Photo by Keith Dixon
The Young Irelanders will sing and dance on the Esplanade stage on Friday, Oct. 18.
cbrown@medicinehatnews.com@MHNBrown
Count yourself lucky, Medicine Hat. The Young Irelanders are set to perform at the Esplanade tonight.
The Young Irelanders are a group brought together each year by the Irish Cultural Academy to tour and bring a little Irish culture to the world.
Classic songs like “Galway Bay” and foot-stomping dances will delight the audience.
The starts at 7:30 p.m.
Before boarding a flight to Canada, lead singer Clodagh Lawlor answered questions about first-time audiences, life on the road and the show Hatters will see.
Medicine Hat News: This is your first time in Medicine Hat. Is there any extra pressure with a debut show?
Clodagh Lawlor: I mean yeah you have that initial fear that you’re playing a venue for the very first time and you want to impress people so much that you nearly scare yourself off the stage. But in saying that, I love getting to experience new venues and Most importantly I love getting to meet new people after the show.
News: Since this is new to this city, what are people going to see, hear and experience at the show?
Lawlor: Each and every year the Irish Cultural Academy brings together some of its finest exponents of Irish traditional music, song, and dance. We are performers who are still in our 20s and are unique among our piers, in that we are all world and Irish national champions in their disciplines; some also hold degrees in music.
We want to bring you on a musical journey all along the Wild Atlantic Way which is the theme of our show and share our stories and experiences with you. It’s a very personal show and we want to make you feel at home while you embark on the journey with us.
News: What is life on the road like for a group of eight young people?
Lawlor: When you’re a touring musician, life on the road can have its ups and downs for everyone I think. The reality is there are early mornings, tight turnarounds but being on tour is so much fun as agreed by all my fellow band members.
We are getting to experience so much life while on the road and seeing places you’d never imagine seeing. We are all young musicians who thankfully get on so well with each other and we also share so much in common as we all have the same love for music.
We are very fortunate due to the fact that we are traveling the world – playing music and at the same time getting paid to do what we love!
News: If you had to pick one highlight from the show people will see what would it be?
Lawlor: I love when we get the crowd interacting with us. There are times in the show where I will ask the crowd to sing along with me and in part two of our show our dancers teach the crowd an Irish dance. It’s so personal and I just really love that part of the show.
