Celine Carroll at Telfords Warehouse, Chester

Celine Carroll - Sweet Heart of Mine

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Former RTE 2FM legend, Mike Moloney, worked for a little while on Sligo & Donegal's Ocean FM. He had a Sunday evening show called the Irish Album. He wasn't there all that long , but in that brief stint Mike uncovered some real gems. One such song was called Apologise by Celine Carroll. Such was the quality of that song , I had to buy a copy straight away. I tried all the usual places (HMV, Virgin, Amazon etc) with no success. So I wrote a speculative email to info at artiste name dot com - and I got a reply. I gladly parted company with a tenner and the album (entitled : Itch) was mine. This was followed a couple of days later by an email asking what I thought of it. Now you won't get that sort of service from U2 !
It didn't take long for me to return a few words , the album was uncomplicated and easy to get into. A couple of tracks were already beginning to emit that play-it-again demand and I wanted the world to know that I'd managed to get hold of a quality album.
I decided to contact Chester's Dee 106.3, one of my local radio stations - and on Sunday 18th September 2005 on Gavin Matthews' Request Fest , Apologise got its first UK hearing. However, although I was thrilled at the time for myself and , more importantly for Celine, my particular quest to help Celine Carroll get due recognition had only just started. But a couple major family health issues put paid to that activity for a while.
Throughout our personal trauma, Celine was very supportive. And without getting too carried away, that support will always be greatly appreciated.
We weren't exactly confined to quarters during our son's illness. We've popped over to Dublin to see Celine live , and she has visited us in the UK. Indeed, health matters have much improved and this state of normality seemed to coincide with the release of her new album Such A Beautiful Light.
I will always treat Itch as a favourite album , like Celine, it's part of the family. However, in both songwriting terms and in the quality of studio production, Such A Beautiful Light is years ahead. Indeed, there is even a theme running through it. It's a "Love" album , not luvvy-duvvy stuff, but it addresses all aspects, from the happy go lucky summer sound on Sweet Heart of Mine through to the wintery cold of loneliness in I Remember a Time.
The release of this album signals the re-launch of my own quest to get more recognition for Celine's music. And to that end Celine posted me a copy of the first single from the album - Sweet Heart Of Mine with a view to getting UK radio airplay.
After much deliberation, I posted it off to Billy Butler on BBC Radio Merseyside. Our cheers on either side of the Irish Sea were so loud when Billy played it in July, I'm certain that we launched the Isle Of Man off its moorings.
Airplay in both Ireland and the UK led to several live appearances on various radio stations, the most significant being on Ireland's national station RTE Radio 1, where Celine and her band performed on the legendary Pat Kenny Show.
Here in the UK , Roger Day (BBC Radio Kent and other networked stations across the southern counties of England) and Aled Jones (BBC Radio 2) both played her current single. But it was BBC Radio Merseyside's Billy Butler who featured her regularly and on the afternoon of Friday October 2nd, Billy's audience witnessed Celine's first live UK performance.
That weekend saw Celine make a cameo appearance at Crystals in Birkdale on October 2nd followed on the Saturday by her first solo performance at O'Connors in Orrell Park, Liverpool. Celine's weekend finale was at Telford's Warehouse in Chester(see the video).
Celine recently appeared at the Cherry Tree, Walkinstown, Dublin on Saturday December 12th , the same night as the final of X-Factor. How nice it was to have a full house on her own patch. I flew out just to be with them all .... read it here
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FOOTNOTE
Had it not been for that follow-up email in 2005, I shudder to think what would have become of Celine's musical career. I would have still been in posession of a musical masterpiece in the form of the album, Itch. Our family would have one less friend and the musical world would be missing out on a fabulous follow-up album . .

Go Faster Stripes - Kat Flint

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Come on, let's make her famous - buy her latest album 'Dirty Birds' from hmv.com

In Tua Nua - All I Wanted

Thought you knew your '80s,try this - I'm addicted to it. Oh yes !, and the singer ? ... She's Leslie Dowdall.
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One of Eurovision's better songs

Dawn Martin, singing Ireland's Eurovision entry for 1998, (Is Always Over Now) should have walked it,came 9th.
Written by Gerry Morgan

No Frontiers - The Corrs

Just to show that I believe both versions of this Jimmy McCarthy song are as good as each other - here's The Corrs (Sharon & Caroline)

[Mary Black - No Frontiers]

Beth Hart - World Without You

Just why Beth isn't a bigger star over here is beyond me .... reminiscent of Janis Joplin, don't you think ?

Eddi Reader - Ae Fond Kiss

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As Burns Night approaches , I dropped in on this on YouTube ...... isn't this just downright beautiful ?

Juliet Turner - Take the Money and Run

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Juliet is about to embark on a UK Tour, promoting her latest album, People Have Names. I'm off to see her at Telford's Warehouse , Chester March 9th and probably The Met, Bury, March 21st

Mary Black - No Frontiers

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You might have heard The Corrs sing this one on the Unplugged album ..... but feast your ears on this version by Mary Black.

[The Corrs - No Frontiers]

Eimear Bradley - Come Home

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Kat Flint - Silent Night

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Sinead Lohan - Whatever It Takes

A few sentences on Cara Dillon

CARA DILLON
The Met, Bury
Saturday 10th November 2007

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According to Wikipedia, The Met, in it's former life, was a Magistrates Court. Happily, thanks to a registered charity called The Bury Metropolitan Arts Association, it is now an entertainment venue of good repute, where a gathering of about 250 good citizens of sound mind (or should that have read 250 citizens who minded what sounded good) took to the witness box.
Holding court was Cara Dillon who in my judgement presided over a really fine session.
Her support act warrants more than just a mention. The duo, collectively known as JamesAndSteve are James Meadows and Steve Lacey.
Steve played acoustic guitar and vocals and James played tenor banjo and mandola. They're a Yorkshire duo who play traditional folk songs and jigs&reels. I was impressed with James' banjo skills. The ears pricked up when I recognised one of his Scottish reels which turned out to be Puirt-a-beul, recently recorded by Julie Fowlis. And if you could imagine the Irish reels played on violin at such a rapid tempo and then match them note for note on a banjo then you'd get some idea of this lad's dexterity.
In the ensuing interval afterJamesandSteve's 25 minute set, I mulled over a couple of observations. The voices from neighbouring seats spoke in accents from many miles away from Bury. Indeed one was a friend of mine from Taunton. All adult ages were represnted although a the bulk was 30-40 somethings. Above all, it was a full house of around 250+.
The other observation was that it was just about 1 year to the day since I last saw Cara live (Buxton). On that occasion Cara was 26 weeks pregnant with twins. Understandably, she tired easily. Little did we know that those twins were going to give Cara & Sam the fright of their lives by making their appearance less than one week after that Buxton gig.
Twelve months on .....

(adjourned)

So as I rest my case, there will be no reasonable doubt that the audience will be demanding the release of her next album.

Setlist

She Moved Through The Fair
Craigie Hill
Black Is The Colour
There Were Roses (Cara & Sam)
Gem of the Roe (Cara & Ed)
Garden Valley
P stands for Paddy
Wish You Well
October Winds
Lark In The Clear Air (Cara & Sam)
Where Are You Now
Set of Tunes

Encore : Never In A Million Years

Band

Cara Dillon - Vocals, whistle, violin
Sam Lakeman - Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar
Ed Boyd (from Flook) - Acoustic Guitars, Bazouki
James O'Grady - various low whistles, Uillean Pipes, Violin

It's Buy One Get One Free at the Liverpool Phil

MOYA BRENNAN / JULIE FEENEY
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Sunday 21st October 2007

Moya Brennan [web][myspace][wiki]
Julie Feeney [web][myspace][wiki]

When details of this show were published in the Phil's brochure, the prospect of Moya, accompanied by the RLPO, was good enough to sell me a pair of tickets. But this particular bargain at the point of sale wasn't the only one on offer.
Apparently Moya had discovered a phenomenal musician at the same time as I did. We both tuned in to a Duke Special concert on BBC Radio Ulster and sharing the bill that evening was Julie Feeney. I was so impressed with her that I just had to do my little bit to tell the world via Musictipping.com while Moya found out that there was more to Julie Feeney than just singer/songwriting. To cut a long story short, Moya invited Julie to score the music for the string section of the RLPO and conduct them as well.
So, with the needle on my anticipation dial pointing way past the red zone, and last night's Brian Kennedy concert still keeping me on a high, it was time to welcome Moya Brennan, the voice of Clannad with her 7-piece backing band on to the stage.
Robed in a resplendant royal blue Ciaran S. Grammy number, Moya was received by her awaiting accompanists.
Tapestry's intricate weavings of Eamonn Galldubh's Uillean Pipes, Sinead Madden's Violin and Moya's mesmeric vocals emerged from the fading applause and just to ensure that the audience's tansition into trance was complete, Moya reached for the bones and tapped us into Newgrange before saying Hello.
Apart from a minor distraction of a quickly quelled flash photographer and the whirring of the smoke machine during Pill A Run O, the first half continued as per the Signature Tour set - a steady flow of Clannad favourites, one or two from Moya's previous solo albums and a couple of jigs and reels. The penultimate song of the first half saw the introduction of Julie Feeney, who sat at the grand piano and delivered one of her songs from her 13 Songs album, Wind Out Of My Sails. Moya added BVs.
Julie returned the compliment for the first half finale, Many Faces.
The addition of the string section at the start of the second half made a mockery of the ticket price. A cluster of 4 whammies, 3 from Signature with Harry's Game in the midst, forced the body folicles to stand up on the goosebumps. For openers, Purple Haze was instrumentally lethal. Julie managed to split the group into two during the staccato bits.The arrangements of Merry Go Round and Black Night were of a equally high standard.
As was Harry's Game which seemed to be given a whole new life.
Prior to this concert I had this preconceived idea that the orchestra would be a dominant feature, but my fears were happily allayed. Everything integrated so well and each song just had this extra depth.
From this cluster of 4 the orchestra took a breather but returned here and there for more beauties from the Signature album,No One Talks,in particular, was just out and out quality.
An encore was demanded and as the backing band were doing there cameo solos during Nil Se'n La (It's Not Yet Daytime) it suddenly dawned on me that we were approaching the end of the show.
I wasn't keeping count, but apparently 9 songs were scored by Julie. She obviously has more strings to her bow (groan !) than just singer/songwriting.
Hour upon hours worth of rehearsal work must have gone into this by everyone on that stage. The whole presentation was immaculate right down to intricate details like Sinead's BVs harmonising perfectly with the violins.
Moya signed my copy of her autobiography after the show. I mentioned the Birkenhead gig and she told me that she enjoyed reading my review. So if Moya is kind enough to read my written works, it's only fair that I should read hers.
And to close this perfect weekend, I had to play that Beautiful Dreamer duet with Brian Kennedy once more.

The Band

Moya Brennan - Lead Vocals, Harp, Shaker & Bones
Paul Byrne – percussion
Fionan De Barra – Guitars, Vocals
Sinead Madden – Fiddle, (perfectly matched)Vocals and Shaker
Sam Jackson – Piano /Keyboards
Eamonn Galldubh – Uilleann Pipes, Clarinet and other wind instruments.
Yoshinobi Izumi – Electric Bass (left handed), Vocals
Cormac De Barra – Electric Harp, Vocals

Julie Feeney - Guest singer and conductor and the musical score for the string section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

FOOTNOTE1: Thanks very much to Martijn from Moya's Forum for getting a copy of the setlist

FOOTNOTE2 : Moya talks about the Signature album.

Brian Kennedy, a Scouser from Belfast

BRIAN KENNEDY
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Saturday 20th October 2007

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Brian Kennedy abandoned all but one of his band, ditched his suit and tore up the setlist and then casually walked on to the stage at one of Liverpool's most prestigious venues, packed to the rafters, and provided a performance that will be cemented into the audience's memories for years to come.
After the obligatory half-hour support act - (Steve Roberts) - a local lad from Waterloo, who conjured up songs about taxi journeys from Speke, his Mother-in-law and New Brighton's nightclubs - the lights brightened to reveal a relatively well populated auditorium. Not a bad attendance, considering that there was a bit of a rugby match on the telly. However, as BK's appearance became imminent,this soon became a capacity audience when the orders were bellowed for the stragglers to leave the bar.
The lights dimmed once again and his backing band for the night, Callum MacColl, took his place on stage to receive Mr. Kennedy, whose arrival was greeted with a bit of a gasp due his shorn locks and attire of black t-shirt & jeans.
It could only have been Brian Kennedy as he grabbed his guitar and launched straight into one of the songs from his latest album. I've forgotten the title already because, like Brian, I didn't make a setlist.
That was the plan, as far as songs were concerned, totally ad-libbed from the off and all requests from the lively bunch of Liverpudlians were thrown into the mix. That is the beauty of the live performance. Expect anything, for when the singer has such quality and the songs are established favourites, the outcome is guaranteed enjoyment.
For his part, Brian was totally at home with the mass of Merseysiders. One request was for Christopher Street, which he repeated back in an acceptable Scouse dialect. This banter was stepped up a further notch as an American shouted his request which received a similar mimic.
On Brian's CV you will find that he has performed in Riverdance, been a backing singer with Van Morrison, accompanied countless other artistes ranging from Lulu to Sinead O'Connor and has represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Album releases are well into double figures, and two songs from his next album, Interpretations, was represented in the show. As you can guess from the title, Interpretations will be comprised of cover versions, and I for one can't wait for its release. If Clifford T Ward's Gay and Declan O'Rourke's Gallileo are anything to go by. I'm currently nursing a cold, the streaming eyes and runny nose were a brilliant excuse to get the hankie out for Clifford's cover.
His main set closed with Put The Message In The Box and returned with a 2 song encore. The first being last year's Irish Eurovision entry,Every Song Is A Cry For Love and, for any potential X-Factor entrants, a beautiful off-mic delivery of You Raise Me Up..... yes, the one that Westlife did, but go and find a copy of Brian's....
I joined the queue at the CD table after the show and picked up On Song and On Song 2, the latter had Beautiful Dreamer on it. I just had to play that one before resting my head, especially as it is a duet with Moya Brennan. Moya is appearing at this venue the night after....and I have tickets.

Ferry follows up with Fourth Street and first time feelings follow forthwith

Just around the time when Beatlemania was becoming a worldwide epidemic, I popped into my local record shop and bought my first single - Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan. Even at the tender age of 11, I was already showing signs of developing a non-conformist taste in music.
Whilst I was perusing YouTube the other day I casually entered 4th Street into the Search box, and - deep joy - there it was.
A quick glance to the right, and Bryan Ferry's name appeared in the list of related videos.
This song cannot be covered without doing it a total injustice, I thought.
Curiosity got the better of me and I gave Bryan's thumbnail a click. It was like hearing it for the first time all over again.
So while I go off to find out what CD this cover available on, go and play the video - HERE

You need to pay more attention to CCTV these days

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CCTV - That's Celine Carroll TV on YouTube. The YouTube link above takes you to the first in a series where the theme is 2 new songs in a different shirt. The songs are new (original) because they are all written by herself. This could be quite a long series because Celine claims that she will never run out of songs (I'll guarantee that statement), although she might run out of shirts (can't comment on that one).....now chose one (or more) of the following :

1. ITCH and YEAH

2. HEART OF GOLD and SO WRONG

3. WE'LL SEE and GREY SKY BLUE

4. DIME and APOLOGISE

5. HUMAN TOUCH and BLAME THIS WORLD

6. BETTER THAN THIS and SWEET HEART OF MINE

7. FAIRYTALE ON ICE and BIRD IN A CAGE

8. I'D RATHER BE IN JAIL THAN BE IN LOVE WITH YOU AGAIN and LOVING YOU

9. JUST GOTTA GET AWAY and SHINE

10. YOU'RE STILL HERE and I LOVE YOU I

11. YOUR WORLD and STAND BY THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE

May I also direct your attention to Celine singing live at Bewley's with Siobhan Lennon. The song is called DAISY LADY - if you click this link I promise that your ears will love you forever !
And here is an example of what makes the Irish music industry so fascinating, as you delve a little further, you find another group or artiste that you just have to find out a bit more about. Here's Tir Na Nog with thei version of DAISY LADY.

Julie's Aching Is So Soothing

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Thanks to a newsletter e-mail from Duke Special, advertising a show on BBC Radio Ulster, I discovered Julie Feeney, a wonderful Irish singer/songwriter.

She opened the show with a (I'm beginning to hate this over-used descriptive) haunting song called Aching. She holds the note on the 'A' for around 30 seconds or so while the string section seems to do the breathing. Suffice it to say, Aching is a truly beautiful song and it is the opening track on an understandably, much acclaimed debut album entitled 13 Songs.

To say Julie is articulate and educated is an understatement. I found this on Wikipedia :- "Feeney played with the Galway Youth Orchestra, studied music and psychology at University College Cork, and after moving to Dublin, graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2002 with a master's in music and media technologies."

With credits from the likes of The Guardian and Sunday Times, appearances in Lord of the Dance and Riverdance, as well as an exemplorary education record, you won't need too much convincing that '13 Songs' is a top-class album and an asset to any discerning music lover's collection.

Julie Fowlis breezes into Chester with the force of a Gael

JULIE FOWLIS
Telford’s Warehouse
Chester
Monday 16th April 2007

[web][youtube][myspace][musictipping]

Such is my enjoyment of live music and the atmosphere of the whole event, that when someone recommended a singer who I’d never heard of, I bought a pair of tickets for the first available local gig.
Not only was this singer unknown to me, she sang totally in Outer Hebridean Gaelic.
As is what has now become common practice on Myspace, I signed this singer up as a friend, but I refused to satisfy all curiosity by deliberately avoiding listening to the songs that were uploaded on to her page. The idea was to attend this gig without any preconceptions and have a totally open mind about what was about to hit me.

I had no intentions of compiling a set-list. I didn’t know any songs and more to the point, I couldn’t even spell them. One thing, which did strike me as peculiar, was that there were no instruments at rest on the stage and, apart from 4 microphone stands, there were no trailing wires.

Well, that’s all the negatives cleared up. A glance up at the nameplate on the speaker revealed the word BOSE, a second glance to the left saw the quartet arriving on stage. From hereon, we’re talking quality.

Any fears about Gaelic vs. English were put to rest as each song was explained with clarity and humour. The subject matter ranged from elopement, being seasick and good old fashioned tales of love and romance.

Julie Fowlis, second left, was lead singer, tin whistle player and chief story-teller. To her immediate left (audience’s right) was a fellow Scotsman, Duncan Chisolm, on Violin, the pair were flanked by her fiancé, Eamon Doorley on Bouzouki and Tony Byrne on Acoustic Guitar. The latter two were from Dublin.

The celtic fusion and humour is best exemplified by the introduction to one of the medleys of jigs and reels. Duncan, in a fine Scottish brogue, said “The second one is a traditional Highland tune entitled ‘Morag, please trim your toenails because they’re ripping the blanket’ ”. Eamon replied, “Over in Donegal, the very same tune goes by the title ‘Mary. Please cut your toenails, you’re scratching my ankles’ ”

Julie’s vocals were clear, confident and captivating. The opening song, Hug air a Bhonaid Mhoir, (Celebrate the Great Bonnet) was the first from her latest CD, Cuilidh (pronounced Ku-lee). It was so catchy, it immediately claimed your attention. It might be worth noting that not too many people possess CDs by female folk singers from the Outer Hebrides, so there’s many a prized collection with a noticable gap. Another thing that I noticed was that there wasn’t an Aran sweater or pair of corduroys to been found in the wide age-ranged, attentive, audience of over 100.
Word has already got around, it appears. One explanation for the healthy attendance might be put down to the fact that her music has been endorsed by the likes of BBC R2’s Mark Ratcliffe and Radiohead’s Philip Selway.

Songs of varying tempos were delivered with clarity. The storylines which preceded each one gave the listener a strong enough understanding to almost translate the lyrics. Not that the lyrics mattered anyway, the sincerity and purity of Julie’s singing coupled with the quality of the instrumental backing was good enough to satisfy my aural requirements. These songs were interspersed by a couple of instrumental jigs & reels and excellent solos & duets, both vocal and instrumental.

The two hour trad-arr trip ticked away with tormenting rapidity and encore time came all too soon.
Eamon and Julie returned to the stage and after a brief Gaelic tutorial we were invited to join in the chorus !

If you ever get the chance to witness Julie Fowlis, don’t use the fact that it’s all in Gaelic as an excuse not to go. Learning about it is a delightful ear-opener……..so if will excuse me for a while, I’m off to translate The Theme From Harry’s Game !