- Colum Sands (Irish songwriter)
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Colum Sands (born 1951) is an Irish singer songwriter who made his first performances and recordings with The Sands Family of County Down. Between his extensive solo appearances he continues to record and perform with his brothers Tommy and Ben and his sister Anne in the family band.
Following appearances throughout Europe and North America in venues ranging from small folk clubs to Carnegie Hall New York, in 1981, Colum set up the independent record label, Spring Records, with a recording studio at his home in Rostrevor, County Down.
He has produced around one hundred albums, working with young traditional musicians, songwriters and bands, ranging from first time recording artistes like Cara Dillon and Oige, Deanta, Neil Mulligan and Kieran Goss to veteran performers including Joan Baez, The Sands Family, Liam O Flynn, Vedran Smailovic and Pete Seeger.
Colum Sands has released eight albums featuring his own songs (see discography[1]) and a songbook[2] illustrated by Colum McEvoy.
As well as performing his own songs, Colum has translated Goethe into English (recording a bilingual version of Nähe des Geliebten with Berlin singer Scarlett Seeboldt), worked and toured in the Middle East with Israeli story teller Sharon Aviv on the English/Hebrew peace initiative production "Talking to the Wall" and translated Scottish Gaelic songs into English on his collaboration with Scottish singer and harper Maggie MacInnes.
His own songs have been translated into German, Dutch, Danish and Hebrew and have been recorded by many artistes including Maddy Prior, June Tabor, Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem, Roy Bailey, Andy Irvine and Mick Hanly.
Apart from songwriting and studio production, Colum Sands has worked in a number of theatrical collaborations and his involvement as a musician with the Lyric Theatre (Belfast) in 1976 found him working with Liam Neeson in the Patrick Galvin play "We Do it for Love".[3] He has also composed music for Community Playwright Patch Connolly's plays, "The Fair Day" and "The Square".
Colum Sands is also well known as a radio presenter, since the 1990s he has presented "Folk Club",[4] the popular weekly programme on BBC Radio Ulster. He has also compiled and presented radio programmes for BBC Radio 2 ("Shifting Sands") and RTE Radio 1 ("Rootin' About".)
Sands received a Living Tradition Award for his services to Folk and Traditional Music[5][6] and his song, “The Donegall Road” was included in the Smithsonian Institution “Sound Neighbours” album[7] which received three shortlisting nominations for the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Contents
Discography
- 1981 - Unapproved Road (Spring Records SCD 1001)
- 1989 - The March Ditch (Spring Records SCD 1014)
- 1996 - All my winding Journeys (Spring Records SCD 1035)
- 2002 - Talking to the Wall with Sharon Aviv (Spring Records SCD 1048)
- 2003 - The Note that lingers on (Spring Records SCD 1051)
- 2007 - Live in Concert Songs and Stories (Spring Records SCD 1054)
- 2009 - Look Where I've Ended Up Now (Spring Records SCD 1059)
- 2010 - The Seedboat (Bàta an t-Sìl) with Maggie MacInnes (Spring Records SCD 1061)
Books
2000 Colum Sands Songbook "Between the earth and the sky " Cottage Publications
References
- ^ Colum Sands official website: http://www.columsands.com/biography.html
- ^ Sands, Colum. 'Between the Earth and the Sky'. Cottage Publications, 2000. http://www.cottage-publications.com/cgi-bin/ctg/book/product.cgi?id=86
- ^ Patrick Galvin obituary, The Stage, May 2011. http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/feature.php/32272/patrick-galvin
- ^ Folk Club, BBC Radio Ulster website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007c0h6
- ^ Acoustic Showcase NI: http://www.acousticshowcaseni.co.uk/#/colum-sands/4548994765
- ^ Clare Lappin, Living Tradition website: http://www.livingtradition.org.uk/thehub/node/109
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sound-Neighbors-Contemporary-Music-Ireland/dp/B000PWQT3U
External links
Categories:- 1951 births
- Living people
- Irish singer-songwriters
- Irish record producers
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