Show Notes
To close Season 2 of The Panti Personals we've a man that Panti Bliss can look up to, even while wearing high heels! It's 6 foot 7 Afro Irish soul singer and songwriter Xona - aka Jordan Onubogu. Xona was born in Lagos but calls Mullingar home, and has now made London his address. He tells the story of how he changed his name to his middle name Jordan, when he came as a ten year old, to Ireland, and started school. Then, he wanted to fit in and to be the same as all the other children but today, as a confident Black Irish performing artist, he has returned to using his birth name. Xona shares with love the story of how his mother, a single mum, made sacrifices, and worked hard, to create a better life for her children in Ireland. He talks of the challenges too of being the gay kid in a church based Nigerian Irish community and both Panti Bliss and Xona swap their 'coming out' stories. Xona, accompanied by the gorgeous farmer/musician Colm Conlan, performs two of his songs live for the Queen - 'This Could Be Us' and 'Slow Dancing' both from his recent EP 'In My Head' and you hear the EP version of the title song during the show, when he shares his story of writing the album during the pandemic.
To find out more follow Xona on twitter twitter.com/xonatheartist
The Panti Personals is an independent podcast produced by Athena Media, made by Helen Shaw and John Howard with additional research by Dara Shaw. Our theme music is Knots by Lisa Hannigan - used with her kind permission. To find all the shows, and see videos of the performances, go to www.pantisocracy.ie
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The Panti Personals Season 3 Episode 1 Pauline Scanlon The Panti Personals is back for a new season of conversations and first up is the singer Pauline Scanlon whose new album 'The Unquiet' is a collection of songs inspired by the traumatic life of her mother Eileen. Pauline comes from the Dingle Gaeltacht but has made Headford, Co Galway her home, along with her husband and fellow musician, Eamon Murray and their young daughter Kitty. Pauline performs two of her songs live for the Queen with the accompaniment of guitarist Caoimhe Hopkinson Byrne. Show Transcript www.happyscribe.com/transcriptions/…440909e257cb053
Edel Meade is a jazz singer turned contemporary folk artist. She hails from Clonmel but has made Limerick her home and her latest album ‘Brigids and Patricias’ tells the stories of what it is to be a woman in Ireland from myth to misogyny; with songs about the true, though still unbelievable story, of Bridget Cleary, whose husband burnt her to death saying he believed she was a changeling, and a powerful spoken word piece called’ Long Way to Go’ about gender violence, which chimes with an Ireland which has just mourned Ashling Murphy. With the announcement that Feb 1, St Brigid’s Day, will become a new Irish national holiday from 2023, Panti Bliss explores why Edel is so fascinated by Brigid and how she is a cross between the pre Christian Celtic Goddess Brigit and the Christian saint, much loved in Ireland, who is so associated with the arrival of Spring, the feminine and womanhood, and why the new national holiday resonates with the public debate around gender violence. ‘It’s going to become ireland’s women’s day’ says Panti while Edel connects it to social justice, seeing it reaching beyond the male and female, towards aspirations of fairness, equality and justice. Edel tells Panti Bliss her family roots, in Co Tipperary, are in farming not song but her will to sing was shaped by a couple of incredible nuns in her schools who encouraged and gave her confidence. A career path to journalism brought her to Chicago but instead of radio she studied the blues and came back to take a degree in jazz music and spent a decade performing as a jazz artist. She is a vocal coach, now teaching people to sing, in the University of Limerick, and her lockdown was spent developing new strings to her bow; learning to play the tin whistle, sing sean nós and play Irish traditional music. She’s a committed life long learner and her track in 2022 sees her finally touring with the album, and getting to the Smithsonian in the USA to research cross over between Appalachian music and Irish traditional music there. In the show Edel performs live two of her songs for the Queen, accompanying herself on the gorgeous grand piano. Hear her sing ‘Song of the Seal’ and ‘Not For This World’ Other songs included are some of her jazz numbers God Bless The Child Blue Moon SideWays (from her jazz album Blue Fantastia) and Song for Bridget Cleary and Long Way to Go from the album ‘Brigids and Patricias’) You can find out more about Edel on www.edelmeade.com And you can see her perform in gigs at The Belltable, Limerick on 10th Feb & at Riverbank Arts Centre on 12th Feb. The Panti Personals is an independent podcast by Athena Media, produced by Helen Shaw, the digital editor is John Howard and our theme music is Knots by Lisa Hannigan, used with her very kind permission. http://pantisocracy.ie/edel-meade/ for more.