Irish music, culture her academic, co-curricular focus

Senior Kyle Carey?s love of Irish music and culture has been such a guiding force during her college days that it motivated her to live and study abroad, guided her decision regarding a part-time job, and led her to Bennington, Vermont, for weekly lessons with a string ensemble. An avid fiddle player who has posted her original tunes on her MySpace page, Carey also is the mastermind behind a series of music ?sessions? on campus ? gatherings of visiting artists that showcase traditional Irish and American folk music and draw fans from the campus and community.

With help from Union College (where Carey started her college career before transferring to Skidmore), another such session is on the calendar for Thursday, Feb. 7. Featuring Adirondack singers John Kirk and Trish Miller, the performance gets under way at 7 p.m. in Case Center. Admission is free.

Carey has been organizing the music sessions for two years and estimates that there have been about 15 thus far. ?The reaction has been amazing,? she said. ?It?s great to have people coming from town to play?sometimes there?s more community people than students.? One of the highlights was a visit to Skidmore by Irish musician and folklorist Mick Moloney, whom Carey invited to campus. He presented a lecture-performance that was followed by a music session which allowed musicians of all ages and varying talents to perform on their fiddles, guitars, banjos and bodhr n?even a squeezebox. Sociology Professor Bill Fox, himself a folk music fan, called the event ?thoroughly enjoyable and informative?it was great fun.?

At first, the sessions ?were just about the music,? said Carey. But they have come to represent much more to the New Hampshire resident. ?I feel at home in the Saratoga Springs. It?s exciting to see community people on campus, interacting with students,? she said.

Carey came to Skidmore with musical talent and Celtic interests. Both have been strengthened by her experiences at the College. She first visited Ireland in January 2006 in a travel seminar led by Jim Kennelly, associate professor of management and business. Later that year, she participated in a program sponsored by Sacred Heart University at its Ireland satellite campus in County Kerry, where she learned the language, played music, and studied the Kerry ballad. After completing her academic work she spent the summer on the Blasket Islands off the southwest coast of Island. It was an experience that informed the research for her senior thesis on Blasket Island literature.

The Blasket Islands were inhabited until the early 1950s by about 150 or so residents who spoke Irish exclusively, and whose lives had been unchanged for centuries. The islands and the people have been the subject of anthropologist and linguists over the years. A well-known book about the Blasket Islands is Tomas O?Crohan?s The Islandman (Oxford University Press, 1978). O?Crohan, a native of Great Blasket Island, wrote the book, he said, ?to set down the character of the people about me so that some record of us might live after us, for the like of us will never be again.?

?I fell in love with Ireland,? said Carey. ?When you visit the pubs, you always hear the music?everyone sings. And the music often combines the literature, poetry, and history of the country.?

Carey, who is completing an English major and music minor, started fiddle lessons two years ago. She travels weekly to Bennington to study with John Kirk. She enrolled in a string ensemble there and meets regularly with the group. Music lessons, school work, and event organization are just part of her life?she has also worked part-time at Celtic Treasures in downtown Saratoga Springs, and has a weekend gig volunteering at Caff Lena, Saratoga?s famed coffeehouse.

In addition, she formed her own ensemble, a five-piece string band called the Mississippi Moonshine Project, to play traditional and original tunes. While Celtic music continues as her major focus, she has a growing appreciation for old-time bluegrass American music. Eventually, Carey hopes to earn a master?s degree in traditional Appalachian music at Appalachian State University. She said, ?I?m really into old-time music. There?s so many echoes of Irish music in traditional American music, especially in this part of the country. It?s so fascinating to me that I want to learn more about it.?

But before the master?s degree, there may be a chance to learn more about a unique Irish community on this side of the world. Carey has applied for a Fulbright grant to research the Ceilidh tradition in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The tradition is rooted in gathering and singing in people?s homes. According to Carey, ?At one time, there were 10,000 Gaelic-speaking people there.? She hopes to study the culture, stories, and the music, and the effects of tourism on the tradition. She?ll learn later this year if she?s received the grant to under take the research.

Until then, there?s a final semester to complete, and at least one more music session?on Feb. 7?to present. ?The reactions to the sessions have been amazing,? she said. ?I love to see people enjoy the show. It?s very rewarding.?