Hallelujah
Emerald Ceilidh invites Matthews and Mooney to the stage
This redhead isn’t Anne, but she will get you dancing like her. Courtney Hogan will be fiddling her way into hearts and with Kelley Mooney and Jon Matthews by her side; they’ll have the Emerald Community Centre singing along.
Originally interested in piano, Hogan later gravitated towards classic violin, playing for several years with ‘Singing Stings.’ Don Messer tunes got her hooked on the fiddle after hearing her late great-grandfather, Ralph Gay, play them.
Hogan quickly fell in love, finding her match in the music world.
Mooney started off doing ‘the circuit’ at age five. Talent contests, benefits, weddings, concerts and festivals but it wasn’t until 10 years ago when she made it big as a YouTube sensation with her spiritual lyric adaption of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’
“My priest asked me if I would sing that song in church for Easter service,” said Mooney.
The lyrics originally aren’t what you might want to sing at a Sunday service, she said. So she wrote new ones, focused on Jesus and received permission from Cohen to record it.
“The lyrics I wrote seemed to resonate with people.” Over 4.7 million people on YouTube would agree. Mooney has recorded three CD’s, including her latest album ‘Still’ which was released in 2014 after battling a serious illness. Popular Island musician Jon Matthews will join Hogan and Mooney on stage. The producer, singer, engineer, and multiinstrumentalist’s recording studio has been named Music P.E.I.’s ‘Studio of the Year’ five times and has received several nominations for his singing and songwriting.
Hogan has been hosting Ceilidh’s since she was 15, and she’s just moved them to the Emerald Community Centre three years ago.
The Ceilidh takes place Friday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m.
They will be joined by one of P.E.I.’s finest step dancers. Admission is $10 at the door and CD’s, t-shirts, 50/50 tickets and homemade jam will be available.