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Sweet As Honey

In person, the all-female musical ensemble Celtic Woman (Chloë Agnew, Lisa Lambe, Máiréad Nesbitt and Susan McFaddenare) are exactly what they present on stage through their performances: wholesome, decent types you know your parents would immediately approve of.

 “I suppose that’s a good thing, because we really are who we say we are on stage,” says Nesbitt.

 “We don’t want people to feel like they are watching us act on stage, and then  morph into these characters they’ve never seen before when we climb off stage,” says Lambe.

With this background regarding how prim and proper these two ladies are (the other two are simultaneously fielding questions from other journalists in a different room), it makes sense that they titled their latest offering Believe.

 “For me, this project represents belief in oneself and it is a good summation of what our group is all about. We are a group of ladies that has worked incredibly hard to be who we are today,” says Nesbitt.

“Another reason is that we know awful things happen to people, perpetrated by other people, but we choose to focus on the good side of humans. We believe that no one is all bad or evil, and that we all have some good in us,” says Lambe.

“But we also believe in folk who have been part of our journey, people that Celtic Woman would not have happened without. These include our fans, the crew and the creative team.”

 When listening to songs such as Green Grow The Rushes, A Woman’s Heart and The Parting Glass, it is easy to think that these ladies are made of, as the rhyme goes, “all things nice”. Are they really that innocent, or are they just good at hiding skeletons?

“We get that a lot. We are not angels at all, but we tend to put more emphasis into good behaviour because we see ourselves as ambassadors for Ireland,” notes Lambe

 “But to liven things up, what we have included as part of the Believe Tour is a dancer by the name of Craig Ashurst. He duels with me on stage and no one ever knows who will come out as the victor,” says Nesbitt.

“We also tour with a choir to complement the strong feminine presence we have. There is also a bag piper who just shows up unannounced.”

The ladies have such a dominant identity and unmistakable voices, but do they think that Celtic Woman – which has had many different members since its inception in 2004 – can be any four singers, or do the current indivi-duals determine what it is is?

 “Celtic Woman is constantly evolving. Even now, one of our more regular singers, Lisa Kelly is on maternity leave,” says Lambe.

 “People get married, have kids and priorities change. Basically, Celtic Woman is first a group, and then the members give it life. Our characters, personalities and musical abilities fill the gaps.”

Towards the end of the interview, they start shifting the attention to South Africa and its people.

“We have learned that ‘lerato’ is Sotho for love. We have an insatiable love for learning about new cultures, and we have found your country to be so welcoming,” says Nesbitt.

“Learning new languages also comes in handy on stage. We often tailor certain tracks for local crowds and they love it. Our tours travel very well internationally, unlike our Guiness beer,” she laughs.

SIBUSISO MKWANAZI
The Citizen
Johannesburg, South Africa
14 August 2012