This MERRY MAUDLIN MONDAY I decided I’d feature a musician.

Loreena McKennitt could be said to be both merry as well as maudlin. She composes pieces about ancient trees in Ireland being cut down, Lady’s in distress, and arranges Shakespeare,  Tennyson and Blake into music. In concert once she said inspiration for one of her pieces came whilst “flipping through Norton’s Anthology of Literature”. On stage she surrounds herself with some of the best musicians in the industry, calling them her “idling Porsches'”… a merry band of first rate musician’s I have as well followed individually. Way back there in the “mists of time” she once had the whole row of us quietly sobbing away in the rafters of Massey Hall … men and woman.

I admire her not just for her music, but for her passion, her sincerity and her business acumen. She once walked in to Warner Music and made a deal with them that gave her the autonomy few musicians in the industry could orchestrate on their own. She is the master of her own ship, as she has not as yet found a manager who can “manage her as well as herself” she once quipped in an interview. ;-) Type A personality through and through…and at such odds with her music. She is uniquely herself.

This song from the video below in particular has very special meaning to me. Lex and I (my sis) were coming back from town the day after our Mom’s death and it was the first of November, a sunny day, and we had just been picking up supplies at Walmart for the scrapbook we were creating of Mom’s life. We were driving down a country sideroad between town and our hometown when this song came on the CD of mixed music she had. As it played, I noticed out her window (the driver side) a hawk. It was right at our level, just out not 100 ft or less from us…cruising along with us…it was this magical moment and it almost felt like Mom was there with us. More than that, it spoke to that part of me that has always loved this song…for its words and for the lyrics “please remember me”. I once read where an Archaeologist who loved her music would always play this particular piece when he was starting a dig…for inspiration.  ENJOY

For performances, discography and more, check her out at:  Quinlan Road