Growing up in an Irish family (my mother's maiden name is "Finnegan") it seemed no matter what the occasion the result was an impromtu kitchen party. When I was younger I would sit around the campfire or kitchen table and watch the Jameson be passed around as the older generation would take turns trying to remember the words to their favorite tune. Us children would sing along to the tunes we recognized and laugh when someone would forget the lyrics halfway through a song. Instead of a microphone they had a bottle of Jameson, and as it was passed around you knew who would be singing next. As I grew older the bottle eventually was passed to me and it was almost a right of passage to sing your tune...and the laughter was just as loud when I forgot the lyrics. I would try to explain to people how much fun I had and couldn't wait until we got together again but it seemed difficult for them to grasp...until they came with me and saw what I was talking about.

One year my brother Brian and I walked into a small pub for a pint and left there official members of the AOH Division #17. In talking to the patrons it was requested that we get some music together and play for them for Saint Patrick's Day. So with borrowed equipment, a couple of guitars and a prayer we showed up and played about 5 songs for the crowd. It was the beginning of what has become Whiskey Limerick. We were dubbed the "Susko Brothers" (my father is a proud Slovak!) because we never thought of coming up with an actual name. We barely knew what we were doing but just like sitting around the kitchen table there was music...and even though coming through speakers that were held together with duct tape, it turned into the kitchen party that we knew so well.


After about a year my younger brother Sean came to visit and thank the Lord because he actually knew how to play the guitar. He was the spark we needed to take that next step and it worked out well because he was my brother...and we didn't have to change the name of the band! He is the songwriter of the group and has authored all of the Whiskey Limerick originals including "Shamrock Your World" and "Weekend Superhero." So the Susko Brothers continued to pretend we knew what we were doing but there was one thing we all had in common...we loved the music. Through the broken guitar strings and blown fuses we put the songs we grew up with to a guitar and bodhran and continued the kitchen party everytime we were on stage.

Then one day a soft voice and a bass guitar entered the room. My jaw dropped to the floor when my sister Lauren showed up and played our entire first set on her axe. The great part about this story is that she never told us she even played the bass. Now it was official...we had to change our name because the Susko Brothers wasn't the whole story anymore. Thus we had overnight transformed into Whiskey Limerick and we now had a bass line to bring to the party.

The final addition to the band happened over a pint in a local pub...sound familiar? This pub was closer to home than you think because we were visiting my father at the time and the pub was in his basement. My father Jerry had played in a number of bands throughout his life, mostly oldies and such, but stowed away his drums because he had more important things to do...raise us kids. I had a vague memory of the one time I was old enough to see my father play his drums. The stage was so high I could barely climb onto it and I had blisters on my arms from leaning on the grass all day waiting for his band to come on stage. His band played two songs and then the skies opened up with thunder and rain and that was it. Show cancelled. While sitting at the basement pub we joked about him setting up his drums and practicing with Whiskey Limerick. I asked him if he thought he could keep up with us..."some of our tunes are pretty fast" I said. He slowly looked up from the bar, took a sip of his Bellows Bourbon, cracked a small smile and responded..."if you can keep up with me I'll be impressed." He was right...but we must have impressed him because it only took one practice and we officially became the Whiskey Limerick that you see on stage today.

We love performing the music we grew up with and invite you to join our kitchen party. Whether on stage for hundreds or jammin' for a few we bring the same energy everytime and hope it's obvious how much we love the music. So I hope you'll join us for a night of friends, music and laughter as we continue to pass the whiskey around...to you.

Slàinte,