April 16 2010
On Saturday night, Mary Murphy graced the Alberni Valley, bringing the heart and soul of Ireland with her, and left an incredible and lasting impression.
Mary and Paul (her guitarist, partner and producer) played two sets, at Sound Advice, each compiled of 10 songs. Mary had a fabulous way of conveying her passion through song and story. Her voice sounded as though she was unleashing audible sunshine along with a soothing vibrato.
A few of the compositions Mary and Paul performed included Red Rory, which is a song about Mary's dog, Red Wing, a song about the re-incarnated life of two lovers, The Rose of Allendale, which happens to be Mary's favourite traditional Scottish song, Siuil a run, Orla, which has an intoxicating melody. They also played Odhran a Chroi, a charming lullaby with an unknown origin, and Raggle and Taggle Gypsy, an upbeat traditional song. They shared Nil na La, during which Mary taught the audience a few words in Gaelic so we could sing along. The song entitled Siuil a run was sung by Mary in both English and beautifully crafted Gaelic. During the bridge, all eyes were on Mary as she captivated the audience by doing a jig around the room.
Throughout the night, both Mary and Paul shared humorous anecdotes of time spent in Ireland and jokes which captured the audience's attention and in turn made the atmosphere even more cosy.
Both musicians were extremely talented. Mary played a bodhran (traditional Irish drum) and a cajon (a box drum that you sit on). Paul played an acoustic guitar and a mandolin. It was amazing how the two managed to sound
like a full band.
Mary also read an excerpt from her book, entitled The Emerald Diaries:Secrets of and Irish Clan, her voice full of emotion. As Mary was about to start reading, she encouraged the audience to close their eyes and pretend they were children again. The excerpt that she read was about a man at sea who falls in love with a selkie and asks her to marry him. Selkies are seal creatures found in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish and Scottish mythology, that are able to become human by taking off their seal skins, and can return to seal form by putting it back on.The two marry and have children, but after a while, she leaves him a note saying that she needs to return to her true family. Mary sang the "letter" segment of the excerpt in her beautiful voice and whisked the audience away into the fantasy she had intricately created.
After the last song, Mary returned to the thunderous applause for an encore and performed Tir na n'Og. After which she encouraged the audience to sing the chorus of Orla along with her, which was a magnificent way to the
evening.
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