Shady Grove

In high school, I was in the choir and couldn't get enough of hearing choral music and opera. At the time, my favorite opera was La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. I remember being so excited to see a Verdi opera at the Opera House in Portland Maine, as extracurricular field trip. It turns out that opera ended up getting cancelled due to a storm and they in turn gave us tickets to attend another concert. We ended up going to see the Chieftains. This was one of many influential musical experiences that broadened my musical tastes. Here are the Chieftains playing the folksong "Shady Grove." "Shady Grove" is one of my favorite songs to sing as a lullaby to my children. Notice the vast difference in tempo and feel when sung as a lullaby versus the upbeat Chieftain's version.