International

Orla Fallon

9/13/2009
Lindsey Weedston
Orla Fallon was born in Knockananna, Ireland. She released her debut album 'The Water is Wide' in 2000, and her traditional Irish singing soon gained popularity. In 2004, she was asked to join a group of singers to form Celtic Woman, which saw immense success on the world music market. In 2008, she left Celtic Woman to restart her solo career. Her newest solo album 'Distant Shore' is to be released on Sept. 22.

Lindsey Weedston: I read that your grandmother inspired you to get into music. How did you get started as a singer?

Orla Fallon: I've always loved singing, Lindsey. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but I actually don't ever remember a time in my life when I didn't sing. I'd say I started singing nearly before I could talk. My grandparents lived in the southwest of Ireland in County Kerry, and it was a five hour car journey away from our home and we used to spend a lot of time down there with them, and I can remember as a kid singing non-stop the whole way there in the back of the car.

Zucchero

11/17/2003
Dominick A. Miserandino
Zucchero is one of Italy's biggest singers, but isn't as well known here. He's recorded with the likes of Eric Clapton, Sting, Pavarotti, Paul Young and countless others. On his latest record he wrote his first song in English for John Lee Hooker, which happened to be Hooker's last song before he died.

DM) You sound a bit tired.

Z) Well, last night was the last night of the tour, so we had a little party. Then tonight I'm going back to Italy to record my next album. It's a duet album with all of my songs sung by other artists like Sting, Macy Gray, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, Tom Jones... A bunch of great artists.

DM) On this most recent album it sounds like you had an influence from America's south. When did you first get this interest?

Z) I don't know. I was always influenced by the Delta and Mississippi.

Garmarna

11/29/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino
Garmarna's Rickard Westman talks about being a Swedish musician, and what brought him there.

DM) What are the instruments "the E-bow" and "the Mungiga" that you play on the album?

RW) E-bow is a device used when playing electric guitar. Basically, it is two magnetic poles that make the string tremble and, in that way, create a tone which sounds as if the guitar was played with a bow. Mungiga is simply a Jew's harp, a very common folk music instrument all over the world.

DM) What was the first instrument you learned to play?

RW) The guitar.

Young Dubliners

11/29/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino

DM) Where did you start in music?

KR) I was always a into being as a musician way back in Ireland as a kid. Both my folks were in the TV bus so I was exposed to entertainment all the time. During college I started bands in Dublin and eventually emigrated to the states in"'88. After a few years just hanging out and trying other sh&^ty jobs, I fell into owning a Bar. The you Dubs was already sort of together and so we started playing every week at my bar (Fair City).

Zucchero

1/26/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino
Zucchero has recorded with the likes of Sting, Bono, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton and dozens of others. He's had numerous number one hits in Italy but still is relatively unknown in the United States. In talking to Zucchero we learned more about what the big name musicians have known for years, a talented musician who's changing the music scene.

DM) You've played with numerous popular English-speaking artists (Sting, Bono, Sheryl Crow) and have received their recognition and praise but Italian music doesn't seem to have caught on in the American market. Why do you think that is?

Z) I think that the times are changing. I think that people are more open now. The Americans are more open to, for example, Italian music. There are more chances for us in America now. And we are trying to do our best. I released this album in Italian and in English for this reason.

Dalaras, George

4/27/1999
Dominick A. Miserandino
Planes, trains, automobiles, and huge sell-out crowds. It's all part of world-touring life for George Dalaras, Greece's best-selling artist of all time, with nearly 10 million albums sold in his 30-year singing career. In an interview conducted via a translator, Dalaras talks about the difficulty of selling foreign music in America and the thrill of performing at Radio City Music Hall.

DM) Are you tired from your flight?

GD) Not so much the flight, but all these travel days. We went from Cyprus, to Egypt, to Israel, and then came back here. It was a long trip.

DM) When you perform, what languages do you perform in besides Greek?

GD) Mostly in Greek, because the songs are from Greece.

Syndicate content