Since St. Patrick’s Day is approaching, I thought I’d listen to some Irish and Celtic music while at work today. A good starting point for such a mood is always The Chieftains, so I looked up one of my favorite albums of theirs, Fire in the Kitchen. This isn’t exactly considered an “official” Chieftains album, as its selections were all recorded on the spur-of-the-moment as they toured in Canada and appeared with a number of that country’s notable Celtic acts, but it is quite a wonderful album anyway. One of my favorite tracks is this haunting rendition of “My Bonny Lies O’er the Ocean”, sung hauntingly by a woman named Laura Smith.
It suddenly occurred to me that I know nothing at all about Laura Smith, so I looked her up.
She died the day before yesterday.
Sigh.
That rather sucks. Even in Canada, she needed a Go Fund Me campaign. How utterly absurd.