Oftentimes, it takes getting away to get a closer perspective of home. Or yourself.
Such is the case with a trip my husband, Brian, and I recently took to Ireland with local friends Nancy and Patrick Haire.
The excursion coupled music and travel.
The latter, I’m fairly adept.
The former, however, I’ve increasingly distanced myself.
ON THE TOUR were 21 fans of musicians James Moors and Kort McCumber. Brian and I, who had listened to their music only enough to confirm we were open to more, did not feel we qualified as such. Our status has since changed.
The duo go by the name Moors & McCumber. When not on the road performing, Moors lives in Wisconsin and McCumber in Colorado.
The tour’s fans also hailed from the Midwest including Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado and Kansas. Our regional proximity helped us discover other commonalities. Our worldviews frequently overlapped, allowing for free-flowing conversations.
The musicians left the actual guiding and driving to a professional tour guide and driver.
As we traversed the Republic of Ireland, Moors and McCumber would frequently play at spots of historical or geographic significance.
Their music crosses the genres of folk, bluegrass, rock, country and Celtic, resonating with fans of Van Morrison, Jackson Brown, Simon & Garfunkel and the like.
Whenever they began to play, passersby would gather round.
One such stop included the village of Skibbereen where we learned of the impact of The Great Potato Famine. Skibbereen lost more than 10,000 townspeople, one-third of its population, to the famine, 1845-1852.
More than 1 million nationwide died due to starvation and related illnesses and another 1.25 million emigrated to escape the horrors.
It’s only today that Ireland has caught up in terms of population.
