I like letters. And I want to send you one every week
I REMEMBER a teenage summer when I spent a few weeks in French college. Kind of like the Gaeltacht, but in a boarding school, where the only language you were allowed to speak for three weeks was French.
You could receive letters in English though, and I remember sitting in the small gym of the school, waiting expectantly as the names of anyone who received a letter that day would be read out.
I guess in one way it was the equivalent of an Instagram ‘like’ for today’s teenagers. Proof of popularity in front of your peers. But in another way it was far more significant than that.
It was a letter. Time taken out of someone’s day to write something down. Physically. On paper. Their news, thoughts, feelings. Some scandal from home. The local club football results maybe.
Far more meaningful than a like, so we got a lot fewer of them.
But they counted for more. They mattered. They were something to which you genuinely looked forward.
And so in that spirit, for anyone who enjoys this column, from this week on I will also be writing a weekly letter.
A letter delivered to your inbox, every Tuesday at lunchtime.
It’s called ‘The Piano Has Been Thinking’, and it will be similar in tone and content to this column. Just structured a bit differently. Like the column, it won’t be too long, and will have stories and insights from the worlds of music, sport and elsewhere.
For everyone in this part of the world, there will be a section in it entitled ‘Where Else But Sligo?’, celebrating all things about the place we live. Finally, it will contain everything you need to know about my own music, Theme Nights, Teenage Theme Nights, learning piano with me, our In The Lamplight podcast and upcoming gigs.
Readers of this letter will be the first to hear about new shows, will receive exclusive special offers, and will get opportunities to buy tickets for shows before they go on general sale.
You can find out more at kieranquinn.ie/letter – but whether or not you decide to read the letter, if you read this column I’d love to hear from you. I got some lovely messages about last week’s edition, and if you have any comments or indeed questions about anything I write, please get in touch at kieran@kieranquinn.ie.
I still like receiving letters!
Kieran Quinn plays piano and brings people together in music. You can sign up for his weekly email letter by visiting kieranquinn.ie/letter and he can be contacted by email at kieran@kieranquinn.ie
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