Julie Feeney Clocks in at The White Horse

photo Donagh Glavin via twitter

No one could ever accuse Julie Feeney of being lazy. Three years after her second highly acclaimed album Pages was  released, Julie Feeney is back on the gig circuit with a brand new album.  Clocks a collection of eleven  new  self penned songs.  Over the last few years, she has worked incredibly hard at every aspect of the music business, both the creative side and also  the business end  of  connecting with her audience and  crucially, successfully  funding her musical ventures.  I caught one of the ten gigs tour at the White Horse Inn in Ballincollig, Co Cork last Thursday. What the low ceilinged  V shaped  upstairs room lacked in comfort, it made up for in atmosphere as the venue was packed  with enthusiastic followers of the singer. 

 Feeney  has a strong clear contralto  voice  and employs a   vocal timbre  suited to Renaissance or traditional music influenced perhaps by her years as a professional chorister.  The lyrics cover a spectrum  from frothy to wistful to poignant, the catchy melodies a mix of the lyrical and jaunty.   A major part of her appeal is the  sophisticated orchestration of her own  musical arrangements. A string trio included, Louis Roden of the Irish Chamber Orchestra   and Mary Barnacutt, recently heard in Cork as part of Set the First at the  Triskel.  New Yorker Joseph Brent on mandolin, violin and guitar was pivotal.  I loved the lushness of the two violin cello blend  in the song Grace Fergal  Murray was  on piano and Eugene Ginty added subtle understated backing vocals and  occasionaly a recorder (ot two) line to the blend.

"I wanted to really sing my heart out on this one", @julie_feeney talks to @olaftyaransen about new album, Clocks in our Xmas issue,out now!
— Hot Press (@hotpress) November 29 2012

 Dressed in a  theatrical  black ensemble (its first airing apparently),  with her trademark  matching  themed headpiece, the performer gave  a vocally demanding performance singing with hardly  a pause for two hours mixing songs from the new album with numbers from her back catalogue..  With such a rich palette in the accompanying ensemble, I did long to hear more of the individual instrumentalists and maybe a duet or two with the male vocalist.  How unusual to hear a mandolin player and one of international standing to boot. One  sensed that although Feeney engaged in some stage banter she was most comfortable when singing  and sing her heart out she did. Following the set, a long line formed to meet and greet  and the chanteuse who gave no hint of fatigue as she warmly greeted her fans. 

Related Article   Rembrance Day Julie Feeney at Clare Poets

More photos of the gig from Donogh Glavin Julie Feeney Live at the White Horse

Venue Notes:  Great ambiance ,  lovely lighting , seats not very comfortable No reply to query sent via email two days in advance of event.

Clare Poets November Remembrance with Kevin Higgins & Julie Feeney







Kevin Higgins



I note that it is the third Saturday of the month which means it is Clare Poets afternoon. I  am surprised to see  songstress Julie Feeney is  listed as the guest artist Surely some mistake.  My twitter updates suggest that she is probably winging her way across the Atlantic following her US tour but Julie duly arrives hotfoot from the airport  ready to perform at the monthly gathering of Clare  poets at Glór Foyer in Ennis  .  The procedings kick off with guest poet Kevin Higgins reading from his new collection .  His satirical  poems have a wry humour and there is an AA Milne ring to a poem dedicated to protesting students with its recurring lines  'who made their point politely and then went home'  probably to watch Countdown (my words not the poet's).

With the MC's lack of familiarity with the guest artist's work I am called upon to give a late  introduction. If only I had known I would have prepared better. 

 Julie, looking every  inch the star performer in high heeled red patent leather shoes which doubled as  percussion instrument and her trademark quirky millinery, punctuated procedings with a selection of numbers from her Pages and 13 Songs albums to her own piano accompaniment. With no trace of jet lag in her voice she performed for the select gathering with as much intensity  as if it had been a packed auditorium ; a consummate professional  .  The late Brecan Mooney was  remembered and  Brian Mooney his father,  read a poem dedicated to his son's memory.

The open mic follows with  MC Patrick Stack, Johhny Culliney , Jean Kavanagh, Noel Mulqueen , Fred Johnston (accompanied by his dog) and Arthur Watson contributing . I loved Arthur's performance of the Karaoke Blues . I must look up the Portsmouth Sinfonia  he referred to in his introduction. It sounds like my kind of band .

A very special afternoon in Ennis with the Clare Poets .

Julie's selection

Mr Rovin Eye Guy

Scots Gallic number

You take the Wind Out of My sails

You're Impossibly  Beautiful

With Innocent Hearts and Expectant Faces/Knock Knock

Grace