VANCOUVER -- It has been said that the soul of country and western music evolved from Irish traditional music, so it's not too surprising that some of country's favourite performers are descendants of Irish parentage. One of the most famous sons, of course, is Garth Brooks, whose mother is from Country Cork. Another is Patricia Conroy whose father is from County Galway.
The Celtic Connection first encountered Patricia back in our early days six years ago at a fundraising event. Many excellent performers gave their time that evening but the one who absolutely took everyone's breath away was Patricia Conroy.
I will never forget her effect on the audience as she walked onstage wearing her cowboy boots. She had star presence, holding the audience in rapture. Unaccompanied, she sang The Bold Fenian Men, in one of the sweetest, most lilting voices I have ever heard. You could hear a pin drop.
We learned afterwards that Patricia was raised in Montreal, where her father had long been involved with the local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltiri Eireann, the worldwide organization which promotes Irish traditional music, song and dance.
She said,"we had visitors from Ireland all the time when I was young. There was music every weekend with jam sessions. I was like a sponge with music. I loved Irish music and I loved just listening to the radio and watching old movies with music. Anything with music....I was just in love with music.
"My summers in New Brunswick with my mother's side of the family took me into Country and Western music. Again, her family is quite musical as well and there was a lot of sitting around the kitchen table playing country music."
Four and a half years ago, Patricia left Vancouver, where she had been living, and headed for Nashville, Tennessee -- the heart of country and western music -- to focus on her career.
I recently spoke with Patricia in Tennessee and asked her about her new CD Wild as the Wind, to be released in Canada on March 17, and about what enticed her to Nashville. She explained, "I couldn't find management in Canada and someone mentioned that Morningstar was looking for someone. One thing lead to another and they took me on, so I figured this was where I needed to be."
Since leaving Vancouver, Patricia has faced many challenges, but it was her most serious crisis that she still finds painful to talk about today. Last year, while on tour in Europe, she was attacked by a vicious dog while walking along a beach in Italy with a friend. Her injuries were life threatening, bringing her face-to-face with her own mortality.
The incident was widely reported in the North American media and support poured in from around the world. The shock was unbelievable but she said, "I've always just been thankful for the day-to-day things in my life. I've always been that kind of person. I never waited for something to make me happy...I've just been happy to have my family and friends and just for living.
"So, things were going in the right direction. I was saying "All right, I'm in Europe. I've always wanted to go to Italy ....that was always my dream.... to go Italy and to go to Ireland. Even after the accident....it took me a week just to start coming off the painkillers and getting used to the fact that my head was ripped open...I looked around me and thought `what a beautiful place.'"
She said everyone was kind to her. She had been taking part in a U.S. Naval Tour when the attack took place. "I was there for a couple of weeks recovering in Italy and I was treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital facility with their best doctors and they just took great care of me. At first, I went to the Italian emergency hospital and that was scary. If I handn't been treated at the Naval Hospital, I would have been in worse condition."
Although the wounds have healed, there are still physical and emotional scars. She says, "In times like that, I always say, ‘it could have been worse. It could have been a child walking along the beach. And the fact that my friend Bob was there with me helped."
With her adversities now firmly behind her, Patricia spoke about the upcoming independent release of Wild as the Wind. In Canada, the CD will be released through The Soapberry Shop — a company very much like The Body Shop — with over 20 locations across Canada. Her management has worked out an arrangement whereby Patricia will be endorsing The Soapberry Shops’ products through a lifesize reproduction of her in each of location, and they will release her new CD in Canada, 30 days prior to retail.
As a result of the arrangement, Patricia will celebrate her first gold record in Canada (meaning that she has sold over 50,000 albums). She said, "this is major news for me, especially being an independent artist. I’ve never had a gold record before. After the terrible year I had last year, plus the fact that I had been on a major label for three albums and never sold a gold record — suddenly, here I am, independent with my own label (Sunset Records) and we’re shipping gold. It’s kind of a miracle."
She said, "you have to find within yourself the faith to just put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it’s just that simple, but it takes a lot of work and patience." Now she says, "I have a small team of people working with me but we’re mighty."
She said, "Everything happens for a reason and I think there needs to be a little pain for there to be real joy in your life. I never wanted anything handed to me in the music business. I wanted to work for it. I wouldn’t want to win a million dollars and set myself up. I would rather know that people liked my music and that was why I was successful."
Patricia will be touring in Canada this spring and she is also looking forward to an upcoming tour of Ireland. Her management is now negotiating with an Irish record label to release her previous CD Mary on the Dashboard. Watch for the release of Patricia Conroy’s new CD Wild as the Wind on March 17 at Soapberry Shops across Canada. In the Lower Mainland, Soapberry Shops are located in the following malls: Brentwood Mall, Metrotown Centre and Surrey Place Shopping Centre.
