A Day In The Life – Pauline Scanlon, Singer & Songwriter

Dingle native, Pauline Scanlon is an incredible contemporary and traditional Irish musician with an impressive career spanning over two decades. She has recently been nominated as Best Folk Singer in the RTE Radio One Folk Awards. Her stunning track ‘The Bird In The Bush’ off her recent album ‘The Unquiet’ has also scooped a nomination for ‘Best Folk Song’.

Pauline Scanlon, Singer & Songwriter

Along with a remarkable solo career, Pauline Scanlon is currently on tour with Bird On The Wire – the Songs Of Leonard Cohen and will appear in Kilkenny’s Watergate Theatre on Thursday, December 15 next. A night not to be missed for Cohen fans near and far, she is joined on stage by an eight-piece supergroup of stellar Irish musicians in this incredible ensemble.

Bird On The Wire is a unique combination of outstanding musicians exploring their own interpretations of the wonderfully rich music and words of Leonard Cohen - one of the greatest songwriters of our time.

Here is a glimpse into Pualine’s world…

You will be performing BIRD ON THE WIRE -The Songs of Leonard Cohen at The Watergate on Thursday, December 15 next. How did this creation come about?

We were commissioned to put it together as a very romantic gesture by a good friend of ours who gifted it to his wife on their 25th wedding anniversary. We performed it as a surprise to an audience of their friends and family and it has just evolved and grown from then on. 

Wow. That sounds like an incredible night. What can people expect from a night at Bird On The Wire?

The show features four singers, so we all have our own interpretations and roles that we inhabit within the songs.

The songs of Leonard Cohen are mysterious and there are layers of meaning in them, so it’s really lovely to see and hear what each individual singer brings to them. 

We also have beautiful string arrangements by Matt Berril who plays sax and clarinet in the ensemble. The lushness of the arrangements is really brought to life by this element. The harmonies between the singers are precise and bring so much individuality and colour to the songs.

Leonard Cohen wrote all his songs with harmony and particularly the female voice in mind, so they are the perfect vehicle for me and The Whileaways. The harmony is central to our work in ’the real world’ of what we all do.

How are you reinventing Leonard Cohen’s songbook through Irish music?

I’m not sure that we are re-inventing anything to be honest, I would say that we are thoughtfully and respectfully interpreting the most beautiful of all song books together each night.

We adore the songs and really, we just like to let them breathe and be as beautiful as they are without re-working them too much. They absolutely shine just as they are!

Tell us about the other artists that are involved. 

All of us in ‘Bird On the Wire’ are based in Headford, Co Galway (though I am from Dingle, I have to get that in there!).

The Whileaway’s, Nicola Joyce, Noriana Kennedy and Noelie McDonnell are a trio of songwriters and singers who have really made their mark on the Irish folk scene. Their songs are rich and full of heart and soul and the harmonies between them are to die for!

We are lucky to have Dave Clancy on keys, who is a gorgeous songwriter in his own right, Will Merrigan on bass, who is currently touring with The Saw Doctors, Eamon Murray from Irish band BEOGA on drums, and Matt Berril on Sax and Clarinet who arranges the lush string parts.

In Kilkenny, we will have Maria Ryan and Lucia McPartlin on strings. You’d stand in the snow to listen to them! 

Your latest album ‘The Unquiet’ dares to reimagine what it is to be an Irish woman in the context of music and song. Tell us more about this Irish woman. 

I’d need half the day to tell you about her! I made the album to relate traditional songs to the lived experience of Irish women. You’ll have to listen to the album to see how well I did there!

You have collaborated and worked with artists such as Damien Dempsey, Sinead O’Connor and John Spillane. That’s an incredible portfolio.

Collaboration is my favourite part of my job. I feel quite lonely sometimes in the solo work I do, so I love having other artists to dream stuff up with.

Something happens between people when they sing together, and I’m addicted to it. It is solidarity really, I guess.

Tell us more about your trip to New Zealand with President Michael D Higgins.

I went with Alan Doherty, a great flute player and singer from Dublin and Tóla Custy from Co Clare on the fiddle and we met our long-time friend and collaborator Gerry Paul on guitar over there.

We were the Irish part of a Mãori/Irish collaboration that toured with the President. We performed with an amazing New Zealand band called Trinity Roots and came up with a set of material that featured songs in Irish and in Te Reo Māori.

There are so many cultural similarities between Irish and Māori culture in terms of language and music and general outlook on life. It was an amazing experience and one that I will cherish.

You have also branched out into TV for both the BBC and TG4?

I have over the years; it was never an intentional thing. Sometimes things come my way in that world and when I like the people and the projects I get involved.

It’s a fun thing to do and a change from my norm, so it’s good to get stuck in from time to time,

Are you looking forward to returning to Kilkenny?

I am really looking forward to returning to Kilkenny. I did quite a bit down there this year, a music programme I was presenting for TG4 had an episode from Kilkenny featuring some amazing music and I really got the sense of the diversity in terms of the arts in the entire county.

I have family living there and some old friends too, so it is always lovely to sing through and to catch up with them.

What does the future hold for Pauline Scanlon?

I’ve always just wanted to keep working with the people I love working with, making the music that is true to me. That’s the dream, and I’m very lucky to be able to do it.

Bird On The Wire – The Songs Of Leonard Cohen takes place at the Watergate Theatre on Thursday, December 15. Very limited tickets available. Tickets priced at €30. Visit www.watergatetheatre.ie