LETTERKENNY musician Sarah Ponsonby says collaborating with her dad Ted on a new album was the “fulfilment of a lifelong dream”.
Ted and Sarah teamed up during lockdown to record ‘Brakin’ Trad’, a collection of mainly self-penned songs.
The father and daughter duo have played together on countless occasions over the years but the past nine months provided them with the time and opportunity to do something they’ve both always wanted to do.
“With my studies and dad always gigging, we never had the time,” said Sarah.
“But when the first lockdown came, it was the perfect opportunity to fulfil what has been a lifelong dream. The pandemic suddenly cleared both our calendars and we just decided to start writing music. We have a little studio at the back of the house where dad would have worked with various artists and between us we made the decision to start recording an album.”
An acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, Ted Ponsonby has worked with a host of musical legends down through the decades. His talents extend beyond the stage though to producing and engineering. Sarah meanwhile is a student at Queen’s University.
They started working together in May and by August they had the 11-track ‘Brakin’ Trad’ album finished. From their garden studio it was sent to Billy Robinson for mastering before being released to the general public earlier this month.
While three of the songs were written together, the majority of them are Sarah’s work.
As Ted modestly puts it, “It’s more Sarah’s album than mine.”
Clearly though ‘Brakin’ Trad’ transcends being just a musical collaboration.
“It’s always something we toyed with but it was a pipe dream because when were we ever going to get the time to do it,” Sarah said.
“But it has kept us sane and it’s great to come out of lockdown with something to be proud of. We learned a lot too and I think we understand each other now as musicians rather than just father and daughter.”
Brakin’ Trad is available now on all streaming sites while hard copies can be picked up by emailing sarahp97@hotmail.com.
“We’ve had a lovely response to it so far and people have been so supportive,” Sarah added.
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