Mary helping Kerry beat lockdown blues through song
SHE may be from over the border in Abbeyfeale but for now, we’re claiming Mary O’Brien as one of our own.
Mary’s claim to fame? Well, she and over 80 other people from different parts of Kerry and further afield have been keeping busy these last few weeks of ‘ lockdown’ by making their ‘ music videos’, so to speak, in a project that Mary is calling ‘Let’s Make Music’.
Mary got in touch with us here in The Kerryman last week to tell us a little but about the project - which is now in its fourth week - and how everyone is welcome to join in.
“I’m a musical director for the Limerick Gospel Choir and we were all just looking at doing something to have a bit of music around. We tried ‘Zoom’ but we couldn’t get the timing right so I just came up with this idea that eventually became ‘Let’s Make Music’, “said Mary.
How it works is that each week, Mary gives all members of the group a song to learn. They then have to record audio or a video of themselves singing the song and send this back to Mary.
Mary then splices all of these together into one cohesive video and uploads it to YouTube.
So far, the group have done two songs, ‘ We Are The World’ and ‘Stand By Me’ - both of which are available to watch on
Mary’s YouTube channel under the name ‘Mary O’Brien’ or up on The Kerryman’s Facebook page.
“We have over 80 people in the group and the most we’ve had in a video at one time is 26. Anyone is welcome to join, you don’t have to send a video, you can just send a recording, and even if you don’t think that it’s perfect, that’s okay, I’ll find a line or two from you that does sound good and I’ll include it in the song. It’s all just about having as bit of fun right now,” she continued.
Anyone who wants to join in on this little initiative can join the ‘Let’s Make Music’ group on Facebook or alternatively, they can get in touch with Mary over WhatsApp on 086 075 4238.