Suds & songs

Stefanie Frith

Gently holding a guitar in his hands, his melodic voice drifting

through the courtyard at Muldoon’s Dublin Pub in Newport Beach, Irish

singer-songwriter Gerry O’Beirne kept his eyes closed during each song,

opening them only to hear the excited applause that exploded after each

tune.

On Sunday afternoon, O’Beirne performed to a full courtyard as part of

the pub’s efforts to educate the public about Irish artists, as well as

to bring more cultural events to Newport Beach, said Richard Kaplan, the

pub’s special events director.

The efforts include inducting Irish artists in the pub’s Guinness Wall

of Fame, which began in March 1999. On Sunday, O’Beirne, 47, joined the

likes of Golden Globe winner Tom Beringer, the Young Dubliners and folk

legend John Stewart on the 30-brick wall.

“I’ve been tracking Gerry for a while now, his contributions, his

lyrics, and I lobbied very hard to get him here,” Kaplan said as he

watched O’Beirne set up for the show.

“He pulls octaves out of his instruments that you didn’t know even

existed. He really is legendary.”

Playing both the six- and 12-string guitars, O’Beirne has performed at

the White House, opened for the Grateful Dead and toured the world with

artists such as the Waterboys, Patrick Street, Midnight Well and Sharon

Shannon.

He has produced several albums and his first solo album, “Half Moon

Bay,” recently was chosen as one of the 12 best independent releases of

the year by Performing Songwriter magazine.

Having performed only once in Orange County with his former band Train

to Sligo in the 1980s, O’Beirne said it was a nice change to be back in a

small, friendly venue like Muldoon’s.

“It is a thrill to be in a giant venue, but I do like small gigs like

this because you can walk about and talk to people and they can come up

and talk to you,” he said before starting his sound checks.

“It’s so friendly; people have already come up to me. It’s good to be

out on a Sunday afternoon and playing music.”

Pub regulars Tom and Katy Tackes of Corona del Mar said they had never

heard O’Beirne perform until Sunday but that it’s hard to go wrong with

one of Muldoon’s weekly Irish events.

“Every time we have come, we have never been disappointed,” Katy

Tackes said. “It’s such a great venue. It’s intimate, you are close to

the artist and he [O’Beirne] sounds great. We just have to keep coming

back.”

O’Beirne said he will play music any time and anywhere -- and does. He

has lived in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and over the next few months he

will perform in Australia, New Zealand and Holland.

Although his home is in Dublin, O’Beirne said he is on the road most

of the year, which allows him to get inspiration for different sorts of

songs.

O’Beirne said he still doesn’t know how to describe his music, but

critics say it is a combination of Latin, rock and, of course,

traditional Irish folk songs.

“I am hopeless, but I reckon that people say it’s all my own and it’s

just whatever comes out,” he said, a thoughtful look in his blue eyes.

“One day, I really must get a satisfactory description of my music.”