WELCOME. THIS IS THE IRISH SONGS PROJECT ANGELS PAGE!
Join the growing number of fans supporting this special recording.
Release concerts are Wednesday, Oct 21 at Chief O’Neill’s Pub.
Oak Park Library Wed Nov 19.
Scroll down for information on Angel gift premiums.
Pre-order the CD. Click for order form: Irish songs order form2-signed.
Read the story of Jamie’s first gig.
“To me your voice is so beautiful… like silk and heather.” –Cynthia B
.
“Just beautiful. Great remastering, very clean and invisible.
You and Peter really shine through!” -Tom Amandes
“I Know Where I’m Goin”
Jamie O’Reilly Sings Irish Songs
with Peter Swenson, guitar
“I have stockings of silk, and shoes of fine grain leather
Combs to buckle my hair, and a ring for every finger”
The original album is NEARLY remastered, and will be released on CD, with a photo booklet and on youTube.
Jamie’s first solo album. 11 Irish folk and art songs, accompanied by Peter Swenson, guitar. Released on cassette in 1984. Recorded at WFMT Studio. Anne Hills, producer. Rich Warren, engineer.
Songlist: The Fairy Tree, Kitty of Coleraine, Will Ye, Go Lassie, Go, I Know Where I’m Going, Newry Prentice Boy, Kerry Dances, The Last Rose of Summer, Down By the Sally Gardens, Paistin Fionn, and Danny Boy.
Listen below to samples of the songs. Read the history.
Sign-up as an angel. Patron’s gifts range from VIP invitation to house concerts. Pre-orders begin now via this site.
Listen to I Know Where I’m Goin’ remastered
Listen to The Last Rose of Summer, sample – pre-master
“What a wonderful project to share your great music! Good luck with your project, Jamie,
we look forward to hearing the whole album! And beautiful work by your daughter Nia as well.”
A LETTER FROM JAMIE
Dear Musical Friends,
I recorded my first album at WFMT in 1984 with Rich Warren (host of The Midnight Special), as engineer. My best friend, singer Anne Hills produced it. Just one year after my vocal debut at Orchestra Hall, I was in fine voice, and didn’t know enough to be intimidated by a big city studio. I just sang. Peter played classical guitar in beautiful arrangements and we recorded 11 songs, most in only one take, in under two hours.
These songs established my vocal style, inspired by the singing of my Aunt Dorothy (pictured here), whose signature song was “I Know Where I’m Going.” And she taught it to me. In the decade that followed, I sang these songs for many major cultural gatherings in Chicago and with my family of singers. I was a lyric soprano who sang with a lilt and ease on the high notes. Music school didn’t teach that, it was in the blood! To this day I can sing those high notes in a whisper. And the low notes with deeper soul!
Jamie O’Reilly Sings Irish Songs was released only on cassette back then. But good news, though this format has since fallen by the wayside, I saved the analog master. WFMT Fine Arts Radio kept that very Dolby A tape machine, and were able to transfer my master to a digital format. In tact and more clear and pristine than the original cassette, I have the 11 lovely songs, and this fall will have a new album to share. The original songs and some extra surprises. Daughter Nia will provide the artwork and graphic design with a photo booklet. See her work here.
To make the compact disc, design and print artwork, order copies and promote “I Know Where I’m Going”, it’ll take a bit more than my charm. Folks are signing-up to be album-angels, and receive a CD and a VIP invitation to be in the audience at our “I Know Where I’m Going” release concerts and Patron’s Irish teas this fall.
Would you like to be an angel? Send Jamie an email: jamie@jamieoreilly.com. Consider contributing through PayPal below. Your contribution of any amount to the Jamie Sings Irish Songs project will make the project sing! You can download the Angel patron form here: Jamie Irish songs
Thanks so much,
Jamie O’Reilly
ANGELS, PROJECT FUNDRAISING Levels of giving $25 and up.
ANGELS! Here are the gift premiums we’re offering for your contributions.
Send a check (info on the Jamie Irish songs flyer)
Or use the easy PayPal drop-down Menu.
$25 — advance copy of the Irish CD and booklet
$50 and up — get a VIP invite to the release concert, and the Irish CD and booklet.
$75 — Jamie’s gift basket of Irish CD and booklet, homemade scones, jam and tea
$100 — Jamie’s gift basket of Irish CD and booklet, and recordings of her famous friends
$100 and up — Irish CD and booklet, brunch for 2 at Chief O’Neill’s Pub, Haute Hibernian cuisine
$250 — Jamie does a talk for your group about her musical history, and the influence of the Irish tradition
$500 and up Jamie sings a house concert for you and yours
$750 and up Jamie sings brings a talented ensemble and presents a Parlor concert and Irish poetry
$1,200 and up Jamie hosts a parlor concert and tea for you and 10 friends in beautiful Galena, Il
Jamie through the years
The 70s and 80s
1975
Jamie, DePaul music school days 1979 John Floeter and Jamie
DePaul recital, 1980
Paul. Jamie, Tom
Kinneallys in Houston, TX, 1984
The 90’s
“Jamie voice has an open air kind of freshness that puts a bloom on everything she sings!””
“O’Reilly voice is a shiny versatile instrument that knows how to caress as well as trumpet.”
Michael, Jamie
1996
Quotes from Fans
“I am thrilled those songs will come out on CD. My mom played her cassette of Irish Songs to death so I had to give her my copy.”
“As the years pass by and quickly too, the sound of your voice and the instrumental accompaniment become even more precious.”
“What a wonderful surprise to find this tonight. To me your voice is so beautiful… like silk and heather.”
“Looking forward to the new CD. (It’s the horse you rode in on.)”
“What a wonderful project to share your great music! I would like to send you a check for your project. Good luck with your project, Jamie, we look forward to hearing the whole album! And beautiful work by your daughter Nia as well!”
How very kind of you. I will look forward to my gift basket. Thank you, ( I wasn’t expecting anything! :)) This photographic lifeline is perfect as an enclosure to the new CD that I feel certain your lifelong fans will love. You’ve matured so very well too. Christine.
p.s. I would enjoy meeting w. Jean sometime in May. Maybe here for a project? Feel free to share my cellphone # w her. I have decided not to move out to Crystal Lake at this point. I want to be closer to Catherine & the grand babies now. Always good to hear from you. So happy it is spring again. Keep me posted.