Karl and Gail Hourigan love writing songs, and over the years they've penned songs that travel across different genres, but always with an ear tuned to melodies. https://linktr.ee/gailandkarl

They were thrilled to be invited to perform at a Bluebird North songwriters showcase in Vancouver, sharing the stage with Canadian legend Randy Bachman. The evening also featured performances by Amy Sky, Ralph Murphy, Johnny Douglas, Jeff Smallwood, Ron Irving, Ron Hynes, and Shari Ulrich.

"Up close, sharing a songwriters showcase, I found the songs stood out even more....the song structure and performance was right on the money." ...Randy Bachman

"... have accomplished a totally unique sound highlighted with sometimes offbeat and very clever lyrics blended in an acoustic/modern music milieu."...Greg Torrington

The release of their first independent CD, "Real, Real Gone" in 1996 resulted in regular airplay on CBC and college radio.  The song "To The Moon" won First place in the Write On Song Contest "Roots/Folk/Worldbeat" category.

That album was followed by another independent release, "Happy Enough", in 2001. 
Their albums and showcases resulted in critical acclaim. In 2007 they launched Canadian Celtic band, The Malarkeys, and released the album "Bloody Brilliant" in 2010. It has been well received:
"The album "Bloody Brilliant" is just that. Clever, unique and a great addition to RadioCelt",
Pat Fitzell, Station Programmer, RadioCelt (Accuradio) 

"The CD is awesome"...Highlander Radio

"...this one goes into my permanent collection"...Johnny Canuck, CanadianMusicians.com

"The CD would make a great addition to any Celtic music lover's collection. I'm happy to add it to mine."Catherine Tully, Celticmp3s.com 

Karl began writing songs before he could even play an instrument. His earliest influences were his parents' record collection, which included Johnny Cash, The Clancy Brothers, and the Chad Mitchell Trio. Then, of course, there were the Beatles, and his affinity with Brit pop has never waned. The combination of his natural inventiveness, a formal music education (classical and jazz), and many nights performing original songs to diverse audiences, has given him a keen understanding of what it takes to connect with an audience.

Gail started writing songs on piano, and later picked up the guitar. Lately, she has turned to performing on the bass guitar. Gail has years of experience performing her original music in bands in Victoria, Vancouver, and Kelowna (Hoi Polloi, The Slip, Helen Gone and now The Malarkeys). As a creative artist, she is always interested in exploring new ideas and seeing where they lead.  

New Helen Gone material is being recorded for 2012.

Keith “Papa” Thom’s newest album will be his first full album done in a professional studio owned by Ray Roper of Stonebolt notoriety.
The album will be all original material with songs by Papa Thom dating back to 1973. That particular song was written at 4:30 in the morning while sitting on the beach in southern Spain watching the sun come up. His most current songs are quite recent and continue to flow out of this old Hippy.
Keith is married to his musical muse and his blended family have 6 wonderful children and 2 delightful grandsons. It is his music that keeps him young along with being the Deputy Mayor of Peachland BC. His wife and him also run an AirBnB from their home.

"Art cannot change the world, but it can contribute to changing the consciousness and drives of the men and women who could change the world."  -Herbert Marcuse-
The AWNTK project began as a creative response to the growing distrust, fear, selfishness, and disconnection we saw in the world. Through being involved in this project, our own conscious awareness has grown and continues to grow. 
All We Need To Know is an interactive site.  We encourage visitors to listen to the songs, read the words, and then click on the forum link located under the title of each song. There you will find our thoughts about the song as well as comments and interpretations from other listeners.
One of the main objectives of AWNTK is to help Music, Art, Literature, and Culture change our world by transforming the destructive and divisive forces of class-consciousness into a productive and harmonized global conscious-awareness.  We hope that our words and music and the contributions of the other artists and creative thinkers on this site will help to inspire this change to occur.  "All We Need to Know" is part of a community of individuals with creations and ideas originating from a desire for change.
The music, artwork, opinion and creative content they share contribute to a continually expanding network of support and inspiration. 
AWNTK was created by writing partners, Jim Shaw and Randy Zahara, and the songs on this site are all performed by Jim Shaw, except for the additional demo of "Love Is All We Need To Know" which is performed by one of the most talented tenors touring today, Fernando Varela.

I'm a videographer and musician trying my best to raise the vibration of everything around me.

My new Band, Fire Red Foxes. featuring Tangle Carron, Tyler McClure and Phill Nugent

Collaborator. 
'Cellist, Guitarist, Voxist




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