Classical 96.3 FM Breakfast Classics Interview w/Lisa, Meav, Chloe, February 6, 2007
http://www.classical963fm.com


Legend:
BA: Bill Anderson, the interviewer
CA: Chloe Agnew
LK: Lisa Kelly
MNM: Méav Ni Mhaolchatha



BA: You're listening to classical 96.3 FM. I'm Bill Anderson and that was Celtic Woman from their wonderful new CD, A New Journey, "The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun." In our studio is now three of the members of Celtic Woman, Chloe, Lisa and Meav, welcome first of all.
LK: Thank you very much.
CA: Thank you.
MNM: Good to see you.
BA: Don't you love this cold weather in Toronto?
LK: It's great.
BA: Does it ever get this cold in Dublin?
LK: No, never.
MNM: Never this cold.
BA: Well, see it's a new experience then.
LK: It is indeed.
BA: We're happy that you're here and I want to hear all about the CD. Lisa, tell us what Slane Castle is like. This is in County Meath - I've been to Newgrange. I know the area around there. It's mystical, magical and, this is a mystical, magical experience to record this CD.
LK: Well, it is. I mean we were amazed when we were told it was going to be Slane Castle that we were actually recording in because Slane is well known for its rock and roll gigs. And when we went down we really weren't sure what to expect, and I actually thought we were going to be down in the ditch where they actually perform all the rock and roll gigs. But we were so surprised to find out our stage was actually an extension of the castle, which I think helped the atmosphere and made the whole mysticism of what Celtic Woman is, and it was such an honor to play there and we really had a great time.
BA:Now Chloe, had you all been there before at some time? CA: I think so. I think we'd been there throughout, I mean it was like Lisa said, a fantastic honour to be there. I remember the last show I was there was watching Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it was just amazing to be looking at the same piece of land that they performed on and we were up there so I think at some stage we'd all been there, but never thought we'd ever get the chance to perform there, so it was fantastic.
BA: How different is it, Méav, from recording in a studio? MNM: Well, doing a live concert is always going to be quite different. We did a studio album but for the DVD, it's a different sort of live sound. So I suppose there's the excitement, there's the - you've got your live audience there and you're dealing with being outside, which is quite something. And it was actually quite chilly although we recorded it in the summer in Ireland. Although we don't get snow like you do here, our summers can be pretty chilly so I think if you look closely in the DVD you can see our breaths occasionally.
BA: It has been known to rain in Ireland from time to time. So there is the New Journey CD and the New Journey: Live at Slane Castle DVD, and both of them have just been released - you've been on PBS television now some 3400 times in 316 different stations. Tell me about David Downes 'cause he is the gentleman who put this altogether and it's only a couple of years ago, but you've had the platinum album since then and here's another one that looks like it's going in the same direction. Lisa?
LK: Well, David had worked with all of us on separate projects and I think he approached all of us with the line that, "Oh, it's only one night in Helix, in Dublin." So I think we all agreed and said, "Oh yeah, that'll be great," and not knowing how it was going to turn out and you know, people always talk about things being an overnight success and this truly was. We did the one night in September 2004 and released the album then in March 2005 and by the end of the week that we had released the album, it had gone to #1 in the World Music Chart and Billboard and it stayed there until we knocked ourselves off with our Christmas album in 2006. So it's just - it really has been a whirlwind and you know, David's been amazing with all of us. He knows each of us really well and picks songs that suit our personality and suit our musical backgrounds and, it's just been brilliant working with him. BA: And Chloe, it seems like you guys get along, too.
CA: Oh, we're great friends and - (laughs) he's making faces - you know, people think putting five women together is a risky mix, but we really are five bestfriends on the stage. We've lived with each other for the past two years and we really know everything about one another and we help each other out on the road. I think, as Lisa said, we're so different in what we do and what our parts on the show is that there's no competition between us and we get to get up and perform our, we get to add our own part to the show and that's why there's no competition between us, and we really just have great fun. And I think that that's the wonderful thing about the second DVD. Now you can see that there's a great camaraderie between us on stage and we just have great fun there so, I hope people can see that.
BA: Méav, have you been home at all in the last two years?
MNM: Yes, well we were home for Christmas and we got a good break there, but the next tour - we're just starting now - is going to be almost 5 months long so it's quite a long time. But we get family to come over and we have a bit of fun on the road as well. So we make home on our tour bus.
CA: Yep.
LK: Exactly.
BA: I'm going to ask you to sing for us, and then I want to find out a little bit more about some of the particular songs that you're individually involved with on the A New Journey CD, but what are you going to sing for us this morning?
LK: We're going to sing "The Soft Goodbye."
BA: Ladies and gentlemen, Celtic Woman.
BA: Celtic Woman, from Classical 96.3 FM here in our studio is this morning, Chloe, Lisa, and Meav and that's a track from the A New Journey CD and A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland DVD. I want to talk to you individually if I can, for a moment about some of the pieces on the CD. Chloe, you do a piece called "The Prayer."
CA: I do - it's one of my favorite songs and it was such a great honor to sing it, and I said to David Downes that every time I sing this song I sing it for my mum and my little sister and my family at home, who I know are - as much as they miss me and I miss them - always looking after me, so yeah, it's a beautiful song and it really is so great to sing it and I had such a joy singing it in Slane being surrounded by the choir and the band. It was lovely. Such a nice song to sing.
BA: And Lisa, one of the things that's special for you on the CD is "The Blessing."
LK: That's right, yeah. "The Blessing" was written for me by David Downes and Brandon Graham and I actually sang it on the last tour as well and it was brand new for me on the last tour. And David called me one day and said, "Have a listen to this and see what you think," and I just fell in love with it. It's a gorgeous song and you know again, not to be sentimental but each song has a very special meaning for each of us and "The Blessing," obviously - it can mean anything. People think it's about a loved one, I kind of see it more in a maternal kind of way. It's something that everytime I sing it there's somebody else in the audience that reacts very differently to it, so I love singing it. It's a really nice song.
BA: It's not one of those pieces you're ever going to get tired of, is it?
LK: No, no. Well, I have to - hand on my heart I can say that of all the pieces in the show, there's not a song that I would ever get tired of singing and I think that's the beauty of Celtic Woman, is that all of us have been assigned songs or have chosen songs that actually suit us and that we're well used to singing and that we enjoy singing, which is very important when you're performing the same stuff every night.
BA: Méav, I love "Dulaman," is that how you pronounce it?
MNM: Very good pronunciation- well done.
BA: And it's one of your special features.
MNM: Yeah, it's great fun. "Dulaman" means seaweed, but that doesn't give much of the story away, of the song.
BA: Dulaman sounds a lot better than seaweed. MNM: Yeah, I tell you - it's much catchier. But, it's about a number of different seaweed gatherers in Ireland. They used to gather seaweed for lots of different reasons, for food, and for dying fabric, and the different seaweed gatherers could be known by the name of the seaweed type that they gathered. So, it's about a man coming to look for the hand in marriage of another seaweed gatherer's daughter. And the father is not too impressed with this guy, so it's a nice cheeky little song and we've great fun with the choir. The male choir really sing their hearts out, and actually now in the live show the female choir are going to come into it as well. So I'm really looking forward to doing that one live on the road.
BA: Now, where do you go from here? Where does the tour take you?
LK: Well, we start our tour on the 14th of February in Tampa. So we're in Florida for a good few days and then we head off back up towards New York and we're in Radio City then Patrick's Day again, which is great. That's a huge thing for us. And then, we're all over, pretty much all over and then we're hoping to get back to Canada on June 15th, 16th and 17th, so you'll have to look out for us now.
BA: We look forward to that. Now since you were here last and Chloe and Lisa were with us here about a year ago, you've added another singer to Celtic Woman: Hayley Westenra.
CA: We have, yeah. Fantastic young singer. We're delighted. She's joined us. She joined us for the DVD and we're hoping she's going to come out and join us for half of the tour now, so looking forward to performing with her. She's a lovely girl and she's really just fitted in so well with the five of us, so yeah. Great, another addition, fantastic.
MNM: And she is originally, well her family is originally from McMonaghan so although she's a New Zealander -
BA: Well, I was gonna ask you that because she's from New Zealand. We've been playing some of her solo efforts, and introducing her as a young singer talent from New Zealand. But there are some Irish roots - doesn't everybody have Irish roots?
LK: I doubt it.
MNM: I think everybody wants to have them.
BA: Well, you call it Patrick's Day, we call it St. Patrick's Day, but that day everybody's Irish. Thank you so much for being here.
LK: Thank you very much, Bill. Great to see you again.
CA: Thanks Bill.
MNM: Thank you.
BA: Best of luck on continued success.
LK: Thank you.
BA: Celtic Woman, the new CD is called A New Journey, the DVD A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland. They have just been released and they're delightful. Let's here a little bit more.