Clare Sands: 'Irish women are some of the most powerful and fearless in the world'

The Blarney singer and fiddle player has been living in Connemara, while also soaking up influences on trips to such places as Colombia

Clare Sands has a new EP, Tírdhreacha Agus Fuaimdhreacha. Picture: Brian Dunlea

In northern Colombia, with a warm breeze blowing in from the Caribbean Sea, Clare Sands begins the day with a Zoom call back to Ireland. “Every January I take myself to faraway shores,” says the 29-year-old fiddle player, who has won acclaim for her dynamic reinterpretations of traditional music.

“To learn different music, different cultures. I missed it for the last year or two. This year I took the opportunity after Christmas to get out of town for a while. Meeting musicians and trying my best to play salsa and reggaeton [a mix of Latin American and Caribbean music]. I’m looking at my fiddle here beside me. It’s nice that it’s always on my back. It’s a language without borders: having a fiddle is brilliant.”