The Singer and the Song
Sixty Irish Songwriters and their Favourite Songs
by Audrey Healy
This book offers readers a unique insight into the origin of well-known popular
songs in Ireland today and will uncover the real story behind the favourite songs
of some of Ireland's most well-known composers.
In a unusal and thought-provoking collection this group of recording artists
to tell us why they decided to record a certain song and invites readers to
listen to the songs in a whole new light.
Covering all genres, it will include contributions from artists such as Luka Bloom,
Christy Moore, Mary Black, Sharon Shannon, Johnny Logan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Charlie
McGettigan, The Stunning, Roesy, Mundy, Liam Lawton, Don Baker, John Spillane and
many many more.
Half of the royalties from this book will go to Brainwave, the Irish Epilepsy Association,
I hope that their involvement will help show people that living with epilepsy is not
the end of the world and that there is help out there.
www.hodderheadline.co.uk
Press Release 23 August 2006
Hodder Headline Ireland
Irish musicians come together in aid of charity
In a new book entitled
The Singer and the Song,
the great and the good of
Irish talent have come together in aid of Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association.
In this unique collection, sixty musicians explain the inspiration behind a favourite
song they have composed or performed - giving us an insight into how classics
such as Pete St John's "The Fields of Athenry" and Phil Coulter's
"The Town I Loved So Well" were written.
The book is the brainchild of Audrey Healy, a freelance journalist and author
of three previously published books. Having epilepsy herself, Audrey is only
too aware of the stigma attached to the condition and has made it a personal
aim to show that having epilepsy doesn't define who you are. She stresses
the importance of raising people's awareness about the condition and says -
"Because of the way it manifests itself, it is not talked about as openly as
illnesses such as asthma or diabetes and ironically people with epilepsy are
dependant upon such openness. If I have a seizure it is in my interests
that the person next to me knows exactly what to do..."
The Singer and the Song features contributions from Brian Kennedy,
Paul Brady, Christy Moore, Phil Coulter, Joe Dolan, Christie Hennessy,
Charlie McGettigan, Paddy Cole, Liam Clancy, Mary Coughlan, Gemma
Hayes, Eleanor McEvoy, Don Baker, Declan O'Rourke, John Spillane
and many, many others. With the lyrics of all the songs featured,
it is a "must-have" for music lovers everywhere.
About the author
Audrey Healy's work has been published in the Sunday Independent,
Ireland on Sunday, Roscommon Champion, Longford News, Westmeath
Topic, NewsFour, Jemma Publications, and several other publications
including Dublin weeklies and trade magazines. A native of Rooskey,
County Roscommon, she has already published three books, St Therese
in Ireland, Dubliners: What's the Story? and Contacted (co-written with Don Mullan).
She is a regular contributor to local radio and has recently begun songwriting
with singer-songwriter Charlie McGettigan.
www.epilepsy.ie
synopsis
Have you ever wondered what motivates an artist to write a song? What exactly
was the inspiration behind classics such as "Rare Auld Times" or Christy Moore's
"The Two Conneelys". Or why certain songs like "The Hucklebuck" captured
the hearts and minds of Ireland at a certain period in time? Here, in this unusual and
thought-provoking collection, fifty of Ireland's celebrated musicians take the lyrics
of their favourite song, explains what that song means to them and invites readers
to listen to the song in a whole new light. From folk to rock, traditional songs to
showband classics, it includes contributions from artists such Luka Bloom, Mary
Black, Leslie Dowall, Johnny Logan, Maria Butterly, Charlie McGettigan, The Stunning,
Roesy, Mundy, Liam Lawton, Don Baker, John Spillane and many many more. This
unique compilation brings together the very old and the very new of Irish talent,
and is a must for music lovers.
www.amazon.de |
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Voices and Poetry of Ireland
A collection of Ireland's best-loved poetry with recordings by Ireland's best-loved figures
Author: Theo Dorgan - Publisher: Harper Collins / Hardcover - 208 pages (1 November, 2003)
Voices and Poetry of Ireland - a rich
and colourful celebration of the poetic heritage of Ireland. The 3 CD set and book anthology features classic and
contemporary Irish poems read by 100 of the best-known voices in Irish life, including Maeve Binchy, Bono,
Pierce Brosnan, The Corrs, Bertie Ahern, Bob Geldof, Seamus Heaney, Marian Keyes and Sinead O'Connor.
The collection includes famous poems such as Yeats's " The Fisherman" and Wilde's " The Ballad of Reading Gaol"
alongside new work from Ireland's finest living writers. As well as forming a living testament to the best of Irish writing,
the collection is also a reminder that words, both oral and written, do make a difference with all royalties going
to Focus Ireland, the country's largest and most respected charity
for the homeless.
The book that accompanies the CDs contains the text of the poems, as well as photos and biographical
information of the readers.
Press release and full list of poems and their readers @ U2Log.com
www.harpercollins.co.uk
www.harpercollins.co.uk/Resources/extracts/ex_ch_voices_of_Ireland.pdf |
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Luka Bloom's contribution |
Mirror in February
by Thomas Kinsella
The day dawns, with scent of must and rain,
Of opened soil, dark trees, dry bedroom air.
Under the fading lamp, half dressed - my brain
Idling on some compulsive fantasy -
I towel my shaven jaw and stop, and stare,
Riveted by a dark exhausted eye,
A dry downturning mouth.
It seems again that it is time to learn,
In this untiring, crumbling place of growth
To which, for the time being, I return.
Now plainly in the mirror of my soul
I read that I have looked my last on youth
And little more; for they are not made whole
That reach the age of Christ.
Below my window the wakening trees,
Hacked clean for better bearing, stand defaced
Suffering their brute necessities;
And how should the flesh not quail, that span for span
Is mutilated more? In slow distaste
I fold my towel with what grace I can,
Not young, and not renewable, but man.
www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Poetry/Kinsella.html |
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From the Cradle to the Stage
A Complete History of Irish Music
by Alan Swan
From the Cradle to the Stage by Alan Swan is one of the most exciting books on Irish music to be released
in years and proceeds from its sale will go to Fighting Blindness.
This publication is expected to be the ultimate stocking filler for Irish music lovers this Christmas. From
traditional to classic and from rock to pop it has something for everyone with a wide variety of artists
including Damien Rice, Damien Dempsey, The Frames, Mundy, David Kitt, Christy Moore, The Cranberries,
The Corrs, Relish, Ronan Keating, Westlife, Bellefire and Six contributing
(also Luka Bloom, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Sean Keane, Moya Brennan,
John Spillane, Juliet Turner, Kieran Goss, Brian Kennedy, Mairead Ni Maonaigh (Altan),
Paul Brady, Gavin Friday, Donal Lunny, and many more.)
In original interviews, over 70 Irish musicians and singers from various music genres share with us their
memories of what made them the people they are today. From traditional to classical and from rock to pop,
From the Cradle to the Stage chronicles the very best that is Irish music. Foreword by Gay Byrne,
quotes by Dave Fanning and Tom Dunne.
www.poolbeg.com
www.fightingblindness.ie
Interview with Alan Swan @ Zombieguide.com
24-year-old author Alan Swan worked in commercial radio and TV as a presenter
after studying in NUI Maynooth.
He's now working behind the scenes in music research for Tyrone Productions/RTE programme
'OpenHouse'. |
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Musikbücher: Nachschlagewerke Rock & Jazz
Rockbiographien
Das Never-Ending-Lexikon 33 (September 2002)
Beiträge dieser Ausgabe: Buffalo Springfield - Ina Deter
Luka Bloom - Rolling Stones - Teenage Fanclub - Wilco
Updates: Counting Crows - Danzig - Doro - Iron Maiden
Monatlich erscheinendes Lexikon als Loseblattsammlung, ca. 52 Seiten.
Herausgeber: Reupkes Rock-Verlag
Die Rockbiographien
sind ein monatlich erscheinendes Rocklexikon, das als Loseblattsammlung
konzipiert wurde .....
Das Nachschlagewerk enthält ausführliche Solo-Künstler- und Gruppenbiographien
aus allen Bereichen der Rock-und Popmusik, d.h. es werden Künstler und Gruppen aus den
Sparten Rock, Pop, Hard-Rock, Blues, Country, Folk, Jazz, Punk, Reggae etc genauso
berücksichtigt und vorgestellt, wie Interpreten und Gruppen aus den aktuellen
Musikrichtungen Techno, Rap, Hip Hop, Grunge, World Musik und diversen Crossover-Richtungen.
Die Biographien behandeln den zeitlichen Werdegang der Künstler und Gruppen und
beziehen sich dabei hauptsächlich auf deutsche und internationale Presseartikel,
Recherchen im Internet, Product Facts der Plattenfirmen und auf Standard-Werke
der Rock- und Popmusikliteratur. Abgerundet werden die Rockbiographien durch
umfangreiche Diskographien, Chartauswertungen sowie Literatur-, Internet- und
Kontakthinweise...
Info: www.rockbiographien.de |
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Celebrating Boglands
Book tells a tale of Ireland - then and now
- A unique blend art, prose, science, poetry & music inspired by the boglands
- International group of 36 contributors: Myrtle Allen, David Bellamy, Luka Bloom, and many more.
- Copies of the book are available from IPCC, 119 Capel Street, Dublin 1
Celebrating Boglands, a book published
by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council to commemorate the 20th
Anniversary of the Save the Bogs Campaign tells a tale of Ireland - then and now...... Reading the
book one is struck by the immensity of the journey, we as a nation have taken in just 20 years. We have
come from a time and culture in which we looked on bogs from afar - wastelands to be dug, drained,
burned, and planted, to a time and culture in which we have gotten off the fence and waded in for a
close look. And discovered places that although, to paraphrase one contributor, are empty of
agricultural animals or people, are nonetheless filled with life; the stealthy sundew silently stealing
insects, the magnanimous Sphagnum moss absorbing the deluges of rain, the arguing frogs...
Celebrating Boglands is a book of many moods, some sombre, some serene, evocative of the landscape,
some steeped in recollections of a life with different challenges, pleasures and fears, and some anecdotal.
It is a book to be read in little morsels, so as to savour its many moods. It is also a visual journey through
sparkling bog pools, colourful carpets of bog moss and 10,000 years of history, seen through the eyes of
artists, photographers and sculptors (Editors Note 1).
www.ipcc.ie/prcelebrating10-2002.html |
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Bringing It All Back Home
The influence of Irish music at home and overseas
by Nuala O'Connor
2nd Edition - Merlin Publishing - www.merlin-publishing.com
Paperback - 162 pages / 2001 / ISBN 1-903582-03-2
Irish music is flourishing in all corners of the world today, thanks to centuries of emigration. Bringing It All Back Home
chronicles the remarkable journey of Irish music from its origins in rural Irish communities to reinvention in the melting pots
of America and Britain, and return home to a new generation of exciting musicians.
Twentieth-century technology also sent it off in unexpected directions to meld with rock, country, pop, electric folk, blues,
and the avant-garde. This absorbing book chronicles those transformations-from the Clancy Brothers, Van Morrison,
Bob Dylan, Planxty, and Clannad, to the Pogues, U2, and Sinéad O'Connor.
For the past 14 years Nuala O'Connor has worked in broadcasting.
As well as writing "Bringing It All Back Home", she worked as assistent producer on the series,
which won a Jacobs Award. She won an Emmy award for writing a one-hour version of "Bringing
It All Back Home" for the Disney Channel in the U.S.
Luka Bloom article on page 153;
Photo: Luka recording in Hoboken, New Jersey |
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The Rough Guide To Irish Music
by Geoff Wallis & Sue Wilson
Paperback - 599 pages / April 2001 / ISBN 1-85828-642-5
Distributed by the Penguin Group - www.roughguides.com
Traditional music is alive and thriving in Ireland, and there's no better introduction to
the living tradition than "The Rough Guide To Irish Music". Covering every
aspect of the subject, from its distant origins to today's barnstorming pub sessions,
the Rough Guide features:
Essential background on the development of the music; biographical entries
on over 350 players, singers and bands, with dozens of photographs; critical discographies
and up-to-date-listings of the best places to hear, buy and learn Irish music, from
Donegal to Wexford.
Geoff Wallis is a journalist and editor with a special interest
in Irish music. Sue Wilson has been writing about Folk and Roots music since
1992 for various magazines.
Luka Bloom article on page 56;
Photo by Heidi Pearson |
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Celtic Music
3rd Ear - The Essential Listening Companion
by Kenny Mathieson
Paperback - 192 pages / Nov. 2000 / ISBN 0-879306-23-8
Celtic music today not only encompasses the traditional homelands of Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany,
but extends to new fusions being created around the world. This comprehensive guidebook including
100 color photos features both traditional and genre-stretching music, from Irish piper Johnny Doran
to the rock-influenced group Clannad, plus longtime favorites like the Chieftains. Included is
information on the music's wide-ranging instrumentation, including drums, fiddles, harps, pipes,
squeezeboxes, and whistles.
A lot of information; Luka Bloom is only mentioned in one sentence. |
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One Voice - My Life in Song
Autobiography by Christy Moore
An autobiography which dispenses with a traditional life-narrative in favour of an approach that's
far more innovative and revealing. A frank account of Christy Moore's rip-roaring career, in which he
eloquently communicates his love of music and illustrates just what it has meant throughout his life.
"I've been singing since before I could talk and performing since I've learned to walk - songs
have infiltrated every corner of my life. I've been learning where the music comes from and how the
words sound so different when they are sung. I've been mesmerised by the power of the greatest
musical instrument and I've witnessed how it can induce the healing tears of sadness and laughter.
Here are my favourite songs and the stories that go with them, how they have sustained me and
carried me round the world. From the dizzy heigths of the Palace Cinema in Newbridge, Co. Kildare,
to the lonely citadel on Carnegy Hall in New York, I've performed these songs 5000 times, each time
like the first, never to sing the last."
Christy Moore - Song lyrics combined with personal memories...
Of course a Christy Moore book, but there are also a few pictures of Luka Bloom, aka Barry
Moore, i.e. at Ballysadore Festival, Co. Sligo, 1977, or a family photo taken at Landsdowne Studio in 1987,
recording the Unfinished Revolution album (backing vocals on the song "On The Bridge").
Paperback book also available from Christy Moore Shop -
www.christymoore.com |
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2 meter sessies - het boek (in Dutch)
by Jan Douwe Kroeske, Flip van der Enden and Leo Blokuis
1992 / ISBN 90-5093-229-0
A book featuring Luka Bloom, Tori Amos, Chris Isaak, R.E.M, and others. |
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