Bringing The Light To New York's Carnegie Hall

Mike Fitzpatrick Talks To Carlow's Liam Lawton

By Mike Fitzpatrick

A chicken has but one reason for which to cross a road, whereas there may be several explanations as to why a blonde, a brunette and a redhead may walk into a bar. As for the best way to get to Carnegie Hall, well, that particular nugget of information has remained unchanged throughout many decades of joke-telling.

Rather than fly to New York, ride the subway and hail a cab to the famed Manhattan venue, the most direct route to Carnegie Hall is, according to urban legend; to practice, practice, practice. Boom, and furthermore, boom.

This Wednesday, the renowned center of musical excellence will play host to the much-lauded 'Celtic Spiritual Evening', featuring one of Ireland's most popular vocal talents, Liam Lawton.

The County Carlow-based singer/songwriter is no stranger to the big occasion however, having performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, as well as playing before a crowd of over 5,000 courageous souls, all of whom braved the wind and rain at the Dublin Docklands last year for the 'Song of the Celtic Soul' concert.

Ordained a Catholic priest in 1984, until recently he was still known to celebrate mass and teach occasionally, though while his faith remains as strong as ever, it is for his music that he has become more well-known, first on a nationwide level, whilst globally, his habitually-envied reputation as a songsmith of powerfully charged anthems merely progresses with time.

Born in Edenderry, County Offaly, Liam Lawton was raised amidst a harmonious household, with a family steeped in musical tradition.

As one of five children born into a musical family, it'd have been unusual, perhaps even bizarre if Liam or any of his four siblings failed to turn to music at some stage in their lives.

On their father's side, Lawton's grandfather was a concertina player, while his grandmother was a renowned singer of traditional Irish tunes.

Proud of his roots, when speaking of his grandparents, he informed us over the phone in a recent interview; 'My grandmother was a sean nos (gaelic for 'old style') singer, and was often hired out for wakes and weddings.

They lived not far from Cobh, which is where many people left from after the famine. She had many stories about people leaving for America. She was just sixteen when she began singing. Our grandfather emigrated when he was sixteen, but moved back eventually.

We heard how he'd play 'God Save Ireland' on the concertina as the ships were leaving with emigrants, and everyone about the piers and on the boat would be in tears'. Born into a more innocent time, where Irish people remained steadfast in their devotion to the popular showbands of the era, several of Liam's uncles played with The Cunningham Brothers, a well-liked act of the fifties and sixties which traveled the country playing the nation's dancehalls, while he and his brothers also played in bands as they grew older.

Having continued with piano lessons throughout his youth, he first began writing music when just a teenager, and upon leaving school, he went to Maynooth College to study Arts.

It was at university where he first gained the opportunity to pit his songwriting abilities up against other young scribes, and he was a regular winner of the college's song-composing contests.

Despite appearing fully-relaxed, and at peace with both himself and the life he has chosen, he claims that it wasn't always so. While studying Arts in Maynooth (a college his twin brother also attended), he played in bands and enjoyed making music, though he felt that something was clearly missing from his life.

Upon meeting with other students in training for the priesthood, he began to think of changing directions, and devoting himself to God. 'I remember thinking, am I crazy? Will my friends reject me? I wanted to make a difference in the world', he said.

'The decade before (being ordained a priest in 1984) was a very difficult time for musicians. There was very little work, and little self esteem. Then, when I was in university, lads came back from South America, and they (spoke of) the social injustices there.

'I felt that if I couldn't give my voice through music, I'd find another outlet'. Shortly before his ordination however, he won another songwriting competition, this time in Galway, and was approached by a record company about making a career in music.

'I remember crying with frustration', he says, but he continued on for seven years without making music, and though he felt a loss in his life, he remained unsure as to what it was.

Playing his own material, his appearance was a hit with spectators, and shortly afterwards, he was awarded a grant by An Bord Gaeilge (The Irish Board), to record a collection of his liturgical music in the Irish language, later translating it into English. Working mainly on his writing and recording at weekends, in 1996, he was commissioned by Trocaire, the famine relief agency, to write a piece commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine.

The result was the haunting instant classic, 'The Darkest Hour', which has since become well-known worldwide.

He performed the song at the opening of a special famine exhibition in Minneapolis, which led to GIA, a major Christian music publishing company, offering him a record deal.

It was around this time, in 1999, that he decided to quit teaching, though he stresses; 'My bishop has been very supportive all along'.

His crowning achievement to date, was without a doubt, when he was approached by Richard Daley, Chicago's mayor, to write something for Siamsa na nGael's Saint Patrick's Night celebrations.

The resulting piece was 'The Shepherd Boy', which tells the life of Saint Patrick as a child. The narration duties were handled by none other than Academy Award-winning actor, Gregory Peck, and the performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and tenor Rod Dixon was given a standing ovation of over ten minutes.

He returned to the same venue two years later for a piece written about Saint Bridget, this time actress Joan Cusack did the narration.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City, his record company was approached by organizations around the world for a piece of music which people could relate to in their time of need. Liam's song, 'The Cloud's Veil' was then included on a special website established after the atrocity, and within less than an hour, the melody had been downloaded over 1,000 times, and performed at several subsequent memorial services for the victims of the attacks.

It was then that he went on to complete a Masters Degree in World Music, where he studied at the World Music Center, under the expert tutelage of Micheal O'Suilleabhain. 'At a lot of universities, classical (students and teachers) look down on traditional (music). His approach was different', he claims.

Such has been the demand in recent years for Lawton's music, that in 2002, he established a band which he regularly tours with. Lorica (which comes form the old Gaelic word for 'shield') was formed in 2002, and has played throughout Ireland and the UK, as well as Australia, Europe and the US.

Signing for recording giants EMI in 2004, his album 'Another World', which featured appearances by Brian Kennedy, Roisin O'Reilly, The Celtic Tenors, Eimear Quinn, Moya Brennan and Fionnuala Sherry, resulted in a sold-out Irish tour and a subsequent live DVD release.

Having worked extensively with the likes of Kennedy, Brennan and Sharon Shannon, Lawton claims; 'It's a great experience working with people with totally different outlooks', and that one day he'd; 'love to write for Josh Groban, he appeared on a popular television show in Ireland called Abbey Road, and he more than held his own'.

It is Carnegie Hall however, that will surely be yet another peak in the seemingly endless range of zeniths that is Liam Lawton's career.

'I never dreamed of getting to Carnegie Hall. To come from the bog (!) and get in there and have a full concert', he says, is still hard to fathom, indeed, when first informed that there was interest in him stemming from The Big Apple, he initially 'thought it was a joke'.

It is no tale of merriment however. For all his accomplishments in his career to date, Liam Lawton has deservedly discovered the path to Carnegie Hall.

All that practice, practice, practice, seems to have worked out after all.