Townsman, 1991-09, Page 7There's an almost mystical aura
about Lorccna McKennitt, a spiritual
quality that transcends from the artist
to the haunting cry of the talisman
that is her music. The bewitching
soprano, that projects the imagery of
the stories and tales, accompanied by
the beautiful, sometimes plaintiff,
always compelling sound of the Celtic
harp, enshrouds the listener in a cloak
of enchantment. Yet, as much a part
of this sensitive artist, encapsulated
under a glorious, strawberry -blonde
mane of hair, is the more rigid mind
of a business person, who has taken
her career under hcr own regime and
seen it flourish. Having recently com-
pleted her fourth album, The Visit, the
first under contract to Warner Broth-
ers, she is still at the helm, and steer-
ing her own course. The recording is
under Ms McKennitt's own label,
Quinlan Road Productions, but Warn-
ers is responsible for licensing the fin-
ished product.
What has proven to be a winning
combination of unique talent and
entrepeneurship is, in essence,
Lorccna McKennitt, an individual per-
haps best described as eclectic. She
possesses a creative energy coupled
with a need for control of her princi-
ples and opinions. Her music, she
describes as, "a multi -genre" kind of
music. It has elements of folk, with clas-
sical textures and traditional contempo-
rary sound woven throughout the
arrangements. "It's [her music] elements
of a lot and very much reflective of my
audience," the modern-day troubadour
says. "And I'm personally interested in
a wide range of musical styles. I listen
to everything from Gregorian chants to
Dire Straits." The unique flavouring of
her music is enhanced as well, by a
band that encompasses a diverse realm
of musical backgrounds. Her guitarist is
deeply rooted in jazz and rock, her bass
player rehearsed in jazz and contempo-
rary, while her cellist is pop and folk -
oriented. McKennitt's musical history is
classical and folk.
"My music is a direct extension of
my own life, my own curiosity, my own
beliefs." As for her conviction to princi-
ples, she feels strongly that the arts are
being cheapened. "Dancing, theatre,
music, mime, were important vehicles,
which we have managed to `ghettoize'
into a sport or simply for entertainment.
I feel strongly that though my music
should entertain, that it should as well,
be a vehicle to provoke, inspire or
soothe," she says pointedly.
Most definitely, Lorccna McKennitt
is not a person who can he pigeon-
holed. The multi -faceted persona she
has developed over her 34 years took
hcr from a child with the atypical anath-
ema to piano lessons, to one with a
strong conviction to her music. In an
earlier interview with a Walkerton pub-
lication, Ms McKennitt was quoted as
saying that she began taking piano
lessons at the age of five as a young girl
growing up in the quiet prairie town of
Morden, Manitoba, and like a typical
five year old, hated it. "My mother had
to sit with me for five years to make
sure I practised," she said.
She eventually overcame, however,
that early indifference and went on to
earn hcr Grade X, from the Royal Con-
servatory. She regards her piano teacher
as the inspiration behind the change in
view. "She conducted a children's choir
Piano teacher
was her
inspiration
as well, and if she taught you piano, it
was a requirement that you belong to
the choir, too," Ms McKennitt said,
defining the drive and commitment of
her teacher. The artist, herself, also had
five years of vocal training.
The youthful choir was an impres-
sive vocal group, Ms McKennitt says,
particularly for a place the size of Mor-
den (population 3,500) and her mentor
was a woman who was "very unique in
terms of the depth and scope of her cre-
ative energy". Never was there an idea
too large or beyond the realms of possi-
bility when it came to channeling her
creativity into productivity. "When she
brought someone in to choreograph our
children's choir, she brought in some
members of the Royal Winnipeg pallet,"
Ms McKennitt, states underlining it with
tones of awed respect. "She was my
strongest influence, not just crcatRcls
but in entrepreneurship. It is from her
that I got the courage and know ledge to
he ahlc to say, 'I want to do it this
way.'"
So deep was the attachment and so
strong the desire to continue to learn
under the instructor's tutelage that when
the woman moved to Winnipeg. a
young Lorccna travelled 80 miles by
bus every Saturday morning, departing
al 7:45 and not returning until 12 hour,
later, in order that she night continue
receiving classical music training lions
the one who had given her so much in
terns of personal and creative learning
and growth.
llcr introduction to the world of folk
music began in Grade 12, while a stu-
dent at the private girls school, Bal-
moral Hall, in Winnipeg. "there w as a
coffee house nearby where we wOuId kis
and sit and listen 10 folk ntusi: R\ then
1 had a guitar and I was inspired. h),
what I was hearing to write a hit." Then,
according to Ms McKennitt, the oppor-
tunity to perforin at the club came up
and that was the beginning of what has
eventually led to a career and to the
roots of her Irish -Scottish heritage and
Celtic music.
"It was difficult at that time to sus-
tain oneself, so I still wasn't taking it all
that seriously. Furthemmre, I had now
really planned on music as a career,"
she said, adding that her primary inten-
tion was to enter the professional world
as a veterinarian. She was by this Inci
enrolled in her first year at the Universi-
ty of Manitoba to study Agriculture.
"My curiosity was piqued as to how far
I could make it in the music industry.
knew I would have to make a choice
soon, CVen of it was a temporary one, so
decided to choose music, with the idea
that if it didn't work out I could always
go hack to school...
For a time she did combine her love
of animals with her love of performing
and creating music and describes it as
the most idyllic time of her career. Her
father, she said, was a livestock dealer,
who had an office at the Winnipeg
Stockyards. He hired her to come in and
do bookwork for him. After, she would
go down to the auction ring and work
there feeding and watering the livestock
Then when night arrived, her second life
began. "I was doing a sort of enL i f,u
TOWNSMAN/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER1991 5