Anne Marie in the spotlight in new Bean Feasa song and video
Talented Athlone singer Anne Marie Hynes is the latest person to feature in the Bean Feasa video songwriting series.
It's episode nine of the initiative which sees a performer from the all-female Bean Feasa singing group come up with a new song and video, in conjunction with facilitators Kara Richards and Bianca Fachel. Each video is broadcast on the Athlone Family Resource Centre YouTube channel.
Anne Marie, who many people will know from her work at Hummingbirds- Let's Make Music, which focuses on singing, music and movement classes for babies, toddlers, young children and families in Athlone, said her favourite part of the Bean Feasa project was definitely connecting with the other women in the group.
“Some I have worked with in the past on various projects or our mutual interests in music, Celtic traditions, our love for our environment, sacred sites and community. Meeting new women from different ethnicities and including our various native languages in our songs has been an enriching educational and social experience.
“My own song for the project is born from a desire for self acceptance and a reflection on some of the places where we have been indoctrinated to carry shame that absolutely does not belong to us and hinders our ability to fully love and accept ourselves,” she said of her piece entitled 'My Bones' which was recorded in the Birdland Studios in Knockcroghery, complete with harmonies and a catchy chorus 'I am my own sweet home'.
“I have experienced and witnessed the destructive qualities of shame. While I agree that some aspects of shame can be used healthily as a moral compass, it can also limit us and cause us to turn away from ourselves in self hatred and disgust, and this greatly affects ones mental health,” she explained.
“My hope in writing the song for this project is that it may serve us a tool for the listener, to enhance their awareness of the places we carry shame and assist in laying that burden down. I would love the chorus of this song to serve as a form of mantra or affirmation in coaxing us back into a loving relationship with who we are beneath all the hurtful thoughts and judgements we have placed upon ourselves”
The Bean Feasa project is funded by the Arts Council Artist in the Community Scheme, managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts.
You can watch the song here, and all episodes are on the Athlone Family Resource Centre YouTube channel: