Click here for printable version
The Old Ways FAQ has changed mantainer and is now held up by Atrus and Coos de Graaf.
The Old Ways email list has changed ISP's. If you were already on the list, you will have automatically been switched over. If you have not yet subscribed, please see the information provided under About Old Ways and this FAQ.
The Old Ways is an electronic mailing list created and maintained by Christian Walters and devoted to discussion of Loreena McKennitt's music and related topics.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE OLD WAYS MAILING LIST follow the instructions at the following web-site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old-ways. TO POST TO OLD WAYS send your message to mailto:old-ways@yahoogroups.com.
Questions in the FAQ have been derived from messages sent to The Old-Ways List, as well as from other sources (e.g. Usenet groups, particularly alt.music.lor-mckennitt).
Special thanks to Linda Slater, who previously mantained this FAQ, and to all the precedent contributors including Dave Gosselin (Handling the 'Loreena is a Pagan' rumor), Chris Seet (Discography) and Bert Wylin (original HTML for earlier versions of the FAQ). And last but not least, thanks to Karen Shook from Quinlan Road UK, the "Horses's Mouth" (figuratively-speaking only), who works diligently to keep Old Ways apprised of Loreena's professional activities.
Loreena's earliest musical activities centred around piano lessons and singing lessons in her hometown of Morden, Manitoba where she also sang in the town children's choir and played the organ in the local United Church. After she moved to Winnipeg to attend Grade 12 she became involved in the Winnipeg folk scene and was exposed to the celtic music tradition through recordings of such groups as Planxty, Steeleye Span, and Alan Stivell (who sparked her interest in the harp). Soon Loreena became known locally as a folk performer and performed at local folk venues including the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
During this same period (late seventies), Loreena was also involved in other less "folky" musical ventures including: local musical theatre (children's theatre; productions of mini Broadway musicals at a Winnipeg dinner theatre called The Hollow Mug; and a Winnipeg production of My Fair Lady); singing in lounges; and appearing in at least one television commercial (a spot for the Manitoba Liquor Commission in which she sang the immortal words I don't drink gin and tonic....). Her musical education at this time included attendance at the Manitoba School for Theatre and Allied Arts. At one point, Loreena started university in an agriculture program with the intention of eventually becoming a veterinarian, but called a halt to her studies in order to pursue the musical opportunities that began to present themselves at this time.
In 1977/78, Loreena competed in the first du Maurier Search For Talent competition. 1,500 performers from across Canada were auditioned for the competition, and the field was narrowed down to 15. These fifteen semi-finalists received a prize of $2,000 each and were featured on a series of specials on CBC in which each was given the opportunity to showcase their talent. From these 15, five winners were chosen by votes cast by television viewers, as well as a panel of judges representing the Arts community. Loreena's showcase was a scene from My Fair Lady that impressed both viewers and judges and resulted in her being selected as one of six finalists (it was only supposed to be five, but the calibre of the competition was such that the competition organizers allowed a sixth finalist to be chosen). The six finalists each received $5,000 and the chance to work on future CBC productions.
An interesting side note from this time period: until she was able to support herself entirely through her music, Loreena supplemented her income by working in the office of her father's livestock business which often involved "hands-on product management", i.e. helping out with rounding up cattle. [Think about that next time you find yourself getting too caught up in Loreena's ethereal, ever-so-feminine on-stage image!]
The next period of Loreena's career began when she moved to Stratford, Ontario in 1981, where she found work with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as both a performer and a composer. Among the productions she was involved with are the following: she appeared in the chorus of the 1981 production of HMS Pinafore; played the role of Ceres in the 1982 production of The Tempest; composed the music for the 1983 production of Blake (a theatrical look at the life and work of poet William Blake); and composed the music for, and performed in, the 1984 production of Two Gentlement of Verona. Her skills as a composer were honed by a brief stint in 1985 at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon, England where she studied with then composer-in-residence, Guy Wolfendon.
During this period, Loreena was also involved in several non-Stratford-Festival-related projects. These included: writing the score for the Canadian feature films Bayo (1984) and Heaven on Earth (1986; Loreena also had a bit part in this film as one half of a kind-hearted couple who get duped into helping out an orphan at a train station); being musical director of, and performer in, a production called Lilly at the Blyth, Ontario Summer Festival (1986); working as composer and performer in a 1988 production of St. Stephen's Green at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin; and being musical director of, and performer in, the Toronto Young People's Theatre production of Kidnapped in 1989.
Loreena was also involved in a number of productions of the National Film Board of Canada. These include: To A Safer Place/L'enfant dans le mur (1987); A Wake for Milton (1988; Loreena appears in this film as one of the backing musicians who played at the wake); Adam's World (1989); Bridging the River of Silence/Un pont sur l'abime du silence (1991); Mother Earth/La Terre notre mere and a trilogy of films produced by Studio D (the NFB's women's studio) on women's spirituality that includes: The Goddess Remembered/Sur les traces de la deesse (1989), The Burning Times/Le temps des buchers (1990) and Full Circle (1993). On the NFB site is a full list of the NFB productions featuring Loreena McKennitt's music.
Between productions such as the above, Loreena began her career as a recording artist and performer. In 1985 she produced her first album, Elemental under her own label Quinlan Road (Quinlan Road is indeed the name of a real street on the outskirts of Stratford. This is where Loreena was living when she started her own business working from the kitchen table.). She credits a book called How To Make Your Own Recording by Diane Rappaport with the advice needed to "do-it-herself". Once produced, she marketed the album by mail-order out of her home, at concerts, while busking in places such as Toronto's St. Lawrence Market, and by dropping off copies to be sold at places patronized by the kind of people who might like her music -- record stores, book stores, cafes, and such like. Keeping a mailing list of people who were interested in her music allowed Loreena to keep her audience in touch with her activities without having to resort to more formal and more expensive means of publicity that were out of her reach at the time.
Much of Loreena's following at this time was developed by word of mouth, and this worked so well for her that by 1990 she had been able to sell over 100,000 copies of her albums through her own independent efforts. The success of Elemental allowed her to finance her next two albums, To Drive The Cold Winter Away(1987) and Parallel Dreams (1989), both self-produced, as all her albums have proven to be.
With this kind of success, the Canadian media began to notice Loreena, and she began being featured in newspaper articles and on radio and television. Probably one of the best pieces of exposure Loreena got was being featured on Adrienne Clarkson's Summer Festival (CBC, 1988) in a half-hour spot called Breaking the Silence in which she was seen in performance as well as being interviewed.
By the end of the eighties, Loreena was able to tour Canada and perform to sold-out audiences. She began touring outside of Canada, as well.
The next big step forward for Loreena was the Canadian release of The Visit in the fall of 1991. The Visit saw Loreena venture away from the musical traditions of the British Isles slightly to include overtones of east Indian and Middle Eastern musical traditions in her work. Continued word of mouth bolstered by increased radio play, more exposure by the media and a distribution deal with Warner Music resulted in The Visit eventually going double-platinum in Canada and achieving impressive sales outside Canada. The Visit would win the 1992 Juno Award (Canadian equivalent of the Grammies) for the Best Roots and Traditional Album. Loreena toured heavily in support of The Visit after its release and performed to sold out audiences across North America and Europe.
Prior to The Visit, Loreena distributed her recordings herself through her private label, Quinlan Road. But the increasing demand for her albums reached a point where Loreena saw the benefits of establishing an arrangement with a record company to facilitate wider distribution of her albums than she was capable of herself. This resulted in her present association with Warner Music which began with the release of The Visit. Warner Music now distributes all of Loreena's albums, although she continues to make them available by mail order through her own label, Quinlan Road. (Between her own efforts through the vehicle of Quinlan Road and through the distribution activities of Warner Music, she has sold over 4 million copies of her recordings.)
Much has been made of the great deal Loreena was able to negotiate on the strength of her past success in producing and marketing her earlier albums. Her refusal to accept anything less than an equitable deal has resulted in a situation where she has been able to maintain more control over her career than most artists, and she has been able to keep more of the money from her album sales in her own pocket, thus allowing her to be able to afford to do things her own way. Loreena continues to be her own manager and to be heavily involved in more than just the artistic aspects of her career.
The release of the mask and mirror in 1994 made an immediate impact in Canada, debuting at #7 in the charts, and has received a lot of recognition in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere with worldwide sales of well over one million. At the 1995 Juno Awards, the mask and mirror was awarded the Juno for Best Roots and Traditional Album.
On the mask and mirror Loreena took the exploration she began on The Visit several steps further and incorporated Spanish, middle eastern, and north African musical influences into her compositions. It is obvious -- from what Loreena states in the liner notes, from what she has said in interviews, and most importantly, from the songs themselves -- that spirituality and the search for religious meaning are the major themes explored on this album.
Loreena's most recent album The Book of Secrets was released at the end of September 1997. Many of the same themes that Loreena started exploring on The Mask & Mirror are present on The Book of Secrets. This might beg the question of whether The Book of Secrets is simply a re-packaging of The Mask & Mirror. But The Book of Secrets is not The Mask & Mirror, Part II, rather it is a further elaboration of themes that are obviously near and dear to Loreena's heart: the search for God ("Night Ride Through the Caucasus", "Dante's Prayer") and how He is manifested in our lives ("The Mummer's Dance", "Skellig"); the sense of journey ("Marco Polo", "La Serenissima", "Night Ride Across the Caucasus"); and doomed love ("The Highwayman" -- Loreena's setting of the Alfred Noyes' poem). Loreena has always been a musical travel writer (as she has called herself recently), however this album demonstrates that Our Traveller has visited different places than she did on The Mask & Mirror. This time Italy, the Near East and Russia are her destinations, although she manages to return from time-to-time to what is more familiar territory for most of her listeners -- Ireland and the British Isles.
Loreena's normal course of action after completing an album has been to go out on tour to promote it. Just to prove she's not a creature of habit, this time around she took time off (a "sabbatical", as she has called it) between releasing the album and touring behind it. Her first touring activity behind The Book of Secrets took place in March and April, 1998 when she toured western Europe, followed by a brief tour of North America in May, 1998.
A live album, Live in Paris and Toronto, recorded during the Spring 98 tour was released, first via mail-order from Quinlan Road in May 1999, followed by wider, retail release in October 1999. The mail-order release of the live album coincided with a water safety campaign that Loreena was involved in with the Canadian Coastguard in the spring/summer of 1999. Loreena's commitment to these activities was initiated by the tragic deaths of her fiancé, Ron Rees, his brother, Rick and their friend Gregory Cook in a boating accident in the summer of 1998, shortly after the completion of her "Book of Secrets" tour. During the course of the 1999 campaign, Loreena appeared in several media events with representatives of the Canadian Coast Guard to talk about the issue of water safety. Since that time, Loreena's professional activities have been of the "behind the scenes" nature and have included providing the narration (as well as music) for the Discovery Canada documentary Seasons of the Eider, as well as providing music for a Vision TV documentary called Island of Shadows which tells the story of Chinese immigrant labourers who, after developing leprosy, were exiled to a leper colony off the coast of Vancouver Island in the late 19th/early 20th century.
In 2001 Loreena composed music for a production of "The Merchant of Venice" for the Stratford Festival and recorded a Spanish version of "Dante's Prayer" for the Canadian/Venezuelan co-production "Una Casa Con Vista Al Mar".
After several years of hiatus, Loreena finally released a new album, An Ancient Muse, in November 2006. In anticipation of the album, and as a preview of the tour, Loreena held 3 concerts on September 13-14-15, 2006, in the beautiful setting of the Palacio de Carlos V at the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain; these concerts were recorded and later released as the three-disc set (DVD and double CD) Nights from the Alhambra. The proper promotional tour for the album started in Europe in March-April 2007 and followed in North America in April-May of the same year.
This discography contains a list of items currently available through normal retail channels and/or through Quinlan Road. It does not include promotional material, singles or bootlegs. Most of Loreena's fans, I would venture to guess, are primarily interested in seeing a list of materials that readily available through normal channels.
The completists among you will be interested to know that Coos de Graaf maintains a discography that includes not only the recordings I have included in this discography, but also promotional material and singles. Those of you who wish to obtain this discography can do so at the following site: http://home.conceptsfa.nl/~coos78/disco.html or by emailing Coos at the following address: coos78@concepts.nl
Blacksmith / She Moved Through the Fair / Stolen Child / The Lark in the Clear Air / Carrighfergus / Kellswater / Banks of Claudy / Come by the Hills / Lullaby
In Praise of Christmas / The Seasons / The King / Banquet Hall / Snow / Balulalow /Let Us the Infant Greet / The Wexford Carol / The Stockford Carol / Let All That Are To Mirth Inclined
Samain Night / Moon Cradle / Huron Beltane Fire Dance / Annachie Gordon / Standing Stones / Dicken's Dublin (The Palace) / Breaking the Silence / Ancient Pines
All Souls Night / Bonny Portmore / Between the Shadows / The Lady of Shalott / Greensleeves / Tango to Evora / Courtyard Lullaby / The Old Ways / Cymbeline
The Mystic's Dream / The Bonny Swans / The Dark Night of the Soul / Marrakesh Night Market / Full Circle / Santiago / Ce He Mise Le Ulaingt? The Two Trees / Prospero's Speech
The Mystic's Dream / Santiago / She Moved Through the Fair / Between the Shadows /The Lady of Shalott / The Bonny Swans
All tracks recorded live in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts. This disc is the same as the second CD from the _The Mask and Mirror - Australasian Tour Edition_, and is available exclusively from Quinlan Road.
Coventry Carol / God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen / Good King Wenceslas / Snow /Seeds of Love
Canada: QR/WEA; US: QR/Warner Bros. Records Europe: QR/WEA
Prologue / The Mummers' Dance / Skellig / Marco Polo / The Highwayman / La Serenissima / Night Ride Across the Caucasus / Dante's Prayer
Canada: QR/WEA; US: QR/Warner Bros. Records Europe: QR/WEA
CD 1: Prologue / The Mummers' Dance / Skellig / Marco Polo / The Highwayman / La Serenissima / Night Ride Across the Caucasus / Dante's Prayer
CD 2: The Mystic's Dream / Santiago / Bonny Portmore / Between The Shadows / The Lady Of Shalott / The Bonny Swans / The Old Ways / All Souls Night / Cymbeline
Proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search And Safety
Incantantion / The Gates of Istanbul / Caravanserai / The English Ladye and the Knight / Kecharitomene / Penelope's Song / Sacred Shabbat / Beneath A Phrygian Sky / Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit)
CD1: The Mystic's Dream / She Moved Through The Fair / Stolen Shild / The Mummers' Dance / Penelope's Song / Marco Polo / The Bonny Swans / Dante's Prayer / Caravanserai
CD1: Bonny Portmore / Santiago / Raglan Road / All Souls Night / The Lady of Shalott / The Old Ways / Never-Ending Road (Amhrán Duit) / (encores) Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance / Cymbeline
Loreena McKennitt: Nights from the Alhambra is a three-disc set comprising a DVD and 2 audio CDs; the DVD features the same set list as the CDs. The set is currently only available for sale as a tour merchandise item, and will be available in stores in Autumn 2007.
Loreena has recently released a new studio recording called An Ancient Muse and a DVD/Double CD set called Nights from the Alhambra.
In addition to a copy of The Book of Secrets, the "Collector's Edition" is accompanied by an additional CD about 55 minutes in length of Loreena discussing the CD and the influences she brought to bear in creating it. The set is encased in a burgundy paper box.
Yes. It is available from Quinlan Road Online on "The Mummer's Dance" CD single version 2 and 3. Version 2 contains the album version of The Mummers' Dance (from The Book of Secrets), the remix version of The Mummers' Dance, and live versions of Marrakesh night Market and The Dark Night of the Soul from the 10-cut promotional of Live in San Francisco.
CD single version 1 of The Mummers Dance il still available too, but this single does not include the remix. It is a CD containing the album (long) version of the song, an "edited" version (same as the long version, but shortened), as well as live performances of Between the Shadows (originally from The Visit, 1991/92) and The Stolen Child (originally from Elemental, 1985) taken from the 10-cut promotional version of Live in San Francisco CD.
For those who don't want to buy one of the singles, but are curious about what the remix sounds like, you can hear it by downloading soundfiles from the Quinlan Road website under "Sound Files".
Loreena completed a tour of Europe (Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Unitek Kingdom and Belgium) in March/April 2007, and is currently on the subsequent tour across North America.
Those who wish to keep abreast of Loreena's touring activities should consult the Quinlan Road performances page on their website for the most up-to-date information. You may also wish to have your name added to the Quinlan Road postal (i.e. "snail mail") mailing list. Doing so will ensure that you receive mailout notification when Loreena performs in your area. See the Quinlan Road website under "Contacting Quinlan Road" for more information.
Loreena has appeared in the following three music videos:
The Lady of Shalott (1992):
This was not a formal promotional video, but instead a clip of Loreena's performance of an abbreviated version of The Lady of Shalott at the 1992 Juno awards. Ofra Harnoy put in a guest appearance on cello at this performance. This clip has been used as a "video" on Canada's video station MuchMusic and on Bravo!, the Canadian arts channel
The Bonny Swans (1994):
This was a production video directed by Holly Warburton in which Loreena sings the song while the basic story of the song is acted out in PreRaphaelite montages behind her. The video won Best "Global Groove" video at the 1995 MuchMusic Video Awards
The Mummer's Dance (1997):
This has been airing on MTV. The video uses the "remix" version of "The Mummers' Dance".
There are two videos currently available for purchase:
NO JOURNEY'S END (1996)
No Journey's End is a documentary video produced and directed by Philip King of Hummingbird Productions for Quinlan Road. This video also features the live concert performance of "The Lady Of Shalott" mentioned above and performances of "Santiago" and "The Dark Night Of The Soul".
The DVD version offers additional content including the full versions of the music videos "The Bonny Swans" and "The Mummers' Dance" in stereo and 5.1 surround mixes.
No Journey's End is available for purchase from Quinlan Road. The DVD of No Journey's End was also available as a limited edition extra in the remastered print of Loreena's first six albums; you might still be able to find some copies in stores.
NIGHTS from the ALHAMBRA (2007)
On March 2007, a recording of the three September 2006 performances of Loreena at the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain was broadcast as a PBS Great Performances special called Loreena McKennitt: Nights from the Alhambra. A three disc set (DVD + 2 CDs) of the recording has been released as a tour promotional item in March 2007 and is scheduled for release in the stores (including Quinlan Road's online shop) in the Autumn of 2007. You can find the set list for Nights from the Alhambra in the Discography section.
Besides providing music for films and theatre productions during the 80's (see The Evolution of Loreena McKennitt's Career: The Middle Years for more details), Loreena has also provided music for more recent television and film projects. These include:
Leolo (a French-Canadian film by Claude Lauzon): The Lady of Shalott (instrumental only).
Northern Exposure (TV): Tango to Evora
The Diviner's (Made for Cdn TV movie): Pique's Song The song was written by Margaret Laurence, who wrote the novel upon which the film was based, but was sung by Loreena.
Due South (TV): Prospero's Speech, Full Circle
The Highlander III (Movie): The Two Trees,Ce He Mise Le Ulaingt and Bonny Portmore. (Please note: A version of Bonny Portmore is used in one of the episodes of The Highlander TV program, but it is NOT Loreena singing. For some reason, the producers of the program created a version of the song using a Loreena "sound-alike" rather than using Loreena's version.)
Jade (Movie): The Mystic's Dream
Strange Luck (TV;Fox): The Mystic's Dream and Full Circle
EZ Street (TV; CBS): The Old Ways; The Mystic's Dream; Bonny Portmore; Full Circle; and Prospero's Speech; Santiago; Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance; Cymbeline; The Seeds of Love; Let All That Are to Mirth Inclined; Ancient Pines; Snow; and Courtyard Lullabye.
The Peacekeepers (made for TV Movie; CBC): Full Circle (Donald Quan played on the main soundtrack of this movie, as well).
Roar (TV; Fox): Cymbeline; The Mystic's Dream.
Margie Gillis: Wild Hearts in Strange Times (1997/98?; TV Special; CBC): Dancer Margie Gillis dances to Loreena's Stolen Child in this document highlighting the unique choreography of Canadian dancer, Margie Gillis.
Ever After (1998; Movie): The Mummers' Dance was used in the trailer for this film, but the song was not used in the movie itself.
Legacy (1998/99 TV: UPN): The Mummers' Dance is used as the title music for this program.
Holy Man (1998; Movie): A snippet of Prologue is used in this film.
Soldiers (1998; Movie): Portions of Night Ride Across the Caucusus are used in this film.
Providence (1999; TV: NBC) Dante's Prayer is used in the Jan 22, 1999 episode of this program.
Season of the Eiders (2000; TV: Discovery Channel/Canada): Various songs of Loreena's were used as background music on this program AND Loreena narrated the program.
Island of Shadows: D'Arcy Island Leper Colony, 1891-1924 (2000; TV: Vision TV): One of Loreena's songs (The Mystic's Dream???) was used on this program.
Swans on the Avon: several of Loreena's songs were used in this documentary.
Bloody Foreigners: two tracks from The Book Of Secrets, "Prologue" and "Marco Polo", feature in this UK documentary about asylum seekers.
The Mists Of Avalon: The Mystic's Dream provides the music for the miniseries' main titles and end credits, and is also featured in some of the film's key scenes.
Una Casa Con Vista Al Mar: the movie main theme is a spanish version of Dante's Prayer composed and performed by Loreena McKennitt.
In addition to the above film/TV uses of Loreena's music, Dante's Prayer has been used by U.S. figure-skater Michelle Kwan in one of her 1998 skating routines.
The most up-to-date information about purchasing material from Quinlan Road will be available at the Official Loreena McKennitt/Quinlan Road Website. The Quinlan Road website now offers a secure online shopping cart, in addition to printable fax-or-post order forms.
Loreena contributed music to the NFB films The Goddess Remembered/Sur les traces de la deesse, Burning Times/Les temps des buchers, Full Circle, as well as to five others not in the women's spirituality series: Bayo, To a Safer Place/L'enfant dans le mur, A Wake for Milton (this is about the Canadian poet Milton Acorn, not the Paradise Lost Milton), Adam's World and Bridging the River of Silence/Un pont sur l'abime du silence.
If you are interested in these or any other NFB films, please read the following:
If you can't get an NFB film you are interested in from your local video store or it's not available in your library (see NFB Distribution Partners for a list of Canadian libraries that have NFB films in their collections), you can order it from the NFB (the National Film Board of Canada).
The NFB has a web site, at the following URL: http://www.nfb.ca/. Information about how to buy/rent videos is available at this site, and you can also read synopses of the films they've produced, including the ones Loreena has been associated with.
If you don't have a web-browser and can't access the NFB site, you can call the NFB for more information about their productions:
In Canada: 1 (800) 267-7710; fax: (514) 283-7564
In the UK: (171) 258-6480; fax: (171) 258-6532
In the US: (212) 629-8890; fax: (212) 629-8502
In France: 44.18.35.40; fax: 47.05.75.89
All Other Countries: 1 (514) 283-9439; fax: 1 (514) 496-1895
Sheet music scores for some of Loreena's compositions are now available from Quinlan Road, either as PDFs sent to you by email or printed (paper) copies sent to you by post. You can see a sample of the sheet music in the Sheet music order form. Please note that QR does not accept orders for sheet music by email; you must place your order by phone, fax or post.
The Mask and Mirror and The Visit were released in vinyl but have been long out of print. The mask and Mirror is still available at Quinlan Road' online shop; it's however to be noted that this edition is not up to what vinyl aficionados would consider the highest sound quality.
No. Those who wish to obtain this item will have to look for it in a second-hand CD store or try to buy it from someone who has a copy and wishes to sell it.
The other alternative is to buy the 6-cut EP version sold by mail-order only through Quinlan Road. See the QR website for details about price and how to order.
No. Loreena was born in Morden, Manitoba, Canada and has lived in Stratford, Ontario since 1981. Her family has been in Canada for at least a couple of generations although the origins of her family on both sides are Irish. Loreena has spent quite a bit of time in Ireland, however, and now owns a cottage in County Clare.
Loreena was born on February 17th, 1957 at 7:00 pm in Morden, Manitoba.
Loreena is not married nor does she have ny children. She had been engaged to be married, but as most of those who follow her music will know, her fiancé Ron Rees, a fellow Stratford native, drowned during the summer of 1998 in a boating accident along with his brother, Rick, and their friend, Gregory Cook. This sad event was the impetus to Loreena's recent involvement in water safety promotion activities, as well as in the activities of The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund For Water Search And Safety.
It is clear that many of the people who are interested in Loreena McKennitt's music are intensely curious about her spiritual beliefs. After the release of The Visit, there was on-going discussion on various Internet forums about whether Loreena was or was not a Pagan. These discussions arose because of Loreena's musical contribution to the NFB's Women's Spirituality videos as well as her use of what could be seen as Pagan images in some of her work. The discussions got very emotional at times and resulted in rumours such as "Loreena is a Pagan, but she won't admit it publicly for fear of the effect such an admission would have on her career" and "Loreena is both a practising Pagan and a practising Roman Catholic". Being the kind of person Loreena is, being labelled either a Pagan or a Roman Catholic would not bother her in the least, but for the sake of separating fact from fiction and to defend Loreena from the accusation that she would be deceptive about her beliefs if she felt it threatened her pocketbook, neither of these rumours is true. While she has used Pagan images, or more accurately, Celtic mythological images, in her work and finds spiritual renewal in nature (as is common of many Neo-Pagans), Loreena has never been a Pagan. Neither has she ever been a Roman Catholic. As a child, she attended the United Church of Canada, a liberal protestant denomination she credits with giving her an open-minded and tolerant stance towards matters of belief.
After the release of The Mask and Mirror and The Book of Secrets -- albums in which Loreena's exploration of spiritual themes takes on an expressly universal nature -- and after discussing her thoughts on the subject more explicitly in the media, a more accurate picture of Loreena's spiritual orientation has emerged. Simply stated, while not claiming membership in any particular religious denomination, Loreena is curious about many forms of spirituality and has done extensive reading of works representing various religious traditions, and in certain cases, incorporated these into her work, e.g. she has used Sufi images in her work, and set St John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul to music.
Further elaborating on her private beliefs in interviews, Loreena has stated that she would find it very difficult to describe what she believes, and that she is still exploring issues such as "the nature of the soul", "who or what is God" or "what is the difference between religion and spirituality". Loreena has stated that she believes in the existence of a higher power, but thinks it is more important to acknowledge that there is a sophisticated power at the root of human existence than to be able to describe or quantify it in any particular way. A favourite image she likes to use, when talking about her spirituality, is the Sufi notion of "polishing the mirror of one's soul", which she interprets as striving to improve one's talents and abilities so that they can be used to reflect something positive back into the community.
Another statement that Loreena makes quite frequently is that she believes "humans have a need to be spiritually engaged" despite the fact that today's lifestyle often makes it difficult for people to satisfy this need. That Loreena herself continues to be a "spiritual explorer" in the face of a hectic life that often provides little opportunity for contemplation and reflection is strong testament to the importance spirituality plays in her life and work. It may not take the form of ascribing to a specific religion or doctrine, but if her music is any testament, it is sincere.
Many Old Ways members have commented on, and wondered about the reasons behind, the inconsistencies present in the song The Bonny Swans (from the mask and mirror), specifically why the father in the song starts out as a farmer and ends up as a king, and why there are three daughters at the beginning of song and only two referred to at the end. Loreena spoke to this point during a radio interview on the Seattle program New Sounds. She says that this is "a reflection of the Celt's flight of fancy where it doesn't make a lot of sense" and adds "it's the way the Celts didn't really make a distinction between this world and the next and their own flight of imagination took reign."
At her July 1st, 1996 concert in Montreal, Loreena told the audience that in deciding which verses to include or exclude in her version of the Lady of Shalott, she excluded those verses which seemed less important in advancing the dramatic line of the story.
The recitation was taken from a series of recordings broadcast on Radio Eireann (the Irish national radio station) in the 1960's. Inner city Dublin children were given the opportunity to tell their version of certain stories, and the little girl's version of the Christmas story that Loreena uses on Dicken's Dublin was one of them.
(Thanks to Shae from Old Ways for this information! :-) )
This word was used in the line the bond woman down by the boorie from the song Moon Cradle (whose lyrics were written by Irish poet Padraic Colum) which appears on Loreena McKennitt's album Parallel Dreams.
Old Ways List Member Derrick Leigh found the definition of the word boorie in a work on Colum which explained that a boorie is a cattle shelter.
(Thanks, Derrick! :-) )
As for 'bondwoman', it is a 14th century word for a female slave (Thanks to Tracie Pascoe).
Quinlan Road is the name of Loreena McKennitt's record label/production company. Quinlan Road offices are in Stratford, Ontario; there once was another office in London, England, but it closed some years ago. Quinlan Road can be contacted at:
Quinlan RoadThere is also an official Loreena McKennitt/Quinlan Road Website where one can find the most up-to-date information about Loreena's professional activities, along with information about Loreena's albums and how to order them. Several e-mail contacts can also be found on the Contact page of their website.
Among other things, the Quinlan Road staff maintain a postal mailing list (e-mail and snail mail) to which they send mailouts updating people of Loreena's activities. Those wishing to receive these mailouts can subscribe online to the Quinlan Road community.
Karen Shook of Quinlan Road, also known as the "Quinlan Minion", acts as a liaison to the Old Ways mailing list and posts updates to the list on a regular basis. She has also been known to straighten out a few confused facts about Loreena's activities that are posted to the list from time to time.
You can write or fax a letter to Loreena at one of the following addresses:
Quinlan RoadYou can also email her at: postmaster@quinlanroad.com. This is _not_ Loreena's personal email address (she doesn't have one), but if you send personal messages to her through this address, they will be passed onto her eventually, presumably in hard copy or by fax.
Exactly as above. Two e's; two t's. Not Lorena. And not McKennit. It is understandable that people on Usenet groups or people new to the Old Ways mailing list may spell Loreena's name wrong -- they may have only heard her name on the radio and not seen it in print, but her name has been mis-spelled in the media which demonstrates quite a bit of carelessness on the part of writers and editors.
Again, as above, two t's. This word gets mis-spelled in the media even more often than McKennitt. In fact, it is even spelled wrong in the liner notes of the 1991 release of The Visit on the next to last page of the liner booklet. The 1992 release does not contain the sentence with the spelling error in it, however.
Loreena's fifth album is called: the mask and mirror. It is often referred to as The Mask and the Mirror, but there is no second the in the title. I also notice that in Quinlan Road promotional material the title is spelled entirely in lower case.
Loreena plays a Lyon and Healy Troubador harp. In fact she owns four of this model of harp. However, Loreena had a harp made for her by Winnipeg harp maker, Larry Fisher, although to my knowledge she has yet to use it in performance. Those interested in Larry and his work (both as an instrument maker, a performer and, if his website is any testimony, all round interesting person), should visit his website at http://www.fisherharps.com/.
Yes, there is, and it is called alt.music.lor-mckennitt. It is not available on all newsreaders because it was not created via the formal channel of consulting the powers-that-be in alt.config. Loreena's music also gets discussed occasionally on rec.music.celtic and on alt.music.enya.
James Noriega has compiled a list of artists that Old Ways members have recommended. Please visit his page Old Ways Artist Recommendations to view this list.
ELEMENTAL
On this album, Loreena does most of the work herself, playing harp, accordian, guitar and keyboards, although, strangely she does not use the piano at all on this album. Another thing worthy of note about Elemental is that Loreena plays guitar on this recording. I have seen references to the fact that during the early years of her musical career, when she was known as a "folk singer", Loreena used the guitar frequently as one of her accompanying instruments. After Elemental, however, she ceased playing the guitar on subsequent recordings or during performances.
The backing musicians who appear on Elemental are GEORGE CREER on bass and PAT MULLINon cello. They are competent musicians, as their contributions to the album would attest, but they are unknown quantities (at least to me). The most "recognizable" names among the contributors to Elemental are notable more their acting abilities than for their musical abilities. Loreena's roots in the Stratford Festival scene are likely responsible for her collaboration with both Douglas Campbell and Cedric Smith. DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, who supplied his commanding voice for the recitation on Lullaby, is a noted stage actor who has made many appearances at the Stratford Festival (as well as performing directorial duties there). Campbell played the role of Blake in the Stratford production of the same name, for which, as noted on the liner notes for Elemental, the song Lullaby was written.
CEDRIC SMITH, who provided vocals and guitar on Carrighfergus and Kellswater, is presently a leading figure in Canadian stage, film and TV, although before making it big as an actor, he was involved during the early 70's in the Canadian folk music scene as a member of the group Perth County Conspiracy. Now he is probably best known for his current role as Alec King on the TV program Road to Avonlea. Previous acting roles including the lead in the stage production Billy Bishop Goes to War, as well as appearances on virtually every Canadian TV program from The Campbells to Street Legal, established his reputation as an actor several years before Road to Avonlea, however. (This man is EVERYWHERE on Canadian TV. The morning of the day I wrote this I was watching a program on the JuJu musical tradition of Nigeria, and who should the narrator be but Cedric Smith!) Smith and Loreena shared arranging credits for the soundtrack to the NFB feature film Bayo (1985), which included the song Carrighfergus, albeit in a slightly different arrangement than the version that appears on ELEMENTAL.
TO DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY
Cedric Smith reappears on this album to share vocals with Loreena on The King. The only other musician to appear on this very stark album which predominantly features Loreena accompanying herself on harp, is Stratford-based musician, SHANNON PURVIS-SMITH who plays strings.
PARALLEL DREAMS
Parallel Dreams is the album with which Loreena begins engaging the services of instrumentalists who had already, or would soon, establish their reputations as some of the most in demand musicians on the Canadian music scene. Many of these musicians would continue to work with her on subsequent albums and would appear with her in performance.
Loreena's collaboration with BRIAN HUGHES began on Parallel Dreams. Brian has not only been the sole guitarist with whom Loreena has recorded and performed, but he has also collaborated with her in the production of her albums, and as noted by Ian Menzies in Canadian Musician, Brian provides "an early sounding board for [Loreena's] ideas". Brian, who is originally from Edmonton, is a highly talented jazz guitarist who has achieved success apart from his work with Loreena. He has released three albums all of which enjoy/have enjoyed success on jazz and adult contemporary charts, and he routinely performs with his own band, the members of which include Rick Lazar and, and until recently, George Koller, both of whom have worked with Loreena for a number of years. (Whether Brian brought Loreena's attention to these two musicians or vice versa, I don't know.) Besides the guitar, Brian also plays such exotic instruments as the balalaika (a four stringed, Russian ukalele-like instrument), the oud (a middle- eastern, fretless lute) and sitar. Linda Slater also found out that Brian bought a Greek-style bouzouki, but he has as yet not played it on any of Loreena's albums, nor played it during performances.
[Weird, interesting side note: The reason I know about the bouzouki is that I was admiring one of them in a local guitar shop, where Brian used to bring his guitars for maintenance when he still lived in Edmonton. The salesman told me, as part of his sales pitch, that "These instruments are very hard to get. We only brought in three of them. I bought the first one, Brian Hughes bought the second, and you could have the third." Linda Slater ]
Brian cites as his influences musicians such as Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino and George Benson, but his style of jazz-rock fusion has brought him frequent comparisons to Pat Metheny. In fact, Brian stated in an interview for Canadian Composer that "The record company down in the States (Mesa/Bluemoon) says I've probably sold more Pat Metheny records than Brian Hughes records.... because when people hear my stuff on the radio they think it's a new Pat Metheny album and go out and pick up his latest release."
A music video, directed by Lance Chilton (whom most viewers of Much Music will recognize as one of the Fax reporters), was made of one of Brian's songs, Nasca Lines, and features Brian, George Koller and Rick Lazar playing their instruments on a sand dune. The video airs occasionally on Bravo!, the Canadian arts cable channel.
Acoustic bassist/cellist GEORGE KOLLER, also originally from Edmonton, first started recording with Loreena on Parallel Dreams, as well. In the late 80's until about '91/92 he also appeared with her in performance, but except for occasional "guest" appearances, he has ceased performing with her on a regular basis. The reason for this probably lies in his stated desire to focus on his own work. Besides Loreena, George has worked with Brian Hughes, the Shuffle Demons, jazz trombonist Bob Stroup, Tania Koster, Women with Horns, the jazz group Mecca, vocalist Terez Malcolm and jazz singer Julie Michels.
George has nurtured an interest in East Indian musical forms and as a result of this interest has studied east Indian vocal techniques and plays instruments such as the sitar, tamboura (an upright pot-bellied string instrument which provides a drone sound) and the esrai (a bowed sitar). He has produced three recordings: one called Sunlight Rain which Edmonton Journal music columnist Roger Levesque describes as having "the contempletive air of classical Indian music", but adds that "it's too gutsy to be labelled 'new age'"; another called Music for Plants, Animals and Humans; and still other which is a collaboration with jazz singer Julie Michels called Singing Naked. More recently, George has collaborated with the percussion-based group, The Toronto Tabla Ensemble.
[For you trivia buffs out there, George calls his acoustic bass "Sandra" -- she was named for "her" sandy colour. Evil befell Sandra a couple of years ago when George was in Edmonton to perform with trombonist Bob Stroup's Reunion Trio. The musicians had gone into the Sidetrack Cafe where they were to perform, leaving their instruments in a vehicle outside, and when they came back after only a few minutes, the instruments were gone. Sandra was eventually recovered and returned to George, safe and sound.]
RICK LAZAR started playing percussion for Loreena on Parallel Dreams and has been her main percussionist in performance and on recordings since then. Rick is a Toronto-based musician who not only plays with Loreena and Brian Hughes, but also has also fronted his own bands, The Coconut Groove and The Montuno Police. Rick and the latter group have released two albums, Bang and Touch.
Rick has recently worked with Manitoba guitarist, Art Turner, providing percussion on his 1996 album, Story Waters.
OLIVER SCHROER played the violin on Parallel Dreams and performed with Loreena only briefly in 1989/90. Oliver, who is based in Markdale, Ont., was classically trained but has produced recordings that fall very much into the celtic/world beat genre. His recordings are played regularly on CBC Radio, and he was featured on a CBC "Hot Ticket" special in the summer of '94. Oliver's arrangements of traditional tunes, as well as his own compositions, are wild and imaginative and feature not only his virtuoso fiddle playing, but also instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, guitar and the ukalin (which is a stringed instrument that I have seen described as a cross between a ukalele and a violin; Loreena plays the ukalin herself on Breaking the Silence).
Schroer has four albums to his credit -- the earlier ones being more celtic in nature, latter two borrowing from other musical traditions such as the Balkan, Mongolian and Native American. For those of you who are really into liner notes, Oliver writes some of the most "interesting" liner notes I have ever read, and the liner notes on his latest album Whirled are the most difficult I have ever tried to read (they sort of form a whirling spiral of words!). Schroer's most recent activities include playing the Winnipeg Folk Festival with a group called The Stewed Tomatoes, and he will be touring Ontario with London-based singer-harpist Jacqueline Brown.
SHELLEY BERGER's only stint with Loreena was to play bass and "pzud" on Parallel Dreams. (The term "pzud" was a name made up by the musicians because they did not know the name of this instrument at the time. It has since been discovered that the instrument is actually a Middle Eastern stringed instrument called a "saz".) Shelley would go on to work with Oliver Schroer and Canadian guitarist Don Ross and to release his own solo jazz album. DAVID WOODHEAD and PATRICK HUTCHINSON are two other musicians who have worked with both Loreena and Oliver Schroer. [It almost seems like Loreena had two camps of backing musicians on Parallel Dreams: those who would go on to play with Brian Hughes -- Rick Lazar and George Koller; and those who would go on to play with Oliver Schroer -- Shelley Berger, David Woodhead and Patrick Hutchinson.] Patrick Hutchinson played uillean pipes on Parallel Dreams, The Visit and The Mask & Mirror. (Hutchinson also plays uillean pipes for the Celtic group Pendragon.) David Woodhead, who played bass, mandolin and accordian on Parallel Dreams, has worked not only with Loreena and Oliver Schroer but also with Stan Rogers and Anderson & Brown (an Ontario-based duo consisting of harpist Mary Anderson and guitarist/flautist/vocalist Ken Brown).
The remaining musicians appearing on Parallel Dreams only show up briefly and include RITESH DAS on tabla and AL CROSS on drums. Ritesh Das is currently the founder and director of the Toronto Tabla Ensemble. Al Cross, who is Jane Siberry's drummer, would again play with Loreena on The Visit and the mask and mirror (although his drum part for The Old Ways is not included on the track in the non- Canadian release of The Visit).
THE VISIT
Several of the musicians mentioned above will continue to work with Loreena on The Visit (including Brian Hughes, who is credited as co-producer; Loreena, as always, is THE producer.)
The "new kids on the block" are Tom Hazlett on bass, Anne Bourne on cello and Hugh Marsh on fiddle. TOM HAZLETT is an unknown quantity to me except that I have read he is classically- trained and has performed with Loreena, I believe, on the first tour in support of The Visit, circa fall/winter 91/92. On her most recent tour, Loreena worked with bassist STEVE LUCAS, a Toronto- based jazz musician who recently released his own album called Jeet Kune Do. Steve has toured and/or recorded with Bruce Cockburn, Buffy Ste. Marie, Seals and Crofts, among others, and has done some radio and film work.
ANNE BOURNE is probably best known for her keyboard work with Jane Siberry. She has provided keyboards, vocals and/or cello on all of Jane's albums, appeared in a number of her videos, and toured with her up until Jane cut back her larger touring group in favour of a smaller, more intimate group. Besides working as a back-up musician for Jane and Loreena, Anne has worked with a wide range of names from the Canadian music scene, including Blue Rodeo, Lost and Profound, Allannah Myles, The Waltons, Meryn Cadell, Spirit of the West, and a host of others too numerous to mention. She has worked extensively in film, often collaborating with former Jane Siberry guitarist Ken Myhr. A recent notable soundtrack on which Anne performed is that of the recent Atom Egoyan film The Sweet Hereafter.
Besides working as a backup musicians for others, Anne has pursued solo musical endeavours including the following: as lead singer and keyboardist of the group All Her Brothers Were Drummers, she contributed Silver Wheels to the Bruce Cockburn tribute album A Kick at the Darkness: Songs of Bruce Cockburn/Intrepid Records; she contributed Blue Ballet to the 1989 Windham Hill compilation album Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music, and she contributed Evangeline to the 1990 Moose Compilation album.
Anne toured with Loreena from 1989 (?) through 1993, playing not only cello, but keyboards, accordian and tamboura, as well as providing background vocals. Anne made brief appearances on The Mask & Mirror and on The Book of Secrets, but from 1994 onwards, the "seat" formerly occupied by Anne on Loreena's tours was taken over first by cellist/keyboardist KIKI MISUMI (Kiki plays cello/keyboards on Live in SF) and more recently by DONALD QUAN on strings, keyboards and tabla.
Donald was a member of the rock group Eye Eye (Duke St. Records) and is currently a member (not to mention founder) of the ethno-cultural ensemble Novaterra which "explores the roots of traditional music around the world and creates new works from these explorations" (an endeavour I'm certain a lot of us Old Way-sers would have an interest in). Donald has also performed and/or recorded with a number of well-known Canadian musicians including Meryn Cadell, Lighthouse, Kaleefa, and Lost and Profound. Donald has released two albums of his own: an instrumental album called Tear of the Sun, which is a collaboration between himself and Japanese flutist Ron Korb, and more recently an album called Invocata which spotlights Donald's talents as a multi-instrumentalist and features other Loreena bandmates, Hugh Marsh and Rick Lazar.
In addition to his numerous performing activities, Donald is involved in A LOT of "behind-the-scenes" musical activities such as album production and programming in a wide range of genres from rap to classical to ethnic music and composing music for film, TV, and radio, as well as dance and theatre productions. As if this were not enough, Donald is also the owner of Q Music Productions, a company which does music editing for film and TV. For more information about Donald and his professional activities (as well as those of the other members in Loreena's band), visit his website at http://www.qmusic.com/.
HUGH MARSH is probably Canada's best known non-Cape Breton fiddler. Originally from Ottawa, Hugh started classical violin lessons when he was five and would eventually study under Sidney Mann, one-time concert master of the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra. In his teens, however, he developed an interest in jazz and rock styles. Hugh's earliest performing experiences took place in Ottawa where he formed a jazz-fusion band that, although it did not perform too many times together, still gained a following nonetheless. Eventually, Hugh's style would evolve into a kind of jazz-dance-funk fusion that, while not evident in his work with Loreena, is highly evident in his solo work.
In the early 80's, Hugh joined Canadian singer-songwriter, Bruce Cockburn's band which would result in international recognition of his talent. While working with Cockburn, he also pursued his own musical interests and has several solo albums under his belt: Songs for my Mother and Father, Mitch Buzz, The Bear Walks (Duke Street, 1985 which features contributions from tenor sax player Micheal Brecker) and Shaking the Pumpkin (Duke Street, 1987, featuring contributions from Robert Palmer, Bruce Cockburn and Lisa Dalbello). (Hugh was able to enlist the help of Robert Palmer on vocals for Shaking the Pumpkin after he sent Palmer a demo tape of his work.) A live recording of Hugh's performance at Toronto's The Diamond club was broadcast on the CBC Radio program The Entertainers in Nov. 1987. After the release of Shaking the Pumpkin, Hugh prepared to go on a Canadian tour with his band in 1988, but the tour had to be cancelled when he broke his finger while tossing a football with a friend.
Other artists that Hugh has worked with include Canadian band Chalk Circle and Canadian rap star Devon. Hugh, Devon and former Parachute Club guitarist Dave Gray collaborated to write the title song for the album X Marks the Spot, an album produced to raise funds in support of South Africa's first free election and which featured contributions from artists like Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, the Neville Brothers and many others. A collaboration between Hugh, Jonathan Goldsmith, Rob Piltch and Martin Tielli on Joni Mitchell's River appeared on the album Back to the Garden: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell/Intrepid Records. Hugh also produced and performed on Anhata, a collaboration between Hugh, Randev Pandit (who I believe composed the album's music which is heavily East Indian in flavour) Rick Lazar, Steve Lucas and Shiv Naimpally. This album has been nominated for a 1997 Juno award.
More recently, Hugh has worked with Manitoba guitarist Art Turner on his album, Story Water. Rick Lazar contributes percussion to the album, as well.
Hugh has appeared in at least a couple of music videos (besides the video made from Loreena's performance of The Lady of Shalott), these include his own video Versace (a song from The Bear Walks which Hugh describes as "dance groove with a 12 tone row melody"), as well as the Devon video, Who Says You Can't Say 'Yo' to a Princess.
the mask and mirror
On this album, Loreena works with most of the same musicians she worked with on The Visit. In addition, however, she enlisted the services of several guest artists, including some fairly "big names". OFRA HARNOY, the Canadian classical cellist with whom Loreena performed The Lady of Shalott at the 1992 Juno Awards. Ofra also made a guest appearance during one of Loreena's Toronto performances during her last Mask and Mirror tour. DONAL LUNNY is the other "big name". He is a major player on the Irish traditional music scene, having been part of the band Planxty, and more lately being involved in album production for several Celtic bands.
Other musicians on the mask and mirror include: ABRAHAM TAWIK (who plays the nai, a middle-Eastern flute-like instrument); NIGEL EATON (who plays the hurdy-gurdy, the instrument on Santiago that sounds like an irritated bee); and Canadian tabla player RAVI NAIMPALLY; Ravi substituted for Rick Lazar for a couple of dates during the Spring '94 Mask and Mirror tour when Rick was called away to a family emergency. He is also one of the performers on the album Anhata (see section on Hugh Marsh). Loreena also uses a string ensemble on the album (for The Two Trees), as well as a male chamber ensemble, THE VICTORIA SCHOLARS, who appear on The Mystic's Dream. The Victoria Scholars are based in Etibicoke, Ontario (suburb of Toronto) and were awarded the 1996 Canada Council Healey Willan Grand Prize which "is awarded to the choir giving the most persuasive performance in terms of musicianship, technique and program".
THE BOOK OF SECRETS
Loreena continues to work with the group of musicians whom she's come to refer to as "The Idling Porsches" in reference, I assume, to the high degree of "performance power" they represent. [Or maybe she just means they're very expensive, and it takes forever to get replacement parts when they break down! :-) ] However, she augments their tremendous talents with those of other musicians who've made names for themselves in the folk, rock and world music scenes. There are too many musicians on The Book of Secrets to deal with them all individually, but it is probably meaningful to point out the contributions of DANNY THOMPSON, NIGEL EATON (who also lent his talents to The Mask and Mirror) and CAROLINE LAVELLE (previously heard with Loreena on A Winter Garden). Not only did these three musicians contribute their talents to The Book of Secrets, but they also joined Loreena on-stage for her 1998 tour of Europe and North America. Bassist Danny Thompson has been a fixture on the British music scene for many years, having played with musicians as diverse as Pentangle, Elvis Costello, Sonny Terry and Kate Bush, no name only a very few. His most recent effort have him paired with Richard Thompson on a 1997 album called "Industry". Hurdy-gurdy player, Nigel Eaton (himself the son of a hurdy-gurdy maker) was a member of the now-defunct British traditional band Blowzabella, as well as a group called Ancient Beatbox. He has performed with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Marc Almond, contributed music to the films Alien and The Name of the Rose, and is currently part of the British duo Whirling Pope Joan. Caroline Lavelle, another Brit, is a singer and classically-trained cellist with her own album "Spirit" to her credit. She has worked with groups as diverse as De Danann, Radiohead, Massive Attack, the Cranberries, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, as well as with Peter Gabriel and Nigel Kennedy and is currently working on her second solo effort.
Another notable who appeared on The Book of Secrets, as well as A Winter Garden was famed world beat percussionist HOSSAM RAMZY. Hossam started his musical education in his native Egypt, but continued it by first moving to Saudi Arabia where he came into contact with Bedouin tribes willing to share their percussion traditions with him and later by moving to London where he would work with more jazz- and rock-influenced artists. While Hossam is known in the Middle East and among world beat circles for his own recordings (including Introduction to Egyptian Dance Rhythms, Source of Fire, and Gamaal Rawhany/Soulful Beauty), he is better known in more mainstream music circles for his collaborations with people like Peter Gabriel (Passion) and Page and Plant (No Quarter), to name only two of the noted European and North American artists he has worked with.
The fact that Loreena has been able to attract such high calibre musicians, and keep them working with her through several recordings and tours, speaks volumes for her reputation as a creator of the kind of music "musician's musicians" wish to be associated with. I think it also attests to her ability to single out musicians who bring out the best in her music. Loreena once said in an interview that she has never wanted anything in the music business so badly that she has made the wrong decision. Obviously, her ability to make wise musical choices has extended to her choice of the musicians with whom she works.
For more information about "The Idling Porsches", as well as other musicians Loreena has worked with, please consult the following links:
Information about Nigel Eaton's album with Cliff Stapleton and Chris Walshaw called "The Duellists".
DISCOGRAPHY FOR LOREENA'S MUSICIANS:
[Please note: I have only sketchy information about certain of these recordings, e.g. labels on which they were recorded, where to get them. If anyone can provide more info, please do so. :-) I have also only included recordings for which a musician who has worked with Loreena was totally responsible or had a major hand in. It would've taken more effort than I was willing to expend to list, _every_ single recording her musicians had appeared on as back-up musicians. I did _not_ include in this discography the works of people who I don't consider regular collaborators with Loreena, e.g. Ofra Harnoy or Donal Lunny. -- Linda Slater]
BRIAN HUGHES (All items below available through mail-order. Details at Brian's website.)
Between Dusk and Dreaming (1990), Justin Time Records
Under One Sky (1992), Justin Time Records
Straight to You (1996) Sylvan House Music
One to One (1998) Syvlan House Music
Shaken' Not Stirred (1999) Syvlan House Music
HUGH MARSH
Songs for My Mother and Father Those interested in this recording, which includes Hugh's version of Amazing Grace, can contact Hugh at hugmars@interlog.com for more information on how to obtain it.
Mitch Buzz
The Bear Walks (1985), Duke Street Records
Shaking the Pumpkin (1987), Duke Street Records
Randev Pandit/Anhata (1996) Available from Dark Light Music, 51 Bulwer St Toronto Ont. Canada M5T 1A1
RICK LAZAR
Bang by Rick Shadrach Lazar and the Montuno Police, 1990
Touch by Rick Shadrach Lazar and the Montuno Police, 1995
Randev Pandit/Anhata (1996) Available from Dark Light Music, 51 Bulwer St Toronto Ont. Canada M5T 1A1
DONALD QUAN For more information see Donald's website.
Tear of the Sun (1995), EMI/Oasis
Invocata (1999) (Available from a number of different sources).
NIGEL EATON
CAROLINE LAVELLE For more information see Caroline's website.
Spirit (1995), N-Gram/Warner Discovery
Brilliant Midnight (2001), Teldek
Brilliant Midnight 2.0 (2002), Ringing Tree
A Distant Bell (2004), Ringing Tree
DANNY THOMPSON
With Richard Thompson, Industry (1997) Hannibal Records
With Peter Knight, Peter Knight and Danny Thompson, Resurgence
Whatever's Best, Whatdisc
With Toumani Diabate, Ketama and Soto, Songhai 2 (1994) Hannibal Records
GEORGE KOLLER
Sunlight Rain (1994), ZSAN
Music for Plants, Animals and Humans (1994)
Singing Naked(with Julie Michels) (1995)
STEVE LUCAS
Jeet Kune Do (1994)
Anhata (1994)
OLIVER SCHROER
Millie's Waltz (1988)
Another Darn Fiddle Tape (1992)
Jigzup (1993)
Whirled(1994)
[All available from Big Dog Music, c/o Oliver Schroer, RR #4, Markdale, Ont, NOC 1HO]
SHELLEY BERGER
Shelley Berger (1995), Basil Records.
Clayton-Lea, Tony. A Seasoned Soul. The Irish Times, Jan 22, 2000.
Gee, Mike. McKennitt Acts in Face of Tragedy. The Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 5, 2000.
Durchholz, Daniel. Astro Celt. CD Now.
CHAT Transcript. Barnes & Noble Chat, Dec 8th, 1999.
Words and Music: "Singer/composer Loreena McKennitt talks about her new Quinlan Road/Warner Bros. album The Book of Secrets, and the fascinating stories behind it." (Requires Real Audio Player.)
Sullivan, Jim. The Secrets of Loreena McKennitt: Weaving together ancient, modern worlds, she managers her own success. The Boston Globe, June 28, 1998. Available online from the Globe Website. Go to Archives and search "mckennitt". (Charges apply)
Nazareth, Errol. McKennitt hosts musical journey [Review of Loreena's May 3rd, 1998 performance at Massey Hall, Toronto]. The Toronto Sun, May 4th, 1998. (Free)
Mit der Harfe um die ganze Welt: Loreena McKennitt. Berliner Morgenpost Online, Apr 1, 1998. (Frei.)
Griwkowsky, Fish. Book of Secrets a real treat: The Book of Secrets reviewed. The Ottawa Sun, Oct. 13, 1997. (Free)
Conover, Kirsten A. Melding Faraway Times and Places Into Song. The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 1, 1997.
Overall, Rick. Book of Secrets a near religious experience: The Book of Secrets reviewed. The Ottawa Sun, Sept. 28, 1997. (Free)
The Canoe Loreena McKennitt Archives. Includes the following articles. (All available free):
Stevenson, Jane. Loreena tells the world her Secrets: Traditional folk/Celtic singer is a one-woman production/promotion factory. The Toronto Sun, May 2, 1998.
Stevenson, Jane. Loreena McKennitt's top secrets. The Toronto Sun, Oct. 31, 1997.
Overall, Rick. Secrets revealed: Loreena McKennitt releases her long-awaited album. The Ottawa Sun, [not dated].
Flynn, Andrew. Loreena McKennitt's book of secrets. Canadian Press News Release, Aug 28, 1997.
Prasad, Anil. Loreena McKennitt: Canada's Celtic catalyst. September 25, 1991. (Also appears in Dirty Linen, April/May 1992.)
Sullivan, Jim. The Secrets of Loreena McKennitt: Weaving together ancient, modern worlds, she managers her own success. The Boston Globe, June 28, 1998.
McElfresh, Suzanne. Turning timeless, lilting melodies into pop stardom. The New York Times, May 3, 1998, p. 20, 30.
Powell, Betsy. Ultimate word-of-mouth-star: McKennitt shows how industry misreads public. Toronto Star, May 3, 1998, p. B3.
O'Reilly, Finbarr. A world music star comes home. The Globe and Mail, April 30, 1998, p. A16-A17.
Krewen, Nick. Loreena McKennitt. Canadian Musician, v, 19(6), December 1997, p. 40-43.
Kaye, Marcia. The priestess of pluck. Canadian Living, December 1997, p. 37, 39.
LeBlanc, Larry. McKennitt to Unleash 'Book of Secrets': Quinlan/WB Set Should Build on Fan Base. Billboard, Aug 23, 1997, p. 10, 107.
Takin' care of business (Canada's independent musicians use all the tools of entrepreneurship to make it big in world markets). Profit: The Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs, v.15(4) September, 1996 pg 40-44.
Schultz, Barbara. Loreena McKennitt's celtic journey. Mix, May 1996, pp. 65-66.
Baker, DT. McKennitt sings beautifully from Celtic soul. The Edmonton Journal, Aug 14, 1995, p b4.
Gargus, Berenice. McKennitt unmasks folk's mysticism and origins. See Magazine, #92, Aug 10-16, 1995, p 10.
Todd, Douglas. The divine Miss M: McKennitt's music transcendent, when the spirit moves her. The Edmonton Journal, Aug 3, 1995, p d2.
It all started one night at the 'Y'.... [re. George Koller & Julie Michels]. Network. Jun/Jul/Aug 1995, p. 8.
Ginsberg, Murray. A Visit with The Mask and The Mirror. International Musician, v. 93(10), Apr. 1995.
Alaton, Salem. Velvet Gown, Iron Soul. Chatelaine. March, 1995, pp. 60-63.
The 1994 honor roll: a salute to extraordinary Canadian achievers: Loreena McKennitt. Maclean's. v.107(52)
December 26, 1994 pp. 66-67.
Aylmer, Kevin J. Loreena McKennitt: Diary of a Celtic Sojourner. RMM: Rhythm Music Magazine. v.3(10),
1994, pp.28-33
Loreena McKennitt: Canada's celtic maven. Canadian Musician. v.16(3) June, 1994 pg 42-44
Zeitoun, Mary-Lou. Loreena McKennitt: Let them scramble. Impact. May. 1994, p.14
McGlynn, Cindy. Loreena McKennitt: The Spirit That Sends Her. Network. No. 42, Apr/May, 1994, pp. 12-13,15.
Levesque, Roger. Koller keying on his solo career. Edmonton Journal, Apr 6, 1994, p. C12.
Jennings, Nicholas. Celtic Dreams. Maclean's. v. 107 (13), Mar. 28, 1994, pp. 58-59.
Schwartzberg, Shlomo. 'New' McKennit [sic] evokes old Spain. The Financial Post. Mar. 12, 1994, p. S10.
The widespread appeal of Loreena McKennitt. Toronto Star. Mar 6, 1994, pp. C1, C4.
Feniak, Peter. Irish Soul. Saturday Night. v. 109 (1), Feb., 1994, pp. 42-47.
Marston, Don. Loreena McKennitt's Celtic Quest. Courtyard Group [suppl. to The Globe and Mail]. Winter/Spring, 1994, pp. 29-30.
Jones, Christopher. Sideman or star? Jazz guitarist Brian Hughes navigates the middleground. Canadian Composer, Summer 1993, p. 12.
s.v. McKennitt, Loreena. Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.
Canadian guitarist takes comparisons to Metheny in stride. Globe & Mail (Toronto) - Metro Edition. Nov 27, 1992, p. C11.
Metella, Helen. Strains of harp music not all soothing. Edmonton Journal, Sunday, Nov. 23, 1992, p. C6.
More than a pretty face. Calgary Herald, Oct. 23, 1992, p. C1.
Bell, Karen & Pope, Kevin. A visit with Loreena McKennitt. Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada. v. 27(3)
Summer, 1992, pp. 12-14.
Gudgeon, Chris. Loreena McKennitt: home made gold. Canadian Musician. v. 14 (2) April, 1992, pp 36-38.
Prasad, Anil. Loreena McKennitt: The Visit. Dirty Linen. no. 39, Apr/May 1992, pp. 18-19, 84.
Plucky Manitoba harpist gives Celtic music a pop following. Montreal Gazette. Feb 21, 1992, p. D5.
Harpist plucks way into mainstream on Celtic wave. Vancouver Sun. Nov. 25, 1991, p. C5.
The darling of old folkies and New Agers plays it her way. Toronto Star. Oct. 29, 1991, p. E1.
Loreena McKennitt: The Visit. Globe & Mail (Toronto; metro edition). Oct. 28, 1991, p. C2.
McKennitt weaves Celtic spell with gentle stroke of harp. Halifax Chronicle Herald. Oct. 22, 1991, p. B11.
Rick Lazar and the Montuno Police. Toronto Star. Jul 27, 1991, p. H10.
Foster-MacLeod, Lauren. An Interview with Loreena McKennitt. Folk Harp Journal. no. 72, Spring, 1991,
pp. 24-27.
Harpist refuses to fit into folk stereotype: McKennitt's music includes jazz, pop and tribal influences. Calgary Herald. Dec. 6, 1990, pp. C1-2.
Celtic harpist Loreena McKennitt gives ancient twist to new music. Halifax Chronicle Herald. Sep. 17, 1990, A14.
McKennitt and the Winter Garden: not the odd couple they seem. Globe and Mail (Toronto; metro edition). Apr.
13, 1990, p. C6.
Pass forces Marsh to pass on concerts. Globe & Mail (Toronto) - Metro Edition. Jun 3, 1988, p. E10.
Flohil, Richard. The violin's new sound: Hugh Marsh builds an unusual instrumental fusion with classical training and jazzier inclinications. Canadian Composer, October, 1987, pp 4, 6, 8
Fiddler Marsh flying solo with no strings attached. Globe & Mail (Toronto) - Metro Edition. May 28, 1985, p. M11.
Bailey, Billyann. Search for talent: young performers' chance at the big time. Performing Arts in Canada. v. 15,
Summer 1978, pp. 46-49.
Keys, Janice. 'No gin and tonic' singer moves up fast. Winnipeg Free Press. Weds, Dec 14, 1977, p. 25.
Interview on The New Music. Aired July 14, 1998. Much Music.
No Journey's End [video].
Interview on Definitely Not the Opera. Aired Oct 4, 1997. CBC Radio One. Interviewer Nora Young.
Interview on Pamela Wallin. Aired September 30, 1997, CBC Newsworld. Interviewer: Pamela Wallin.
Interview on Canada Midday. Aired September 29, 1997, CBC Television. Interviewer: Tina Srebotnjak.
Interview on McLean's TV. Aired September 28, 1997, CBC Newsworld.
Interview on Sunday Morning. Aired September 28, 1997. CBC Radio One. Interviewer: Avril Benoit.
Interview on Venture. Originally aired on Oct 14, 1996, CBC Television. Re-aired July 6, 1997.
Interview on New Sounds/KUOW FM 94.1 Seattle. Interviewer: John Schaffer. Sometime in 1995.
Featured on Creators, WTN (Women's Television Network), Feb 1, 1995
Interview with Peter Gzowski on Morningside, CBC Radio, May 5, 1994.
Interview with Kevin Newman on Midday, CBC Television/CBC Newsworld, May 5, 1994.
Interview with Karen Gordon on On The Arts, CBC Newsworld, Apr 24, 1994.
Interview with Kim Clarke-Champniss on The New Music, Much Music (??Mar/Apr 1994).
Interview with Steve Anthony & Denise Donlon on Much Music Spotlight (???late 93/early 94; interviews were repeats of ones done in 1991/92).
Breaking the Silence, originally broadcast in 1988 as part of Adrienne Clarkson's Summer Festival, CBC Television; re- broadcast in Spring 1992 with update interview with David Grierson on Sunday Arts, CBC Television.
Segment on Loreena McKennitt on W-5, CTV, by Christine Nielsen, Nov. 22, 1992.
Interview with Tim Wilson from the two-CD Collector's Edition of The Visit, 1991.
Information has also been gleaned from promotional material sent to this list from Quinlan Road, as well as from a transcript of the CompuServe Online Conference with Loreena that took place on Oct. 25, 1994.