Yesterday, I performed a few of my original Blasket Island Songbook songs in a salon concert in Baile na Ratha in Dún Chaoin, a beautiful village on the Dingle Peninsula along the southwestern coast of Co. Kerry. It was great to share my songs and the stories about Martin Kearney’s life on the Blaskets and his immigration to Springfield, MA. There was a lively discussion afterwords and wonderful questions from Americans and Dún Chaoin people, and I shared my experiences about the faculty concert I gave on my campus in April.
That concert was a marvelous experience. My band was fabulous, and it was so moving to bring this part of my work to fruition. I am working towards an album project to be recorded in the fall, and the concert was an amazing opportunity to share some of the songs, tell the Blasket story and Martin’s story, and to share some film clips from my documentary – including HD video interviews in Springfield, Chicopee, and Boston, MA, and in Dún Chaoin and Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry, Ireland.
Here are titles of the original songs I performed
Ferriter’s Islands
A Lament for the Dead
Martin Kearney’s Jig/Blasket Reel
I Wish on You
Five Children in a House on Gold Street
Martin’s Favorite Saying was tób go bog é
A Distant Shore
All songs ©® 2014 by Judith Coe
I played keyboards and sang yesterday afternoon, a lovely solo version of my songs, originally arranged for my band. In April, the great musicians that played with me included:
Peter Stoltzman, piano/keyboard
Sean McGowan, acoustic/electric guitars
Todd Reid, drums
Chris Daniels, acoustic guitar
Eric Olson, uilleann pipes
Joyce Mirow, backup vocals
Owen Trujillo, rap artist
Jake Mirow, dj/edm artist
I am looking forward to finishing the album project and arranging a tour back to Ireland with the band, for performances and an Irish album debut.
A Blasket Island Songbook 