This week, Miriam meets singer songwriters Juliet Turner and Brian Kennedy.
Juliet is from a farm near Omagh in County Tyrone. She grew up in a Methodist household. Brian is from the Falls Road in Belfast and grew up a Catholic.
They first met some years ago when Brian pulled Juliet out of the crowd to duet with him. This is the first time the two met. They perform that duet for Miriam , the Tom Waits' song I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You.
They explain to Miriam the trials of touring and playing as a support act.
Both describe their childhoods. Juliet grew up on a farm, with the local Methodist church playing a very important part in her life and her musical education. She attended the local primary school where local Catholic and Protestant children were educated together. She became aware of the sectarian divide when she went to secondary school where the school bus was divided along religious lines. That said, the Troubles seemed far away.
In contrast, Brian grew up on the Falls Road and witnessed many difficult moments near his home, including a man being shot in front of him.
They tell Miriam how their experiences of growing up in the North was very different, but they respect each others different experiences.
Brian discovered his interest in music at secondary school, performing John Denver's Annie's Song in public for the first time at fourteen. Juliet discovered songwriting when she decided to come to Dublin to study at Trinity College, Dublin. She sings a song composed for her sister called Invisible to the Eye.
Brian has enjoyed living in New York and sings Christopher Street, a diary of his life there.
Juliet has changed career direction in recent times, graduating as a speech therapist last Summer. She is cuurently working in a voluntary capacity in a clinic. The decision to return arose because she had given up her speech therapy studies for family reasons on leaving school, before completing her arts degree in Trinity and starting a singing career. Juliet explains the profound effect that the death of her brother and her father's stroke when she was nineteen had on her life. She returned to these studies when, after her third album, she realised that although she wanted to continue singing, she didn't want to be trying to make a full time living on the road as a singer.
Brian has been through psychotherapy to help him cope with the ups and downs of his life. He explains that as well as great career success, he has also been dropped by record labels. As a child, he coped with all sorts trauma by pretending that everything was ok, but psychotherapy helped him be more honest.
Niether Brian nor Juliet has a life partner at the moment. But they are optimistic! They close the programme by singing Paul Brady's song The Island.
