According to an ancient Celtic lore, rubbing the pale yellow petals of a primrose flower over your eyelids can give you passage to the world of fairies.
When singer/songwriter Patricia Murray read that, she decided "primrose" would be the perfect name for her new album of traditional and contemporary story songs. The problem is, she hasn't found a primrose to try out that age-old belief.
"I've got a package of seeds," she says, almost apologetically. "But I haven't actually found any flowers. I guess I'm going to have to raid someone's garden."
Murray's album does the trick in lieu of a primrose. Her lovely, crystal-clear voice transports the listener back centuries, to Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Brittany. Mining an ancient heritage, she has chosen simple poignant songs of lovers meeting and tragically separating, family life, and growing old. Two of
the songs are ancient Gaelic airs, and three she wrote herself, including Yonec, based on a Breton legend dating to the 12th century, about a young wife locked in a tower by her jealous husband and the hawk that flies to her window.
"I feel the most comfortable telling a story through song. The object is to capture the audience's imagination," the 26-year-old Halifax resident says over coffee at a downtown cafe. For inspiration, Murray traveled to Scotland to learn from great Gaelic singers. She also recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Celtic Studies from the University of Toronto.
