Album Notes

"A masterpiece! Kilroy Was Here is a distant cousin of Astral Weeks, with its swirling orchestration that elevates its singer and coaxes him to a new creative peak. This is Black 47 music for grown ups, something to listen to on a sunday morning after the boys in the band rock your world on a Saturday night.
" The Irish Voice

"Larry Kirwan's new release is sweepingly historical and quirkily personal by turns, featuring his distinctive, edgy vocals,a wide stylistic and insrumental palette, and a dizzying torrent of words and images. Kirwan's unique perspectives and use of language and the unusual arrangements make for a fascinating, almost cinematic listening experience." Sing Out!

"A superb new solo album. The playwright-composer's storytelling tends to be more intimate and inward with such vivid and tightly focused portraits as "Molly," Fatima," "Girl in the Rain," and the autobiographical "Life's Like That, Isn't It?" Philadeplpha Inquirer

Larry Kirwan is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Black 47. The band was founded in late 1989 in New York City. Previous to that Kirwan was in a number of bands on the Lower East Side, including Turner & Kirwan of Wexford, Major Thinkers, Chill Faction, Heretix and Copernicus. He is also a playwright with a published collection of five works, entitled Mad Angels. Since then he has written another four plays and musicals including his latest drama, The Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own.

He is also a novelist and his book about an alternate history of the Beatles, Liverpool Fantasy, published in 2003 on Thunder's Mouth Press/Avalon, continues to sell. It is being translated and will be published in Japan in 2004 by Fuso Publishing. Kilroy Was Here" is a musical and lyrical exploration of his roots back in the town of Wexford, Ireland. It is a dense moody orchestrated album influenced by Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, Myles Davis' Sketches of Spain and various Nick Drake albums and yet has its own particular feel. For further information about Larry Kirwan and his writings go to www.black47.com or, even better, catch the Black 47 live.