, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker. A native of Ireland, McQuade also toured solo and with Celtic Soul on the east coast.

Group Members Spade McQuade (Guitar), Nick Watson (Drums), Trevor Tanner (Bass), Jeff Pierson (Mandolin), Brian GoodPaster (Fiddle), Brian Homan (Pedal Steel), Jana Light (Backup Vocals), Barry Rapp (Keyboards), Mark Smith (Whistles, Bodhran), George marks (Guitars), Phil Swindle (Dobro)

Instruments Guitars, Fiddle, Drums, Bass, Mandolin, Pedal Steel, Keuboards, Whistles, Bodhran, Dobro

Albums Spade McQuade & The Allstars

Press Reviews Spade McQuade puts together label run by musicians By Mark Faulkner Shorelines correspondent Spade McQuade's new live CD, Spade McQuade and the Allstars, is a when-life-hands-you-lemons, make-a-lemonade-stand story. McQuade, musician Mark Smith and sound engineer George Marks were working on an album of Irish tunes. Smith suggested a live CD to capitalize on McQuade's well-known stage show. They set a date of Feb. 6 at the Fly's Tie Irish Pub in Atlantic Beach, called in several musicians to play and rowdy friends to sing along, and recorded the show. Then the computer program they used destroyed the entire recording. McQuade, Smith and Marks rescheduled the date. In addition to upgrading their computer engineering equipment, they put together a new label to market the CD and work with other musicians. "Basically, the company is run by musicians, trying to help up-and-coming musicians," McQuade said. "That's our bottom line, to help find some new talents, help them out some way with a live CD and try and get a bigger label to take them on." The label, First Street Live, celebrates McQuade's CD release at the Fly's Tie Friday and Saturday. McQuade said the album incorporates traditional Irish songs, his own Irish-flavored modern rock songs and some more country and bluegrass tunes as well. McQuade and his partners plan on recording more CDs at the Fly's Tie. They like the room's acoustics and have already installed a better PA system. Plans also include an open audition night at Fly's Tie for bands or songwriters. McQuade likened it to the television show American Idol, except the focus will be on singer/songwriters rather than pop singers. Scathing criticism like Idol judge Simon Cowell delivers is welcome. "I'm sure there's a few Simons at the beach," McQuade said. "People who write their own music are more important to us. We're not looking for any pretty young girls or toy boys, we're just looking for good music. It helps if they're pretty, though." If you go Spade McQuade performs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturdayat the Fly's Tie Irish Pub, 177 E. Sailfish Drive in Atlantic Beach in honor of the release of his new CD, Spade McQuade and the Allstars. For more information, call 246-4293 or on the Internet, log on to www.firststreetlive.com. The new record label isn't limiting its focus to the Fly's Tie, either. McQuade hopes to enlist other nightclubs that host original music nights, too. "It's a local thing and we want to get local people involved," McQuade said. "There is a music community here, but it doesn't seem to have a focus. We're just going to approach people to see if we can get Jacksonville on the map, or the Beaches anyway." Smith had been thinking about a new label for some time. Along with McQuade and Marks, Smith assembled a label team to cover other details. Jason Decker is the chief technical engineer, Jan Decker builds Web sites for the new bands and Karine Bliffen handles marketing and promotions. Smith plans on using the new label to help traditional Irish musicians restore the Florida circuit, too. This includes bringing the musicians in from Ireland, setting up tours from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale, then to Tampa and back north again. "The whole circuit has dwindled because either the actually Irish guys got too old or they went through Orlando and never left," Smith said. "They're all working for Disney now." It's a sizable investment and some may question why Smith is setting up such a venture in Jacksonville. He believes the talent in the city merits it. "There are so many bands that are going to be discovered," Smith said. "Somebody is going to find them sometime, it's just a matter of who's going to find them first. So we thought, 'Why not let that be us?' ... We can prepare them for what's coming. They might get their own label started, or they may just be a little more savvy when someone comes along and says, 'I'll make you famous.'" Shorelines, Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Location Jacksonville, FL - USA

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