Each week we will highlight one artist from Paddy McCarthy’s regular Music And Entertainment Guide for your reading pleasure. To read the full weekly guide, visit our ePaper.
You might have heard her before from when she was a member of the super group of singers Celtic Woman, now you can hear her with her new album, yes, the one and only Órla Fallon. She was born in Knockananna, Ireland and she plays the harp and sings traditional Irish music, most often in the Irish language. Fallon studied at Mater Dei Institute of Education, in Dublin. She has performed for the Pope and the President of Ireland and at Carnegie Hall. In 2004, Fallon sent a demo offer to composer David Downes, who was then working on the concept of Celtic Woman. Due to her unique vocal abilities, Downes contacted Fallon and asked if she would like to be a part of Celtic Woman, then only envisaged to be a one-night show. She agreed and became one of the founding members of the group as a singer and harpist.
In 2009, Fallon announced that she would be leaving Celtic Woman to have a full break and spend time with her family and was replaced as a member of Celtic Woman by actress and vocalist Alex Sharpe.
On July 24 Órla Fallon will release a new album of her favorite Traditonal Celtic songs, ‘Lore’, on Green Hill Music. Of the songs on the album Órla says, “These are songs that have been with me throughout my life.”
The first single from the album, the beloved ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ was released on June 12. With a long history, the lyrics and melody are a variant of the song ‘The Braes of Balquhither’ by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith and were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake into ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ and first recorded in the 1950s. It is a song of re-birth and renewal and Órla feels that this message is needed now. She says, “While in the recording studio little did I know that a dark shadow would be cast over the entire world and that our lives would change drastically with the global pandemic in the space of a few weeks.”
There are 12 songs on the album and the tracks read like a greatest hits of Traditonal Celtic music. They include, ‘Siúil a Rún’, sung in the Gaelic language, which is a song from the point of view of a woman missing her lover who has embarked on a military career. ‘She Moved Through The Fair’ is the lament of a lost love and Órla’s version is unique in its quiet and simple interpretation of the song, her soft vocals are accompanied by just the harp and violin. And the final song, ‘The Parting Glass’ is a Scottish song often sung at the end of a gathering of friends.
It was purportedly the most popular “parting song” sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
The album is produced by legendary American producer Dan Shea who has worked with Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Bono, Dusty Springfield and Placido Domingo to only name a few and his albums have sold over 150 million copies worldwide. A producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Dan Shea plays the majority of the instruments on‘Lore’.
An original member of Celtic Woman, Órla Fallon performed with the group for four years, touring the world and playing landmark venues across the U.S. from Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall in New York City to The Boston Opera House, Redrocks Amphitheater in Colorado and The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2008, Fallon struck out on a solo career that would quickly earn her four Irish Music Association Awards including Best Solo Singer and Best Harpist’. You can listen to Orla’s new album on our website that I am sure you will enjoy.