Interview with Marion Walsh

 "Song For My Father," is taking on a life of its own, which is a wonderful, beautiful thing.   And there are questions, I know there are questions, so I am providing herewith for you an interview with Marion Walsh.  I am both host and guest on this imaginary TV show with a worldwide audience.

(time on my hands today, can you tell?)


Q:  Hello Marion, so glad you have you on our show.
A:  I am honored to be here.


Q:  We'll get to the specifics of "Song For My Father" later in the show, but first, the basics. Where you from?
A:  I'm from Owings Mills, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore.  My parents built the house we all grew up in.  The land was in the family for four generations until recently, when my Dad passed away and we four siblings decided to sell the place.  Ouch.

Q:  What is it like there?
A: When I was a kid, it was mostly rural in all directions, but now you can barely find any grass at all along Reisterstown Road.  It's malls and car dealerships and WalMart and Costco and ToysR Us, and really ugly   But if you go out the other direction, into the Greenspring and Worthington Valleys, its still delightfully picturesque, lots of trees and fields and windy roads.  I try to always go out that way if I have to go anywhere.  It takes longer but it's oh so lovely.

Q:  But you live in Canada now.
A: Yes.

Q:  What brought you to Canada?
A:  My husband got a job there.  He's a dual citizen of Canada and the US.

Q:  And how do you like Canada?
A:  Canada is good.  There are some really nice things about Canada.

Q:  I sense a "but"coming...
A:  Yes, Canada is a great country, but I am American, and I love my country and I miss my country.  I mean, I know the US is having a of of huge problems right now, but does that make me love it any less?  Of course not!  I don't think the US is the best country in the world, I don't think there is such a thing, but it's my homeland and I love it.  But I'm in Canada now, and that's good.  Canada has a lot to offer, too.  Just think- if I had not moved to Canada, I would not have written any of the songs I wrote there, and I would  not have met the amazing friends that I have now.

Q:  How do  you know you would have not written all the songs?  And how many songs are we talking about ?
A:  My songs come from the heart, and my heart has been in Canada. If my heart was somewhere else, I suppose I might have written different songs, but I don't know.  I think I needed to be here in order to create what I've created.  Is that vague enough for you?

Oh, and two full CDs and a single, so  25 songs, plus a few more not recorded.

Q : Where do your songs come from?
A:  I have to be in a certain headspace, then the songs flow pretty easily.  If I try too hard, it doesn't work.  I have to pay attention to my headspace and seize the moment.

Q:  Can you tell me a little bit about the headspace?
A:  Umm, sure.  If I'm having a really good time, then I am not in songwriting mode.  I write from a place of uncomfortableness, or melancholy, actually.

Q:   You mean like depression?
A:  No, not depression.  I've had depression before and when I'm there, I can't write at all. I mean just melancholy, like so many of the old poets and whatnot.  The blues, you know.  Hey, even  even Mother Theresa had the blues.  Has the blues?  I don't know, is she still alive?

Q: Did you study music as a child?
A:  I took piano lessons from the age of 7 or 8 until I was maybe 13, when I decided piano was uncool and guitar was much cooler.  Then I taught myself to play guitar using a Burl Ives songbook.

Q:Burl Ives?
A:  Yup, Burl Ives, the old guy with a beard, folksinger. You are probably too young to remember Burl Ives.    He had a "teach yourself to play guitar" book, so I did!

Q:  No guitar lessons?
A  I took guitar lessons my senior year of high school, classical guitar.  It was interesting, but I didn't want to play classical guitar.  Then I took lessons again in my 20s but only for a short time.  I learned more just fiddling around on my own and using guitar books.

Q:  Voice lessons? 
A:  I took voice lessons for a few months in college, because my voice was feeling strained.  Didn't like it.  Then again, same thing in my late 20s and again in my 30s each time for about two months. I kept getting horrendous coughs, bronchitis and such, and I was concerned that my vocal cords were getting damaged.  Thankfully, they weren't.  But I never really liked the voice lessons, never practiced or anything.  So my voice is very much "au naturel" if you will.

Q:  Well, Marion, this has all been very interesting.  We have to take a commercial break and wen we come back, we'll talk more about your song "Song for My Father."
A:  Okay.

Anniversary

I have no parents.  Mom died in 2004, and  now Dad has been dead exactly one year.  What does this feel like?  Honestly?  It feels terribly strange.  It feels dangly and disorienting.  I feel like all of a sudden, I am an actual adult.

It's like I was bonked on the head or something.  My whole world looks different.  For one thing, when I think of family now, I look from side to side, and I look down.  There is no more looking up.  I'm at the top of the list now.  No buffer, no bunker, no time for foolishness.

 Being parentless has given me a new perspective.  I have clarity, so much clarity.  It's a miraculous thing, the crazybeautifulawful grief.  When you're in the sadness, you can't feel the beauty, but when the grieving lets go, then oh!  the crazy miraculous beauty!

I am in awe, every single day.
And I miss my parents, every single day.