PLAYIRISH USA with IrishCentral.com brings you the latest music being created in Ireland right now, and a story from the band Come On Live Long talking about their American experience.
"When I think of America there are a few things that spring to mind; The Wonder Years, The Manhattan Skyline, jazz music and Coca Cola. America is like a neighbor who you see everywhere but never really get to know. It is omnipresent from how we speak to what we see, listen to and wear.
We all have friends and relatives in America, some who are gone for a while and some who will never come back. This photo we are sending you is an homage to those people. We were all in different countries when it was taken; Ken in Malta, Louise in Dublin, Daithi in London and I in Paris. Each one of us in a different part of the world yet a part of the same group. We made it out of screenshots of our Skype conversations. When I was twenty-five I travelled to New York to visit friends.
It was there when I became suddenly conscious of the mish mash of cultures that existed in such a closed space. I was staying in Queens with Louise’s brother and on one side of the boulevard it was all South American sizzle and on the other it was all Irish. I ate fried Peruvian chicken and spoke Spanish for dinner and supped on pints of Guinness and listened to Trad music into the night. It was all within a 10-minute walk of the other. People will carry their culture with them and the melting pot grows. I suppose that is the beauty of life. As a band we have never toured The U.S. but we have been to Canada and played music for your neighbors.
The closest we came was to Niagara Falls. We could see into Buffalo from the Canadian side. We would love to come and play there at some stage.
A lot of our fans are in The United States. We get over 100,000 plays a month on our Spotify page from people in America. It gives us a financial freedom to make music the way want to.
When I was a teenager an older friend of mine went to America to find work. He never came back. He has been working there, has a family, a wife yet can never come home for fear of not being allowed to return. He has made America his home. A few months ago he broke his leg and couldn’t work. Without money in America once you stop working your savings diminish quite quickly I suppose. As a gesture of kindness and support, his local GAA team clubbed together, organized raffles, dinner dances and charity cycles to support this guy. That’s just a sense of the community that exists. You might be physically far from home but those around you will always make you feel like you’re there."
IASCA is the Irish Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Based in Ireland, their members are the Irish music writers of all genres - artists, songwriters, composers and lyricists. Their goal is to represent their members, support them, protect their interests and create an environment where new talent can thrive.
PLAY IRISH is an IASCA initiative to promote Irish music both at home and overseas. This playlist is brought to you by the IASCA, visit their website here: www.iasca.ie.
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