Moze Jacobs chats to Maria Doyle Kennedy (MDK) ahead of her gig at Levis’ Corner House in Ballydehob.
MDK plays Levis’ on Saturday, November 13, 8pm, not with a group of musicians, but with her husband Kieran, who is almost a band in himself. He plays (steel) guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, looping pedals, sings backing vocals. He also produces, arranges, and composes most of the music for MDK. The duo played Levis’ last year, also in mid-December. In a glowing review of that gig Jason Ward wrote “Kennedy once said she wouldn’t miss acting but could not pass a day without singing. And when she starts, you realise why; because her songs and her voice come from her soul. This isn’t the fake soul of pained expressions on TV talent shows […] It is the soul of telling a story, of expressing an emotion and telling a truth.”
Maria Doyle Kennedy was one of the breakout stars of The Commitments (1991), a film based on a Roddy Doyle novel, which tells the story of the rise and demise of a soul band in Dublin, comprised of friends, foes and strangers,
Today the singer isn’t very keen to talk about The Commitments.
“No, I don’t have anything to say about that. I’d much rather focus on what we’re making now. It was released 34 years ago.” It’s not really necessary, either. The successful cult film, with a cast that included Colm Meaney, Glen Hansard and Andrea Corr, can be watched for free online while there are plenty of YouTube videos of Maria belting out ‘I never loved a man’ with the passion of a great soul singer.
It is but one of her numerous manifestations. She sings in many different voices. Folky, ethereal, earthly, lyrical, poppy, hauntingly dark. The many praiseful reviews of her albums and performances reference the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros, as well as Sandy Denny, the Cocteau Twins. She is described as “a powerful mixture between a folk siren and a punk-diva…one of the great voices of Ireland. The Celtic Patti Smith” (Basel Zeitung). And, “MDK is still one hell of a musical force to be reckoned with” (Irish Times). She, or rather ‘they’ have released 12 albums to date. And then there are the other roles she fulfills. Mother of four sons. Songwriter. Polymath. Actor in over 50 films and TV series. Video director/producer. Composer (together with Kieran). Artist.
‘Maria + Kieran Rehearsal’ (Mermaid Records, 2025) is their latest album to date, released November 17. The cover is adorned with (an artistic impression of) husband and wife. The album features rehearsal versions of existing songs in updated arrangements. The latter has happened before. On their Bandcamp page are two very different versions of a song called Mother. The first is on the album ‘Mütter’ (Mermaid Records, 2007) and the second on ‘Songs from the Kitchen Table’ (also on Mermaid Records, their own label), released January 1, 2020, just before Covid.
“The Rehearsal album was unplanned,” says Maria. “We were practicing for the upcoming Irish tour and Kieran was recording without even telling me. Just for his own benefit. It was very relaxed.”
The result is surprisingly good. Especially as the songs were recorded in their kitchen.
“At one end of the kitchen table is what we call Kieran’s office where he has his speakers and mixing desks. He works away down there all the time. Whereas I find it very difficult to record or write at home. My eyes just wander over to the laundry and I’m clocking up in my mind all these other jobs that I have to get to. Under lockdown, we recorded most of Fire on the Roof of Eden in the kitchen. There’s a lot going on in the background on that album. If you listen closely, you can hear a child come in and ask, What’s for dinner. Or a cat, a rumbling washing machine. Kieran doesn’t mind. He likes to be immersed in the sound of the family. It’s funny, we’ve each got different requirements for creativity.”
The Rehearsal Album is up on Bandcamp. On Maria’s Instagram there are little backstories for the individual songs. She wrote about ‘Comfort Song’: I was apart from Kieran and missing him. To calm down, I started to hum melodies to myself and tried to put into words what it was I was missing. I realised that a lot has to do with the sound that he makes. The constant hum of his presence and commentary on the day, his sighs and clicks, maybe stomping and laughing.”
The couple met in a nightclub. “It was very late at night. We talked at the bar but didn’t make any plans.”
“He’s very cute,” says Maria. “I had left the band I was singing in. Then Kieran got in touch and said, I have a band and I wonder if you would like to do some singing. I said, Do you want to send me the music? I didn’t find out until 10 years after we married that he didn’t have a particular demo that he was planning to make at that time. He just wanted to ask me out. So he got somebody to give him some money to record a demo, got people together and booked a studio. And that became The Black Velvet Band.”
Their first solo release, ‘Charm’, was in 2001 and their next album will be released in 2026. It contains brand-new songs.
“Mostly recorded in Kilruddery House, where we were artists-in-residence,” shares Maria.
One of the songs, ‘Every Day, Every Night’, can be heard in a video on MDK’s Facebook page. Poignant lines are, ‘Love is coming/Grief is my partner, she’ll see it through to the end’.
“Singing this song was helpful and comforting,” says Maria. “In the past years, we lost people that were very close to us, including a friend I’d had since age 17. It kickstarted this whole album, trying to process the loss and grief. Music is an incredible treasure trove. That’s why I connected with it so deeply, like many people, from the time I was in my teens, looking for something to explain the raging madness that your mind and body has turned into while you don’t have the emotional language for the bigger feelings.”
