Cathy Jordan, singer and bodhran player for the Irish band Dervish, understands well how easily Irish music can make itself at home in the soul.
The fact that so many Americans find a connection to it — enough so that St. Patrick’s Day festivities tend to last throughout the month of March in the U.S. — is deeply heartwarming to her as well.
“It’s like the music gets under your skin and into your heart,” said Jordan, who was raised in a musical family of singers who rarely passed up an opportunity to surround themselves with friends and relatives who loved to sing and play. “The bug was there very early. It’s kind of a line and a river that keeps flowing on to me and to future generations.”
If you need a bit of cultural refreshment from that river, Dervish will be performing at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Haven. The concert is presented by Blue Ridge Irish Music School and WTJU 91.1 FM.
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Dervish, formed in 1989, includes Shane Mitchell on accordion, Liam Kelly on flute and whistle, Brian McDonagh on mandola and mandolin, Michael Holmes on bouzouki and all-Ireland Fiddle Champion Tom Morrow. Together, they’ve released 13 studio and live albums. If you have a favorite song in the band’s catalog, you’ll want to keep an ear out for it Sunday evening.
“At this stage of our lives, it’s about making sure the music is safe and alive for future generations,” said Jordan, who joined Dervish in 1991. She said audience members can expect to hear some of the band’s music, “plus we’ll be doing older items from our catalog and from [Dervish’s 2019 album] ‘Great Irish Song Book.'”
Jordan said she loves watching Blue Ridge Irish Music School students and teachers at work, because the in-person teaching style handed down over time preserves nuances and intricacies in ways that don’t translate as well at a distance, or when one’s eyes are buried in sheet music.
“You can see the joy of learning in people’s faces,” Jordan said. “When you’re learning and teaching person to person, there’s a connection you can’t make on a computer or records.”
Dervish has performed around the world, sharing the music over the years at festivals and on trade missions, including a musical moment on the Great Wall of China during time spent as cultural ambassadors. Dervish was the first Irish band to play Rock in Rio and has performed during Irish state visits to Lithuania and Latvia.
The musical love flows back to the States as well. When Jordan was growing up, she was immersed in all kinds of music; Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and the Carter Family were among her earliest country and folk favorites. As an adult, she savors chances to record and perform with Vince Gill, Rhiannon Giddens, Steve Earle and other Americans who embrace Irish music.
She said one need not be a musician to feel the pull of an art form that embraces people wherever they are.
“It’s just extraordinary,” Jordan said of Irish music, noting that people can dive in “as shallowly or deeply as you want — if you just want to strum a few chords and sing a few songs, or if you want to study it in college for 10 years.”
Glimpsing how many Americans of all kinds of backgrounds have Irish heritage, and how many without any Irish DNA eagerly take it to heart, is moving for Jordan.
“It’s not something you can take for granted, because it’s made our career,” she said. “It rekindles people’s Irishness.” To Jordan, the way Americans embrace Irish culture and arts is a valuable reminder of “how proud we should be of our heritage. We should be proud of it and not take it for granted.”
Learn more about the band at dervish.ie. For information about Sunday’s show, go to www.BRIMStunes.org.
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