Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Arts & Culture » Emer sets her focus on the Fringe

Emer sets her focus on the Fringe


Ennis singer-songwriter Emer O’Flaherty embarks on an exciting summer schedule from this Friday as she brings her new show Life in 3 Words to audiences in North Clare, Glór and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Kicking off at the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon at 8pm, she will perform her own songs following a set by oboe player Etain McCooey, violinist Karen Kelly and low -whistle maker and guitarist, Ian Lambe.
It will be Emer’s first time performing at the Fringe Festival and explains how her body of work came about, ultimately leading to her netting the slot at the Scottish arts festival.
“It was a snowball effect and who I have to thank for it are the Ginger Jam sessions in Brandon’s. They gave me 20 minutes last September to do a set and I said, ‘listen I’d love to do one song’, I had a few written but I said I’d let one out to the public first and they said, ‘well how about we give you 20 minutes’ and I said ok.
“It meant that I played more than I had originally thought and they went down ok. I didn’t get any tomatoes thrown at me if I can put it like that. Then they asked me back at Christmas and I got writing a lot more in the interim. So I had a few ready for September and then it just grew legs in that I had a few more ready for December and before I knew where I was, I had maybe eight or nine ready to go,” Emer said.
The singer started to see a pattern emerging in the song titles, and in the music, which led her to the name of the show and it also provided a framework for further songs.
“All the titles of the songs had three words, which is where Life in 3 Words comes from. I’ve a thing I hate playing in the same key more than once. I used to hate having keys repeating. So every song in the show is actually in a different key.
“I’m trying to work it so they’ll progress so I’ll start in C and end up down the scale to finish up on either C sharp or C again. It made it more interesting for myself to write it in a different key because you didn’t have any repetition. In terms of writing the music, if I found myself repeating a pattern I’d immediately have to break it. I like to eventually resolve but I didn’t want it to obviously resolve. It’s nice to keep people guessing where this is going. So often some of the verses would be in different keys to the choruses,” she said.
The resulting 12 songs in Life in 3 Words cover everything from love to loss and confusion.
Emer performed in the Rowan Tree in Ennis recently with Ennistymon native Paddy Mulcahy where she gave a sneak peak of what audiences can expect from her at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. She will be performing her full set in Ennistymon’s Courthouse Gallery this Friday and in Glór at 8pm on July 12 next.
“I had been to the fringe two years ago myself and I was blown over by it because I had no idea that it was as big as it was. I thought wouldn’t it be great to bring all of this somewhere and I started to make enquiries,” Emer explained.
She secured a 40-seater venue having linked up with The Space, a creative company that operate different venues for the festival, and will perform each evening from August 2 to August 10, with the exception of August 4.
Emer says her love of music and playing music has been with her since she was very young. She plays piano and flute and is also a classically trained soprano.
“Music has always been under the surface. Like a lot of Irish children growing up, you were sent to piano lessons and I did all my grades when I was in secondary school. I always kept playing but I put it to the side for a while and I went off and did law in Galway. The music, and drama, always kept coming back to the surface. A friend of mine asked me to accompany her for something and I have to say it was one of the nicest questions that I was asked because it is what made me go and play so much more,” she said.
Her songwriting was honed thereafter when she returned to college by night to do a diploma in dramaíocht at NUI Galway.
“As part of that, we did a performance where you had to write music to accompany a poem. I realised that was what sparked the writing,” she said.
She describes her music as contemporary lounge, providing a mellow atmosphere.
For her performance at Glór in July, Emer will also be joined by Etain McCooey, Karen Kelly and guitarist, Jason Noone.

 

About News Editor

Check Also

Clare Rose in full bloom at special New York parade

The 1968 Clare Rose was one of a bunch of 27 former Rose of Tralee …