Andrea Davidson wins Tipperary Song of Peace Award

If you're a lover of all things British, you're an Anglophile.  But if you're a lover of all things Irish... you're what? I'm a sucker for all things Irish and have been since I was a wee child.  I grew up listening to Ma tell me Irish fairy tales and stories of the Irish rebels.  I loved it all so much that my undergraduate concentration was in modern Irish Lit (my thesis: fish & fishermen in the poetry and prose of William Butler Yeats) (I earned an A+, btw).

I don't normally like to cut and paste a whole press release, but this is something really special.  Andrea Davidson rocked my world when she opened up for Charlie Mars last summer. So lovely and talented. And now she's won a beautiful award.  Tipperary = a small city in Ireland.  And here is the press release:

Kentucky singer/songwriter Andrea Davidson was the clear winner of the Tipperary Song of Peace Final in Tipperary, Ireland on Saturday June 4th. Scoring a perfect 10 from each of the four judges, Andrea beat off strong international competition to take the top prize of €1,500 plus Tipperary Crystal Trophy. The Final was one of a number of peace related events that took place in Tipperary and was organised by Tipperary Peace Convention.
In the days prior to the Song Contest, the Tipperary International Peace Award was presented to Afghan Human Rights Activist, Dr. Sima Samar. The Song Contest Final was held in the Tipperary Excel and along with Andrea Davidson from Kentucky. U.S.A. it also featured finalists from Germany, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. 

The song that Andrea performed in the Final was titled "Natchez Trace" and is one of a vast collection of original compositions from this talented singer/songwriter. The song was perfomed by Andrea and featured Scott Moore on fiddle.
Professionally Andrea has played well over 1,000 shows ranging from clubs to festivals and theatres. She has toured extensively and recently completed a musical residency in Santa Monica, California. 

Andrea was a very popular winner with the Tipperary audience and received a huge ovation when the result was announced and returned to the stage to perform a reprise of the winning song. She also performed the winning song at an Ecumenical Service in St. Mary's Church, Tipperary on Sunday June 5th 

During her stay in Tipperary, Andrea also performed for the puipls of Shronell National School as well as 'gigging' with the other contestants in Tony Lowry's Pub. The Best Irish Entry in the Song of Peace Contest was composed by Co. Down songwriter Ken Warke. Titled "Love is Everything", the song was performed in the final by well known Tipperary singer, Margi Maxwell and they received the Mick Tuohy Memorial Cup for being the winners of this category.