During October 2000, Ben and I travelled around Ireland to film conversations with musicians representing wide-ranging music genres.
These six clips are excerpts from extended interviews with eleven musicians and were part of a 10-minute promo (hence voiceover) for a tv documentary that didn't go ahead due to the traumatic impact of 9/11. (According to a major network representative: "This is a lovely project but post- 9/11 we're looking for hard-hitting documentaries.")
Of the 72 interviews conducted from 1998 to 2000,
Celtic Women in Music (1999, Quarry Press), features interviews with 31 women from across the Celtic diaspora. Book Two wasn't published due to the same post 9/11 ''market reasoning".
Music can
bring great comfort when we feel wrapped in the warmth, intelligence,
and skill of talented artists. Each time our attention is captured
by musicians we make new discoveries about the spirit of
humanity, in the poetry of songs and in original combinations
of rhythms and melodies. These talented women present us with an intimate experience
of the inner workings of Celtic culture, especially in Ireland.
Executive Producer, Darby Shields -
Producer and Interviewer, Maireid Sullivan -
Cinematographer, Joe Edwards -
Sound Engineer, Ben Kettlewell -
Filmed conversations with eleven musicians representing wide-ranging music genres:
Mary Bergin (Dordan), Mary Custy, Siobhan Peoples, Josephine Marsh, Noirin NiRian, Moya Brennan, Eilin Loughnane, Grainne Yeats, Niamh Parsons, Juliet Turner, Eleanor McEvoy - followed by a recorded conversation with historian Morgan Llywelyn.
Musicians featured in the following six short film excerpts:
1/ Mary Bergin and Dordan; 2/ Moira (Moya) Brennan; 3/ Grainne Yeats (see dedicated tribute page); 4/ Siobhan Peoples and Josephine Marsh; 5/ Mary Custy; 6/ Noirin Ni Riain.
See travel diary and photos HERE Read book reviews HERE
During October 2000, Ben and I travelled around Ireland to film conversations with musicians representing wide-ranging music genres.