Tríona Ní Dhuibhir writes for Culture about her new musical project Tríona Sings, and the long road to releasing her first EP...
My musical journey began age 8, when Santa brought me a guitar – his parting gift. My 8-year-old brain could not fathom how hard this instrument was, how impossible these chords were and how sore my fingers. Sporadically, a guitar teacher ambled into Belmullet. I joined the class.
By my teens I had built up a repertoire of covers and by college I was busking and earning my way. I busked at night when people were up for a sing song, under the influence and feeling flaithiúlach. I started writing songs, then completed an MA at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, led by that force of nature, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. I was gigging in cover and trad bands in Limerick at the time and loving it.
Returning to Dublin, I joined Cantóirí choir, a vibrant group which specialised in choral arrangements of world music. A sonic kaleidoscope unfolded. I dived right in. With Cantóirí I got to experience the joy of singing amazing arrangements within a group, in harmony. We performed in theatres, churches and music venues. The bug got stronger and stronger.
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Watch: Tríona Sings at First Fortnight 2021
I worked in theatre and was drawn to the great cabaret numbers. Inspired by Jack L, Ute Lemper, Camille O'Sullivan and Karen Egan, I put a one woman show together and made my debut as a cabaret artist. Twelve Songs at Dublin Fringe Festival developed into Tríona Ní Díva at Bewley’s Café Theatre - featuring the great songs of Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel, alongside the glitzy showstoppers of John Kander and Fred Ebb. With Cian Boylan as Music Director, I was lucky to be accompanied by the best musicians in town.
The journey from folk, to trad, to choral, country and cabaret has brought me to a place called Tríona Sings.
Then I got the amazing opportunity to create a show for The Performance Corporation’s Big House Festival. This show, Jezebel, became a mini musical of country songs, yet another kind of music I love. There was something about creating Jezebel, writing the text that connected the songs, that unlocked something in me. Immediately after and filled with that post-show glow I sat down and penned Juno’s Song - the first song I wrote after many years.
That was 2013. Since then, I have written many songs and performed them live in the supportive environment created by the mighty women of Mothers Artists Makers (MAM). With this group I first articulated the wish to write and record an album. It felt like an impossible task. The writing and singing bit was easy, but finding a producer and figuring out the music industry was not. These women believed I could do it. I sang them my songs and told them my dreams.
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Now here I am. Thrilled and excited to release my very first EP.
The journey from folk, to trad, to choral, country and cabaret has brought me to a place called Tríona Sings. If you like any of this kind of music, not to mention my ultimate hero Leonard Cohen, you might like to have a listen… and tell me what you think.
The debut EP from Triona Sings is out now - find out more here.
