Chat Transcripts
from the Barnes and Noble chat
with Loreena

On Wednesday, December 8th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Loreena McKennitt to chat about her latest release, LIVE IN PARIS AND TORONTO.

Megan from bn.com: Welcome, Loreena McKennitt! Thank you for joining us online tonight. Where do we find you?

Loreena McKennitt: I am just outside of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Not quite winter, but it will be soon.

Gina from Connecticut: When you create a new song, assuming that you write the lyrics as well as the music, which do you generally prepare first -- lyrics or music?

LM: There doesn't seem to be any fixed pattern with regards to this. Sometimes I will build the lyrics for a song over the course of some time and
play around with melodies. And sometimes I will have a melody looking for lyrics. It has happened both ways, really.

Customer from bn.com: David Soren's article in the May/June Archaeology referred to a CD version of "The Lady of Shalott" from 1990 (which I believe predates THE VISIT), and in particular, pre-Raphaelite cover art. Is the CD still available? Any details on the cover art (Waterhouse from the Tate or AGO)?

LM: I do remember reading Dr. Soren's article. I don't remember that specifically. I know that when I was in Tucson, I was there before I released THE VISIT and I believe I had left with him just a working cassette, some of the songs from THE VISIT, but it wasn't a CD or any formal or commercially available recording.

Christopher H. from Papillion, NE: How do you feel about comparisons between you and singer-songwriter Enya? (Note: Christopher is at youth
group and so his mother is signing on for him so this is ready to go when he gets home. Did you know he has designed a web page for you?)

LM: I think every artist likes to consider what they do unique. With myself, for a lot of the themes and subjects I am working in, many have literary or historical references. I am not familiar with all of Enya's work, but that is one difference in terms of the content. The arrangements are a different kind of fabric. I have chosen to weave in an eclectic group of instruments, such as a tamboura with Irish pipes. Essentially mixing Eastern, Middle Eastern, classical, and Celtic/Irish folk instruments together. My impression is that her arrangements are different than that. For some people there is a similar thread of the Celtic motif.

Kimberley from Raleigh, NC: I saw your concert at Radio City Music Hall a year and a half ago. I was so thrilled to be able to see you live that it didn't concern me how big the hall is. When I got there, you created a wonderfully intimate atmosphere. Was it difficult to do that and how did it change your performance?

LM: We brought that concert throughout various parts of Europe in various sizes of halls. One of my concerns is that sometimes a large hall can work against a sense of intimacy. Perhaps we were able to achieve intimacy with the stage set and design. There were also nine of us on the stage. It is always of some interest and concern. There can be another aspect, and that is the sculpting of the sound. We had exceptional sound engineers who came from a classical background, who could create a sound dynamic in the hall where my voice could come through in a present yet intimate matter, and that is a particular skill.

Ellen from Chattanooga, TN: Where do you get the inspiration for your songs? Are they based on your travels, legends, poetry?

LM: The inspiration can come from any one of a number of directions. Usually when I begin the cycle of a recording with the research stage, I have a rough idea of the geography and the period of time I am interested in exploring, but it is only when I get into reading a lot of different kinds of books -- travel writing, historical books -- unexpected ideas or threads come up that I hadn't planned on and I follow them. That certainly was the case for the Skellig piece on THE BOOK OF SECRETS, which was a result of reading Thomas Cahill's book HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION. So I compare the process much more to travel writing, a kind of musical travel writing. Rather than just sitting down and writing a piece, I begin with an idea and then research it and see where it all takes me.

Beth from Williamsburg, VA: Why did you wait so long to make a live album?

LM: It never really crossed my mind before to do it. I was, I guess, very much focused on the historical research that would lead into the studio recording and when I did tape the concerts in April and May of '98 it was as much out of a mood of pragmatism than anything, because I had decided at that point in time -- because my contact with Warner was completed with THE BOOK OF SECRETS -- that I wanted to put the emphasis on my time on my personal interested public over until the next studio recording.

June from Pennsylvania: It's unanimous: All your music art is exquisite! I've been singing your praises since first introduced to THE VISIT several years ago. I take this opportunity also to thank you and wish you well. One question: Is there, or will there be any sheet music available?

LM: Well, this is one of the things we are looking to tidy up and bring up to speed. That has been impossible over these last few years when we have been releasing records and touring. I am hoping in this next year it will be possible.

Rick from Dayton, OH: I have heard that you are about to release a book, CELTIC QUEST, I think. When is it due out?

LM: I am not releasing it at all. Someone, a publisher from Canada, has chosen to put out a book on myself. It certainly has not been in collaboration with me, and it is one of those unfortunate things that you get to feel like a public commodity -- but I am not in a position to comment on this book.

Georgia from Anaheim, CA: I've been a huge fan of yours since I "discovered" THE VISIT in 1995. Is there another in-studio CD in the works within the next, say, one or two years?

LM: It's difficult to say. Usually from the point that I start researching and writing the music, it is then kind of rehearsed and worked through a bit before I get to the studio. THE BOOK OF SECRETS took a full two years. It would keep me going to complete a studio recording in the next two years. I still feel compelled to switch the emphasis from my career to my personal life. It is a very difficult thing to do because I enjoy the research and recording very, very much. But because I have taken the unusual step of managing my career, my position is not like a lot of other artists'. Much of my days in between releases and tours are spent with administrative duties. Since I have been building this particular intense work path since 1985 I am needing to make the decision to pause for a while.

Meredith from San Francisco, CA: Much of your inspiration seems to come from mythology and romantic poets. Is there anyone writing today that you find inspirational?

LM: I have to say that one of the casualties of managing things as I do is that there is not nearly enough time to read as I would prefer. It seems most of my reading occurs in the research phase preparing for a recording. I would not consider myself extremely conversant with writers out there. Because my curiosity can lead me in so many directions, I have tried to put some type of focus on my inspirational gaze. Generally a large part of my interest is to bring lesser known or forgotten points of history forward, again that could relate to, even if tangentially, to the Celtic history.

Beth from South Carolina: Loreena, thank you so much for your music -- it is an inspiration to me. Do you feel that your fans have been supportive of your decision to take a break from your musical career?

LM: I won't really say that I am breaking. It depends what you mean. I like to use the word "pause." I am not sure how long that pause will be. It is hard to say. There are some opportunities to get feedback from my fans, and in those limited opportunities it does seem that people understand and are supportive. It is one of the difficult things of doing something that is so much in the public eye. One can't blame the public that they perhaps own you in a way and that there are serious expectations there. The difficulty of this industry is that it will take all that you have to give it and then some. For myself, my situation compounded by the fact that I've managed my own career over these past 14 years, it hasn't allowed me to be engaged in activities that would lead you to be a balanced, healthy human being. As difficult as it is to take the pause, I must be committed to it.

Carol W. from Orcas Island, WA: You've woven many musical influences into your music, primarily from Europe, ancient traditions, Middle Eastern influences.... Are you planning to use any new world music touches in the near future? Any plans to travel and study musical cultures?

LM: No plans of any of that at the moment.

Nils Dailey from Guilford, CT: The proceeds from LIVE go to an unusual cause. What is the background on this?

LM: A year ago last July my partner perished in a boating accident along with his brother and a work colleague, and as a result of this event, his family and also the other fellow's family and I decided that we would set up a fund that would be devoted to the area of water safety education and search-and-rescue and search-and-recovery exercises. As with any fund it is important that there is some money-generating engine. I had the tape of the live recording already in the can, so I decided that I would donate the proceeds of that recording to this purpose.

Angela Johnson from Orland Park, IL: Hello Loreena. I hope you are doing well. I have to say that in the relatively short time that I've been aware of your music, I have come to love and respect what you do and who you are as a person. You've been such an inspiration for me, not only in my artistic endeavors, but also in other aspects of my life as well. I just wanted to say thank you.

LM: Thank you. That is great. Thank you for those words.

Linda from Edmonton: Hi, Loreena! What's an old Luddite like you doing in a place like this?!? It's me, the Linda from Edmonton. (That probably sounds pompous, but they seem to only use first names around here, kind of like AA or something. :-) ) Hope you're doing well. I just popped by the Chat Room to say "Hi!" since it's been awhile. (It's actually the first time I've ever done the "Chat" thing, so I hope you appreciate me giving up my "Chat Virginity" just for you! :-) ) I guess since I'm here, though, I should ask a question, and since this is book-related site, why don't I ask you about the biography that's being released sometime in the near future, LOREENA MCKENNITT: CELTIC QUEST by Geoff Hancock. Did you have much input into the book? Is it actually a biography or more of an extended interview focusing on your interest in the Celts and how you've woven what you've learned about them into your music? I don't know if we're allowed more than one question, but if so, the other thing I would ask you is what kind of music you've been listening to lately. Or, have you even had the time to just sit back and relax and put a CD on? Enough from me. Take care and keep in touch, eh!

LM: You will notice that I am not typing tonight! I touched on the first question earlier. I have not read the manuscript. I can only imagine that it must

be pieced together, as sometimes these things are. What music am I listening to? Césaria , and a record of Paul Brady's I got the other day, and a group from Montreal called La Nef that plays early music. Wonderful. There is a wonderful recording -- two CDs -- that emanates from the TV program "Bringing It All Back Home" that explores the migration of Irish music to America. That's it for the moment!

Gina from Connecticut: When you set a poem to music, such as Yeats's "Stolen Child," the poem from "Cymbeline," or, of course, "The Lady of Shallot," do you actively go in search of a poem, or do you find that poems suggest themselves to you instead? 

LM: For the most part, I usually stumble across them as I am scanning through books of poetry. But frequently, when I look at the composition of a recording, I am looking to have the pieces function differently from each other and in that way one piece frames another. So, for example, for the poems I would try to have an instrumental before a lengthy poem that can allow the listener to have a mental break before they head off on 15 verses of whatever. In terms of THE VISIT, I was scanning through the NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY and came across "The Lady of Shallott," and was struck by the imagery. For "The Highwayman," some friends suggested that I might want to set it to music. With the Shakespeare pieces, because I worked in the theater before and was fairly heavily exposed, I acquired a keen appreciation for his ability to interpret the human condition, so one of the things I consider when putting together the pieces is that I would like to have someone else's voice in my own -- because it offers another perspective from my own and there is no better place to go than to these classical voices.

Coos from Sloten, Holland: In the latest newsletter you mentioned a video (maybe) coming up about you and the band touring Europe and North America. Can we expect a video in the near future?

LM: Again this falls into the sheet music department. It is certainly something we have wanted to consider. There already exists a half-hour program that was constructed for public broadcasting in the U.S. around the cycle of THE MASK AND MIRROR, called "No Journeys End," which is only released through our mail order, but one of the things I would like to get back to is some of the footage that was shot during our tour. It was shot in a very casual way for primarily archival purposes so we don't know if there is the right amount of footage to sustain a video of that nature, but that is something that we will be looking at in the new year.

Dylan Oles from Rochester Hills, MI: Loreena, my introduction to your music came from the Drew Barrymore movie, "Cinderella" or "Happily Ever After" (or something like that). I later heard THE BOOK OF SECRETS on public radio and decided I had to get it. Who approached you about using "The Mummers' Dance" in the movie? Second question: When are you going to perform live again? --Dylan

LM: From time to time we are approached by various filmmakers to use my music in projects, so this is one of the handful that have come in that we have agreed to do.

Thomas-Mary Delest from Boissy, France (near Paris): It seems you sing something in the last song (second CD) after the applause, please, put me right if I'm wrong ?

LM: The music after the applause is simply the instrumental tracks of "The Old Ways." So we stretched out most of the vocals, and you hear a ghostly image of the vocal but primarily the instrumental tracks.

DJ Wayne from Ohio: What do you have planned for New Year's Eve?

LM: I will be staying pretty close to home with my four dogs and my generator. Some friends of mine have invited me out for the evening. They have rented a hall and everyone is getting dressed up, so I will probably go for a while.

Ed from Chicago, IL: I enjoyed your concert in Chicago very much. Thank you for picking us as one of your few North American stops. As the live album proves, you and your band are incredible live. I just saw Caroline Lavelle Indigo Girls tour. Are any of the band members working on their own projects?

LM: I would expect they are. I have not been in close touch with them, but knowing that they have been involved in their own things before and during my projects, I would expect they are all in the thick of it.

Thomas-Mary Delest from Boissy, France: A murmur had circulated that you THE LORD OF THE RINGS film, is it right?

LM: That has been an overture. I am not completely clear where that stands at the moment.

Ken from San Francisco, CA: Is there any truth to the rumor that there's a possibility of a retrospective CD called "Broadcasts" including folk and traditional songs you've done on CBC radio and TV shows? There was one really pretty one especially whose name I forget, and no, I can't hum a few bars...

LM: No, no plans for something like that. I have never heard of that.

Richard Lester from Memphis, TN: Many artists have a substantial amount of unreleased material stored away in their collections that may or may not be released. I was wondering how much, if any, unreleased material you have accumulated through the years, and if we would ever see it on a compilation or album?

LM: No, I am certainly not a prolific writer and recorder. It usually keeps me going to write and create what people ultimately find on the commercial CDS. I often wish myself there was more tucked away somewhere, but there is not.

Hannah from Great Falls: Why do you think Celtic music is so popular today?

LM: It is a question that comes up quite frequently. What is inherent in Celtic music that has affected or interested so many people for so many decades? I really don't know. I got smitten in one of the last waves of Celtic music in the late '70s. One can take a stab at it, but after a certain point it is one of those mysteries. It is something about the modal structure, melodies, that are attractive. That is not really explaining it though. I really don't know.

Megan from bn.com: Thank you so much for your visit to our Auditorium, Loreena McKennitt. It's been such a pleasure "chatting" with you, and you've been quite an open and inspirational guest. Do you have any final words for your many online fans?

LM: Thank you everyone for your interest and support and kind words and

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