About The GroupWe've been a loose affiliation of revolving musicians in the Irish music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area since the late 80's without much to show for it except the honesty of the music, a few hundred ridiculous stories and deep friendships that tether me to my roots.
About The NameIn Ireland it is common still to burn "turf" or dried sod in homes and pubs where people might gather to tell stories and play a bit of music. There is an old expression, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." In a good Irish story some amount of exaggeration is just the art form in action. They might even say "we'll sit around and tell lies". It doesn't mean deceit. It means vivid entertaining storytelling. This project hopes to reflect that spirit of storytelling.
About The MESSAGEThe Turf Fire Liars are themselves a collection of Irish and Scottish Immigrants as well as descendants of Irish immigrants. Hollywood, of course, has done a transformative job of making the Irish experience in America seem like the quintessential success story. Romanticized versions of Irish charm, wit and determination exist from John Wayne’s The Quiet Man to the Bruce Willis’ character John McClane, in Die Hard. All these types of images would lead us to believe the Irish and Irish Americans are a beloved group among the melting pot of America. Yet we know it wasn’t always this way. The political cartoons of the late 1800s show that most native born Americans of that time feared and loathed the alien invasion of illiterate, poverty-stricken, catholic, Irish peasants. In a time well before anti-immigration laws, political parties like the “Know-Nothings” were formed to try and stop the flow of humanity from Ireland’s desperate shores. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Because this is the story of America, told over and over again as the descendants of previous immigrant groups deny new immigrants a chance at the same opportunity. Today, to see Americans with Irish surnames lend their voices to staunch anti-immigration rhetoric shows how quickly some of us have forgotten from where we came. This album is a tribute to that journey and a reminder that we all have an immigration story.
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Related CHARITY music Projects
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Jake T & The Jamboree is a cleverly kitchy children’s musical project that donates the money raised by sales to charities, currently working to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Or give directly at https://www.stjude.org/ 
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