Motherland: Songs of 20th Century Women

Motherland: Songs of 20th Century Women

Featuring Edel Murphy and a live band

Bewley's Cafe Theatre, Dublin
Friday November 8th + Saturday November 9, 2019

Ewan Cowley and Edel Murphy were recording again recently. They're working on an EP of the songs from Motherland: Songs of 20th Century Women.

Sources:
https://twitter.com/motherlandsongs/status/1295004707736494080
https://twitter.com/EwanCowley/status/1295005513005109250

Edel and Ewan recorded another song in the Motherland series before the country went back into lockdown.

It will hopefully be released in 3 weeks or so.

They're planning to release an EP of studio-recorded tracks (coming "soon")!

You can get a free single by signing up for their mailing list:
https://www.motherlandsongs.com/

Source;
https://www.facebook.com/motherlandsongs/posts/3008049882756207

The Motherland EP is available to preorder!

Available from Bandcamp in physical and digital format:
https://edelmurphy1.bandcamp.com/album/motherland-songs-of-20th-century-women-ep

If you buy on Bandcamp Friday (first Friday of each month for the time being), all proceeds that day go to the artists.

Track listing:

1. Motherland
2. Trouble In The Fields
3. Jolene
4. You Don't Own Me
5. No Frontiers

9th April - Full release on Bandcamp of downloads and CDs.
19th April - Release to Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon etc.

Here's Edel hyping up the upcoming show:
https://youtu.be/pP8lcqfezPQ

This past weekend, I finally got to see Edel perform in Motherland (virtually, of course). That's a show I had on my list to watch out for pre-pandemic. It was going to take some good fortune for me to ever see it live and in person, but I paid attention for it just in case.

I'm glad they ultimately made it available to us online.

The band consisted of a keyboard, drums, cello, and guitar. There was a screen at the back of the stage displaying images to compliment the songs.

I greatly enjoy Ewan's arrangements and it's always an absolute pleasure to listen to Edel. It was a special treat to see her get into character during the songs. She read and acted out quotes before some of the songs as well. Edel sang a lot of different styles of music and did really well with all of them. She even channeled some country and gospel in some of the songs. The video resolution could have been a little higher, but it was good enough. The stream was stable and the audio was great.

Here's the set list from the show:

Motherland: Songs of 20th Century Women
1. Bread & Roses
2. Trouble in the Fields
3. Hard Times Come Again No More
4. Love For Sale
5. No Frontiers
6. Four Women
7. In the Ghetto
8. The Pill

9. Memories of Joan Baez (instrumental)

10. In the 1960s ... A Collection
11. She's Leaving Home
12. At Seventeen
13. Jolene
14. This Woman's Work
15. You Don't Own Me
16. Motherland
17. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

They're planning some tour dates for Motherland: Songs of 20th Century Women. Dates to be posted soon. I'd assume most or all of them will be in or near Ireland for the time being.

They've been teasing a tour in North America for a while now and I think it might finally be close to happening.

Here's their official promo reel!

https://youtu.be/3hKZMvklHOA?si=zNDDyDCua4WYo7l0

A new single is set to release in September 2024 too.

Their Motherland EP, which was released a few years ago, is about to be taken off streaming platforms (within the next few days) to make way for some new content (probably an album). Also, there are only a few physical copies of the Motherland EP left. Get them while you can!

https://edelmurphy1.bandcamp.com/album/motherland-songs-songs-of-20th-century-women-ep
https://www.motherlandsongs.com/

Lastly, it seems they've rebranded to just "Motherland Songs."

They released a new single arrangement of Motherland last Friday.

Question: What's prettier than Edel's voice?
Answer: Edel + Edel. Edel harmonizing herself!