Cracks In Sidewalks

I think it was my Irish blooded brother in law who first turned me onto The Corrs playing their music in the car when picking me up at the airport.  I remember really liking their sound.  I can’t tell you what year that was, but it was a while ago.  Since then the band has come and gone, not completely gone, just on hiatus while some are raising families and one sister Andrea pursues a solo career.

Born to two musician parents who performed and encouraged their children to learn instruments and play music, it was not a far stretch to think that the “Corr” children would become professional musicians too.   Besides Sharon playing violin, Andrea learning tin whistle, Caroline drums, and Jim guitar, their father Gerry taught them each piano.

The band formed in 1990 when the two siblings, Jim and Sharon started playing pubs as a duo.  Having practiced for years as a family, it wasn’t long before the duo added their younger siblings, still in school, to the group.  With younger sister Andrea as their lead vocalist their career took off in 1991 when the group auditioned for the Irish movie, “The Commitments.”  They all got small parts, but more than that they caught the eye of soon to be manager, John Hughes.

In 94’ the American Ambassador to Ireland heard the group and invited them to play the FIFA World Cup in Boston.  This led to the band performing at the World Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, which led to even greater recognition and worldwide exposure.  From the beginning with David Foster getting them signed to Atlantic Records to Bono recently executive producing Andrea’s solo album, the group has achieved varying degrees of commercial success over the years.  Finding their greatest popularity besides Ireland, in the UK and Australia, several of their albums have gone multi-platinum including their most popular, “Talk On Corners.”

The group’s music has been described as a combination of traditional Irish music and modern pop-rock.  They incorporate acoustic instruments with modern technology including violin, tin whistle, and an Irish hand held drum.  Then of course there are the harmonies of the siblings and a blend that only siblings seem to be able to find.

FYI The Corrs were born in the Irish town of Dundalk, a small harbor town of about 35,000 people between Dublin and Belfast.  They say that music is in the blood of the people of Dundalk and they like nothing more than to go out and hear live music in the pubs.   In Dundalk these live sessions are known as “Crack.”   And with that I couldn’t resist!  As this was the first time I had heard that expression and given the name of this site, and my “Daily Crack,” etc., I googled Irish “Crack” Wikipedia.  This is direct from Wikipedia, not me.  “Crack” now takes on a whole new added meaning.

Crack or craic is “fun, enjoyment, abandonment, or lighthearted mischief; often in the context of drinking or music.”

So for some more “crack” or fun, below I’ve included a link to an “unplugged” video of The Corrs performing an arrangement of Jimi Hendrix’s song, “LittleWing,,” tin whistle and all.  Very lovely with great vocals!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5rVgxmekeM&feature=related

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 5:24 am and is filed under Daily Tune On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.