I have spoken with Ailbhe on a number of occasions over the years for the first time in 2017 when she travelled down to KCLR for a Studio 2 Session. I was struck at the time by her complete dedication to her art and craft. I formed the opinion then that I was seeing a very committed musician making careful progress with some very fins songs, even in their stripped down versions.
Her songs appealed to me as a listener immediately and it was no surprise to hear that I was not alone. Each gig, tour and single release saw a development across the full range of her talents and her profile and popularity grew since our first meeting.
We were able to share her progress as the album took shape in Donegal and we last spoke around the planned release dates she was very happy with the hard work she and the production team and guests musicians had put in.
The album, “Personal History”, is finally out and, true to form, is a very accomplished piece of work. Musically and lyrically it’s a very fine collection of songs and while it’s autobiographical in places has a strong universal appeal.
It was lovely to catch up with Ailbhe and we managed to get a longing chat done despite her being very busy, that day, which was the launch date. We chatted about the background of the making of the album and we wandered about too.
