Interview With Bernadette – Radio Corca Baiscinn, Kilkee, Ireland – 28th June 2001

BERNADETTE:  And now I have Ruth Nina Welsh in the studio with me and I would like to thank her very much for coming into us this morning. Good morning Ruth.

Ruth:  Morning, hi Bernadette.

BERNADETTE:  Would you like to tell us how did you get started in the music business?

Ruth:  Well I have loved music from when I was very young…then I started to write my own songs and it was just a real dream of mine to actually record them. So that all came about last year when I started recording them and actually then put the album out.

BERNADETTE:  And have you always liked music?

Ruth:  I have loved music and I was brought up with it. My Mum was trained as a singer and she had all these albums, you know, all over the house and I would play all these different kinds of music. So I just have a love for lots of music from Elvis, Rock n’Roll to classical and opera and all sorts of things.

BERNADETTE:  And what inspired you to get into the music business?

Ruth:  I think it was because I wanted to write my own songs and write about my own things that I felt and emotions. Although I loved other songwriters and people like Bob Dylan and Billy Joel and everybody, I just thought I would actually like to write them myself – and so I did.

BERNADETTE:  And so you composed all your own songs?

Ruth:  These ones on this album, yes, they are all my own songs, words and music…

BERNADETTE:  And do you have a favourite song on this album?

Ruth:  I do have a favourite song, I think probably the title track song ‘As I Breathe’.

BERNADETTE:  We will have a listen to that then and we can talk about it in a minute.

Ruth:  That’s great thanks.

SONG / Ruth Nina Welsh – As I Breathe (Track 5 from ‘As I Breathe’)

BERNADETTE:  Ruth, what made you pick ‘As I Breathe’ as the title of your CD and the title of that song we have just heard?

Ruth:  I just think that it was one of my favourite songs at the time. I had written it quite recently as I was making the album and it just seemed the right one and I like the title of it and I just really like that song…

BERNADETTE:  And are any of your songs actually based on life experiences?

Ruth:  I think really they all are because they reflect emotions and feelings that, you know, I have actually experienced and I have put those into the words and then into the music.

BERNADETTE:  I see that Daniel O’Donnell did a review for you?

Ruth:  He did.

BERNADETTE:  And it was very good, and how did that come about?

Ruth:  Well when I was doing some promotion I sent the CD out to different people and to stations and to papers. And it was brilliant because I found out then that he had actually reviewed it in the Sunday World back in February, so I was really pleased.

BERNADETTE:  You trained classically on the piano and the cello…was it all different kinds of music you played, different styles of music?

Ruth:  I think this album has got a lot of different styles on it. But I mean at its heart it is just real songs and the accompaniment is either the guitar or the piano so it is acoustic based. They are just songs that I have written and they cross different styles. I mean there is a bit of blues on the album, there is some up-tempo and then there is the ballad type like the one that you have just heard.

BERNADETTE:  Where was this recorded?

Ruth:  It was recorded over in England, at a studio called Lime Tree Studios out near Norwich. It is a lovely studio in a barn that has been converted out in the countryside – it is really beautiful.

BERNADETTE:  And ‘As I Breathe’ was released on the Internet I believe?

Ruth:  It was, last summer. It is actually available to listen to on the internet as well at my website, which is… I will say that shall I? … www.rnwmusic.com. So, if people want to go and have a listen and they can see if they like it. There is lots of other information there as well about how I came to record the album, things like that, news and updates on the actual website. (Update on Website – https://ruthninawelsh.com)

BERNADETTE:  Do you have future plans?

Ruth:  I think the main goal would be to get some distribution so that it actually goes into the shops. Although it is in a few shops in Ireland it would be really great if it was all over the country. It is available from the website but that is not always possible for people to actually access it, so, I think to get some distribution is a real goal.

BERNADETTE:  And how long more are you here for?

Ruth:  I am going back home on July 7th. So I will be heading back to Dublin next week and then be going to England. But I will be back again soon.

BERNADETTE:  And have you enjoyed your stay here?

Ruth:  I have loved my stay – but I always do when I come to Ireland.

BERNADETTE:  Would you like to give that website again?

Ruth:  Oh thanks, it is www.rnwmusic.com... (Update on Website – https://ruthninawelsh.com)

BERNADETTE:  I hope that we will talk to you again and I wish you the best of luck with your music future.

Ruth:  That’s brilliant, thanks for that.

BERNADETTE:  Thank you very much.

SONG / Ruth Nina Welsh – Like I Do (Track 11 from ‘As I Breathe’).

BERNADETTE:  And that was ‘Like I do’ another track from Ruth Nina Welsh’s CD. And I would like to wish Ruth the best of luck with her future in the music industry.

28th June 2001.