I've been a big fan of Celtic Woman since around "A Christmas Celebration" (when I was still in high school, I feel very young lol) and this is my first time dipping my toes and participating in the community.
"A spaceman came travelling in a ship from afar..."My username is a mouthful (and a Doctor Who reference), so you can call me Rax! I come from a place very far away from any CW hotbeds (...the Philippines), so I tend to make do with recordings and albums because flying to see them is a far off dream that I can't afford.
CW has affected me in such a way that it has motivated me to learning Irish (through stubborn self-teaching and bugging friends who are fluent in the language). Progress is a bit far off because it's not really a language one could learn easily here, but I'm still going at it! I am a bit of a language nut, as I'm also learning Hawaiian but that's neither here nor there.
Additionally, I'm a transcriber! I've transcribed (or hunted down and pieced together lyrics in Gaeilge) several songs of "Voices of Angels" in AZlyrics, and I'm excited to do the same for "Ancient Lands" when Spotify Philippines decides to release it here.
"Good to be home to your Christmas Pipes!"The first time I listened to Celtic Woman was during a Christmas chorale competition in high school. We were asked to sing a known Christmas piece and then one of our own arrangement. I don't think Christmas Pipes made it into our final arrangement, but we had won the competition that year! (Don't ask me when, because I likely won't remember anyway.
)
After that I had listened to their A Christmas Celebration concert, then thought nothing of it because I was 14 and I wasn't particularly sticking to any genre or artist yet. Celtic Woman came back around in college when I was anxious and homesick (I was living alone in San Francisco for an exchange programme), and I found that only their music could calm me down. After that, I played their music on repeat on and off, and now I'm here and definitely committing to their music and community.
"Ní neart go cur le chéile."As I've said before, I can't afford to go to any Celtic Woman concerts (unless they do a World tour and land somewhere close, like Singapore, again) but it's definitely up there on the things I want to do eventually! For now, I'll be waving flaglets in the sidelines cheering them on.
Thank you for allowing me to join the forums and I hope to continue experiencing Celtic Woman's lovely music with you all.
P.S. My favourites have been
Lisa Lambe,
Susan McFadden, and
Éabha McMahon!