Singer-songwriter Kathleen Turner is more than just an impressive songwriter. Dr. Turner is also a committed academic and an active and passionate community musician, as well as a facilitator, educator and published writer. As she releases her debut album, Like A Lion, she writes for Culture about what she describes as her 'passion to communicate'.
Why did I write this album?
In March 2018 I was in the midst of a glorious adventure. At the time I was the recipient of the Jerome Hynes fellowship - an award from the Arts Council of Ireland to take part in the Clore Leadership Programme. Clore brings together leaders in arts and culture, from Ireland, UK, Hong Kong, Mexico, India and Jordan. It was a beautiful time - I had ten months of training, mentoring, coaching, friendship, and exposure to any number of powerful experiences of arts and culture. And this learning wasn't only for me - the Jerome Hynes fellowship is given to artists who will bring their newfound skills home, and contribute to their arts community in Ireland.
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So it was that I found myself on a two-month secondment in Glasgow, working with and learning from an inspiring charity called Impact Arts. I was energized by these people - they’re driven, talented, and deeply committed to community. Yet at the same time, I was depleted. I was watching from the UK as the referendum on the 8th unfolded, and I felt mute.
In the Clore programme, each fellow is given a mentor and a coach. I talked with my Coach about this feeling. I told her that I wish I still boxed - a hobby from university. I said, "When I boxed, I’d go in like a lion and leave like a lamb." My coach responded with a question – "Kathleen, why do you have to be a lamb? What would happen if you just went in like a lion? To everything! Meetings, funding applications, promotions, creative ideas, arguments, relationships!"
The thought wouldn’t leave me alone.
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Over the next few weeks, like so many people, I waited anxiously for the outcome of the referendum. I exhaled with the result, and the knowledge that I’d be coming home to a more compassionate Ireland. And still the thought wouldn’t leave me alone.
I started writing - "Our teeth and our claws, yes, we’ll tear it apart with the might of our jaws, the muscle of the pride, daughters at our side, look what happens when we go in like a lion." I found myself leaving the office to sing into my phone, humming in taxis and on trains. I started with the title track and the songs kept coming - all in some way to do with power, agency, rage, raucous joy, unapologetic ambition - taking up your space in the world.
When the fellowship ended, I went to Sean Óg Graham - multi-instrumentalist, producer and member of Beoga. We started recording in March 2019, and now the album is a day from its full release.
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The single, Like a Lion, came out earlier this month. That evening, I got a message from a woman to say she had listened to it three times in a row, and sat down to listen to it again with her two daughters.
In the final few weeks of a release, it’s easy to forget your original purpose. The process can be overwhelming - mixing, mastering, pre-listen codes, barcodes, ISRC, IMRO, RAAP, PPI. You can lose touch with the visceral place that the songs came from. But tonight, I came home from work to find a card from my sister. She wanted to wish me luck for the release, and to quote some of my own lyrics back to me.
"There is nothing stronger than a girl with plans."
Like A Lion by Kathleen Turner is out now - find out more here.
