Anthem for ConIFA (football) tournament
I’m always game to try new things (no pun intended!) and so was intrigued when I was approached to write an anthem for the 2015 ConIFA Euros tournament, which takes place in Budapest this June. Not being a football buff, I wasn’t initially aware of ConIFA, but I soon found out that it stands for Confederation of Independent Football Associations. The organisation represents nations, dependencies and stateless peoples all around the world who are exempt from FIFA but are full of love for their homelands. ‘Well!’ I thought, ‘now that I CAN identify with!’
Myself and Scottish bouzouki player and guitarist Malcolm Stitt collaborated to write and record the song, which features both English and Manx Gaelic lyrics and has a bit of a trad-pop vibe, with vocals from me (definitely contributing to the trad feel, as opposed to pop!), fiddle, bazouki, tenor and acoustic guitars, piano, double bass and drumkit. It’s called ‘Niart as Arrym’, which means ‘strength and honour’ in Manx Gaelic, and it will be the official song for the Ellan Vannin team. We’ll be shooting a video for the song at the start of May, so keep your eyes peeled on YouTube and on iTunes for the download – I’ll post the links for them when they’re up. In the meantime, here are a handful of photos from the recording session at Ballagroove studios, courtesy of Gary Weightman from Vannin Photos.
