Licko keeps Celtic culture alive through her music

(Editor’s note: Jennifer Licko will perform at Campbell University’s Homecoming and Family Weekend celebration on Oct. 22)

     Born in Eastern North Carolina, singer Jennifer Licko was drawn to Celtic culture as a child. Her Aunt Jo Moore-Kalat runs a school for Scottish dance and from an early age Licko performed in Highland dance competitions, feeling a distinct connection with her Celtic roots. But the idea to pursue a career in Celtic music didn’t really dawn on her until she became a music education major at East Carolina University.
     “A voice teacher of mine actually encouraged me to sing Celtic music, and I fell in love with it and moved to Scotland,” she joked.
     In reality, it wasn’t that simple. First Licko had to convince a reluctant Rotary scholarship board that Gaelic was an important language to study.
     “The Rotary scholarship I had applied for provided continuing education abroad and required the recipient to learn a language,” Licko explained. “Because Gaelic was a dying language, the board thought it didn’t meet the language requirement. I argued just the opposite.”
     Licko insisted that losing a language is the same as losing a culture therefore it becomes even more important to learn the Gaelic language in order to preserve it. The board finally agreed, and Licko eventually spent four summers in Scotland and two years in Ireland, studying Gaelic music and dance with singers such as Mairi MacInnes, Ishbel MacAskill and Roddy Campbell.
     She performed all over Ireland, the United Kingdom and Western Europe with award winning musicians Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, Jimmy Carton, Rickey Godfrey and Brendan Grace. She even moved to the rugged North West coast of Ireland to live the culture and learn more about the music. While performing at a music festival, however, Licko discovered where she really belonged.
     “I remember someone making a statement about how wonderful it is to feel you belong in a place, and I realized then that my place was in North Carolina,” she said. “It was time to come home.”
     Now Licko lives in Greenville and while she performs in other venues, her primary focus is encouraging the growth of arts in education by presenting programs that include stories, experiences, dances and Celtic and Gaelic songs at schools throughout North Carolina.
     “I like to show the students how Celtic music directly relates to American music,” she said. “They’re always amazed to learn that songs like ‘Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me’ and ‘Froggie Went a Courtin’ had their origins in Scotland.”
     A singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and premier Highland dancer, Licko has released four CDs. Some of her new mainstream singles hit the beach music charts in the Southeast, and she received a nomination for the 2004 Cammy Beach Music “Favorite New Artist of the Year” award. She also performs at concerts, festivals and pubs all over Europe, Canada and the United States.