the ep of SONGS FROM THE SHOW
AVAILABLE NOW
Motherland Songs is a new, live theatre show from Ireland. The production features classic songs of struggle and celebration with evocative projected images alongside thought-provoking poetry from Ireland and North America, news reports, diary entries and interview extracts. Irish singer/actor Edel Murphy (Celtic Woman & Riverdance) and live band perform songs from such songwriting greats as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Nanci Griffith, Nina Simone and Kate Bush.
The show is a historical jukebox of memorable female characters, from the teenage runaway of ’She’s Leaving Home’ by The Beatles to Dolly Parton’s infamous and misunderstood ‘Jolene’ to Mary Black’s ‘No Frontiers’ which lovingly evokes Amelia Earhart, the great US heroine of flight whose plane touched down in the north of Ireland in 1932, completing the first solo journey across the Atlantic ocean by a female pilot. Motherland Songs is a night of music by the greatest, and some less well known, performers and composers interspersed with poignant and socially relevant spoken word.
Travel through the Dustbowl of the Great Depression, into the homes of 1950s urban desperation, down streets of protest in the 1960s and into the tumult of the 21st Century.
Motherland Songs debuted in Ireland in May 2019 and the EP from the show, ’Songs of 20th Century Women’, was released in April 2021. After a successful Irish tour in 2022 the show is preparing for new live performances and studio recordings.
2023
Oct 16 - 19 RESER ARTS CENTER, Arts Northwest Booking Conference. Beaverton Oregon, USA.
2022
Oct 5 CIVIC THEATRE TALLAGHT, Dublin
Sept 23 CULTURE NIGHT, Dublin (Bewley's Café Theatre)
Apr 29 SOURCE ARTS CENTRE, Thurles
Apr 21 BELLTABLE, Limerick
Apr 15 VISUAL, Carlow
Apr 13 MERMAID THEATRE, Bray
Mar 8 GLÓR, Ennis
Mar 6 THE WHALE THEATRE, Greystones
2021
Nov 3 MILL THEATRE DUNDRUM, Dublin
Oct 23 PLAYHOUSE THEATRE (livestream with audience) Derry
Oct 22 BALOR ARTS CENTRE, Ballybofey
Oct 21 STRULE ARTS, Omagh
Sept 30 DRAÍOCHT BLANCHARDSTOWN, Dublin
Sept 24 CIVIC THEATRE TALLAGHT, Dublin
March 25 PLAYHOUSE THEATRE (live stream), Derry
2019
Nov 8&9 BEWLEY'S CAFÉ THEATRE, Dublin
May 24 BEWLEY'S CAFÉ THEATRE, Dublin
Edel Murphy - voice
Ewan Cowley - electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar, piano, synth, drum programming
David Doyle - cello (tracks 1, 2)
Anna Marcossi - cello (tracks 3,4)
Produced and recorded by Ewan Cowley
Additional home recording by all musicians in Dublin, Ireland
Mastered by Taylor Chadwick at Georgetown Masters, Nashville TN, USA
Released April 9, 2021
“An amazing show...Edel Murphy was stunning - the sharpness of her delivery was outstanding. The songs are acerbic and to the point and the backdrop of visuals was very powerful. I was blown away by it.”
“A poignant and socially relevant journey over a century of music. Edel Murphy owns these songs and the stage. It was a very moving experience and the musical arrangements are masterful.”
“Edel Murphy is a fine singer…”
“Edel Murphy haunts and soothes with a voice that would silence angels.”
“It is a rare performer that can bring a tear to your eye and a smile to your lips with the sweetness of her singing. Edel Murphy is such a performer.”