Featured Musician Interview: The Whiskey Boys

Lace9: I'm interviewing David Delaney and Mark Kilianski of The Whiskey Boys, an Irish/Bluegrass/Rock/Jazz group. Welcome.

David: Thanks

Lace9: How long have you been in the music business?

David: Mark and I have been making our living at music for 2 years now. The band was jamming and performing another 2 years before that, however!

Lace9: What Genre is your music?

Mark: We play Folk music with a modern twist

Lace9: Describe your musical style and inspirations.

David Delaney

David: The Whiskey Boys are a Fiddle, a Guitar, and two voices, primarily. I play some banjo now, and if it's got frets Mark can play a solo on it that will change your life! But the original two instruments are still our core sound. We love traditional music (Irish, Old Time, Bluegrass, you name it) and folk songs, anything that sounds old or timeless. At the same time we also enjoy music written a little more recently; jazz, rock, I have a real fondness for cheesy pop like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and 90's Boy bands... The pull of both of these two fairly contradictory batches of music is at the heart of what we play. Our old covers have arrangements, chord choices and syncopations that would have dreadfully confused the ears of people living in the time the music was written and, likewise, when we write a song or play a modern cover our final product almost always sounds like it was written a long time ago.

Lace9: Have you released an album? If so, provide some details.

Mark Kiliansky

Mark: The Whiskey Boys have one published album, Mary Come to Boston available on Amazon and iTunes, and one secret album. We're in the middle of recording our second non-secret album, "Crescent Moon." Metronome Magazine in Boston recently reviewed "Mary Come to Boston." Here's what they had to say!

"Whiskey Boys David Delaney and Mark Killianski bring the spirit of Celtic folk music to the forefront on their debut CD, Mary Come To Boston. Delaney is a fine fiddler in the Irish tradition as Killianski adds percussive and rhythmic accompaniment with his acoustic guitar to this fine collection of nine originals and two covers. The duo displays their considerable musical prowess and understanding of the Celtic idiom on the songs "Madeline The Quaker," "Carolina Blue" (written by Margaret Mackay & Jeff Butcher), and "The Sad Reel." Next time your in the city on a beautiful summer day and you hear the sounds of a fiddle and guitar piercing the air, go and check it out. Chances are, it will be The Whiskey Boys pouring listeners a finely concocted elixir of Celtic lore. Good stuff! [D.S.]"

Lace9: Where can we get your music?

David: You can find it on CD Baby, Amazon.com or in the iTunes music store. Or, even better, at one of our shows!

Lace9: Do you have any upcoming gigs? If so, where?

David: Checking our website frequently is the best way to keep updated about upcoming shows or you can "like" us on Whiskey Boys on Facebook as we frequently post about them!

Lace9: Which of your songs is your favorite?

Mark: One of our favorites is "Block Island" a tune written by Dave. Check it out under Free Music on our website!

Lace9: That's a great point, you guys have something like 30 free podcasts of your music on your site for people to listen to, I think that's great.

Lace9: In your own words, why should people check out your music?

David: If you like Folk music, Irish Music, Bluegrass Music, Old Time Music or really anything acoustically oriented, I'm very confident you'd be into our music. So if that's the case check it out!

Lace9: Thanks to The Whiskey Boys for doing this interview.

Featured Artist Interview: Dela Cruz

A New Way

Lace9: So first things first... Where do you hail from and where are you located now?

Dela Cruz: I was born in Baja, Mexico. Lived there for 10 years, then moved to Puerto Rico for 11 years, then Florida for 10 years, and in July of 2011, I moved to San Francisco.

Lace9: Did you study art academically, if so where? If not how long would you say art has been a serious passion for you? Tell us a little about your early days as an artist.

Dela Cruz: I taught myself how to paint. I have been "professionally" painting for 2 and a half years. I've been drawing since I was little, usually with pencil and pens. I made my first painting at age 16 with my mom's ceramic paints. She thought it was a good painting.

The Choice

Lace9: What medium (graphic design on computer/paint/pencil, etc...) do you work in?

Dela Cruz: Lately I've been only painting with acrylics, but I'm feeling the itch to go back to oil.

Lace9: For those seeing your work for the first time, how would you introduce your art? What genre does it generally fall into? Are there any overarching themes that you would say are prevalent?

Dela Cruz: Vibrant. Bold. Beautiful.
I guess it falls in the surreal genre, or Pop Art. I'm not sure.
Overarching themes in the paintings are of our connection with the world, nature, the cosmos, and the human condition.

Migration

Lace9: What artist or art are you most inspired by? Where else do you get your ideas from?

Dela Cruz: Dali, Alex Grey, Mucha, Scott Scheidly, too many.
I love art that's well made, that you can feel the artist devoted his life to perfect his craft. That is the path I'm following. Most ideas come from recent worldwide events. The problems and issues we are facing to save this planet. Most of the recent pieces have a lot of wildlife in them, as well as galaxies and destruction. Also, sleepless nights can make you very creative too.

Lace9: What single piece of art equipment can you not do without? (pen, pencil, charcoal, etc), and why?

Dela Cruz: My 7050 Script brush. It does a lot! line work, detail, signatures, I love it.

Earth Perspective 2

Lace9: Where can people find/buy your art?

Dela Cruz: You can view my work at DelaCanvas or on Facebook. Message me if interested in any piece that is available. Most prices are listed.

Almost There

Lace9: Which of your works is your personal favorite? And why? What can you tell us about it?

Dela Cruz: One of my favorites is the piece "Almost There". It was completely drawn and painted from imagination, except for the manekin that I used. I just love how it came out, I love the dimension in it, I love the message of us painting a picture within a picture. And the title is right on.

Lace9: If you had to pick out one thing - What difficulty have you overcome as an artist & what would you say to other artists going through similar?

Dela Cruz: Being able to support myself with art. It took me a while, but I'm learning so much and progressing in skill because I have not stopped painting for the past 2 years.
The advice I would give to other artists would be to paint or do whatever you LOVE everyday. To recognize you and I will make a ton of mistakes. But embrace the mistakes and accidents. And to teach yourself to love the craft that is ART. Be relentless.

Lace9: Is there anything else you would like people to know about you?

Dela Cruz: I'll go into detail about where some of the ideas come from. At times when I can't sleep and I'm laying down in bed, i'll get visuals when I close my eyes. The visuals are perfect too, like master abstract works. I try to tap into that lake of creativity every night.