Speech Project

Mercury Nomination!

gerry — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:54:59 +0000

Although not strictly related to Speech Project I thought that fans of speech project might be interested to learn that an album I recently had the pleasure of producing has been nominated for this years Mercuy Prize! The artist is Sam Lee and the album is entitled ‘Ground of it’s Own.’ I highly recommend buying a copy of this wonderful album! The record takes English folk on some very unusual, highly innovative, and breath taking journeys. It was a real privilege to be so closely involved in the birth of such a dare I say – ground breaking album. I’ll be performing with Sam and co at this years Mercury awards at The Roundhouse on November 1st. Fingers crossed.

movingtone.com Interview and live sketches

gerry — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:03:19 +0000

I’ve just received a link by Anne Ryan at www.movingtone.com to an interview I gave after the recent speech project gig at the North Wall Arts Centre in Oxford. It was a great gig and I met some interesting folk at the gig, not least of all Dot who water brushed throughout the gig images in response to the music as we performed.

Here’s the links to both the interview on the moving tones website and also a link where you can see some of the sketches from the gig.

Interview with James Weikert

http://www.movingtone.com/news/interview-gerry-diver-talks-irish

Sketches here

http://dotarty.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/speech-project.html

RTE Radio 1 – John Murray Show

gerry — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:19:56 +0000

I had the privilege of being interviewed last Monday morning on RTE 1′s John Murray show – (apparently Ireland’s most listened to radio show!) I did the interview in London via link up (BBC Broadcasting house). It was a lively interview with interesting questions and a breakdown of the intro of Feel No Pain featuring Damien Dempsey. I really enjoyed the interview – I’ve had several emails and facebook messages asking where it can be heard again so ….here it is.

Irish Independent Feature

gerry — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:29:23 +0000

Just back from being on the road with Speech Project! We’ve had some AMAZING gigs up and down the country and the response has been nothing short of…. brilliant! A blog to follow with some pics/vids from the tour. Here is feature from The Irish Independent from 17th March.

“Waking The Muse” Artist Blog Published at Proper Music

gerry — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:52:44 +0000

Gerry’s artist blog “Waking The Muse” was published over at Proper Music this week, discussing his musical background, the Irish music community and the creative inner life of the musician.

“It was a real blessing in my mind, learning music the way in which I did in the early years. Everything relied upon being able to ‘play by ear’. Irish music can be quite fast and certain key ingredients are improvised. Having to do so much by ear, so early on, opened up ways of hearing music which I am grateful for to this day. When I studied music at University I was reading dots very well and all of that but it seemed like such a left brain way of going about things. In my mind all creativity starts as a right brain thing.”

“To quote Damien Dempsey on the Speech Project album: ‘You go into the spirit world’, when you create music. I love that idea and it resonates with me deeply. Christy Moore told me something similar. He talked about having ‘white light’ experiences on stage. I think my early days playing traditional music were the start of a fascination in the spiritual and non tangible aspects of making music.”

Read the full piece here.

Tour starts this Friday – Purcell Rooms at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London

gerry — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:43:43 +0000

Responses so far to the album

gerry — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:39:46 +0000

I’ve been truly delighted by how well the album has been received on both sides of the water since it’s UK and Irish release on 6th February. Here’s a roundup of responses and reactions!

Irish Times Feature – Today’s Edition

gerry — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:31:38 +0000

Just in!

Daily Mirror Feature!

gerry — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:46:12 +0000

The album received great coverage in the Daily Mirror (Ireland). Double click on the images to read in full. Busy rehearsing for the tour which kicks off 2nd March at The Purcell Rooms, Southbank Centre London.

Froots Review

gerry — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:28:11 +0000

This month’s edition of Froots mag has just landed