Interview - Cleveland Celtic Podcast - 4.28.08
Welcome back, we're glad you're here!
Since Bonnie and I both love Cleveland Celtic Podcast, we wanted to take a few minutes and talk to Wendy Lee Donahue about what keeps her moving, and why she loves doing what she does. If you love Celtic Music, Wendy’s podcast is one of the best around. If you want to see more of the two of us gushing about how great it is, check out the Celtophilia review of Cleveland Celtic Podcast. We ramble on quite a bit about now wonderful it is. For now, though, on with the interrogat… umm… interview!
Celtophilia: How did you originally decide to start publishing the Cleveland Celtic Podcast?
Wendy: We’ve had iPods in our house since the first generation came out, and I have always loved the concept of podcasts. I subscribe to a few myself. I enjoyed Celtic Music News and The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. One day we were listening to Marc Gunn on the latter and my husband said “you know, you have so much Celtic Music- you could do that.” Right about that time Apple had come out with a program called iLife which included iWeb and Garage Band, which made the technical end pretty simple. So I thought “why not?” Getting started was the hardest part. Now that the show is established, it’s a lot of fun.
Celtophilia: What’s the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do as part of the podcast?
Wendy: Last Summer the Dublin Irish Festival had a VIP section in the rock tent, and I reserved an area in the name of the podcast and sold off most of the admission tickets to listeners to help defray the cost. About a dozen listeners, my two oldest kids and I had the “loge” closest to the stage, with seating, snacks, and prizes. It was like our own private party with live entertainment. That was pretty cool. I’d love to do it again this year. We’ll see!
Celtophilia: Has anyone ever said anything during an interview that really shocked or surprised you to the point that you were floored?
Wendy: Floored? No, not really. But I do always have fun during the interviews, and I do love it when bands share things about their personal lives or something that I don’t expect. For example I once asked the Glengarry Bhoys to tell me about an embarrasing moment onstage and got a hilarious story about “natural gas” onstage. I wasn’t expecting that! Or there was the time that I was interviewing the Elders, and Ian told a great story about an experience his best mate in Ireland had with a banshee. Very cool. The Elders also announced their plans to record their DVD during the ‘07 Ireland trip on my show, which surprised me at the time.
Celtophilia: By the same token, have you ever said anything during an interview/show that came out ridiculously wrong?
Wendy: OH, many times! But the great thing about a podcast, in contrast to radio, is I can edit it out and make myself sound less doofy than I really am in person! Sometimes, if it’s pretty funny and harmless, I leave it in. For example, when I interviewed the phenominal piper Eric Rigler, he mentioned that he started playing at the age of seven. Knowing that most pipers start a bit older, around age nine, due simply to the fact that their finger reach isn’t what it should be until then, I said “Oh, you must have had a small chanter!” He looked at me with a bit of a silly grin and said “I HAD a…small chanter.” I nearly died. (A chanter is an instrument that looks kind of like the plastic recorders many folks learn to play as kids. It’s what pipers start on before progressing to full pipes, and still used to practice, learn tunes and compose even after mastering pipes.) I left it in and got a few emails about it. The interview is still up on my website.
Celtophilia: Since we all have very different musical tastes, and there are so many styles and variations in Celtic music, do you ever encounter something that you just don’t like? And how do you approach that?
Wendy: Well, I only play what I like, but I like some songs I play more than others! I am not a huge fan of the Celtic-Punk scene, but if a band emulating the Pogues or Flogging Molly sends me a CD, I’ll listen to it and try to find at least one song I can fit into my format. Sometimes it may not be the track they consider their “feature” song, but at least I get ‘em on the show. Once I was sent music by a band called Shaymin, whose material really wasn’t my thing, and all their lyrics had foul language. I did send them a polite note saying thanks for submitting, but, I do try to keep my show “family friendly” and they just didn’t fit with my format. The band leader took it as a challenge. Four months later he submitted a track he had written and recorded just for my show! Turned out to be a great piece titled Lassie.” I featured it and received a ton of feedback.
Celtophilia: If you were going to be stranded on a desert island (with a CD player and unlimited batteries) what three Celtic albums would you take with you?
Wendy: You’re killing me! Can’t I just take my iPod and have it all with me? That’s really, really hard because it depends on my mood. The Glengarry Bhoys “Mill Sessions” would definitely be one. Gaelic Storm “Bring Yer Wellies” or “Special Reserve.” The Elders “Racing the Tide.” But I would also want at least one CD by Brother, Seven Nations, Bad Haggis, Rathkeltair, Birnham Wood, Quagmyre, Enter the Haggis, The Chieftains, The Saw Doctors, The Fenians, Searson, Old Blind Dogs and The Prodigals, at the very least! That would be my top 16 bands, I guess, in no particular order.
Celtophilia: No, Wendy, you can’t just take your iPod to the deserted island. If you wanted to bring it along, you shouldn’t have taken up all the room in the emergency kit with the CD player and unlimited batteries! Next time you’re going to be stranded on an island you should plan better.
A huge thanks to Wendy for taking her time to respond to our questions. If you want to find out more about her, and listen to some great music, you can find it all over @ www.clevelandcelticpodcast.com
