Niamh Strong: Songbird, Eva Cassidy and a Life in Music

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Episode transcript

Elizabeth Stack: Welcome Niamh to In the Building with us here in St John's Theatre in Listowel. I'm Elizabeth, delighted to have you with us and thank you for agreeing to do this before you come into the building actually.

Niamh Strong: Oh you're very welcome and delighted.

Elizabeth Stack: Niamh you're coming to St John's on the 11th of September with your show, your new show Songbird, a tribute to Eva Cassidy, but I wanted to just talk to you first about of course you know you come from a very famous family of singers. So what was it like growing up with music? I assume music has been at the centre of your upbringing and of course your career from the time you were very young.

Niamh Strong: I mean yeah I mean you know obviously because I'm so used to it and you know I don't really think much of it but I mean growing up in a musical family was fantastic because you know at the age of kind of nine and ten I was kind of listening to a lot of singers like Bonnie Raitt and you know Nina Simone and the list goes on really. So that that was a really really good thing to kind of get get into some incredible artists and yeah I mean there was always music going on in the background but like I said I was so kind of used to it but people always say you know that's a really cool thing like that you've the way you were brought up and stuff and I'm like yeah yeah it's just normal.

Elizabeth Stack: Well and the interesting thing I suppose is you know your dad of course is from the north of Ireland you grew up in Dublin. What I was going to say here the influence of on your or of your dad he was more into kind of modern music like not necessarily Irish traditional or so you know there are outside influences like American crooners or songsters a little bit of rock even so in one way you had quite a different musical background than other Irish performers

Niamh Strong: Yeah I mean you know my dad was in probably one of the biggest bands show bands in the 70s called the Plattermen and they were like really kind of rock kind of funk kind of soul. I mean he was huge back then I mean there used to be queues out they used to play in a place called the television club and apparently there was queues out the door like to get in to see them but even when you listen to them now there's a couple of tracks on YouTube and some of the tunes they're just phenomenal just the standard of musician the musicianship and everything on them are it's just great.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah and they sound almost sometimes a little bit before their time in one way you know because there is that kind of punky funky element you know to it rather than just the other show bands were kind of one two one two or you know or like Little Giants yeah they were very cool your dad's band.

Niamh Strong: Yeah I suppose yeah like I mean you know I suppose back then like Beatles would have been really big as well and yeah so I suppose you know people just really liked that good music I mean the Irish tradition music is fantastic as well but I mean I think there's a lot of people out there that just like a bit more of a rockier edge as well.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah and did you find it difficult near then when it came to your own time you know to say I'm going to go into the same industry I know you're very creative and you do a lot of your own songwriting too but did you think it was sort of a hindrance to have a dad and a brother who were so famous or you know how did that affect you going into this career?

Niamh Strong: No not at all I mean if anything it was a major like it was big bonus for me like I just love my brother and my dad so much and they've shown me so many things as a singer as an artist even to write songs and everything so I have a lot to kind of thank them for and then just using my stage I got to learn my stagecraft a lot with my my brother in particular like just kind of you know touring all over the world with him to like really big crowds and you know my dad was the same also but like Andrew was kind of a different level kind of I suppose after The Commitments and everything like that but yeah I owe them a lot and they helped me and I suppose then when I decided to just kind of do my own thing it was just I suppose I just grew as just in my music career myself and I just wanted to do things for my own kind of, yeah I just wanted to see if I was able to do it myself so yeah hopefully hopefully people think I am.

Elizabeth Stack: Good yeah so that's interesting like Andrew I know he was very young making The Commitments and his own career of course as you say took off so it must have been interesting going on tour with your brother because like on the one hand as an artist you know you respect him and everything and he sort of is the boss but then he's also your brother so it must have been fun you know but I'm sure when you're working with family it can be difficult sometimes too you know.

Niamh Strong: I mean don't get me wrong like I mean we have our arguments at home like a lot of people say that we're like the Irish Osbournes you know.

Elizabeth Stack: I thought you were going to say the Osmonds. I was like, ohhhh...

Niamh Strong: No, the Osbournes. We're mad! And we're very close, do you know what I mean? If we need to be there for a particular reason, we're always there. So that's the one thing I love about my family. We're not perfect by all means, but we're very, very close and very supportive of each other.

Elizabeth Stack: So when did you branch out then on your own with your band how long have you been on the road and recording?

Niamh Strong: Well I mean I started it all in 2018 I kind of you know I didn't really know how to do it to be honest and I used to sit in my kitchen and at home because I'm a single mom as well so at the time I was only working part-time and stuff and I was like how am I going to do this and you know at the time I was a huge and I still am a huge Eva Cassidy fan and I just said to myself I'd really love to give something back to Eva and just to her legacy with her songs that she made her own just to audiences that loved her so I had a little plan and I just said right I'll try and do my Eva Cassidy show songbird at the time I didn't know how to do it so I just got a journal and I put everything down in the journal and I ticked everything off as I went along and then the following year I did my first show in the and it was sold out.

Elizabeth Stack: Oh wow yeah that was a great start then yeah.

Niamh Strong: Yeah well yeah it was a bit daunting but um it was it was brilliant I think it's because I just kind of believed in it so much and I really worked hard on it as well and then I suppose you know when you're singing you know when you're getting better at your craft you kind of can you know go down little alleyways and kind of use your falsetto side and then maybe your your stronger side I mean at the start like of my singing career I was more kind of a rockier kind of singer like a soul I used to just belt it out all the time and then when I learned the whole Eva Cassidy kind of set list I was kind of really getting to know my own voice a little bit better just with my range and stuff but I have Eva to thank for that because I suppose everybody has somebody to kind of they look up to in the musical kind of world who's their idol you know.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah well and that's very interesting because I think obviously you know your dad and Andrew are famous for having like that big big voice you know and and you obviously also had it if you were that rocky side and Eva is so ethereal sometimes and very very light and gentle so to be able to find another part of yourself in that I think is beautiful but you know have you had to modulate how you use your voice or you know are there certain do not talk the day of a show you know that kind of thing how do you protect your voice?

Niamh Strong: Well I mean I think the key to your voice is just plenty of rest and you know staying hydrated like drinking plenty of water is the key for me anyway but rest is vital sleep because there's nothing worse than getting on a stage and you haven't slept. It's hard and we've all us singers like we've all gone through it obviously you know with touring and stuff like that but that would pretty much and then if I'm not doing a gig like for just say like a month or something like that I'll always kind of sit down and maybe do a couple of warm-ups just 10 minutes a day just to keep the voice you know the voice kind of yeah just to keep it you know warm and it's not getting groggy on you and stuff like that so.

Elizabeth Stack: And so when you let's talk a little bit about how you kind of came to know Eva Cassidy's work because of course she became famous really I suppose after her death although you were telling me that she was quite well known in England you know that Terry Wogan had sort of discovered her so how did you come across her music and and what about it appealed to you?

Niamh Strong: Well I tell you it's actually a funny story I was living in Rathmines with my boyfriend at the time this is now obviously a good few years ago and we were all in sitting room and at the time it was one of those big kind of box televisions you know kind of like the wooden it's a really old one. Well you had to go up and change the channel with your finger.

Elizabeth Stack: like we're showing our age now!

Niamh Strong: I know yeah I remember we were all just sitting in the the little sitting room and we were just having a few beers or whatever and her live version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the black and white version from Blues Alley, came on and literally every single person there was probably only about five or six of us but we just stopped talking and we were like mesmerised and looking at the TV and from then on I remember my boyfriend at the time he went out and bought me the album Songbird and I played it like all the time in the car everything and it was just it still is today one of my favourite albums.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah I couldn't believe it so that was it too for me the just hearing that version and then I bought another album of hers and she covered a Buddy Holly song and like I thought she couldn't top herself on cover versions and honest to god this version of It Doesn't Matter Anymore, you know, blows the Buddy Holly version out of the water I was like oh my god this woman is amazing and there's like spirituals in there she had a very eclectic taste.

Niamh Strong: Yeah that's the one thing I love about her as well like to me there's so many great singers out there and they they do their craft so well for me like a good singer is that's somebody who captures your soul somebody who gives you that goosebump feeling and you're just in awe of them that's a real singer to me like a real kind of artist to me and Eva Cassidy never wrote any of her own songs it was purely her voice her captivating voice I just think there's not very many singers out there that have that kind of special unique you know voice that gives you that feeling.

Elizabeth Stack: Like I adore Karen Carpenter and I think she's one of those two that you know might not have written as you said music or I know Karen played the drums I'm not sure if Eva probably did play the guitar but like the voice is enough of an instrument you know and and and how intimate a performance can sound from these women it's like they're singing just to you you know there's something very cathartic like about that kind of performance I think.

Niamh Strong: Oh no there is there is definitely as much as you know some singers can't play an instrument I mean it's their voice that kind of the musicianship are people like the musicians they need the voice as well do you know what I mean so it all works very well together.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah and so then your band like in this you're coming to Kerry for the first time with this show which I'm delighted to have you here in Listowel and so yeah you'll be back and but you know I think how did the band like and then do you intersperse other songs you know particularly your own songs would you be able to play one or two of your own on the night or is it just Eva or is that a surprise?

Niamh Strong: I mean it's usually just the Eva Cassidy set like I have done one or two of my original songs I know there's a lovely couple that come to see me in Cork all the time and they love a song I wrote called Yesterday and they always say please Niamh can you you know can you do that song for us tonight and I mean you can't say no do you know what I mean it fits in very well to the set the Eva set so you know sometimes obviously I always say this is a song of my own but if I wasn't I'm sure people would obviously think maybe it was just an Eva Cassidy song yeah you know because she did so she did so many different songs I mean her voice goes from doing Chain of Fools, All That Soul, Take Me to the River to blues then to folk and then traditional and you know and like you said the spiritual kind of singing too.

Elizabeth Stack: Oh no it's great so we can expect that kind of an eclectic mix from you when you're here next week?

Niamh Strong: You can indeed yeah the show is really good and my band behind me also they're great musicians I mean and lovely really lovely fellas and so I'm very very lucky and I'm grateful to be working with them and they're fantastic they they add so much to the show also yeah

Elizabeth Stack: Well I think you know we're excited to have you down here and I think that she is so popular but and I love that there's a little bit of everything like she does the Tennessee Waltz she does the spiritual she's I heard her sing Danny Boy you know so there is kind of something for everyone but it's very accessible music and yeah so there are still tickets available so make sure people buy on stjohnstheatre.ie but yeah I think that Niamh will have a great night and you know I'm looking forward to welcoming you down and to hearing the story of Eva through you and through your work.

Niamh Strong: Thanks very much we're really looking forward to coming down to Kerry you know like I said this is our first time to come down you know the show is very intimate I mean I've had loads of people in the past come up to me and tell me like something very dear to their heart like that's that I had like I mean there was a lovely woman who had lost her daughter and at the time the Songbird album was very very much played a lot in their house and you know she said you know what Niamh you really really make made the whole show so special because I I really felt my daughter here tonight and stuff you know and like Eva touched so many hearts do you know what I mean and I just think it's such a beautiful thing if myself and the band can you know I suppose spread the love too.

Elizabeth Stack: Well and she was young I can't remember how old she was when she died but you know I think some of that kind of tragedy carries into the art like standing on its own her music is beautiful but I think when you know the story behind it too there's an extra little element of like oh my god you know what could have been and and maybe what should have been with you know her fame I can see how people would get comfort from listening to it do you know how old she was when she died?

Niamh Strong: Yeah she was 33 and she died of melanoma it's a skin cancer ... but like it's gas because I'm a very spiritual person and the way I look at things is I think Eva was sent here like from a gift from God in a way because like she brought so much joy to people's lives just with her voice and her legacy will never will just live on forever and she kind of I don't know like you know people listen to music to heal also I just think yeah in some in some sort of way she was like a saint.

Elizabeth Stack: Yeah the album came out I think at the right time like it just it hit every box you know and then I was thinking when you said you started in 2019 ish like to have Covid the year after you know like so you just kind of started and then maybe this little delay in the middle of things you know um how did that work out for you?

Niamh Strong: Well I did the show in 2018 and then obviously the Covid thing had happened and I suppose like people think like obviously it was such a bad time of of like for any for everybody to be going through but like in in some kind of elements it's a good it was a good thing too because I mean I learned from Covid that I could write songs my dad used to send me bass lines and you know I just used to put you know my writing to them from the melodies he'd sent me and I wrote brighter days through Covid um which was all about kind of you know hopefully we come out of these dark days and go into brighter days so since then I've like I've written about four or five songs so I suppose if Covid didn't happen I probably wouldn't know yeah that I could have wrote songs yeah or maybe I might obviously I might have developed it maybe at a later time of my career but I'm very happy because that's probably one of the most important things to me now is to to get as many original songs out as possible.

Elizabeth Stack: And I bet you know those first few concerts back to you know how amazing it was to be you know back in a room with people and hearing an audience instead of just doing a Zoom concert or what you know so I think we all learned from Covid how important like the connection with people and touch you know all of these things

Niamh Strong: Absolutely yeah I mean I mean I was terrified I mean I remember going and doing my shopping like first thing in the morning because I didn't want it to be in crowds and yeah I could be bringing the shopping home and I'd be bleaching it and everything like

Elizabeth Stack: oh I know yeah yeah

Niamh Strong: I'd be putting Domestos on it and stuff!

Elizabeth Stack: it was the same I remember the first delivery that I got I was living in America at the time and I left it outside for 24 hours like as if that would kill the germs you know I mean and I know one of my friends god bless her like used to sit it in the bath like you know she'd get a case of coke or something and she would wash all the cans of coke and I just thought what are we doing you know you know and like we needed the distance but I remember you know because I was in America the shutdown was it became quite politicised you know very quickly but I remember RTÉ and you know they were doing this in the corner of the television there was a logo that said like together apart and the the money that they pumped into the arts like so there were concerts you were you know the choir was at one end of the church and somebody else would be at the other end and I loved how Ireland came together and like recognised that we need our artists and our singers and our music to kind of help us get through it whereas that didn't happen you know in other countries

Niamh Strong: Absolutely yeah I mean you know I think you know it's great you know the way artists get the chance to kind of get out and do their thing in theatres and it's a great facility to have you know yeah and just bring just the local community together also

Elizabeth Stack: yeah exactly well that's you know again it's going to be a privilege for us here in St John's to have you for the first time in Kerry and we hope all of our North Kerry West Limerick people will come out and support you so thank you for taking the time and we'll have you here in the building next week but I'm delighted to get this talk up and and out so that people can get to know you a little bit before you're down here so thank you very much

Niamh Strong: Yeah and thanks so much and I'm really looking forward to coming down and performing and like I said the show is beautiful and it's a show for everyone so yeah great tickets are on sale