Days like this for Elle Marie O’Dwyer

Elle Marie O’Dwyer from Cork brings a little bit of magic to the tradition she cherishes so well. The recent release of her album, On A Day Like This, shows a little shift in her outreach, one that is guaranteed to introduce her to a whole new and receptive audience.

All-Ireland titles at the National Fleadh and Scór honours along the way have garnered major respect for Elle Marie as a keeper of the flame. She has made a number of appearances on Fleadh TV on TG4, including a memorable one from Sligo, where she performed the lovely Gary McMahon song, The Land of the Gael.

Her last album, A Roving Heart, contained many songs with deep roots in the Munster tradition. Two of the most popular numbers from that album were My Heart’s Tonight In Ireland and My Home At The Foot of Slieve Bloom.

Elle Marie’s new 12-track compilation spreads the net and yet remains so true to the style that the Cork girl has pioneered so faithfully since the first time she stepped on stage. The opening song, Brave Ireland, is penned by Elle Marie. The Boys of Barr na Sráide, the Sigerson Clifford song about old days in Caherciveen in Kerry, and Sweet Forget Me Not are two of the best-known Irish ballads on the collection.

The title track, On A Day Like This, was a song she heard on a PJ Murrihy album.

All Along the Wild Atlantic Way is a new song composed by Aoife Scott and Enda Reilly, while Ellis Island, a song of emigration written by Liam O’Neill from Dunmore, Kilkenny, is also featured here. Johnny McEvoy’s haunting The Town I Left Behind (Banagher) gets its first cover here, while others include Remember Me (composed by Christie Hennessy), Writing on The Wall (a Mick Hanly song), and the Lough Tay Boat Song.

Welcome additions to the album are The Tennessee Waltz and the old Carter Family classic, I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight, both of which are given superb renditions by Elle Marie.

“I’m delighted with the new album and especially thrilled with the appreciative response from so many quarters. I have broadened the appeal with the inclusion of some classic songs like The Tennessee Waltz, which has been covered by people in every genre of music,” says Elle Marie, who teaches at Athlacca NS in Co Limerick and close to the Cork border.

Elle Marie is loud in her praise of the team behind its production.

“It was recorded at Sonas Studio in Killarney, where the advice and guidance of Tony O’Flaherty is always so welcome.

“Other musicians featured were Jayme Linehan, Conor Linehan, Claire O’Loughlin, Conor Moriarty, Brendan O’Sullivan Cillian Ó Dálaigh and Aisling Urwin.”

Elle Marie launched the new album earlier this month before a major crowd in the Charleville Arms Hotel, where the guests included the recently crowned All-Ireland Céilí Band champions, The Shandrum CB from Cork (for the third year in a row), and PJ Murrihy. She will host a second launch out on Clare Island (Mayo), on 23 September.

Homeland from Derek

Homeland is the new single from Derek Ryan. It is a track taken from his album, The Fire, which goes on general release this week. The album is being launched at the National Ploughing Champions in Tullamore.

The song Homeland is dedicated to his home county of Carlow and encapsulates memories and feelings for the land at the foot of Mount Leinster. A video for the song has also been shot on location in Co Carlow.

Leslie leads the way

Wexford man Leslie Dunne gives us a taste of what to expect from his new solo Gospel album, with the early release of the single In The Sweet By and By.

Leslie and John comprise the popular Blue Lace group in the southeast and Leslie is also church organist in his parish of Bree, near Enniscorthy. It is a role he has fulfilled along with Bree Parish Choir for around 35 years.

The new 13-track album was recorded in John Street Studios and features some top-quality musicians. His rendition of In The Sweet By and By certainly sets the standard and is so close to the heartland of this music, which has so lovingly being nurtured and preserved in the Appalachian region of the southern states of America.

Beyond the Sunset from Philomena

Philomena McGovern O’Brien has opted for the gospel standard, Beyond the Sunset, for her latest single. The Clare-based Cavan native has made a fine recovery from a health issue in recent years and is back performing shows on the circuit at home and abroad.

Beyond The Sunset has been recorded by many artists since the 1950s and proved very popular for such American artists as Pat Boone, Jo Stafford and Red Foley. This is Philomena’s follow-up to another inspirational song, In The Time That You Gave Me. CL