The Deer's Cry Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: I grew up in Abilene, Texas, singing in church and school choirs, classical youth chorus, and musical theatre productions. Later, I went on to major in music at Furman University in South Carolina, focusing on church music. I particularly loved learning about medieval music and enjoyed singing Renaissance polyphony with the chamber choir!
After graduating, I moved to the Dallas area where I discovered a thriving Irish music scene. I had enjoyed listening to this music for a long time and had sung some of the songs, but this was my first time to truly immerse myself in it. The annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat presented wonderful opportunities to study with musicians from Ireland, and that’s when I began learning the harp. I studied with a local harp teacher as well, Rebekah Passmore, and continued attending the retreat. In 2013, I was invited to teach at The North Texas School of Irish Music where I founded and directed a Gaelic Youth Chorus that performed choral arrangements of traditional songs in the Irish language. Together, the kids and I learned more about sean nós (old style) singing and shared these songs with people throughout the DFW area. We also performed in Ireland with our sister school in Letterkenny, Donegal, and took singing workshops with Moya Brennan (Clannad)! My friend Allison Johnson has done a beautiful job directing the group since I moved to Nashville in 2017. And, interesting factoid, some alumni singers from this chorus are featured on The Deer’s Cry album!
Another inspiring experience in Dallas was singing with ISHQ, a global Christian worship group. This ensemble sings and plays Biblical songs from around the world, leading worship for events, conferences and ESL banquets. In 2015, I traveled to Dublin to attend a singing summer school led by Irish choral composer Michael McGlynn. Listening to his ensemble ANÚNA has greatly influenced my songwriting, and it was an extraordinary experience learning from Michael and later recording an EP with the group.
On The Deer’s Cry album Rise with the Dawn, I believe these influences combined in interesting ways with the unique inspirations of my bandmates and collaborators, with Patrick Atwater’s background in jazz music, Bryan Brock in world, Latin and jazz, and Will MacLean in bluegrass.
Q: Can you talk about what some of those themes are on your release Rise with the Dawn?
A: The seed for this project was planted many years ago with a song my brother and I wrote called “Oh Blessed Light.” It was originally a choral piece which later evolved into a wonderful collaboration with Icelandic and English folk musicians Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster. The bridge comes from the Bible passage Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” I use the word seed because all the other songs sprung from this like branches on the same tree. This album is in equal parts an exploration of light and dark. Even the moods of the songs flow back and forth. They are an expression, I believe, of a major threshold I’ve come to in my own life: entering that space of listening to the Divine and awakening to God’s call and purpose for me. I hear that call most clearly when I’m in nature. One day, a beautiful deer came and peered into the front window of my house. It is more common to see deer in residential areas here in Nashville, but I had never seen one in our yard, not to mention looking at me through a window! I was reminded of Saint Patrick’s Breastplate prayer, also called The Deer’s Cry: “I arise today through the strength of heaven, light of sun, radiance of moon…” and that was it! The name for our band. The power of light in the darkness permeates this magnificent prayer, and even more amazing is the story behind it. A poetic rendering of this story is recited on our album as “The Miracle of The Deer’s Cry.”
Q: What is the creative process like?
A: Each song has its own journey and series of events that inspired it; however, a lot of my thoughts for this music coalesced on my evening walks along the creek behind our house. I tend to start with lyrics until a melody reveals itself in the cadence of the words, and then I start writing the words to that newfound melody. There’s only one song, “Flame of Truth,” where the entire melody presented itself before I wrote the words. With the harp arrangements, it was like creating an atmosphere for the songs to live in. I would take one section at a time and listen for the ring of the harp and how it was interacting with the melody. After that came the exciting part of collaborating with other artists. I wrote the choral parts for “The Child of Glory” and “The Deer’s Cry” but outside of that, everyone responded to these songs in their own way, creating a part that was unique to them and their experience. Even the choral parts I wrote were transformed and taken to a place I didn’t expect by the beautiful interpretation of the singers. I also had many rehearsals with my bandmates, and their creative input and arranging shaped this album in powerful ways.
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: I grew up in Abilene, Texas, singing in church and school choirs, classical youth chorus, and musical theatre productions. Later, I went on to major in music at Furman University in South Carolina, focusing on church music. I particularly loved learning about medieval music and enjoyed singing Renaissance polyphony with the chamber choir!
After graduating, I moved to the Dallas area where I discovered a thriving Irish music scene. I had enjoyed listening to this music for a long time and had sung some of the songs, but this was my first time to truly immerse myself in it. The annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat presented wonderful opportunities to study with musicians from Ireland, and that’s when I began learning the harp. I studied with a local harp teacher as well, Rebekah Passmore, and continued attending the retreat. In 2013, I was invited to teach at The North Texas School of Irish Music where I founded and directed a Gaelic Youth Chorus that performed choral arrangements of traditional songs in the Irish language. Together, the kids and I learned more about sean nós (old style) singing and shared these songs with people throughout the DFW area. We also performed in Ireland with our sister school in Letterkenny, Donegal, and took singing workshops with Moya Brennan (Clannad)! My friend Allison Johnson has done a beautiful job directing the group since I moved to Nashville in 2017. And, interesting factoid, some alumni singers from this chorus are featured on The Deer’s Cry album!
Another inspiring experience in Dallas was singing with ISHQ, a global Christian worship group. This ensemble sings and plays Biblical songs from around the world, leading worship for events, conferences and ESL banquets. In 2015, I traveled to Dublin to attend a singing summer school led by Irish choral composer Michael McGlynn. Listening to his ensemble ANÚNA has greatly influenced my songwriting, and it was an extraordinary experience learning from Michael and later recording an EP with the group.
On The Deer’s Cry album Rise with the Dawn, I believe these influences combined in interesting ways with the unique inspirations of my bandmates and collaborators, with Patrick Atwater’s background in jazz music, Bryan Brock in world, Latin and jazz, and Will MacLean in bluegrass.
Q: Can you talk about what some of those themes are on your release Rise with the Dawn?
A: The seed for this project was planted many years ago with a song my brother and I wrote called “Oh Blessed Light.” It was originally a choral piece which later evolved into a wonderful collaboration with Icelandic and English folk musicians Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster. The bridge comes from the Bible passage Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” I use the word seed because all the other songs sprung from this like branches on the same tree. This album is in equal parts an exploration of light and dark. Even the moods of the songs flow back and forth. They are an expression, I believe, of a major threshold I’ve come to in my own life: entering that space of listening to the Divine and awakening to God’s call and purpose for me. I hear that call most clearly when I’m in nature. One day, a beautiful deer came and peered into the front window of my house. It is more common to see deer in residential areas here in Nashville, but I had never seen one in our yard, not to mention looking at me through a window! I was reminded of Saint Patrick’s Breastplate prayer, also called The Deer’s Cry: “I arise today through the strength of heaven, light of sun, radiance of moon…” and that was it! The name for our band. The power of light in the darkness permeates this magnificent prayer, and even more amazing is the story behind it. A poetic rendering of this story is recited on our album as “The Miracle of The Deer’s Cry.”
Q: What is the creative process like?
A: Each song has its own journey and series of events that inspired it; however, a lot of my thoughts for this music coalesced on my evening walks along the creek behind our house. I tend to start with lyrics until a melody reveals itself in the cadence of the words, and then I start writing the words to that newfound melody. There’s only one song, “Flame of Truth,” where the entire melody presented itself before I wrote the words. With the harp arrangements, it was like creating an atmosphere for the songs to live in. I would take one section at a time and listen for the ring of the harp and how it was interacting with the melody. After that came the exciting part of collaborating with other artists. I wrote the choral parts for “The Child of Glory” and “The Deer’s Cry” but outside of that, everyone responded to these songs in their own way, creating a part that was unique to them and their experience. Even the choral parts I wrote were transformed and taken to a place I didn’t expect by the beautiful interpretation of the singers. I also had many rehearsals with my bandmates, and their creative input and arranging shaped this album in powerful ways.
Q: How did you approach recording the album since it was recorded in two different places and with eighteen collaborators?
A: Thankfully, I had the opportunity to work with an incredible producer here in Nashville who could both navigate the flying back and forth of tracks and listen carefully to what the songs wanted to be. I met Ren Renfree through some Irish music friends in Texas, and he was the perfect fit for this project.
For most of the tracks, we recorded the harp and lead vocals first, but on some occasions, we recorded everyone live in the same room. My bandmates Patrick (bass), Bryan (percussion) and Will (banjo) came into Sound Catcher Recording here in Nashville to track their parts along with our other Nashville friends. Bryan recorded and flew over percussion parts from his home studio as well.
For our Dallas collaborators, we worked with two engineers that I had recorded with before, friends Randy Copus (Galactic Playground Studio) and Carlos Savetman (Sound O Matic Studio). Randy recorded the choral parts for “The Child of Glory” and Carlos recorded Joseph Carmichael’s guitar, whistle and flute for our title track along with vocals, Mary Brunson’s violin and the choir for “The Deer’s Cry” song.
Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster recorded their vocals, Icelandic langspil and fiðla with Andri Eyvindsson in Iceland, and Owen Ó Súilleabháin recorded his poem and produced the soundscape for “The Miracle of The Deer’s Cry” poem from his home studio in Buffalo, New York.
This was all a process that took over a year to record, and I can’t tell you the number of emails going back and forth. I felt The Deer’s Cry had become a special kind of community by the end of it. For those living in Nashville, we celebrated with dinner, chocolate cake and a listening party! Each song (and all the various tracks on each song) took their own journey, and thanks to Ren, were carefully balanced and assembled into a meaningful whole.
All musicians who recorded in Dallas are friends whom I’ve collaborated with and known for years. Other collaborators on the album are newer friends, but they are just as dear. Perhaps I’m crazy, but I think you can hear the history and friendship in the music.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: We played an album release concert at Story Forge Studios in Nashville on January 16th. Ireland and Declan Harber from Dallas along with Cherish and Adam Hamby, JC Morrissey, Quinn O’Donnell, Gabriela Sandoval Fuentes and Emily Otteson performed with us that evening! The band also played several songs from the album for a virtual Saint Patrick’s Day festival hosted by Thunder on the Plains radio.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There’s also a visual component to this album. My cousin Madison Thames created the album artwork in addition to individual art pieces for “Rise with the Dawn,” “In Clear Winter’s Night,” and “The Child of Glory.” We’ve also created four music videos for this project, which my husband Brad Ballew directed and produced. I believe art evolves over time, but the one constant with our music is the spirit in which it was created. The spirit of listening, exchange of ideas and friendship, and God willing, a new adventure ahead.
A: Thankfully, I had the opportunity to work with an incredible producer here in Nashville who could both navigate the flying back and forth of tracks and listen carefully to what the songs wanted to be. I met Ren Renfree through some Irish music friends in Texas, and he was the perfect fit for this project.
For most of the tracks, we recorded the harp and lead vocals first, but on some occasions, we recorded everyone live in the same room. My bandmates Patrick (bass), Bryan (percussion) and Will (banjo) came into Sound Catcher Recording here in Nashville to track their parts along with our other Nashville friends. Bryan recorded and flew over percussion parts from his home studio as well.
For our Dallas collaborators, we worked with two engineers that I had recorded with before, friends Randy Copus (Galactic Playground Studio) and Carlos Savetman (Sound O Matic Studio). Randy recorded the choral parts for “The Child of Glory” and Carlos recorded Joseph Carmichael’s guitar, whistle and flute for our title track along with vocals, Mary Brunson’s violin and the choir for “The Deer’s Cry” song.
Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster recorded their vocals, Icelandic langspil and fiðla with Andri Eyvindsson in Iceland, and Owen Ó Súilleabháin recorded his poem and produced the soundscape for “The Miracle of The Deer’s Cry” poem from his home studio in Buffalo, New York.
This was all a process that took over a year to record, and I can’t tell you the number of emails going back and forth. I felt The Deer’s Cry had become a special kind of community by the end of it. For those living in Nashville, we celebrated with dinner, chocolate cake and a listening party! Each song (and all the various tracks on each song) took their own journey, and thanks to Ren, were carefully balanced and assembled into a meaningful whole.
All musicians who recorded in Dallas are friends whom I’ve collaborated with and known for years. Other collaborators on the album are newer friends, but they are just as dear. Perhaps I’m crazy, but I think you can hear the history and friendship in the music.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: We played an album release concert at Story Forge Studios in Nashville on January 16th. Ireland and Declan Harber from Dallas along with Cherish and Adam Hamby, JC Morrissey, Quinn O’Donnell, Gabriela Sandoval Fuentes and Emily Otteson performed with us that evening! The band also played several songs from the album for a virtual Saint Patrick’s Day festival hosted by Thunder on the Plains radio.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There’s also a visual component to this album. My cousin Madison Thames created the album artwork in addition to individual art pieces for “Rise with the Dawn,” “In Clear Winter’s Night,” and “The Child of Glory.” We’ve also created four music videos for this project, which my husband Brad Ballew directed and produced. I believe art evolves over time, but the one constant with our music is the spirit in which it was created. The spirit of listening, exchange of ideas and friendship, and God willing, a new adventure ahead.