Why? well, there was music in the house growing up. Mom had an old Hammond organ and loved to play lotsa oldies: Cole Porter, Henry Mancini, Rodgers and Hammerstein, you name it. When she switched it for a more electronic model in later years it wasn't quite the same; the older stuff sounded better on the mellow pipey organ. But anyway, I was playing various songs by ear at an early age. I also loved to sing along with old 8 tracks of Dean Martin and Love Italian Style and Engelbert Humperdinck and whatever was around...

Sang in choir in school. Tried to learn viola, then violin, but never stayed with it. Am still not much of an instrumentalist, though I can read music well. Played guitar a bit and loved it; mostly by ear, again and would like to get better at it through lessons. These days, after many years singing various styles (music theatre, rock, folk) have grown to feel most at home singing tradiitonal Celtic music. Play the boudhran, too; not too shabbily for a gal.

Why do I sing? Why it is purely magic. Witchcraft if you will. Shaping and molding a song to fit your own personality and spirit; there is no more profoundly magical act. And the exchange of energy with the listeners, whether ten or a thousand or tens of thousands: that is a powerful and healing occurrence for all parties. To be honest, I feel often when singing traditional songs that I tap into something ancient; the old story about lots of the old tunes coming from the realm of faery, well, this makes sense to me. Whether you call it Music of the Spheres or what have you, some songs are truly sublime, and spirituality and music are irrevocably linked in the human psyche. That we all feel resonance with the music of the Celtic lands indicates that our spiritual connection to this music is one which is embedded in a history of myth drawn from the land itself: sovereignty, battles, tree worship, heathen gods, you name it. Gives new meaning to the phrase "common ground"...

anyway it is my way of saying, I think Celtic music lovers, whatever their spiritual bent, are linked with ancient traditions and locations and beliefs, and maybe that is why there is an indefinable and special connection we feel with each other. For as much as I love this music for my own pleasure, it is the shared pleasure it brings to so many that also makes it, for lack of a better word, addictive...

peg