Celine Carroll saves us from reality TV and touches the sky

CELINE CARROLL
The Cherry Tree
Walkinstown
Dublin

Saturday December 12th 2009

CELINE CARROLL filled this venue in the middle of the office Christmas party season and the final stages of the X-factor.

I should imagine that most of the party goers would end up with a night to forget, while the telly viewers will end up forgetting what happened on Dec 12 in a few months from now , but those who witnessed Celine Carroll with her band will have unforgettable memories of what was one helluva gig.

That taken-for-granted term, full house, doesn't tell you much about the tremendous amount of hard work and the struggle over recent times that went into making this night happen. Had she done this a while ago, Celine , to use her words, would have "Fell on her arse in her own back garden". But thanks to the hard work of the few , there was now many waiting to attend this gig.

So, at around 10pm , Celine entered the stage. She seemed to be taken a bit by surprise, yet at the same time relieved at the size of the awaiting audience. How fitting it was to start the show with Home, to welcome the faithful to her patch. It's the first track off her previous album , Itch. A brilliant song to open with because it begins with just Celine and her acoustic guitar and the rest of the band gradually come in.

And before the audience's welcoming applause had chance to fade, we were treated to one of the best intros to arguably the most addictive song of the Itch album, Slow My Wheels. Driven along by a brilliant bass and kept in tight time with the tapping of the drum rims. Just two songs in and I was already up in the clouds.

As for the band , 3 lads popped up from Cork to assist Celine with the instrumentation, Paul Seymour on keyboards, Johnny (Green Tie?) Campbell on Bass, and Jerry (ex Hothouse Flowers) Fehily on drums. In perfect harmony on backing vocals was Celine's pal from round the corner, Siobhan Lennon.

This quintet delivered close on 3 hours worth of songs from Celine's three albums with a couple of, as yet, unreleased ones, to the point of and beyond perfection.
There were no repeats or plugs throughout the entire set. Apart from a couple of happy birthdays the first half focussed on the music. The second part of the show saw Celine giving out a few thank yous against each song to friends who have played a supporting role. Every person who was mentioned received the warmest applause. As for jokes and banter, let's just say here was a Dubliner on her own patch loving every minute.

The biggest challenge in this report is to describe her music, suffice it to say that putting words to music is a great art , putting music into words is nigh on impossible. Let's find a pigeon hole and say she's between easy and jazz , but there is of course the Irish section in the downtown HMV shop. So we'll dispense with that idea and take her CDs away from all of these categories and just file them under uncomplicated quality. Who does she sound like ? There's an easy answer - nobody else but Celine Carroll. How does she deliver her music ? With honesty and a lovely voice with the added edge of that beautiful female Dublin lilt. One guarantee is that once you hear a Celine Carroll song, it will never want to leave you. This tired old music world has many a gap in it and Celine is here to breathe a bit of life into at least one of them.

Back to the show and it's difficult to centre upon a highlight because it was perfection all the way, but Bird In A Cage definitely jaw dropped about a hundred people into total silence.

The main set closed with You're Every Beat Of My Heart which was dedicated to yours truly ... as was the first song on the Encore ... Apologise. (Her latest single, followed by my first encounter.)

The big finale consisted of a medley of Celine's Christmas Carrolls which launched the crowd into a big festive sing-song. And finally we said our goodbyes as we all headed for home , many armed with CDs, in the early hours of Sunday with Christmas, for the time being, on our minds and Celine forever in our hearts.

On a personal note , I believe that this was a wonderful finale to a year which saw Celine get significant radio airplay on both sides of the Irish Sea. From the solid foundations that were laid in 2009, may they enable Celine's musical career to become further established in 2010.

THE BAND
Celine Carroll - Lead Vocals , Acoustic Guitar, Piano
Jerry Fehily - Drums
Johnny Campbell - Bass
Paul Seymour - Keyboards
Siobhan Lennon - Backing Vocals

SETLIST
Home (Album : Itch)
Slow My Wheels (Itch)
Itch (Itch)
Yeah (Such a Beautiful Light)
Grey Sky Blue (Itch)
I Believe In Love (Such a Beautiful Light)
I Won't Be Your Fool Anymore (Such a Beautiful Light)
Before You Go (Such a Beautiful Light)
Don't Sit On The Fence Too Long (Catch You As You Fall)
Standing On My Own Two Feet Again (Itch)
Take It All In (Such a Beautiful Light)

**Interval **

You And I (unreleased)
You're Still Here (Such a Beautiful Light)
Bird In A Cage (Itch)
So Wrong (Itch)
On The Water (Catch You As You Fall)
Sweet Heart Of Mine (Such a Beautiful Light)
Love Disappear (Such a Beautiful Light)
Better Than This (unreleased)
Heart Of Gold (Such a Beautiful Light)
You're Every Beat Of My Heart (Such a Beautiful Light)

** Encore **

Apologise (Itch)
I Love You I (unreleased)
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Let It Snow / Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer/Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

** Take A Bow **

SUPPORT ACT
Mustn't forget a tremendous support act , JEZZEBELLE

FOOTNOTE
Next time you go to a live gig , spare a thought for the sound technician, the artist and the band. It's highly likely that a bit more than a 1-2, 1-2 followed by a quick tune up and line check took place in the half hour before the doors opened.
Celine , the band and the sound technician were at the venue a good 5 hours beforehand. Progressing from fizzes , bangs & feedbacks through to ironing out the finishing touches before settling for a finished item fit for public enjoyment.
The sound technician had this to contend with. Note the masking tape below the faders,just to help him cue in the right mic as Celine moved from piano to acoustic guitar.

Celine Carroll at Telfords Warehouse, Chester

Celine Carroll - Sweet Heart of Mine

[myspace][web][download]
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
!
Recent links to this blog : [Roy Norry][Mike Wilson]

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

[web]
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.
[wiki][web][myspace]

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

[myspace]

Sinead Lohan - Whatever It Takes

A few sentences on Cara Dillon

CARA DILLON
The Met, Bury
Saturday 10th November 2007

[web][myspace]

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

[web][myspace]
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

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

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

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

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.