Dreams! by "The Corrs"!!!

The Corrs, The Pride of Ireland - family biography


Introduction

The Corrs are an Irish quartet made up of four siblings, three sisters and one brother: Andrea Corr (17th May 1974), Caroline Corr (17th March 1973), Sharon Corr (24th March 1970) and Jim Corr (31st July 1964). Andrea, Caroline, Sharon and Jim formed the band ten years ago, in 1990. The originality of their music comes from the unique blend of traditional Irish music and modern pop-rock. "I really do hope that we can create our own niche," says Jim Corr, "but when I'm asked to describe our music, I always say that it's modern with an Irish influence, because the Celtic vein does run through everything we do. We're a traditional Irish pop-rock band, whatever that is."

And Caroline continues : "It's a blend of modern rhythms and technology with acoustic instruments - with violin, tin whistle, drums - and, of course, the voices. The marrying of all these elements makes our sound."

Jim plays keyboards and guitars, Sharon plays the violin, Caroline plays the drums and bodhran (a hand held Irish drum) and Andrea plays the tin whistle and is the lead singer. Jim, Sharon and Caroline all sing backing vocals and each song (that includes the music and the lyrics) is written by the group as a whole.

The Early Days

The four siblings grew up in Dundalk (Co. Louth), which is 50 miles north of Dublin, near the border with Northern Ireland. The Corrs were always a very ... musical family. Their parents were musicians and so their children grew up surrounded by music of all kinds. "Our parents were musicians, so we grew up with a lot of music in the house. I suppose it was always our intention to become a band. I don't think there was ever anything else we really wanted to do."Says Andrea.

Even before he was able to walk, Jim was introduced to the piano. His father taught him to play the piano. But the family was getting bigger. Jean and Gerry Corr were blessed with another child, this time a daughter, Sharon. Soon after, Caroline and Andrea came along and so, by 1974 the family had six members. One by one, each of the girls took their brother's example and their initiation in music was through the piano.As they were growing up, each Corr developed a particular attraction towards an instrument. Jim decided to continue playing the guitars and keyboards while Sharon was taking violin lessons. Caroline started playing drums a bit later on, when she was 17-18 using some instructions from a boyfriend of hers at that time. Andrea seems to have been interested in an instrument more suitable to her personality, the tin whistle - a very tiny instrument with a heavenly sound and very easy to lose :))). The band started rehearsing every day, sometimes even until dawn. Jim would come up with the music and the girls would come up with the lyrics. And so the band was on its way.

John Hughes And "The Commitments'


Shortly after the band was formed, John Hughes, a musical advisor from Dublin discovered them during the auditions for Alan Parker's movie "The Commitments. Out of the four siblings only Andrea got a more substantial part playing the part of Jimmy Rabbitte" s young sister while Jim, Sharon and Caroline got "blink and you'll miss it" roles. John Hughes agreed to manage them and soon a huge opportunity popped up. The US ambassador for Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, heard them play in a small club in Dublin and she invited them to play at the closing ceremony of the World Cup in Boston. The band's popularity was rising but strangely, they were still unsigned.

 More about The Corrs at http://www.emerald-corrner.com/the-corrs-biography.html