CARSIE Blanton brings her hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism to Lime Tree Theatre this Friday November 3 as special guest supporting Declan O’Rourke on his tour across Ireland. Based in New Orleans and Louisiana, Carsie is no stranger to Limerick and Ireland, the songwriter stated in the past that she is a “Scotch-Irish Jew from the American South. I moved away from home at age 16 and have been touring since then, more or less. I’ve visited fifty US states and sixteen countries, and my favourite places so far are New Orleans and Ireland.”
Her previous shows at Dolans got rave reviews, everyone loved her mix of moxie and mischief, bringing her audience together in joyful celebration of everything worth fighting for through her potent mix of folk, jazz and country.
Promoter John Hennessy of Seoda Shows was moved to say that Carsie is, “the great undiscovered songwriter of this age.Her last Limerick show was ridiculously good.”
She won’t remain “undiscovered” for very long.
Her music is inspired by the likes of Nina Simone and John Prine. Her 2020 tribute to John Prine, ‘Fishin with You’, has over a million streams on Spotify.
Carsie told Limerick Post this week that a John Prine Tribute Concert in Dublin led the singer/songwriter to a guest slot on Declan O’Rourke’s tour.
“I met Declan last Spring at the Tribute To John Prine at Vicar Street. It was just a lovely event. It was put together by Hibernacle x Turning Pirate, they paid good attention to getting the right lineup, the right mix of people.
They had a lot of room backstage and there was a lot of time to hang out and rehearse. so We were able to just get to know each other and Declan and I hit it off and played a little music together and he invited me on tour so I’m quite honoured.”
Carsie has visited Ireland many times since 2016 when she toured in small venues across the country.
“I think I like it because Irish people tend to be very literary. They tend to know a lot of poetry and pay close attention to lyrics and songs and they have a good political consciousness.
And a good sense of humour. So that about does it for me.”
Carsie has recorded six albums in the last ten years and has just released the title track from her next album, called ‘After The Revolution’. A stirring anthem to hope in frightening times.
Carsie Blanton on Spotify
“We recorded it last spring. So it is all finished. But it won’t come out until March 21 of next year.
“I’m releasing one song a month right now. So there’s a couple of singles out and there’s another one coming out in a few weeks.
And that’s just to have a nice long publicity cycle. Like a lot of people are doing it these days. “I quite like the album. It’s about hope, and looking forward to the future and kind of trying to cultivate a little bit of revolutionary optimism.”
‘After the Revolution’ is one of the first songs Carsie wrote for the new record.
“I started writing it in summer of 2021, when I returned home from a somewhat gruelling tour with another maxed out credit card and my first case of Covid,” Blanton explains.
“Fevered, drugged up, and quarantined in my backyard shed, I had a semi-hallucinatory reverie about the future. The real future; not the one being peddled by ad campaigns or political parties.”
Looking at America from the outside at this distance in Ireland, it is a place we have taken inspiration from and love to visit but it looks very divided. Is there hope among people that you meet when you tour?
“It feels that way from the inside as well. But I’m the same. I love America. I love the people but I hate the employer.
“So sometimes it can be difficult to try and see through all the propaganda and just realise that most of us are caring, thoughtful people in this country, despite what it looks like.
“But yeah, it’s a very hard time. I mean, in a lot of parts of the world. I think that we’re entering a transitional time in human society and it can feel quite chaotic.
“So I really tried to create a sense of solidarity at my shows and help remind people that we’re all in it together.”
Carsie will be playing a few songs from ‘After The Revolution’ on this tour as well as all her fan favourites.
“There’s a lot of songs about friendship as well and trying to celebrate, all of the ways that people love each other and take care of each other.
“So there’s some friendship songs and some protest songs. And there’s a song called Hope, which I’m quite excited to share there. I think the Irish will appreciate it.”
With her new album coming out in March 2024, and followed hopefully by her own headline tour in April, Carsie has lots of hope for the future for a return to Limerick next year.
In the meantime, you will not be disappointed if you get to your seats early at Lime Tree Theatre on Friday November 3, for Carsie Blanton as special guest to Declan O’Rourke.
Declan will be airing his first new material since the Weller-produced Arrivals, of 2021 alongside classic gems from across his rich and broad career.
Declan reports, “You’re never quite sure what you’ve got until you hold a new song up to the light in front of a waiting gallery of eyes and ears. A diamond or just a piece of glass? It’s exploration and discovery at the same time. But the song does not truly exist until that moment. The risk is that once it’s left your body, you can never take it back!”
Declan O’Rourke with special guest Carsie Blanton will play Lime Tree Theatre on Friday November 3.
