Dropkick Murphys rocker Ken Casey has channeled his emotions following the Boston Marathon bombings into a new song to help him deal with the tragedy in his native Massachusetts.

The Celtic punk stars, who hail from the nearby city of Quincy, were in California after performing during the first weekend of the Coachella music festival when they heard about last week's (15Apr13) atrocity and they even considered scrapping their repeat appearance during Coachella's second round of gigs this weekend (19-21Apr13) to return home.

They decided the show must go on and pressed ahead with Saturday's (20Apr13) concert, during which they paid tribute to the people of Boston.

However, Casey reveals the bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 170, continue to weigh heavily on his mind and he headed into the studio with his bandmates on Thursday (18Apr13) to record a personal song inspired by the horrific turn of events.

He tells the Los Angeles Times, "It's a daunting time. If you're going to write a song that's about something that is out of the realm of any our possibility of understanding, it's scary."

Casey insists he has no intention of releasing the track, but the Dropkick Murphys will be unveiling three acoustic tunes to boost funds for the ongoing recovery effort for those affected in the attack.

The band has already started raising money for the cause - they unveiled plans to sell custom-made T-shirts online last Wednesday (17Apr13) and pre-sales have already raised more than $100,000 (£62,500) for charity ahead of its 30 April (13) retail date.