Band Cahill

Retired Philly Fire Fighter's "Relevant Album" receives critical acclaim. - Pen's Eye View Magazine

This interview is guaranteed to make you laugh and maybe even make you cry!
- Rockwired.com

This interview is guaranteed to make you laugh and maybe even make you cry!
- Rockwired.com

A lot of folks told George Cahill he was crazy when the successful real estate agent and long retired Philly firefighter told them he was--after many years of deferring his dream--writing and recording songs and jamming in the studio of his old friend and fellow musician Dan Michael. But the multi-talented singer and rhythm guitarist didn’t care because even deep into middle age, the world around him was going crazy and he had lot to say. The result of his wild creative run are the infectious, hard hitting full length albums Hero and Relevant, each a distinctive, witty and rocking labor of love that takes a no holds barred approach to the art of observational songwriting.

Many musicians who dust off their axes and get back in the groove after a few decades away do it simply because it’s fun and they have the time and resources they lacked earlier. Home audio technology certainly made a difference. But for Cahill, writing and recording the ten tracks of Hero and recording the six originals and three covers (including “This Land Is Your Land” and Bob Seger’s “Still The Same”) on Relevant literally saved his life.

The experience of watching his daughter (successfully) battle breast cancer had taken its emotional toll and left him devastated and depressed for over a year. Running into Dan Michael proved to be a godsend. Michael asked Cahill if he wanted to contribute a track to a compilation Christmas CD he was making. Finding the process therapeutic, the two began working together in Michael’s studio and emerged with a project that became Cahill’s debut EP, appropriately titled The Dark Christmas.

The high energy “band of brothers” that Cahill put together to take the songs on Hero and Relevant to the next level has quickly evolved into The George Cahill Band—a group that has gained a loyal, growing fan base with its numerous live gigs since late 2011. In Pennsylvania, they’ve performed at The Nail in Bryn Mawr, Yards Brewery in Philly and Chaplin’s Music Café in Spring City. They’ve also played at the Cape May Singer-Songwriter Festival in New Jersey and were recently booked for the upcoming Nikstock Festival in Upstate New York.

This summer, they will be playing a Beer Garden benefit in Philadelphia for a park named after a firefighter Cahill knew who was killed in the line of duty, a friend of the singer’s who inspired the heartfelt title track to Hero. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Cahill have agreed to a fundraising partnership whereby the singer will make a donation to the Foundation on each sale of the song “Hero.” The George Cahill band is also slowly building a YouTube following for its live videos as well. The most popular of these thus far is the playful tribute to self-loathing, “Sick of Myself.”

Cahill brings a rich variety of musical influences and life experiences to his songwriting and recording. He cites his musical heroes as country/folk singer/songwriter John Prine, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and The Rolling Stones circa 1968, when they released the roots rock influenced Beggars Banquet. “I love the humor Prine brought to his songs and the gritty acoustic feel of that Stones album,” says Cahill. “That’s my style of rhythm guitar.”

Fully inspired by the sociopolitical and cultural moment we find ourselves in, he dramatic songs on Hero and Relevant hit on a series of provocative topics. Hero takes a controversially sympathetic look at Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick (a friend of Cahill’s) on “MVP,” gets into the struggle and cure of addictions (“Intervention”), lost love and forgiving, revenge and the bedbug invasion on “The Bedbug Song.” Relevant launches with a powerful wake-up call inspired by the chemical disaster in Japan following last year’s earthquake and tsunami (“Nuclear Fallout”) before mocking the world’s addiction to texting (“Texting Song”), exploring the complicated rollercoaster of personal roma - Music Connection Magazine Jonathan Weidran

A lot of folks told George Cahill he was crazy when the successful real estate agent and long retired Philly firefighter told them he was--after many years of deferring his dream--writing and recording songs and jamming in the studio of his old friend and fellow musician Dan Michael. But the multi-talented singer and rhythm guitarist didn’t care because even deep into middle age, the world around him was going crazy and he had lot to say. The result of his wild creative run are the infectious, hard hitting full length albums Hero and Relevant, each a distinctive, witty and rocking labor of love that takes a no holds barred approach to the art of observational songwriting.

Many musicians who dust off their axes and get back in the groove after a few decades away do it simply because it’s fun and they have the time and resources they lacked earlier. Home audio technology certainly made a difference. But for Cahill, writing and recording the ten tracks of Hero and recording the six originals and three covers (including “This Land Is Your Land” and Bob Seger’s “Still The Same”) on Relevant literally saved his life.

The experience of watching his daughter (successfully) battle breast cancer had taken its emotional toll and left him devastated and depressed for over a year. Running into Dan Michael proved to be a godsend. Michael asked Cahill if he wanted to contribute a track to a compilation Christmas CD he was making. Finding the process therapeutic, the two began working together in Michael’s studio and emerged with a project that became Cahill’s debut EP, appropriately titled The Dark Christmas.

The high energy “band of brothers” that Cahill put together to take the songs on Hero and Relevant to the next level has quickly evolved into The George Cahill Band—a group that has gained a loyal, growing fan base with its numerous live gigs since late 2011. In Pennsylvania, they’ve performed at The Nail in Bryn Mawr, Yards Brewery in Philly and Chaplin’s Music Café in Spring City. They’ve also played at the Cape May Singer-Songwriter Festival in New Jersey and were recently booked for the upcoming Nikstock Festival in Upstate New York.

This summer, they will be playing a Beer Garden benefit in Philadelphia for a park named after a firefighter Cahill knew who was killed in the line of duty, a friend of the singer’s who inspired the heartfelt title track to Hero. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Cahill have agreed to a fundraising partnership whereby the singer will make a donation to the Foundation on each sale of the song “Hero.” The George Cahill band is also slowly building a YouTube following for its live videos as well. The most popular of these thus far is the playful tribute to self-loathing, “Sick of Myself.”

Cahill brings a rich variety of musical influences and life experiences to his songwriting and recording. He cites his musical heroes as country/folk singer/songwriter John Prine, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and The Rolling Stones circa 1968, when they released the roots rock influenced Beggars Banquet. “I love the humor Prine brought to his songs and the gritty acoustic feel of that Stones album,” says Cahill. “That’s my style of rhythm guitar.”

Fully inspired by the sociopolitical and cultural moment we find ourselves in, he dramatic songs on Hero and Relevant hit on a series of provocative topics. Hero takes a controversially sympathetic look at Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick (a friend of Cahill’s) on “MVP,” gets into the struggle and cure of addictions (“Intervention”), lost love and forgiving, revenge and the bedbug invasion on “The Bedbug Song.” Relevant launches with a powerful wake-up call inspired by the chemical disaster in Japan following last year’s earthquake and tsunami (“Nuclear Fallout”) before mocking the world’s addiction to texting (“Texting Song”), exploring the complicated rollercoaster of personal roma - Music Connection Magazine Jonathan Weidran

April 5th, 2012

Few musicians come forth with a definitive message on their recordings, but George Cahill ties in hard-edged political themes to each of Relevant’s 9 songs. Nuclear Fallout is the introductory track on Relevant, and is focused on the “perfect storm” of tsunami and meltdown that hit Japan last year. Sucking on Weed has a psychedelic approach that soars on the back of Santana-esque guitar lines; Cahill’s vocals provide listeners with a tremendous narrative that cautions listeners against falling into a gangster lifestyle.
Cahill’s version of This Land Is Your Land is perhaps the best I have heard; his lifetime of experience grants listeners with a weary and utterly unique version of a classic. Relevant hits another high note with Texting Song, where Cahill puts forth an acerbic diatribe against those that fall into the texting trap. With instrumentation that mirrors nicely Cahill’s sentiment, the resulting track is more than enough to have listeners reconsider how attached that they have become to their variety of electronic devices. The disc’s final track, Just Like Tom Thumb Blues, has Cahill step into a more folk-based approach. His version of the Dylan track has a vibrancy that ends the disc perfectly; Cahill is able to end Relevant in an emphatic fashion.
Keep an eye out for Solutions, which should be dropping down in stores later this year or next; Cahill’s Renaissance man attitude bodes well for any future albums. Breaking free of genre conventions, Relevant is a title that stays strong throughout. Where many musicians deposit their chaff is where Cahill shines the brightest; Still The Same is a track that has him hitting on all cylinders. No matter where one is at on Relevant, they will be treated to the same dedication and drive. Pick up this album today.
Top Tracks: Sucking on Weed, This Land Is Your Land
Rating: 8.3/10 - Neu Futur Magazine

April 5th, 2012

Few musicians come forth with a definitive message on their recordings, but George Cahill ties in hard-edged political themes to each of Relevant’s 9 songs. Nuclear Fallout is the introductory track on Relevant, and is focused on the “perfect storm” of tsunami and meltdown that hit Japan last year. Sucking on Weed has a psychedelic approach that soars on the back of Santana-esque guitar lines; Cahill’s vocals provide listeners with a tremendous narrative that cautions listeners against falling into a gangster lifestyle.
Cahill’s version of This Land Is Your Land is perhaps the best I have heard; his lifetime of experience grants listeners with a weary and utterly unique version of a classic. Relevant hits another high note with Texting Song, where Cahill puts forth an acerbic diatribe against those that fall into the texting trap. With instrumentation that mirrors nicely Cahill’s sentiment, the resulting track is more than enough to have listeners reconsider how attached that they have become to their variety of electronic devices. The disc’s final track, Just Like Tom Thumb Blues, has Cahill step into a more folk-based approach. His version of the Dylan track has a vibrancy that ends the disc perfectly; Cahill is able to end Relevant in an emphatic fashion.
Keep an eye out for Solutions, which should be dropping down in stores later this year or next; Cahill’s Renaissance man attitude bodes well for any future albums. Breaking free of genre conventions, Relevant is a title that stays strong throughout. Where many musicians deposit their chaff is where Cahill shines the brightest; Still The Same is a track that has him hitting on all cylinders. No matter where one is at on Relevant, they will be treated to the same dedication and drive. Pick up this album today.
Top Tracks: Sucking on Weed, This Land Is Your Land
Rating: 8.3/10 - Neu Futur Magazine

April 25, 2012 | by Skope

George Cahill has been rocking the Philly scene for awhile and is now celebrating his latest release, “Relevant”. It is 9 tracks of brutal honesty accompanied by some tight instrumentation to drive his point home.

Cahill does a nice rendition of Bob Seger’s, “Still the Same”. He has a unique portrayal of the song and makes it his own with a conversational style to his singing; it is kind of like hanging in a coffee shop as he tells you about his day. Then serenades us all with, “This Land is Your Land”, with the sweetest harmonies and most lonesome harmonica I have ever heard.

He is a straight shooter and holds nothing back. He seems to have a knack for telling it like it is, whether it’s good or bad there is no candy coating anything. He has strong lyrical content sounding quite bitter at times. But then again, with the way things have been going lately who can fault the bitterness?

Overall the CD is entertaining with talented musicians. I have to commend the production. It is not over done and mixes very well with the content in which he sings. It is foreboding when it needs to be and relaxes as soon as it takes you to the edge. I have a couple of personal favorites, “Sucking on Weed” and “Preacher Man”, for starters. They are perfect examples of his concise abilities to get your think tank cranking.

George Cahill is fun music that is hard hitting and edgy. He has bluesy tendencies that will rock you to the very end. It is worth a listen and I enjoyed his life lessons in each tune.

By: Rebecca Hosking – hoskingrebecca@gmail.com - Skopemag.com

April 25, 2012 | by Skope

George Cahill has been rocking the Philly scene for awhile and is now celebrating his latest release, “Relevant”. It is 9 tracks of brutal honesty accompanied by some tight instrumentation to drive his point home.

Cahill does a nice rendition of Bob Seger’s, “Still the Same”. He has a unique portrayal of the song and makes it his own with a conversational style to his singing; it is kind of like hanging in a coffee shop as he tells you about his day. Then serenades us all with, “This Land is Your Land”, with the sweetest harmonies and most lonesome harmonica I have ever heard.

He is a straight shooter and holds nothing back. He seems to have a knack for telling it like it is, whether it’s good or bad there is no candy coating anything. He has strong lyrical content sounding quite bitter at times. But then again, with the way things have been going lately who can fault the bitterness?

Overall the CD is entertaining with talented musicians. I have to commend the production. It is not over done and mixes very well with the content in which he sings. It is foreboding when it needs to be and relaxes as soon as it takes you to the edge. I have a couple of personal favorites, “Sucking on Weed” and “Preacher Man”, for starters. They are perfect examples of his concise abilities to get your think tank cranking.

George Cahill is fun music that is hard hitting and edgy. He has bluesy tendencies that will rock you to the very end. It is worth a listen and I enjoyed his life lessons in each tune.

By: Rebecca Hosking – hoskingrebecca@gmail.com - Skopemag.com

• Recommend


Reading the bio of George Cahill, it's easy to feel inspired by the retired firefighter and real estate agent, who decided to form a band with friends and pursue his dream of recording music well into middle age. Couldn't help but think of this quote by Samuel Ullman while listening to "Relevant", that "years may wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul". This band has dichotomous (hippie and at times, anti-hippie) enthusiasm in spades, channeling it to poke fun at the morals and values our fishbowl of a society, cherish. I'm sure George would agree with Bob Dylan that "times, they are a-changin" (and not necessarily for the better), refusing to pull any punches on social mores while addressing chemicals in the environment and those we willingly put in our bodies.
In 70's classic Americana/rock Willie Nelson/ pre-Tenacious D style, the band discusses avoiding a disaster by changing our ways on "Nuclear Fallout", inspired by the recent devastating Japanese earthquake and nuclear plant threats that followed. Moving on, George comically calls out stoner teens on the attention-catching, "Sucking on Weed", a song about potheads who think they're adults but have several life lessons to learn still. I dare the listener not to find the line, "You're 17 and you ain't been laid" humorous.
The addictive comfort we enjoy or hide behind at our fingertips gets a harsh lashing on the "Texting Song" ,singing " you're freakin making me crazy, you never used to be lazy". Voicing the concerns of many, George woes the advancement of technology eliminating human contact. Another noteworthy track, "Preacher Man", with comedic lyrics like "you can't touch me with a 10 foot pole, you're not the one who's going to save my soul" leaves no doubt his thoughts about the Catholic religion, tithe practices and pedophilia scandals. His astute commentary from having been there and done that, is not delivered in a condescending "darn whippersnappers, get off my lawn" way; "Relevant" (intentionally spelled or misspelled with an A on the cover) has the power to connect with the everyman (or woman). - Music Emissions