If there’s one thing I’ve learned about all my years watching Earth, is that people aren’t what they may seem. There are shop boys, and there are boys who just happen to work in a shop for the time being. And trust me Tristan, you’re no shop boy. You saved my life. Thank you.
-Yvaine( from the movie Stardust a story by Neil Gaiman )
There are people who define themselves through the kind of work they do. It is dangerous. People sometimes lose their sense of who they are when they get caught up with the kind of employment they lead. For instance, when one becomes a manager of a company, he or she thinks that he or she is indeed a ‘ manager’ in all aspects of life. And that person could no longer discern which role ends and which one begins.
I always think we are more than what we do. You can be silly which is fun. You can be a teacher, a student of life or a Philosopher. It is great to look at the world with our many selves instead of one eye.
I guess when one is done with work,one should leave everything behind. The feelings of hurt, the things that you heard said about yourself, or even the displeasure of exchanging unpleasantness with someone. One should try to put on the other self- the real you. That is another part of you that your real friends enjoy so much.One should no longer talk about work.
We live in a world where too much information is available and young people are not made aware how to deal with that power. There is no longer a sense of responsibility towards what we can do. Knowledge is power but the sad thing is that a lot of people use it to destroy others. In Nova Scotia, A 15- year old girl took her own life because she was bullied. The same thing happened sometime ago to an Irish immigrant in Massachusetts. It looks like schools could no longer protect children. We are sending them to the jungle. Teachers who have the power and influence are stymied by this. Principals could not do anything but watch young people shoot each other. Whats the world turning to?
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While the world is looming in darkness, let us check out music news to keep us warm
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Winston Scottie from Cape Breton
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Someone tweeted this and I think it is a beautiful piece . Music from Galicia Spain. Luar Na Lubre-Canto De Andar
Hi folks, From April 1st I will be giving one to one tutorials via Skype! For those who are in far flung corners of the globe we can now connect for a tutorial where you can pick my brains. These are for any level of experience from total beginner to advanced. Follow this link for more information-
Holland and Palmley, Celtic Duo.
Per la prima volta in Italia.
Dal vivo al Calisto cafè.
Presentando anche il loro CD “The Visit”
Venite per una serata di buona musica e buona compagnia.
Speriamo di vedervi.
The Lucky 9: Trish answers 9 facts about the new album “There is this place I go “..
Sahara are a duo with a beautiful story. The name itself conjures colorful images of distant lands and exotic animals, and it also sounds relaxing. The album cover:Road paved with gold, sounds like the lives these two people are leading. In this story, Trish Long explains how music, made it possible for them to see and meet people from other places. She also expands the topic on the recording of the album, and the story behind each song.
1. Please tell us about the latest album “There is this place I go”.
We released our latest album ‘There is this place I go’ in 2010 on iTunes and various internet music sites. The songs on this album were written between 2007 and 2009. We suffered a lot of personal setbacks during this period due to serious illness and hospitalization with Dave and we were totally surprised that we got to finish the recording at all! So far the album has received very positive feedback and reviews as well as airplay on radio stations both here in Australia and overseas. 2. Both you and Dave are doing vocals and instruments. What’s the process of recording each song?
We always record a demo version of an album first, that way we can listen back carefully to the songs, tempos, arrangements and our performances. We always end up making various changes. Then we move on to the serious recording of the album – we start with a basic drum track and Dave on the guitar. This is followed by the main vocals and then bass line, keyboards, vocal harmonies, brass lines and other sequencing eg strings. We then record the solo and finish with the drums and percussion. When it’s all down we listen over and over again to the performances and if we’re happy with them we distance ourselves from it for a matter of weeks before we listen again with fresh ears for the effects and final mix.
3. What’s the inspiration behind the new album?
A lot of the songs were inspired by Dave’s health struggle and survival – it was a very close call on a number of occasions. This is most evident in the song ‘Where Angels Rest’ which was drawn from Dave’s near death experience. ‘There is this place I go’ represents how you can escape in your own mind when you need to, ‘A love so powerful’ is a very positive upbeat song and represents the part that love plays in a recovery. Other songs are also a reflection of what we were witnessing on a global basis eg. ‘Has it ever been any different before’ and ‘No Money for the ride home’. ‘This is the story’ is about the challenges that people face in their lives – be it on a physical, mental or emotional level – and how they choose to deal with it ‘The road less travelled’ has an almost similar theme to it. I was most amazed that when Dave was at his lowest point physically that he still had such inspiration for writing music and lyrics and a driving force to continue with his music. He didn’t have an instrument at hand but memorized the music till he was well enough to return home and take up his guitar again. At this stage he was my inspiration as I witnessed what he went through. Going through a trauma and living far away from our homeland became the inspiration for our instrumental ‘Eblana’ which is the ancient name for our city of birth ‘Dublin’ and was a very emotional piece for us both when writing and recording. Other songs like ‘Living in the here and now’ and ‘I’d like to dance all night’ are much more upbeat showing the fun side of life and to enjoy the now!
4. Do you record an album based on a concept, or something just unravels as you go along?
We’ve never been into concept albums….it’s just not our thing!! We’ve always written solely from inspiration and don’t believe that songwriting is a ‘task’ that we set ourselves. Music is an art form for us and we are truly grateful for the inspiration we receive – it is not at our command and therefore we also have to accept dry periods. We are honest about our music and put it out there to the best of our abilities in the hope that others may enjoy it also. At the end of the day we always have more songs written than are needed for an album so when we select the songs we try to get a flow from start to finish.
5. Tell us about your studio routine.
Our lives tend to be chaotic and though we love the idea of a routine it just doesn’t exist for us. Our main priority is rehearsing that way we keep up our performance levels – singing and playing instruments. To be honest we absolutely love playing music and performing! In the studio we have a number of projects on the go – both short term and long term. We are in the middle of recording a new album and have recently recorded a couple of home videos to promote a couple of tracks ‘This is the story’ and ‘Has it ever been any different before’ off ‘There is this place I go’. It was a bit of fun for us because in the past our videos were of our live performances on TV or a video produced by a TV network. These home videos were a learning curve and very enjoyable!
6. You’re both Irish who moved over to Australia. Has this made changes to both your musical styles and direction?
We have spent many years on concert tour around Australia getting to perform in places ranging from outback towns to major cities and everywhere in-between. We travelled to all these performances in our old car no matter what the distance and really got the feel of Australia. it’s landscape and it’s people. We got to meet thousands of Aussies – see the different lifestyles, hear their stories and discuss past and current issues. Our music became imbued with our surroundings. We have sometimes described our music as ‘the mist meeting the haze’. 7. There is this haunting feel in the way you play the saxophone . Have you gotten the same reactions from others?
You are the first to describe my sax playing as ‘haunting’ and I definitely like the sound of that….so thank you!! All I can say is that the saxophone is my real voice and I have always used it to express myself. In our music I try to interpret the emotion of the song and translate it into the solo. 8. How do you and Dave manage music and family life together? I read your bio and it’s stated that you did appear in the mini-series” inside “as musician couples. Tell us about this stint.
The separation of our music life together and our family life is invisible. We seem to morph from one into the other like two songs. We’re not even aware but we have a different relationship when we are working on the music – we are the musician friends of when we first met and when we are out and about we are just another married couple.
Re our short acting career (ha ha) it all started when we were scheduled to perform an original song on a night time TV entertainment show called ‘Davis at Large’ on RTE – Ireland’s national broadcaster. Our appearance was brought forward due to heavy snowfall and the special guest of the night – the inimitable ‘Spike Milligan’ was snowed in in the UK and couldn’t get to Dublin so we said yes we’ll get there. We drove for hours through the snow and spent all day at the studio in a dressing room displaying a large ‘gold star’ with the name Spike Milligan!! It was live to air and a producer of the new Irish series ‘Inside’ happened to be watching. He got in touch and asked if we could appear in the series acting the very difficult role of a couple of musicians. However we were to be from the charity organization ‘Legion of Mary’ and the set was an all male prison so looking as pious as possible we made our way through the cat calling throng of actor prisoners to try to win them over with a Christian song and when that failed we got them all to join in our rendition of ‘If you see your brother standing by the road’. Dave got to speak…improvising….’Great to be here’….rapturous applause exit stage left. Then we had to leave the country….as yes it all makes sense now. What happened next ….tune in next week. 9. How did you guys celebrate Saint Patrick’s day?
This year was a quiet one as Dave is still in recovery with a couple more operations to go. We sent and received greetings from family and friends, played some music, went for a short walk and had a celebratory Guinness purely for medicinal purposes (ahem) and as they say in Ireland ‘to drown the shamrock’.
P.S My special thanks to Trish for helping me out with the facts. Editing is a challenge 🙂
Calm in quietude is not real calm. When you can be calm in the midst of activity, this is the true state of nature. Happiness in comfort is not real happiness. When you can be happy in the midst of hardship, then you see the true potential of the mind.
Today I want to address our capacity to stand still despite the chaos around us. There are people who would just give in to negative emotions out of paranoia due to miscommunication. I am guilty of this. It happens from time to time especially when emotions are subjected to wear and tear. Stress from work is enough to drive one to suspect that a plot to destroy his or her being is out there.
It is funny that people we tend to dislike at first end up to be our strongest allies. But life is uncertain. We know this from the time we leave home for school. And it never ends. I remember watching that movie called “Nightmare Before Christmas”. It somehow stroked a chord in me. I have a soft spot for underdogs and those who turn bad because the society hurt them.
Sometimes there’s too much emotion, so many things to do but with so little time. And everyone has that precious soul inside worth dying for. All the things happening now, catastrophes, war and even the personal wars we have can wear and tear the soul turning us into brittle roses that are left in the midday, to wither and be blown by the wind.
So let us show a little kindness, a little sweetness. For life is infinitely precious.
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Check this video by Oona McOuat. She is traveling to Zimbabwe with her band:
Want to help Spread the Love? Oona & Dream Deep need your support in creating global unity as they launch Kids Across the Continents in Zimbabwe this spring. Donate via PayPal to oonasong@yahoo.com
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Get to know the band Shelta.This was taken last Saint Patrick’s Day in France. Thanks to Jimmy for posting this on his facebook page. Now I discovered something new. I recently got acquainted with this talented young man with an inexhaustible kindness. It’s really great knowing him. He and other new friends came to me just in time after I started having this falling out with a friend I had for years. It somehow temporarily disabled my ability to trust and to be a good judge of human character. When a friendship ends it makes you think about your own life and question your own ability to keep friendship. Have I done wrong? But perhaps everyone is always given redemption . Thanks to Jimmy and the rest for the friendship.
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Former Old Blind Dog singer Jim Malcolm is having a house concert If you are a fan of his an his band’s music, I am sure you are going to be curious:
Tickets are $20 donation(all of which goes directly to Jim)
Complimentary Drinks and Refreshments
Call or email kathleenblazebrown@sbcglobal.net for reservations
Come hear the latest from Jim’s new cd ‘Sparkling Flash’ as well as some old favourites in an intimate setting.
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My friend Rachel McCormack- a very talented acoustic artist from Dublin sent me this invite. Yes show a little love and kindness around to our Japanese brothers an sisters:
The Barley Mob in association with OxJam Ireland present the 1st of several fundraising gigs for the recent disaster in Japan featuring the finalists from the “TodayFm Unsigned” competition..The Barley mob, Sanzkrit, G-Miley and The Problematic…Doors 6:30…Adm:7euro…First band onstage @ 7..
Admission €7.00 for a good cause.
Happy Monday folks. I guess you are all hesitant to get out of that bed and go to work eh? Me too. Work starts tonight but I had to get up to write this blog. Yes this is my life and I am happy to be connected to all of you. And perhaps you are happy once in a while when you drop by as I give you the links to the coolest sites in the Internet never been heard or seen before.
There’s this wonderful quote I read today: When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends-Japanese Proverb. What do you think? I love quotes and this one is interesting as this always hold the truth for me.
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BZH a.k.a Radio Stalig is an umbrella site of all other radio stations in Brittany broadcasting in both FM and WebRadio Media. As long as you have internet connection, it plays automatically. All you need to do is go to each station by clicking the links on the left corner. For example I am now listening to Radio Arvorig which plays a combination of Breton and Pop music in English. Don’t be surprise if you hear rap back to back with your typical Celtic music. By the way I made a screen shot of the station and edited it. Do you like it?
Ok it could not be denied that Celtic Thunder is sweeping the globe by storm. Never has the big “C” been around like Superman’s signature. These guys are simply everywhere and are invading the mainstream. Well, them and Celtic Woman. This is not surprising. These guys have the looks and talent and they can all play a musical instruments. They are not just your average groups who does dancing. These are serious musicians trying to spread a kind of music that is reserved for people with impeccable musical taste-albeit elitist musical inclination. Well, it takes all kinds when something is not mainstream and one continues to devour it. At least they are out there bringing you all Irish music at its most catchy.
Celtic Music Fan 