I’m Kitty Donohoe from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and anyone who knows my music knows that I’ve been dipping into the well of my Irish heritage for as many years as I’ve been recording.  Rather than post a video of me telling you this, I’m putting up a slideshow of ‘The Ireland Song’, complete with scenes from Ireland so you can get the visuals with the music. 

Since my first album in 1987, I’ve incorporated the sounds of the traditional instruments I love into my original songs and tunes.  When I wrote my Michigan Emmy-winning song ‘There Are No Words’  on 9/11, I immediately knew I wanted to have the haunting sound of pipes in the recording. http://kittydonohoe.com/there-are-no-words/  The original version ends with Scottish bagpipes and the 2nd version opens with uilleann (Irish) pipes.  Either way, they work perfectly.  I’ve always known someday I’d do a CD of decidedly Irish music, and this is the year to make it a reality.

The Vision

There are 40 million Irish Americans in this country, including our president.   The CD I’m starting now (still working on the title) will celebrate both the Irish and the American sides of me, and you - friends, fans, and lovers of music -  can help that happen.  With your support I can create this record and have it out in the fall of 2012.  There are several components to the Irish American vision - a CD, a video, and more -  and the first and most important part is the CD.  Right now it looks like it will be about 50% traditional music and 50% originals and I’ll be recording a lot of it in Chicago with Dennis Cahill, world-renowned Irish American guitarist and producer.   For those familiar with Irish music you’ll know that Dennis is considered one of the absolute best accompanying guitar players in the genre and he’s played with fiddlers Liz Carroll, Kevin Burke and Eileen Ivers, as well as touring several times a year with Martin Hayes.   He’s also worked behind the scenes in the recording studio with many Chicago artists. Cathie Ryan already lends her lovely backup vocals on ‘The Ireland Song’ and she recently was crowned ‘The Best Irish Singer of the Decade’ by liveireland.com - and they hear them all!  She’s singing on the video above. I’ll also record some of it here in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area with some of our outstanding players and, if the budget allows, I’d like go to Cavan, Ireland this summer and record with master accordionist Martin Donohoe and some of his crowd.  I’m really blessed to have the chance to work with these talented people.   

The Music 

I’m not a trad artist - or a purist - and I’ve found that ‘Irish music’ means different things to different people.  For some it’s ‘Danny Boy’ and Bing Crosby, for others it’s political uprising songs, for others it’s The Pogues, and for others it’s the old, traditional ballads and tunes.  And they’re all right. Ireland’s history is long, and even tradition-bearers like The Chieftans have embraced the various generations of musicians in their records. I’m a third-generation Irish American songwriter - not a native - and I never bill myself as an ‘Irish’ or ‘Celtic’ singer because...I’m not!  As much as I love listening to music from Ireland, it’s very important to me to have an authentic voice in my work, and this project will reflect that.   I’m still working out the musical details, but I have complete faith in the integrity of Dennis and all of the contributing musicians that it will be a high-quality example of the beautiful music of Ireland and Irish America that so many of us love, in all of it’s incarnations.

The Costs 

Having been through the recording process before, I know how quickly a budget can go awry.  I'm planning as tightly as I can and here’s what the money  raised will go toward.

~  trips to Chicago (and Ireland if the budget allows)

~  recording costs in all locations

~  fees to the musicians and producer

~  LOTS of coffee + beer + sandwiches

~  mixing and mastering costs

~  fees for artwork costs

~  duplicating costs

I’m still working on the Social Media part of my campaign -  like facebook and Twitter -  and will keep figuring that out as I go.  Even if you’re not able to contribute financially to the Irish American CD but would like to help, please pass the word on to anyone you know who might be interested in what I’m doing.

And as ever, thank you for supporting art you believe in, however you choose to do so.