Hermione Hennessy
The culmination of two lives and two life’s ambitions, this heartfelt collection of songs celebrates Hermione Hennessy’s relationship with her late father, the multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter, Christie Hennessy.
Ireland instantly took the album to their hearts and Songs My Father Taught Me spent five weeks at the top of the album charts.
Though Christie died in 2007, his spirit haunts Songs My Father Taught Me, not least because while Hermione was working to make her father a star, he wanted the same success for her.
'I spent all my early years singing duets with Dad,' Hermione recalls, 'or singing along to his playing while wishing and wanting him to be a star.'
Music was in her blood, it was also all around her as a child, and she remembers her schooldays 'wandering around the playground believing that I was going to be a famous singer.'
But for years Hermione’s love of singing took a back seat to her role managing an impressive roll call of artists, including her famous father.
It wasn’t until after his death that she was offered the chance to shine as a talent in her own right. 'I was quite floored but rather excited,' Hermione remembers. 'I saw it as a way to bond with my brother Tim and to help him through the pain of Dad's passing.
'We get through these things and sometimes they lead to bigger and better things and that's what happened here.'
Songs My Father Taught Me is a family affair in more ways than one. Brother Tim produces, and is her Musical Director, playing piano, guitar, and singing backing vocals, and sister Amber plays violin.
The album belies its lengthy gestation with an affecting lightness of touch. It's a grown-up record that evokes the magic of being a child, and proceeds with a simple sophistication.
From the melodic surge of He Never Fades through choice covers of artists including Crowded House and Aimee Mann, to the delicately wrenching swell of Christie Hennessy's Oh Jealous Heart, Hermione's own Hello Again, and the devastatingly elegant duet with her father, On Soho Square, Songs My Father Taught Me is deft, assured and always moving.
Dad you feel sure, would be proud: not simply the culmination of two people's ambitions, Songs My Father Taught Me - excitingly - marks the birth of a new star.
Songs My Father Taught Me - Tracklisting:
1) He Never Fades (Duet with Tim Ross)
2) When Love Was Young
3) Fall At Your Feet
4) Wise Up
5) Oh Jealous Heart
6) Echoes Of Love
7) The Edge of The Moon
8) Way Over Yonder
9) Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace
10) Don’t Even Think About It
11) Hello Again
12) You’ll Never Walk Alone
13) Soho Square (Duet with Christie Hennessy)