When I Fall Home (Journey of a Canadian Lego man)
I was coming up
To see the dark
To see a star spark

But blue , green with white swirls
remind me how I’m yours

And as I float above the world,
I imagine you waving from below,
When I glide back down down down,
I will aim for you when I fall home
When I fall Home

You can make a wish
though times are dark
Know that you are in my heart!

And as I float above the world,
I imagine you waving from below,
When I glide back down down down,
I will aim for you when I fall home
when I fall home
Home Home Home

And here’s the recorded version from Soundcloud.

So come on in to Bewley’s on Grafton Street and join us! It’s FREE IN.

This will be a wonderful sell out event, be sure to get down early or risk disappointment! seating is limited to 70.

It will take place in The Pearse Centre / The Ireland Institute. This is a stunning space and unfortunately a well kept secret, so it is worth a visit. For directions go here: http://www.theirelandinstitute.com/institute/directions_page.html

It is a 3 min walk from the front of the Trinity Gates.

Imeall Geal BBC

So I went up to Newry on Friday and had a great day recording Cur an Long Ag Seol and Dónal Ná Fág for the BBC’s Irish language show Imeall Geal, which will air on BBC2 next year in February or March. Really focused professional bunch of people there. Tomaí and Gráinne the presenters were great as were all the behind the scenes staff. The electronica fiddler Daithí was there recording as well, though I didn’t get to see him perform, with the way things went but I’ve seen him before looping fiddles and getting beats and mixing it with trad so keep an eye out for him. I’ll keep yis informed of when exactly the show will be aired.

Thaisteal mé go Iúr Cinn Trá an Aoine seo chaite agus bhí lá deas agam ag teafad Cur An Long Ag Seol agus Dónal Ná Fág le haghaidh an clár Imeall Geal do BBC, a chraolfar feabhra nó márta seo chugainn. Grúpa deas daoine a bhí iontu go léir. Bhí na léiritheoirí Tomás agus Gráinne ar fheabhas maraon le chuile dhuine eile ann. Bhí an veidhleadóir Dáithí ann freisin ach níor chuala mé ag seint é faraor. Coimeadfaidh mé ar an eolas sibh maidir leis an am craoladh.

Click to visit the Folkwords site.

Thanks to FolkWords for a great review! Here it is below! Do you agree? Leave a comment!

‘Arise And Go!’ by Stephen James Smith and Enda Reilly … ‘stunning’(November 09, 2011)
Occasionally, just occasionally something truly beautiful, original and enticing comes to your ears. And when it does it strikes deep and lingers long. ‘Arise And Go!’ from Stephen James Smith and Enda Reilly does that and more. It’s a stunning collaboration between alternative-folk musician, Dublin-based, singer-songwriter Enda Reilly and award-winning spoken word poet Stephen James Smith. Together they present the poetry of Padraic MacPiaras, Patrick Kavanagh, W.B. Yeats and Luke Kelly wrapped in powerful words and striking music.

There’s majesty, presence and an indefinable magic emanating from every second of this album. For sure it’s different with the intensely listenable juxtaposition between sung and spoken words – all it takes is one listen and you’re hooked. They dub their genre ‘Spoken Word Sung Verse’ for me it’s pure unadulterated beauty. Not the fragile, delicate beauty lauded by romantics but the enduring, dramatic beauty of Irish verse and music.

From the unleashed power contained in ‘Mise Éire/I am Ireland’ through their superb duo-delivery of Yeats’ mystical ‘Lake Isle of Innisfree’ to the harsh questioning and anger of Luke Kelly’s ‘For What Died the Sons of Róisín’ with its precisely placed strings – this is breathtaking. These duets from singer and poet reach in and grab you where you live.

The everyday simplicity of life gently related in ‘The Gardener’ gives way to the tremendous authority of another sung-spoken duet: ‘September 1913’. I’ve heard many variations of the emotive ‘Raglan Road’ – none touched my soul as this did. If it raises not a tear to your eye or lump in your throat, then take care your soul has left you. This is quite simply a perfect blend of musicianship, voice and spoken word.

Joining Stephen and Enda are guest musicians Colm O Snodaigh (whistles, flutes) and Elder Roche (piano).

Stephen and Enda have created a work of genius. Seek out ‘Arise And Go!’ Let its compelling presence pour over you. It’s available from iTunes and Celtic Note, Dublin.

Reviewer: Tim Carroll