As a teenager, I loved movies. I watched just about every genre. Janeane Garofalo was one of my favorite actresses so I was intrigued by The Matchmaker.

While watching the film, I fell in love with Ireland. Everything about this small town gave me a desire to be there. The beauty of Ireland and the Irish captured my heart.

One of the most evocative parts for me was the music. I searched as much as I could in 1997 to find other Irish songs. It wasn’t until I went to college that I found my musical love again.

After getting my associates degree in Journalism, I transferred my credits to University of North Texas. There I started participating in the Work Study program where I worked in the Financial Aid Department.

Don’t worry. I wasn’t responsible for giving out the loans. All I was hired to do was type up procedures. This was fairly monotonous work, so to pass the time, I listened to music. Streaming platforms didn’t exist like we know them today. In fact, Live365 was one of the few you could find on the web. There I found the music that had spoken to my soul all those many years ago.

In particular, I fell in love with The High Kings. They represented Ireland for me, and brought back the love I had lost.

Years passed and I listened to some Irish music, though to be honest, not a lot. It was still hard to get access outside of buying CDs or the web. For my 30th birthday, my brothers and their wives took me to Trinity Hall. I instantly loved it. I would go a few more times before it shut down, but my fondest memory was when I first saw The Selkie Girls.

My brother happened to be in town around my birthday so I told him I’d really like to go to Trinity Hall. That Saturday night, The Selkie Girls were playing. While my brother watched a soccer game with his friends, I was enthralled by the beautiful music. After their set, my brother asked if I wanted a CD. I told him I did, and he had all of the members of the group sign it. I still have that CD.

After the show, I went to The Selkie Girls website. As I was looking around, I came across a banner for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. I was elated. This was exactly what I had been looking for all these years. It was started in 2005, the same year I came across The High Kings.

The first episode I listened to was #299. The first song on that show is Hummingbird by The Gothard Sisters. The fact that I remember those details gives a hint to how mesmerized I was by what I had found.

It took me a while to gather the courage, but that summer, I wrote to Marc and offered him my graphic design services. It’s now been nearly 7 years. I’m so proud to be a part of this amazing podcast.