{"id":14084,"date":"2022-08-03T19:31:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T18:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=14084"},"modified":"2022-08-03T19:31:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T18:31:52","slug":"musician-of-the-month-john-buckley-mcquaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2022\/08\/03\/musician-of-the-month-john-buckley-mcquaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Musician of the Month: John Buckley McQuaid"},"content":{"rendered":"

THIS IS WHERE I KEEP MY DREAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born and raised in Dublin, in a house with a piano and a garden. At the bottom of the garden, there were two beautiful chestnut trees, one taller than the other. It was here that I went when I needed to be alone. I always observed the same ritual. I would first climb the smaller of the trees and then the taller. The taller was enormously high. I didn’t dare climb the whole way to the top because the branches didn’t look strong enough to bear my weight.<\/p>\n

One day, my curiosity got the better of me and I gathered my courage and climbed to where I’d never climbed before. Sneakers green with chestnut bark and young heart thudding in my elated chest, I clung to the thin, uppermost branches and looked out over the world. A neighbour’s dog danced along the top of the wall between our gardens. I could see the church where I attended Sunday Mass, the school where I lived in daily fear of not being good enough and the shop where I bought acid drops, broken biscuits and, as a teenager, illegal Black Russian cigarettes.<\/p>\n

Years later, my father complained about the millions of leaves that the trees shed every autumn, which took him days and days to clear away.<\/p>\n

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Trudy Hayes reviews John Buckley McQuaid\u2019s powerful album of original songs about Ireland 'This is Where I Keep My Dreams', which was ignored by corporate Irish media.https:\/\/t.co\/fBaW4jEJJv<\/a>@broadsheet_ie<\/a> @BowesChay<\/a> @KevinHIpoet1967<\/a> @connolly16frank<\/a> @PD03662439<\/a> @paddycosgrave<\/a><\/p>\n

— CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) September 5, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n