I got sucked into a conversational vortex not long ago with someone to whom I am only marginally acquainted – a friend-of-a-friend kind of thing – the type of situation that can be, well… awkward. It was at a charity event that I wasn’t comfortable attending in the first place, but I had made a commitment to go. The stilted small talk centered on the topic of the most scenic roads in America that we had ever driven. The woman next to me mentioned California’s Pacific Coast Highway, and she relentlessly waxed nostalgic about Monterey, San Louis Obispo, and Big Sur; the picture-perfect towns, the towering pines and the dramatic views of the ocean, all to the head-bobbing approval of the wine-wielding patrons-of-the-arts gathered around her. Then, to be polite she turned to me and asked what my favorite drive was. Continue reading
Beauty’s in the Eye of the Beholder…
Celtic Music Fan Reviews Deep is the Well
There are recordings that accomplish the purpose of entertaining. There are those that serve to tell. Deep is the Well by Kevin O’Donnell accomplishes both of these aspects. The album reads like a biographical book as it explores the lives of Irish immigrants to the United States. Those who are fascinated by Irish history and the American Antebellum period will take this album close to heart as any jewels uncovered from the treasure chest.
The album starts with A Letter Home . The spoken letter takes us back to the sentiments of someone sending a message to those close to the heart more than a century ago. There is something poignant and also I sometimes feel the hair on my skin stand as I realize that that the owner has been dead a long time ago. Continue reading
Anatomy Of A Song
Enhanced with video clips, audio rehearsal tapes, and still photographs from his personal archives, Kevin shares the details behind the inspiration, development and recording of the album track Factory Girl. In this 13-minute intimate interview we are transported alternately between the “old river town,” Kevin’s living room, and the recording studio, as we are and given a rare opportunity to “sit-in” on conversations, rehearsal run-throughs, re-works, and out-takes – and witness the evolution of the song from its beginnings to the final studio cut. Kevin also invites us behind the scenes to the secluded Michigan cottage where nearly all the tracks on Deep Is The Well were written and other secrets of the album come to light. The segment culminates with a complete song video of Factory Girl.
