Question of Taste: Singer Christine Tobin on Hendrix, Anne Enright, and MÁM

In advance of her gigs in Limerick and Cork, Tobin also includes Betty Carter and An Cailín Ciúin in her selections 

Christine Tobin plays Limerick and Cork over the next few days. 

EMBED ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN: https://youtu.be/JV-3-G2vkvs

Christine Tobin is a singer and composer from Walkinstown, Dublin. 

Upcoming gigs to coincide with the release of her new album, Returning Weather, include Dolan's Limerick, Thurs, March 2; and Triskel, Cork, Fri, March 3. 

"The songs are inspired by the strange romance of reconnecting with a cultural background, reshaping a cultural identity and belonging," says Christine. "I’ve gathered a wonderful group of musicians from diverse musical backgrounds to bring this new music to life and they are: Cora Venus Lunny on violin & viola, David Power on uilleann pipes & whistles, Phil Robson on guitar & electronics and Steve Hamilton on piano."

Best recent book you've read:

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright. A stark and in-depth representation of characters that you really don’t like but end up feeling sympathy for. I was flipped! Great writing.

Best recent film:

An Cailín Ciúin. An emotive story but portrayed in an incredibly subtle way. Quietly powerful.

Best recent gig you’ve seen:

MÁM presented by Michael Keegan-Dolan.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old):

Arvo Part's Fratres for violin, strings and percussion.

First ever piece of music or art that really moved you:

'Try Just A Little Bit Harder', Janis Joplin 

The best gig you've ever seen (if you had to pick one!):

Betty Carter at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club London during the ’90s . I saw her every time she played there. They were all ‘best gigs’!

TV viewing:

I hardly watch any, but I do like the Tommy Tiernan Show.

You're curating your dream festival – which three artists are on the bill, living or dead?

Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix and Leonard Cohen. I’d have Billie because she is the Mother of all jazz singers. Her voice is filled with compassion and a deep sense of humanity. She swings hard yet her delivery is effortless. Jimi Hendrix because no one ever had a guitar sound like him. Music poured out of him in an almost supernatural way. Leonard Cohen because he is one of the great poets of the 20th century. His words hit like an arrow to the heart and that voice….what more can I say!

Your best celebrity encounter:

I had an ‘eye to eye’ encounter with Chuck Berry back in 1981 at the Ballisodare Festival. I was a teenager & had hitchhiked there from Dublin with my then-boyfriend, Declan. We pitched our tent and I went wandering around looking for the loo and inadvertently ended up in the backstage area of the Marquee. It was all very casually laid out. I scanned the space for a portaloo and suddenly locked eyes with the legend himself. No words were exchanged but I got the message loud and clear that I shouldn’t have been there.

You can portal back to any cultural event or music era – where, when, and why?

The first Woodstock festival. Because it was a gathering of so many incredible musicians from an era of great cultural upheaval and conversely heralded the beginning of the end of the freedom and wildness that enabled such a flourish of creativity.