By Mike Farragher

LUKA Bloom surprised his fans last week by announcing the details of a new CD, Innocence, on his website. 

“Personally, if someone told me in mid-January that by mid-December I’d have a new CD finished, I simply would not have believed it,” he writes. “Between tendonitis, and then the throat, I thought this was going to be a tricky year. But as Woody Allen said, ‘The heart is a resilient little muscle.’” 

His new CD will be available on the site in mid to late January. “But in truth, this was a quiet year; at home a lot, writing, singing and then recording new songs in my home in the bog. Me hopes ye all like Innocence. I’ve a good feeling in me waters about it,” he said. 

Bloom will be on tour with the reunited Planxty (you know that band his brother, Christy Moore, fronts) this month, followed by an Irish solo tour in February and a jaunt to Australia in the spring. 

I have a call into Luka, so keep your eyes on these pages for interviews, CD news and tour updates.