Tom McCuin, the Irish Soldier Boy (very loosely translated into Irish as “An Óglach Óg”) is a veteran of both the U.S. military and the Irish music scene. He has been singing songs of love, whiskey, and rebellion – but not necessarily in that order –from Maine to Miami since 1993. Starting with the Florida-based acoustic trio James’s Gate, and later as a co-founder of the acclaimed Boston Celtic rock outfit Hiring Fair, he has shared the stage with some of the best modern Irish and Irish American acts, including The Wolfe Tones, Cherish the Ladies, Eileen Ivers, The Prodigals, and Black 47. War and fatherhood – also not necessarily in that order – took him offstage for a time, but encouraged by several gigs in Peggy’s backyard, a few pandemic livestreams, and some recent appearances pinch-hitting for the area’s more established Irish acts, he’s in the midst of his musical comeback here in the National Capital Region and beyond.