WESTWARD, the new album by Éilís Kennedy is a product of life on the Atlantic fringe, with songs in English and Irish inspired by famous musical nights in Dingle and beyond. Having travelled to the west coast of California to record with Grammy Award winning guitarist William Coulter, this album reflects where Éilís is at now, as an artist. Featuring traditional and contemporary songs and in a new departure for Kennedy, two self-penned originals, referencing her own distinct place and people.

Baile an Mhúraigh is at the edge of Europe, the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. It’s a place that lies between the wild grandeur of Mount Brandon and the booming Atlantic Ocean. It is here that Éilís Kennedy’s parents transmitted to her a lifelong interest in poetry and song. At home, both music and the Gaelic language were part of everyday life, a happy fact reflected on this beautiful new recording Westward. She has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to listen to many of the finest exponents of song in her locality and she has absorbed all that resonates within that vibrant Gaeltacht tradition, yet it is the emotions and stories associated with singing that have informed her love of song.

Regarding Westward  Éilís says : “This album reflects some of my musical travels in the last 20 years and, for the first time, some original songs of my own. Now that I am older, with more time, I have the freedom to spend time writing as well as learning new songs. The people with whom I have developed my music over the years also feature here, and I recorded it outside Ireland to bring that perspective that being away from the familiar can bring. For me there is a sense of the past from my own family, and also a glimpse of the new. I had strong ideas of sound and also the look of the booklet and photographs which years of recording and performing have given me in a sense an independence.”

This is track eight from the album, a self-composition called 'The Flannel Red', which tells a personal tale of superstition from the Great Blasket Islands.

Much inspiration has been gained in John Benny’s pub in Dingle, famed for its all night singing sessions. It just so happens to have Éilís as its Bean a’ Tí or Woman of the House and Éilís and her husband John Benny are renowned for inviting Ireland’s finest artists to perform here. It is through immersion with this melting pot of musicians and singers that have passed through Dingle and settled in the area, that Éilís was first encouraged to record. She released to great critical acclaim two solo CDs Time to Sail in 2001 and One Sweet Kiss in 2005. In 2007, alongside Rita Connolly, Seamus Begley, Jim Murray, Eoin Ó Beaglaoich & Dáithí Ó Sé, she was part of Béal Tuinne, a 15 song cycle, based on her own father, Caoimhín Ó Cinnéide’s poems and set to original music by world renowned composer Shaun Davey (Brendan Voyage, The Relief of Derry Symphony). In 2009 she formed Lumiere with Pauline Scanlon, on discovering a shared interest in and love of song and on enjoying the new experience of duo singing. They released 2 albums, Lumiere and My Dearest Dear, and have toured Ireland, Australia, the USA and Europe. They have done much to bring the songs of Ireland to a wider audience and have received huge praise for their spirited performances worldwide in places such as Carnegie Hall in New York and The Barbican in London.

In addition to 'The Flannel Red’ featured above, Éilís also contributes another composition ‘Highway Mack’ which references the currently relevant issue of homelessness. These new songs sit alongside fresh interpretations of classics such as ‘John O’Dreams’ and less well known gems such as ‘An tÚll’ and ‘Pé in Eirinn Í’.

The album is now on release and can be purchased from www.eiliskennedymusic.com as well as on CDBaby.com

The album is also available as a free download for broadcasters that are part of our Download Centre.

Musicians

William Coulter - Guitar

Barry Phillips - Cello

Martin Brunsden - Bass

Jesse Autumn - Harp

Kevin Burke - Fiddle

John Weed - Fiddle

Adam Hendey - Bouzouki

Aria di Salvio - Cello

Edwin Huizinga - Violin

Marie Fielding - Fiddle

Damien Mullane - Accordion

Shelley Phillips - English horn

Recorded at Bear Creek Recording Studio, Santa Cruz CA

Additional recording at Wind River Studio, Santa Cruz CA and Stúidéo Mhic an Daill, Dingle, Ireland

Engineered by Justin Mayer, William Coulter, Steve Coulter, and David Higdon.

Photography : Fiona Morgan

Layout: Image and  Design

Mastered by Jim Salamon  at Cambridge Sound Studios

Produced  by  Éilís Kennedy & William Coulter

Mixed by Donogh Hennessy at Stúidéo Mhic an Daill, Baile an Ghóilín, Dingle.  Ireland

Thank you to:

William Coulter , Rachel Goodman , Steve Coulter ,Larry Beau ,Barry Phillips , Shelley  Phillips ,Martin Brunsden , Edwin Huizinga, Adam Hendey, Aria DiSalvio , Jesse Autumn, John Weed , Marie Fielding, Kevin Burke, Damien Mullane, Justin Mayer,Garth Neustadter ,Pauline Scanlon, Eamon Murray, Fiona Morgan, Donogh Hennessy, Jenny Smart

My  brothers and  sisters who  encourage, inspire and  support me. All  the   extended  Kennedy  clan -  mo  cheol sibh. My Mother Edna – legend. To my   hardworking and   supportive   other half, John Benny Moriarty.  Party on. To my three children Ben, Colm and Niamh   who pretty much are the reason this happened at all. Sound for the lift, lads.

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