Bard Terry records his songs for posterity

BY BRIAN MOORE

AFTER 50 years of writing songs and performing for friends and family, Terry Tuit, aka ‘Bard na Mara,’ has recorded his music for the first time on his album, ‘Busking Dunmanus’.

Terry and his family arrived on the Mizen and set up their new home overlooking Dunmanus Bay over 40 years ago, where he fished, wrote music and reared his family.

‘My wife said, “If you don’t record your songs, they’ll be lost forever,” so that’s the real reason for the album,’ Terry told The Southern Star. 

The album, which Terry recorded and produced with the help of Wayne Sheehy at Ocean Studios on the Sheeps Head is a collection of songs that Terry describes as mindful.

‘I suppose you could say they are songs to make you think,’ Terry said. ‘They are experiences and stories of life gathered down through the years.’

Songs with titles such as ‘Busking’  recalls Terry’s experiences playing his music back in the ’70s, or ‘Danny’s Song,’ written in memory of a young fisherman and friend who drowned in Dunmanus Bay in 1979, or ‘Your Heart is Kind,’ which Terry said was inspired by the generosity of the people of Ireland.

‘The first song on the ‘Busking Dunmanus’ is ‘I’d like to thank you’ and it is dedicated to all the people who have helped me reach this point on my journey, as it says on the CD sleeve ‘This song is for you’.

‘I would also like to dedicate the album to my wife and my family’

The album comprises 16 thought-provoking songs, which Terry has selected from the countless numbers he has written down through the years.

 The album is now available from various outlets across West Cork or it can be downloaded from iTunes, Apple Music or from Terry’s website www.bardnamara.org.