The New Shoes – A
Perfect Fit
by Eilidh Davies
June 2007
The New Shoes is the debut album from Irish flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy. I caught up with her in her charming cottage in the Scottish highlands…
E: Tell us a bit about yourself and your musical background?
N: I grew up in Ireland, in Dundalk, Co.Louth, although both my parents are originally from Belfast. My mother noticed I seemed to have a musical ear when at the age of three I began correcting her out-of-tune singing of nursery rhymes! What a cheek! At any rate, I started lessons in classical piano and tin whistle, and eventually began playing flute in a local ceili band. It was a great experience playing in the band, as most of the members were a lot older than myself and so I had to work hard to keep up with them… During my youth, music was always seen as a worthwhile sideline in life, it was never presented as a viable career option and I just didn’t even consider becoming a professional traditional musician. I was really into art, drawing and making ceramics, and thought that was maybe what I would like to do to make a living. However, when I moved to Edinburgh to attend the college of art there, I became involved in the city’s vibrant traditional music scene where I met the musicians with whom I formed earlier bands. At the same time a lot of other types of music abounded in Edinburgh, particularly in the late-night hostelries we frequented! I liked going out clubbing and to see jazz concerts or just gigs of various kinds that different friends would be involved in. One of my all-time favourite gigs was a tribute to Fats Waller by the jazz singer Freddie King with Brian Kellock on piano and Sandy Wright on guitar. The spirit of Fats came down and ‘inhabited’ Freddie – it was so great, a brilliant combination of music and theatre. I enjoyed working in the Lyceum Theatre for a while as a student and I still find the combination of music and some element of theatrics very powerful. I love to be transported to another world!
E: Where did the title The New Shoes come from?
N: Well, a musician friend Norman Chalmers actually suggested it. And it immediately struck me as a good name for a new venture. This is the first album under my own name, so I felt like I was walking along a new path. As a title, The New Shoes also has resonances with when I started out in traditional music. At the age of eight I began whistle lessons with a local teacher Mary Grennell. Mary’s father was a cobbler and she gave her lessons from a small room at the back of the shop, so one of my earliest associations with learning tunes is with the smell of leather and a preponderance of shoes. So it seems pretty appropriate that this album is called ‘The New Shoes’! And then, of course, there is the fact that I really like shoes!
E: How did you approach getting the band together for this album?
N: I was encouraged by Bob Kenyan, a Scottish Television producer to put together a band for his series ‘Ceol aig a’ Chaisteal’ (Music at the Castle) - I had been thinking about doing a project involving two flutes already and this gave me the impetus to make it a reality. I asked Claire Mann to be involved; I had known her for a long time and plus she was my neighbour at the time. Julian Sutton and I met years ago on the session scene in Edinburgh, but we had played together recently at the Celtic Colours Festival in Canada. I started to play with Marc Clement when I lived in Inverness where I was studying Gaelic. He played with me for my first solo performance in 2005. Each of their styles are so individual and unique but I had a feeling that they would compliment each other musically and enjoy playing together; luckily they did! We toured in 2006 in the Highlands and Islands and recorded the album down in Glasgow towards the end of the year.
E: There are four songs on the album, why did you choose these particular songs?
N: The Irish songs I found in Cas Amhrán by Micheál Ó hEidhin, a standard songbook in Ireland and I interpreted them in my own way. I love the melodies of these songs and the spirit of nostalgia which the words inspire. Although infused with longing, they are not tragic songs. I really like the arrangement of Cáit I nGarráin A Bhile where as well as myself singing, the accompanying instruments pause and almost breathe themselves; it has a real ‘sighing’ quality. In ‘A Bhean Úd Thíos’ the woman at the centre of the story sits outside a fairy knoll and looks over at her old life which she cannot be part of. These stories seem as real to me at times as things that are happening in my own life! A mixture of feelings, myth and history.
The song Erin on the Rhine was given to my
by my friend and fellow musical mentalist Cathal McConnell. He got it
from the singing of Rita and Sarah Keane, when he visited them in the
early seventies. As soon as I heard it, I loved it, and knew I would
enjoy singing it. Cathal has been a great inspiration and friend to me
over the years. He was also my neighbour and was often round at the flat
for tea and tunes and sessions of general mayhem. I think we have a lot
in common as Irish musicians living in Scotland and with the music we
are both obsessively attentive to detail. When it came to choosing songs
for the recording, I really felt strongly that I wanted to include this
one. With its theme of wartime loss and the continuing violence in
war-torn areas of the world, I felt it was sadly still very much
relevant to today. And I also knew that I would love to have Cathal sing
on it with me.
I learned the Groves of Donaghmore from the singing of Christy O’ Leary,
who recorded it on his solo abum ‘The Northern Bridge’. I liked it as it
is set in an area close to where I am from on the East Coast of Ireland,
and also because it is a happy story where all ends well for the couple
involved. I think the tune ‘Bluenote’ which accompanies it is a wee
cracker – it was written by Ryan J. MacNeil, a piper and whistle maker
from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
E: There are some other tunes from Cape Breton on the album too. Is this somewhere you are drawn to?
N: Yes, very much so. I am very fond of the
place and its people, who have been very supportive of my music. I have
been fortunate to have been invited to the Celtic Colours International
Festival over several years as a soloist and with various line-ups.
During that time I have played with so many lovely musicians. Two of the
tunes on The New Shoes are by Kinnon Beaton, who is a prolific composer
and wonderful fiddler.
I also toured in Cape Breton with tutors from Chris Norman’s Boxwood
flute school and returned as a research fellow in 2006 when I was
awarded a Thyne Scholarship from the English Speaking Union. This gave
me the opportunity to visit many musicians and composers all over the
island and interview them about their lives, their music, their thoughts
on composition and of course also to collect some tunes. It was a dream
job!
This continued link with Cape Breton has allowed me to build up strong
friendships within the musical community there, and to develop that to
another level. I have recorded on albums with Troy McGillivray and
Kimberly Fraser who both play fiddle and piano. I recently performed
with them, guitarist Patrick Gillis and singer Buddy MacDonald at the
25th Orkney Festival which was a really fantastic weekend.
E: You have a very direct singing voice and a sense of your involvement with songs comes across very strongly. Was this a conscious decision?
N: Well, I suppose I am a straight-up kind of person, and I like to have my cards on the table. With regard to the songs I wouldn’t say it was a completely conscious decision, but with singing, there is nowhere to hide! The personality has to come through. I love to hear the story of a song unfold, and some of my favourite traditional singers such as Eithne and Pádraigin Ní Úallacháin, Anne Martin, Mary Smith and Cathal McConnell are very clear and direct singers.
E: The musicianship throughout the album is superb and you have some very fine special guest appearances. Tell us more about the players…
N: Well in the New Shoes album line-up we have Julian Sutton (melodeons) who is well-known as a member of Kathryn Tickell’s band; he also has his own killer album ‘Melodeon Crimes’. There is a classic, enduring quality to his music and I am a big fan of his compositions. Marc Clement (guitar, vocals), who plays with Blazing Fiddles, is one of the UK’s finest guitarists. He is just astounding in the studio and is also a great singer. Claire Mann is super-talented on flute, fiddle and vocals. She has made several recordings, the last of which ‘Secret Orders’ was very well-received. In fact all these musicians have a string of CDs to their names as well as a lot of experience both performing live and in the studio. I am privileged to work with them, as with the other special guests on the album: Mhairi Hall, Mario Caribe, Donald Hay, Cathal McConnell and Daniel Lapp.
E: When did you start writing music?
N: I began writing tunes about seven or
eight years ago, when they sporadically began appearing, usually in
their entirety. I thought my first tunes maybe belonged to someone else,
but as more appeared I became more confident that they were mine. I
recorded a few on my early cds, and eventually began to write more
deliberately, though I still had this panicky feeling that I had to
write things down quickly before they disappeared back into the ether!
When I look back on that period now, it seems natural to me, that, with
my background in art, and particularly in the physical nature of working
in ceramics and glass, that I would take the material around me then,
which was traditional music and begin to make things from it.
Now I tend to work by recording my ideas and sifting through them to
find the ones I like. For me, the tunes seem to come in groups, or
families and lots of musicians I have spoken to seem to also find that
is the case for them. I look at the family groups and then try and
choose my favourite members! At the moment a lot of what I am writing is
coming out in circular tunes with odd timings – a while back it was all
4/4 minor tunes!
E: Five of the tracks on the album are your own compositions and you recently wrote a commission for the Celtic Connections Festival which was very well-received and critically lauded. Is composing new music something you are interested in exploring further?
N: Definitely. Writing an hour-long piece for the festival commission was quite a challenge, but was a fantastic opportunity. I wrote for a nine-piece ensemble which as well as a host of great Scottish musicians also included the indie-poet superstar Will Oldham from Kentucky and Canada’s Daniel Lapp and Oliver Schroer. The piece was called ‘Astar’ which is the Scottish Gaelic word for ‘journey’ and consisted of sections which were quite prescribed, mixed with other sections which were more of an improvised soundscape in nature. The songs were set against a continuous musical backdrop and the whole thing was accompanied by visual imagery in the form of live projections. It was such a fantastic experience, seeing these musicians from different backgrounds get together, meet each other literally and metaphorically, and turn my music into a great show. And it was so satisfying being on stage with eight immense musicians – it was powerful and I loved it!
I am now writing a piece for the Distil Showcase in October 2007. As yet I have only a rough outline of how it will turn out, but it is starting to take shape, in my head at least! It is inspired by the writing of Bruno Schulz, a Polish author who was killed during the second world war. It is wonderful to be given the opportunity to do these kinds of commissions. I think it has helped me develop into a more versatile and creative musician, although it has also brought up all sorts of philosophical questions to do with art, intention and meaning along the way!
E: There is a final surprise on the album, a hidden track (well maybe not so hidden now!) which sounds a bit more experimental. Tell us about how that track came about.
N: In January 2006 I visited New York to study with musicians with backgrounds in contemporary music, including Jane Rigler, Yoon Sun Choi and Robert Dick. Jane is a flute player who specializes free improvisation. I was very inspired by her music and her open approach. We worked on a few pieces collaboratively during the Boxwood tour and I wrote this piece with a section for Jane in mind. She took that and improvised around it- she is an amazingly responsive player. I was very happy with the result - as far as I am aware it is something completely new within the realm of traditional music, and I think it captures the live and spontaneous nature of the music we were making, as well as just the sheer fun of it!
E: What do you enjoy listening to in your spare time?
N: From a traditional perspective, despite being a flute player myself, I have always been fascinated by great fiddle playing. I love listening to Liz Carroll, Frankie Gavin, Paddy Glackin and Paddy Canny. But usually I like to get a break from the music I play and listen to singers like Will Oldham, Rickie Lee Jones, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Bob Marley... When it comes to flute playing my current favourite album is one by Barthold Kuitjken,Twelve Fantasise for Flute by Teleman. I have a favourite album of Hungarian laments on voice and fiddle which consists of one hour-long track. At the moment I am listening to the American band Tin Hat, Angels and Beyond by Rautavaara and Live at the Priory by Paul Dunmall, Julie and Keith Tippett, another hour-long album. My attention span must be increasing! When I am driving I sometimes listen to tapes Cathal has given me of Johnny Doherty, Seamus Ennis, Frank Cassidy and the Louth fiddler Peter McArdle. I just have a tape player in the car and that’s where I keep all my old cassettes. But my very favourite things are surprise compilations made for me by musical friends.
E: You are a traditional musician living in Scotland, but you are Irish. I’m sure you have some perspectives on what is happening on the scene in Scotland…
N: I think Scotland boasts a very vibrant
musical environment. Collaborations between different musicians and
across genres are quite common and there seems to me to be a lot of
acceptance in Scotland of new music within the tradition. The commission
I wrote for Celtic Connections was part of the innovative New Voices
series, where each year three traditional artists are given the
wonderful opportunity to compose new work. The Arts Council support new
ventures and there are other schemes such as the Dewar Award which exist
to aid the development of young artists and musicians. Both those funds
helped support the New Shoes album, and that support was more than just
financially encouraging. I think it is important to know there is some
support on that initial level within society, that the creation of new
art and music is valued and encouraged.
Since I have moved here I have seen great positive changes on the
Scottish scene, the development of the Feis movement has really
encouraged a lot of younger musicians and works hard to promote the
value of traditional music and the Gaelic language amongst the general
populace. I am a big supporter of Feisean nan Gaidheal’s efforts to
promote Gaelic - I wanted to learn Scottish Gaelic as I felt a natural
kinship with it, but also because I came into contact with it regularly
through the music and I felt it was too precious a thing to be ignored.
What I would hope for is even greater support from the Scottish
Executive for Gaelic and for traditional music in Scotland, particularly
in promoting Scotland’s fantastic wealth of new traditional music to the
rest of the world.
E: Any other projects in the pipeline?
N: Well, I am writing my piece for the Distil concert, and touring the album with the New Shoes in Scotland during most of July. I am also looking forward to touring as musical director with a Ceol nam Feis concert soon, which will showcase the tremendous talent of young musicians from across the Highlands. In August I am heading to New York for a fortnight as musician-in-residence at OMI, an international arts centre. It’s a really exciting project where fifteen musicians, from different backgrounds and from all around the world are invited to collaborate in preparation for two concerts of new music. I am also working on a CD with the brilliant Canadian fiddler Oliver Schroer. We have recorded some of it already. It is very simple really – flute, acoustic fiddle and piano or accordion. But the repertoire is unusual, evocative and original.
E: Well, Nuala, thanks for talking to us today, and best of luck with The New Shoes.
N: Thank you!
More information on Nuala and the New Shoes can be found at www.nualakennedy.com