You’re here today with Punya, Aspen, Rose, and Oliver. We’re in small town Dingle in County Kerry, where traditional Irish music is everywhere! We’re talking with singer-songwriter Segotia and a trad musician, Eilis Kennedy, about what music and tradition mean to them.

Please check out Segotia and Eilis Kennedy if you enjoyed their music! 

Traversing Irish Tradition: A Conversation with Dingle Musicians

Irish music behind intro

We’re Rose, Aspen, Oliver, and Punya. *in their own voices*  

Punya: We are four UC Santa Cruz students on a study abroad program in Ireland. Welcome to our podcast. 

Aspen: In Dingle, a small town in County Kerry, where traditional Irish music is so prevalent, we’ve found a young artist who has strayed further from tradition than most. 

Rose: Her name is Sorcha, and today we’re talking with her and a trad musician, Eilis Kennedy, about what music and tradition mean to them, and how Dingle has played a role in their work. 

*Sorcha’s Music here* Fade out 

Sorcha: Hello, my name is Sorcha and I go under Segotia for musical endeavors. Um, and I like to play music and I like to drink tea.

Aspen: Sorcha looks like a fairy. Her blonde and rose pink hair is the first thing you see, complemented by a gold septum piercing with a little green gem in the middle. Gold eyeliner wings out from below her eye, dragging upwards and making her irises pop. (track 25/24)

Oliver: Sorcha was born into a musical family in County Kerry. (track 26)

Sorcha: I’m the youngest of four siblings and, um, We all played instruments.

Oliver: Here, her love for music started. She grew up playing with her family and started taking it to the next level at a pretty young age. 

Sorcha: I used to do this, like, workshop.

Rose: Sorcha’s talking about a music workshop she was encouraged to attend, run by renowned Irish musician Rónán Ó Snodaigh (Ro-naan -o-Snodig). 

Sorcha: Yeah, it was a great experience, and it was my first time, like, learning what it meant to play with a band.

Without that, I probably wouldn’t have ended up doing what I do now.

Rose: His support encouraged her to stay involved with traditional music as a teen, even if pursuing it was daunting. 

*Music here*

Punya: For many students, going away to college is the catalyst towards a greater journey. Unfortunately, Sorcha has a less encouraging experience after leaving her home in Dingle to attend music school in Dublin. 

Sorcha: It wasn’t about falling out of love with music itself, but more like my own relationship with sharing, creating. Um, yeah. In the whole kind of, um, industry.

It was really daunting because like I went to music college and that was, they’re like you need to do this, you need to do that. And you’re like, oh, but I don’t want to do any of that. They’re like, well, then you’re never gonna be successful and you’re like, yeah, but I What if I just was happy?

Aspen: This is the moment where Sorcha asks herself: should I keep doing music? 

Sorcha: I was very sad. Um, yeah, I feel like I lost myself in a way that I didn’t, I couldn’t even see at the time.

Aspen: So Sorcha returns to Dingle after 5 years in Dublin. 

Sorcha: I came back down here and in all the open sessions, people were just like playing music, having a nice sing-song, like, just really doing it for the love. 

 

*Play one of Sorcha’s songs*

 

Oliver: To hear the perspective of a traditional Irish musician, we talked to Eilis (ay-LEESH)  Kennedy. 

 Eilis: My name is Eilis Kennedy. I live in Dingle. You’re In Ireland, which is a magical country.

Punya: With multiple albums and awards, she learned much of her early repertoire from family and neighbors in rural County Kerry. 

Oliver: Tell us a story about when you felt a deep connection through playing music. (track 35)

Eilis: Um, I do recall, being on stage in January with my good friend Pauline and we were singing a song.

*begin snippet of Lumiere duet* – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxcNPFKWJXQ 

And, uh, there was one moment there where we were in the middle of a song and, uh, we duetted together and we,  we just caught each other because she had a very sort of visceral moment that I felt and we just held hands for a second, um, and then it passed. 

And it was, it was more just about us and there was nobody in the room.

Rose: So, what do you feel when singing? 

Eilis: Oh, a feeling of comfort, I guess. A feeling of connection. Yeah. 

Aspen: Here’s how Sorcha describes her experience when playing traditional music: 

Sorcha: Yeah. I mean, I guess it’s a real different kettle of fish, like (…) it’s all about playing together in sessions, and it’s very different to what I do where, you know, you’re really like, trying to create (…) this kind of finished piece. Whereas in trad music, you’re like, it’s about playing together more, you know? 

Punya: For Sorcha, her music is connected to the tight-knit community of musicians in her hometown. 

Sorcha: Like, I really enjoy talking to people and feeling like we, like, connect and we, like, I don’t know you and now we have something in common and, like, that’s really cool, like.

Rose: She still has her doubts. 

Sorcha:To be honest, sometimes I still, like, wonder is this the right thing for me to do? 

Oliver: But in these moments she looks around at Dingle and the people there. 

Sorcha: People were just like playing music, having a nice sing song, like, just really doing it for the love, and, And that’s it for them. That’s, that’s enough. And that, like, whole way of, like, community and feeling like, oh, yeah. I can just do this too.

 

Record Group reflection here.

 

Rose: You’ve been listening to a podcast featuring Sorcha, a songwriter and singer who draws from her Irish roots to make something wholly new.

 

Aspen: And a big thank you to Eilis Kennedy, renowned traditional Irish musician, for tuning in and contributing her story.

Punya: We’re Punya, Rose, Oliver, and Aspen, UC Santa Cruz students on a study abroad program in Ireland. Thanks for listening.