Brian Kennedy’s double life becomes a story of hope and inspiration to millions of young people.
Today, CMF celebrates the story on one artist who made a difference in the music world and to those who have dealt with personal turmoil before coming out and living life the way it should be. Brian Kennedy is a fine example. If you have followed his career you would understand the kind of double life he led. Society imposes this on celebrities making them as the perfect ‘role model’. There is a price you have to pay for fame sometimes-it is called living a lie.
In September 1 2009, The Telegraph featured and exclusive story which revealed his coming out torment as well as discussing his book The Arrival of Fergal Flynn. He further states : “It looks like you’re ashamed of something, which I’m certainly not. I’m the most reluctant role model there is because I don’t feel qualified enough.
“But I wanted to let people know, especially young people, that it’s not a bad thing to be gay — it’s a good thing to be gay.
“I think if you’re happy and confident about your sexuality then the press tend to ignore it.”
PRESENTED BY TOM MILLETT
If there were a special award for being multi-gifted, then Brian Kennedy would surely walk away with it. A critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and proven radio/television presenter, he is now acknowledged as an author of considerable worth, having produced a series of short stories and two novels (with a third on the way) – not surprisingly, for a lyricist of his calibre.
The common denominator of all his talents is easy to spot. Quite simply, he is a natural communicator! No more so than in his live concerts. In the firm belief that ‘music is the language of emotion,’ he takes his audiences on a roller coaster ride for a full two hours and still finds the energy to meet up with them after each show. But the casual manner and good-humoured banter on and off stage, belie the hard work and early struggles of a man who seems born to perform, spellbinding his audiences while making it all look easy.
I find twins fascinating because both equally share the same amount of talent. One can’t be without the other. If you think about it, they have been in the womb for almost nine months and they share a circle on their own. I am featuring the Twin Thistle. The videos are from the past.
This post is dedicated to Jimmy and Nancie .
10 year old twins Michael and Lizzy are featured here, playing three different songs. Michael is an absolutely great bagpiper and Lizzy a very talented keyboard player, who also composes great music! Together they make up “Twin Thistle!” Listen to these wonderfully talented young kids, and see why we feel the “future of Celtic Music looks bright!”
Today we are going to talk about passion. According to the English dictionary of synonyms, the very word also means: warmth, heart, ardour, fervor, rapture, ecstasy, intoxication, rapture, enthusiasm, gusto, eagerness etc. There are countless words that could mean the same thing. And of course we know that the antonyms of passion are apathy, indifference, coldness etc.
A friend used to say that the reason she finds musicians or people who are into music interesting is that these people have something that sets them apart from other. It could be because of how passionate they can get…
Now for the news…
I love listening to Connie Dover. I have listened to all of her recordings available and I have been passionate about her works since the 90s. She started her career fronting the Kansas based Blue Grass band Scartaglen in the 80s. From there she honed her skills into what would become her solo debut Somebody(Taylor Park) which resulted to positive reviews and a rave in the Scottish radio. I think her name stuck with me for the first time, while I was browsing through the pages of CD review back in 1991. And years later that music became a source of comfort for me when I was undergoing some troubling and lonely periods of my life.
Her pure and magical voice is undoubtedly unmatched by anyone in the business. Her materials are well-researched that span a thousand years. I also give her a high five for being the only American who is able to wield the songs of Early America with the traditional hymns of Ireland and the British Isles. Her recordings never fail and there featured a distinction between instruments used by guest musicians. From hammered dulcimer, Irish bouzouki, fiddle, concertina and other definitive instrument used in this type of music, each of the songs promises to entice and to wrap you up like fine silk.
Right now Connie continues to be active in the music and poetry scene. Two poems called Radio Crane Collage and Cavort (from her book of poetry Winter Count) are featured in her official myspace site) If you go to the National Public Radio website, there is an interview of Connie about her song I Am Going to the West (from Border of Heaven) and here’s the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=102168188&m=102218501
She was also part of the 25th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, where she sang with her friend, Skip Gorman, and read a few poems. To view the event: http://cybercast.westernfolklife.org/2009/.
Here is an interesting blurb from her official myspace site:
Connie finds her inspiration in the landscapes, history and culture of the American West. When she is not performing, she works as a ranch cook in the beautiful country between Wyoming’s Wind River and Absaroka Mountains. She received the Grand Prize in the Western Folklife Center’s 2007 Yellowstone-Teton Song Contest and a 2007 Emmy Award for her soundtrack production of the PBS documentary “Bad Blood – The Border War that Triggered the Civil War”.
Her CDs (three were recorded in Scotland) show the close ties between the American folk and cowboy songs she sings around Wyoming campfires and their Celtic ancestors, and she has twice been a finalist for a Native American Music Award.
Listening to readings from the “Pit Poets” at Prospero’s Bookstore in Kansas City lit Connie’s literary fire, and her first book of poetry, Winter Count, was published in 2007. She is a recipient of the Speakeasy Prize in Poetry. Look for samples of her writing on her myspace blog.
Born in Arkansas and raised in Missouri, Connie is of English, Cherokee, Mexican and Scots/Irish descent. Her studies at Oxford University further enriched her unique perspective of the context of traditional songs. She has been a guest on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday and Sunday, A Prairie Home Companion, and Thistle and Shamrock. Acclaimed by the Boston Globe as “the finest folk ballad singer America has produced since Joan Baez”, Connie offers listeners a musical experience that transcends cultural boundaries and affirms our connection with the past.
Connie’s newest CD, The Holly and the Ivy (traditional Christmas songs and carols recorded with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra,) was released December 10, 2008. Her new digital-only release of “Amazing Grace” and “The Language of Flowers” is now available through CD Baby, itunes, emusic and other music download sites.
Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother, “The best way to know life is to love many things.”
Connie Dover and Skip Gorman — Full Moon Concert in the Dunes; an evening outdoor concert by the light of a full moon in White Sands’ beautiful natural amphitheatre; an intimate setting in the New Mexican desert – bring blankets or lawn chairs; http://www.nps.gov/whsa; contact: 575.679.2599
..Searching for a radio station which plays “Connie Dover” and
similar music ?
Check out radio “smorgasbord” – your internet
radio playing folk, Celtic, rock, metal & more.http://www.smorgasbord.at
Let the all girl band conquer the global arena of Irish traditional music, Liadan is here! Not only that they’re all pretty, they got original talent for clever arrangements, singing in harmony, and play traditional instruments at such a breakneck speed that destroys the myth that beauty and brains don’t go together. Liadan has proven to the world that traditional music is very much alive and kicking. We are assured, that there are still talents out there who will carry the torch lead by bands such as The Chieftains, Clannad, Cherish the Ladies, Altan and De Dannan in decades to come. From Galway and Limerick this inspiring all-female band comprises of six members: Síle Denvir, harpist; Deirdre Chawke, piano accordion; Elaine Cormican, whistles. Valerie Casey and Claire Dolan, fiddles; Catherine Clohessy, flute. Catch them perform in the following venues:
Don’t miss the big event at Leo’s Tavern this June 29th . SOS (Save our Scenery) is a benefit concert featuring Brian Kennedy and Frances Black. These are the two amazing voices of Ireland. The event is hosted by Leo Brennan’s daughter Moya Brennan whom we all know as the voice of Clannad and sister of Enya.
You can now get a copy of the fantastic PBS show hosted by Moya Brennan. The Music of Ireland (Welcome Home) is now available exclusively at Barnes and Nobles. You can see snippets of this video of you co to http://www.moyabrennan.com/ ….Jenne Lennon is in studio working on he new album. Her moving rendition of “Bonny Portmore” is for sale at I-Tunes, Amazon.com, Rhapsody , and all other online stores! Download the single that’s making all of the buzz in Scotland and the U.K.! The single is featured on the “Going Back Home V.11” Compilation Album through Quickstar/Sony Productions according to her website: Jenne Lennon is hard at work on a new performance schedule for the spring and her debut solo album! Keep checking the sites for more updates on all of Jenne’s endeavors! http://www.jennelennon.com/music.html…Luka Bloom is one of the important international artists to head the 20th Caribana Festival. Experience diversity and a kind of music that pushes the limits of what’s mainstream and what’ ‘alternative’ http://www.caribana-festival.ch/en/2010/artists/…. Albums, news and interviews of Irish Balladeer Brian Kennedy can now be seen when you go to http://www.briankennedy.co.uk/ also watch out for new up-coming autobiography!…For the month of June, Solas has the following tour dates:
What do you think the song is about? Don’t you think it presents a disturbing and tragic meaning?
Note: Mick McAuley has a different rendition of this especially in the 7th stanza which goes
“Are you weeping for your house and your home
is that where you longed to be,
Though I am not weeping for my house carpenter
I am weeping for my babies three”
Well met, well met, my own true love
Well met, well met, cried she
I’ve just returned from the salt, salt sea
And it’s all for the love of thee
I could have married a King’s daughter there
She would have married me
But I have forsaken my King’s daughter there
It’s all for the love of thee
Well, if you could have married a King’s daughter there
I’m sure you’re the one to blame
For I am married to a house carpenter
And I’m sure he’s a fine young man
Forsake, forsake your house carpenter
And come away with me
I’ll take you where the green grass grows
On the shores of sunny Italy
So up she picked her babies three
And gave them kisses, one, two, three
Saying “take good care of your daddy while I’m gone
And keep him good company.”
Well, they were sailin’ about two weeks
I’m sure it was not three
When the younger of the girls, she came on deck
Sayin’ she wants company
“Well, are you weepin’ for your house and home?
Or are you weepin’ for your babies three?”
“Well, I’m not weepin’ for my house carpenter
I’m weepin’ for my babies three.”
Oh what are those hills yonder, my love
They look as white as snow
Those are the hill of heaven, my love
You and I’ll never know
Oh what are those hills yonder, my love
They look as dark as night
Those are the hills of hell-fire my love
Where you and I will unite
Oh twice around went the gallant ship
I’m sure it was not three
When the ship all of a sudden, it sprung a leak
And it drifted to the bottom of the sea
Celtic Music Fan 