MacD on Music: Cruisin’

For most musicians, gigging is an essential but inconsistent source of income. Between travelling, paying the crew, finding venues, etc., it can be a struggle just to get by. Sometimes, though, opportunities come along that offer the chance to play to a guaranteed crowd every night with your expenses covered and no need to drag a bunch of heavy equipment from place to place. What is this, you ask? The cruise ships circuit.

Recently, local artist and long-time cruise singer Rebecca Harkin got in touch to tell me about her experiences on the high seas, and to put a call out for any Irish artists that might want to try it for themselves.

“I performed around the town growing up, then went on to study music in Dublin. From there, I went on to doing tours. I supported my brother on tour in America, and I was in musicals around the Netherlands and the UK, then I started working on the cruise ships. I started that around eight years ago and I love it. I’ve been performing there for the last eight years as my main gig, travelling the world. I’ve been to nearly eighty countries.”

“I’ve went from being a crew member, which is where I originally started, and now I’m doing a headline slot, where I can fly out and do a week on, then a week off. When I’m there, I’m doing the main theatre. I have my own productions that I do on the cruise ships for different countries.”

I asked about the material for these shows. Is it mostly originals or covers? “You can do a bit of both, but most of the time, because it’s such an international audience and it’s all different ages, you kind of adapt your show to the demographic when you’re onboard. We have two different shows that are out at sea. We have my own Songstress, which is the biggest show featuring female artists, from Aretha Franklin to Carole King to Adele, that kind of stuff, then we have another show called Celtic Gra, which is a four piece. It’s myself, an Irish dancer, a fiddle player and my husband on the piano. It’s all Celtic, Irish and Scottish so it’s very different from the other one.”

I asked Rebecca how she got into the cruises: “I went on a cruise when I was about twenty-two years old. My brother Keith Harkin was in Celtic Thunder, and they had charted a whole cruise ship. I was brought out to do the piano bar that week and I absolutely loved the whole set-up. I loved the whole system, how it worked, and the travel side was unbelievable. You go to bed and wake up in a new country the next day. That gave me a taste for what it was like, and I knew it was something I definitely wanted to do again when I was a bit older. I was doing a lot of musical stuff at the time, and doing tours, so I decided to go back and try the ships again, and I’ve never looked back. I just love it, because, as a musician, it’s steady work, you’re travelling, you’re working with brand new audiences, thousands of people are hearing your music and seeing you perform every week from around the world.”

On the search for new artists: “Now that I’m doing a headliner slot, I’m performing my own shows, but I’ve got an agent I’m working with who also is looking for Irish acts, predominately more like Irish musicians that play, for example, a singer and a guitarist with a fiddle player, like a duo. It has to have a vocalist. We’re doing a call out for people who would be looking for an opportunity to go out and work on the cruises for about three months at a time.”

“One of the biggest things with musicians, they’re constantly looking for gigs, and it can become very diluted. This is an opportunity for them to travel, to get their accommodation paid for, their food is paid for, their flights, anything to do with onboard living is included. You’re working with other musicians from around the world, you’ve huge audiences every week and you’re getting paid to travel and perform. It’s the dream as a musician. I know it’s three months, but so are most tours on land. It’s just a different approach.”

And that’s it from Rebecca. For any musicians reading this and who think they might be interested, contact [email protected] for more information.

Now, onto other business. First up, we have the return of Not Really in Bennigan’s this Saturday (Halloween night). It’s the night “where your favourite bands play as their favourite bands” and this year’s line-up is sure to be another classic, with Queens of the Stone Age, Fall Out Boy, The Strokes, Weezer and Arctic Monkeys, played by [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED] and, the always brilliant [REDACTED]. Online tickets have already sold out but there will be an extremely limited number of tickets on the door for £20. It’s cash only and first come first serve, with doors at 8pm so make sure to get there early.

Next, in keeping with the Halloween spirit, we have Sister Ghost, with her new live album ‘The Undead Tapes!’ coming this Wednesday (28th October). Following on from her brilliant debut ‘Beyond the Water’, the album features tracks recorded in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, as well as one from The Silverlake Lounge on Los Angeles’s iconic Sunset Boulevard. It will be available on Bandcamp and all good streaming services.

Finally, time for the socials. Sister Ghost can be found on Instagram @sisterghostofficial and Rebecca Harkin @rebeccaharkinmusic.