Happy St Patrick's Day all!
I hope you are all wearing green and listening to an Irish jig wherever you are!
You know I love to play the tin whistle, and to sing Irish and Scottish songs...so here is a video I recorded recently with my friend Susanna O'Leary (aka Zannah).
It's of the traditional Irish/Scottish song "Parting Glass" which was sung at gatherings of friends, at the end of the night. (I'm a bit unclear whether it came from Scotland or Ireland - I think both countries lay claim to it - but correct me if I'm wrong!).
We recorded this very quickly in a practice room at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. After a few false starts, having to change rooms, trying to get the phone/tripod to work, we literally had five minutes left and managed to get this take! Susanna sounds fab but my singing could definitely be better. At least the tin whistle is okay!
We'll be singing this song and more at some upcoming performances in Brisbane's Queen St Mall! Susanna and I have formed a duo, calling ourselves "Hjarta", which is an Icelandic/Faroese word for "Heart". We wanted to sing Celtic and Scandinavian music, plus original music inspired by those musical cultures. I literally spent days trying to find words that might have some commonalities in both Gaelic languages and Scandinavian languages...but many of those words don't sound particularly elegant, or are about very practical things, like fishing.
But since Iceland and the Faroe Islands have influences from both cultures, it seemed fitting to use a word from those languages! Also, Susanna and I both loved that it meant "heart".
We have some performances coming up, and will be singing and playing music from these regions, as well as our own original songs that are influenced by these musical cultures.
🎶HJARTA PERFORMANCE DATES 🎶
Queen Street Mall, Brisbane
Wednesday 11 April 2018
With guest Martin Reese (mandolin) and another to be confirmed!
12pm, 1pm, 2pm
5pm, 6pm, 7pm
(half hour sets)
Sunday 22 April 2018
With guests Martin Reese (mandolin) and Donald McKay (bodhran)
12pm, 1pm, 2pm
(half hour sets)
Free to attend, open to all.
See you there!