So how does it feel to sing home?: An arts practice exploration of space, place and identity within my songwriting practice

I am a singer songwriter and an Irish Traditional musician. My research challenges my own songwriting practice through an exploration of the themes of Space, Place, and Identity. A formulation of new methods of creative practice develops new insights and tools to inspire creativity more broadly.

My early emigrant experience in the U.K. in the 1980’s was the ultimate impetus for this research. In being so abruptly removed from the Place I had always called home; it became vital for me to remember where I had come from and writing songs was both an effective and cathartic way of doing this. Although I returned to Ireland 20 years ago, those experiences remain central to my work as a songwriter and academic.

So how does it feel to be home? Would you have come back sooner if you’d known? That the troubles inside would be stilled by the tide And hope the Atlantic provides (Home, 2002, Claire Watts)

Being displaced has framed my experience as a songwriter, musician and scholar. My mother was Irish, and my father is English, and this meant that my childhood experience was shaped by a navigation between two very different cultural worlds, and this has led to my ongoing fascination into how Space and Place serves my sense of Identity as a singer songwriter.

Grounded in a Practice as Research theoretical approach, my research project employs a variety of methodologies with evidencing based on a reflective analysis of my own practice while also drawing on material from interviews with other songwriters and feedback from two major performances completed during this PhD. The 12 songs created for this project are definite research outputs in themselves, but also serve as a means of documenting my process. This documentation of my process is further amplified through autoethnographic writing, reflections, photographs and excerpts from practice journals.

The 5 chapters of this thesis document this research journey and the accompanying audio/visual recordings document the two major performances completed as part of this PhD.