Published: December 13, 2009 3:58 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight December 2009 Edition
Jillian LaDage
Celtic/World Artist/Band of the Week December 13, 2009 - December 19, 2009
Jillian LaDage Nancy Merkling Photography
If you are looking for an enriching musical experience that will elevate your horizon about music, then Jillian LaDage is going to take you places that will make you realize why music is such a powerful instrument. A fusion of World and Celtic music, fans will enjoy the eclectic sounds of this artist's music. In this recent spotlight with our Webzine, LaDage speaks candidly about her music in this personal conversation with the artist. Enjoy!
Isaac: We'd love to know about your inspirations growing up. I hear so many influences in your music. How old were you when you first discovered music? Is there any kind of musical history in your family?
Jillian: From Celtic to Classical to Middle Eastern music my curiosity of the world and its cultures has always led me on a merry chase. The wind could always sing a song to me. Growing up in rural Illinois on a small dairy farm there were plenty of opportunities to sit and listen to the music within or connect to a new sound through nature. I have always remembered those early years being full with music from the dairy barn where Van Halen sang from above the rows of milking cows attended by my Dad morning and night to the strains of Amy Grant in our family kitchen where Mom was elbow deep in dishes most of the time. We would clean the house to music - old 8 tracks my parents had stashed in away in their bedroom and records from the tavern my grandparents used to own. "Another One Bites the Dust" became my anthem for years! My brothers and I would sit in our bedroom for hours wearing that poor record out.
But Christmas time was the magical part of the year for our family. With anticipation, we would look forward to Dad pulling out his twelve string guitar, painstakingly tuning it after a hard days work on the farm and flipping through the pages of our favorite Christmas songs. On Christmas Eve, we would sing until it was time for bed or Dad's fingers wore out, usually whichever came first! As we all grew older, each of us added our own instruments we had begun picking up in school. It's a good thing we were in the country as some years there was such a cacophony of sounds coming from that old white farmhouse!
Within the family history itself, there have been musicians on both sides and at least one that I have been told who was a part of the early Chicago jazz scene and played a plethora of instruments.
Isaac: What drew you to pick up an instrument in the first place?
Jillian: My first instrument has been and always will be my voice. Sitting alone in my room as a child I would sing along to anything I could get my hands on, it always brought me great joy and peace and still does. Later, I picked up the recorder, as all school children are wont to do, and moved on to the piano, clarinet, Irish whistle, bodhran, and most recently the harp. Each instrument chose me rather that I being the one who chose it in some fashion. Perhaps that is part of the spirit of the Scots/Irish in me.
Isaac: As you hit your teenage years, did you know that this was what you would be doing for the rest of your life?
Jillian: I think I have known ever since I was a child music had to be apart of my life in some form. It was not so much a question of choice as a question of how.
Isaac: Is there a performer in any genre of pop culture that you would like to work with?
Jillian: I would love to collaborate with jazz guitarist Brian Hughes and violinist Hugh Marsh, their work is exceptional and always brings that extra something to a project.
Isaac: Who are some musicians that you really like, present or past?
Jillian: Lately, I have been listening to Charlie Parker but I enjoy a wide range of music so much so that any given day you would find me listening to Mozart, Andrea Bocelli, Jane Monheit, Coldplay, Loreena McKennitt, Secret Garden, Emma Shaplin, Great Big Sea, Gaelic Storm to name a few. I love music in all forms and particularly enjoy attending the Opera when I have the chance.
Isaac: What is your ultimate goal with your music career?
Jillian: Ultimately, I would like to see my label, Tarith Cote, and my music as an artist experience the same success as Loreena McKennitt has through global distribution, music credits in both film and television, and international tours which include a full ensemble of musicians. I am carving out a path and the music is currently distributed through Prikosnovenie in France and greater Europe. An album hitting #2 on the Billboard World Music Chart would be a nice little goal of mine to achieve alongside this!
Isaac: What has been some of the obstacles it has taken to get this far in your career?
Jillian: Of obstacles, there have been many. One of the largest I have experienced however came during those formative years as a teenager. As I began to explore performing and music as a career, I was often discouraged harshly and on many occasions told I could not sing, had no musical ability, and maybe I should find something else to do by adult authority figures in my parent's church music program which I was apart of. It was a painful time and left me with a little voice that constantly questioned my abilities and a fear that they were somehow right and perhaps I could not sing and was not musical. Through the strength of friends, my mother, and my first voice teacher I eventually found the courage to stand up for myself and leave this environment. It was a few years until I truly found the confidence I needed to continue and work past the hurt.
Isaac: Would you recommend this "field" to others who are aspiring to be musicians like you?
Jillian: There is a knowing that comes with anything we do if we are open and available enough to hear it. This business we call music has its rewards and can certainly be challenging at times even amongst all the new available opportunities this day in age. Finding a support system not only within yourself but outside yourself is essential. There is a point where you will need to move past the "aspiring" part of being a musician and BE a musician. If this is your field, it is your life's blood and you cannot help but do it.
Isaac: Describe one piece of advice you've have been given to by others in the music industry.
Jillian: As an artist and performer, I am uncomfortable with and have chosen not to subscribe to the 'cult of celebrity' that seems to be ever prevalent in our society. Rather I see it as my goal to facilitate experiences and enhanced life moments for my audience. Sometimes the best advice you will ever receive is not from the industry itself but it is your own.
Isaac: What genre of music do you consider most of your music?
Jillian: 'eclectic' Celtic/World with a strong emphasis on World.
Isaac: What has been your favorite piece of work?
Jillian: Up to date my favorite piece of work has to be my debut album, The Ancestry, as I tend to view each song not as a separate piece of the work but part of the whole. Although I am very proud of the strings arrangement performed by violinist Chris Wagoner and cellist Mary Gaines through "Bonny Was The Lady (The Legend of Cong)" and believe this is one of the best examples of my style, not only as a songwriter but as a composer and vocalist.
Isaac: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Jillian: The Official Website of Jillian LaDage http://www.tarithcote.com is where you can find audio samples, lyrics, liner notes, sign up for my email mailing list along with options for purchasing The Ancestry as a Compact Disc with the12 page lyrics/journal/liner notes or a high quality Digital Download securely. You can also join me on social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and listen to music samples. The music is also widely available through many Celtic Podcasts and through Last.fm a free radio Internet site.
Isaac: Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
Jillian: My darling, handsome husband Ryan who is my rock and is there every step of the way! I am truly blessed.
Isaac: Any last words?
Jillian: Music is for sharing. As I share it with you, I ask you to then share it with others. You don't have to be apart of the hit machine to make it to #2 on the Billboard World Music Chart, you should be there because someone loves the music, it has touched them, changed their lives. I think this is what is most inspiring to me about artists such as Loreena McKennitt. It was not just the "fans" but the friends around the world who said we love what you do and we want to share it, we want to let the world know. We want others to hear what has moved us. That is what it really is about, moving people. If I am doing it right and sharing then #2 is not so far off?! It's not just me up there but all the fans and friends from all the over the world as well!
