About Me
News: INVASION OF MOTHER IRELAND'S DAUGHTERSWe have product! Cynthia's new CD Mother Ireland's Daughters has arrived and is on its way to distributors. Traditional and original songs about the Easter Rising, the Troubles, the peace process, so what? What makes this collection different? Finally, some recognition of the women who made, and continue to shape, Irish history! Cynthia takes you back to occupied Ireland to hear their stories: young girls longing for soldier sweethearts, mothers mourning their dead in Dublin streets, heroic women who fought for freedom. She continues the journey through a partitioned country, exposing injustice, pleading for peace, and challenging Irish women everywhere to follow in the footsteps of their gallant ancestors. If you love the old songs of freedom, want to know more about Irish women throughout history, or you're ready to discard the idea that history has to be dull, this is for you. You may be saddened, you may be proud, or you may be incensed...but you will be changed.BUY A CD, BUILD AN ANIMAL SHELTER Cynthia has joined a dozen European musicians in raising funds for a much needed animal shelter in Sofia, Bulgaria. The compilation CD, You Must Be Barking: The Dog's Bollocks vol.1 is available on CDBaby, with all proceeds going to the Bulgarian Society for Animal Protection and Preservation. Order yours now at www.cdbaby.com/cd/youmustbebarkingBut hurry! Only 2,000 copies are available!Cynthia grew up in a musical family but didn't perform professionally until she was well into two careers, as a mother and as a nurse. After being "dragged blinking onto a stage", she has delighted audiences in Ireland, Canada, and the United States with her pure vocals, whimsical humor, and spirit of adventure and fun. In her music, Cynthia relates Celtic mythology, Irish history and stories of everyday life, frequently with a humorous twist.Cynthia, about herself:I have often been asked if my mother sang Irish lullabies to me. There was no toora-loora-loora in her at all. Her idea of a lullaby was either The Rising of the Moon or Our Timmy's at the Fighting. My grandmother had a ceili kitchen, where friends and neighbours would gather for song and dance. When I'd be caught up and sent to bed, I'd go to sleep listening to the voices, fiddles, and dancing feet. I thought singing was something everyone did, rather like breathing. Along the way I found that I could write songs from my own life or from stories people have told me.Whether I'm performing on stage or recording, I feel myself back in those ceili nights. So, welcome to my kitchen.About the songs and how they came to be:Cauldron of Life--In Irish mythology life begins and ends in a bottomless cauldron, tended by the triple goddess which is every woman. This song is of a woman looking back at her changing role.Nancy's Song--written for Cynthia's friend Nancy as a "fight song" for her battle with cancer.Annie's Knickers--A shy widow finds romance after her laundry is stolen.Out With the Rubbish--a woman finds an unusual way to rid herself of an annoying husband.I Am Still with You--Cynthia wrote this song in memory of her mother. It reminds us that those we have loved are never far away.Lisburn Reprise--about the Troubles and Long Kesh.Bobby's Own Ballad--commemorating the death of Bobby Sands in 1981.
