Rebecca Winckworth put together Citizens of Song with the belief of uniting people around the world through music and song.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/citizensofsong/Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/citizensofsong/Livestreams:
https://livestream.com/ucceventos/citizensofsongTheir inaugural concert was May 31, 2021, streamed from Ireland with a lineup of some of the country's finest musicians:
Here's a full replay of the concert (not sure how long it will be available):
https://livestream.com/ucceventos/citizensofsong/videos/206833297
Set List:Opening:Cormac Crummey: Isolation Vol. 1
Act 1:O'Neill Sisters: Red is the Rose
O'Neill Sisters: Dulaman
The Heneghan Sisters: Set of Reels
The Heneghan Sisters: The Tennessee Waltz
Edel Murphy and Ewan Cowley: Shenandoah
Laura Jo: As I Roved Out
Laura Jo: Bright Eyes
Nicola Kavanagh: Autumn Leaves
Danny Forde: Fire Inside
Danny Forde: Wise Men
Andy Dempsey: Walls
Emma Smyth: Emma's Waltz
Rebecca Winckworth: Song for Ireland
Rebecca Winckworth: When I See You Again
John McGlynn: If All She Has Is You
Gardiner Brothers: a short untitled tapdance
Interval:Rebecca Winckworth: Star of the County Down
Act 2:Emmet Cahill: The Parting Glass
Emmet Cahill: Beautiful City
Ardú: Almost Sweet Music
Ardú: Carrickfergus
Chloë Agnew: Rainbow
Sarah Rebecca: Dreams
Simon Casey: Sarah
The Doyle Family: Nella Fantasia
The Doyle Family: The Coolin
Chloë Agnew: Nothing Compares
Andy Dempsey: Goodnight My Angel
The Violin Brothers: Danny Boy
The Violin Brothers: Cossacks Beyond Danube
Credits:Benedict Morris & Cormac Crummey: Velocity
Highlights:The show got off to a bit of a sputtering start, with the video buffering for everyone every few seconds. After 10 minutes or so, they managed to get it fixed and restarted the concert. The stream was pretty smooth from that point on. There were some little skips or pops in the audio, but it didn't bother me too much.
The opening of the show was a montage of well-known places in Ireland (Newgrange, Kilkenny Castle, Newgrange, and Powerscourt among others).
After Rebecca's intro, The O'Neill Sisters were the first act. I finally got around to listening to them only recently. They have pretty nice voices and they have moments of very pleasant harmony. For some reason, their video seemed a lot more pixelated than most of the the others. It was the kind of effect you'd get from streaming over a poor internet connection, but this was pre-recorded. Maybe it was recorded at a different resolution and upscaled for the live stream.
The Heneghan Sisters (2 violinists and a harpist) were enjoyable to listen to.
Edel Murphy and Ewan Cowley were next. It was very special to hear Shenandoah performed by a voice as pure and flawless as Edel's and as perfectly suited instrumental backing as Ewan's. Edel/Ewan and Megan/Gavin/Meav had very different takes on the song. I enjoyed both.
Laura Jo really reminded me of Caitriona Frost. They both have similar hair and clothing styles, and have very similar accents. It sounds like they grew up in the same part of Ireland and I wonder if they might actually know each other.
Speaking of lookalikes, I couldn't help but think that Nicola Kavanagh looked very similar at times to Erin Hannon from The Office.
Rebecca did a nice job with Song for Ireland and her new song When I See You Again was pretty good as well (about being separated from loved ones during this ongoing period of lockdowns and physical distancing.
I've never heard of Ardú before, but I'll definitely need to check out more of their material. Almost Sweet Music was good, but Carrickfergus was outstanding! An excellent a cappella arrangement. The harmony was clear and well-designed.
Next came Chloë, singing of the Kacey Musgraves song "Rainbow Song." It's a beautiful slow song she recently covered on her Jane Darcy livestream. I hope she keeps this one in her set list.
Sarah Rebecca (Gannon) came right after that with the best cover of Dreams (The Cranberries) I've ever heard. Her voice and her use of vibrato are incredibly beautiful. I actually liked Sarah's cover better than the original song.
The Doyle Family is another group I'm going to need to start following. Their cover of Nella Fantasia on violin, piano, and cello was tear-inducing. For those who don't know, Chloë's Nella Fantasia was one of my life-changer songs and before The Parting Glass, it was my all-time favourite Celtic Woman song for a while, so it has a very special place in my heart. Their cover of The Coolin was also really pretty.
The streak of amazing songs continue, going right back to Chloë for Nothing Compares To You, one of my favourite covers from Reimagined. I like her cover much more than the original. I love the way Chloë feels the music and expresses that passion with every bit of herself.
That was followed by Andy Dempsey, who returned to perform Goodnight My Angel. Margaret Keys' version is still my favourite, followed by the Celtic Woman SftH / Lullaby version. But this was petty good too.
The Violin Brothers put a twist on Danny Boy. This song gets covered so much, it's hard to keep it interesting. For the final song of the show, The Violin Brothers performed a high-energy cover of Cossacks Beyond Danube. I thought it was a bit unusual to end an Irish-themed show with a song that isn't Irish, but with it's frantic pace, it served its purpose as a finale.
The closing credit song, Velocity, was an even more epic Irish-flavoured instrumental finale! I'll be adding Benedict Morris & Cormac Crummey to my list of artists to follow more closely.
From Rebecca's closing remarks, it sounds like they're planning to do themed shows for other countries as well. I definitely enjoyed this first show. That was powered in part by my general appreciation for Irish music and immense love for some of the performers in this show. But Rebecca and her team put on a fantastic show and I'd definitely want tune in to her next one!