Oriel has composed a multitude of songs over the years and can be broadly labelled a folk singer. No-one knew she sang until her wedding day when some wedding guests and 2 glasses of champagne encouraged her to take the stage. Child rearing commitments delayed a professional singing career until about 1996. She’s of Cornish ancestry and in 2002 won a songwriter's award to travel to Cornwall and perform at a Cornish homecoming Festival (the Dehwelan Festival). This opportunity arose when a film maker approached her with a proposal to make a film about her journey as a Cornish descendant. The film never eventuated due to lack of funds, but she got to go to the festival. Around 2005 she also did a 6 week solo tour of Ireland– something that came from contacts made at the National Celtic Festival in Port Arlington.
Debut folk release
Warrnambool Standard 28th Sept. 2000 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2000 All rights reserved
PORT Fairy folk singer Oriel Glennen will air original tracks off her debut release at a series of upcoming local gigs. A launch and release of Glennen’s debut CD, Two Pink Turtles, is planned for next month, but local audiences can hear an advance live performance of Glennen’s original songs and music this weekend. Glennen will be joined by guitarist Mick Ahearn for a Friday night show at Koroit’s Commerical Hotel and the Stump in Port Fairy on Saturday. The CD launch will be on October 14 at the Port Fairy theatre. As well as original music, Glennen and Ahearn will perform obscure covers and traditional folk tunes. Glennen said she enjoyed performing with Ahearn, an experienced and professional musician. “It’s generally a very relaxing show. It’s a lot of fun for the audience and the performers,” Glennen said. Ahearn was one example of a number of fine musicians from western Victoria, she said. Two Pink Turtles makes use of the pool of talented musicians which Glennen said existed in the local area. Glennen said she had been grateful for the support she had received from local musicians, a number of whom lend backing on her debut CD. Two Pink Turtles features performances by Shane, Marcia and Damien Howard, Graham and Barry Galbraith, Andy Alberts, Richard Tankard, Tommy Carty, Brendan Dowd, Steve Platter and Bruce Hoey. “It was great that they were here and I didn’t have to go far away to get a bass player, a drummer, whatever. They are all here,” Glennen said. Nine of the album’s 10 tracks are originals, written and performed by the singer-songwriter and guitarist. The only non-original is traditional folk song Seananduir, which Glennen’s grandfather played to her as a child. “He used to play piano accordian, he used to play that song when I was a kid,” Glennen recalls. Glennen’s original tracks are written from personal experience. They tell the stories of family and friends, south-west Victoria, and growing up in the region. “A lot of it is about this area, the area I grew up in.”
CD is a journey through region
Warrnambool Standard 12th Oct. 2000 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2000 All rights reserved
Oriel Glennen’s voice is something else. And her debut CD Two Pink Turtles displays in all its splendor. From the hauntingly beautiful opening track Deen Maar to my personal favorite, Sunset, with a distinct folk funk feel, each of the 10 tracks tell a story and takes the listener on a journey through south-west Victoria and Glennen’s life experiences. An example is These Walls, commissioned by the Corangamite Arts Council, Oriel wrote and performed the song at the opening of the heritage stone wall trail. These Walls tells the history of the construction the stone walls throughout the Stoney Rises, Kolora and other areas in the Western District, and asks ‘If these walls could talk....’. The title of the CD comes from a unique experience of Oriel’s husband, Peter, who spotted two pink turtles on a fishing trip. "That was the only highlight of 20 years of fishing. They were leatherback turtles, I think they must change their shell every now and again and get flesh colored," Peter says. "Seeing something like that was a once in a lifetime thing, doing this is sort of like a once in lifetime thing," Oriel says of producing her solo CD. While the CD is a solo effort it was produced with the generous assistance of a number of local musicians and artists, all of whom will join her for a performance to launch the CD on Saturday. Broderick Smith and Mick Ahearn will support Oriel Glennen at the launch at Port Fairy’s Lecture Hall, next to Fiddler’s Green, at 2pm. Tickets for the launch are available from Capricorn Records.
Climbing the family tree
Warrnambool Standard 28th Mar 2002 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2002 All rights reserved
Finishing in second place in a world-wide songwriting award may well be the first step in a remarkable journey for south-west singer-songwriter Oriel Glennen. The award is part of the Dehwelans Festival in Cornwall, which will be held May 3-6. Dehwelans is the Cornish word for “homecoming” and the festival is all about bringing Cornish people and Cornish de-scendants back to their homeland from wherever they may be in the world. Glennen, whose grandfather came to Australia from Cornwall at age 15, entered a song for the award after being approached by Melbourne documentary maker Debra Annear, who is also of Cornish descent. Annear is interested in making a film about a descendant returning to Cornwall the festival. “She’s busting to get there as much as I am,” Glennen said of Annear. was never really confident,” she said about finishing second in the worldwide competition. “It’s a bit like ‘pinch me’. It’s something I’ve dreamt about for a long time but I never envisioned being able to get there.” The only thing standing between Glennen and Annear’s dream of travelling to homeland of their ancestors is fund-ing. “If the funding comes through for the documentary — and it’s a big ‘if’ — then she’ll film my journey from Australia to Cornwall and back. If it doesn’t come through, then I’ve got no idea how I’ll get there.” Glennen has been invited to perform at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth, an area near where her ancestors came from. “I’d love to go. I would really love to get there.” Her place-getting song, Land Of My Kin, was written earlier this year and even contains a verse in Cornish — a dying language which she has recently signed on to learn by correspondence. “Musically (going to Cornwall) will open a lot of doorways,” Glennen said. “I hope to make a lot of musical contacts. My grandfather was a great singer so I hope to find out what makes me tick. “This is one of those things that feels right. It feels like the next step in what-ever journey it is I’m on. “All roads are leading to Cornwall.”
Oriel retraces her roots
by Matt Neal. Warrnambool Standard 22nd June 2002 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2002 All rights reserved
Port Fairy singer/songwriter Oriel Glennen has returned to the south-west after an amazing journey to her ancestral home of Cornwall.Glennen travelled to the English county to accept a second prize in an international songwriting contest for her tune Land of my kin, which was presented at the Dehwelans, or "homecoming" Festival. The four day festival drew Cornish descendants from all over the world, and Glennen found herself to be something of a minor celebrity there, being interviewed by newspapers and playing live on BBC radio.Performing her winning song at the event's farewell was a highlight for the talented singer."It was amazing", she said. "It was wonderful to perform songs I'd written about going back to the place where my people came from, standing on the ground where they came from. That was a real tear-jerker. I felt like I belonged." Her two and a half weeks in Cornwall featured 10 days of gigs around the country, which she organised through a sound engineer she met at the Dehwelans Festival. One of the gigs was a performance at the "absolutely amazing" Minack Theatre - an open air amphitheatre carved into a cliff face. The many sights and experiences have had a lasting impact on the musician. "I'd love to go back", Glennen said. "I had a good response to my music. I'm hoping to be invited back to perform there. In three weeks (there) I achieved a lot of really good things". She said the trip was enjoyable, despite having to make the journey by herself after documentary maker Debra Annear, who planned to film Glennen's experiences, was unable to get the necessary funding to go. "I'd never flown, I'd never left the country before, I'd never gone anywhere by myself", she laughed. "It was a reaffirming experience. I feel the road my music is on is the right road for me. I've come back very comfortable with what I'm doing and where I'm taking it. It's taken a little while to come back down to earth".
Songwriter flies off to tour Emerald Isle
By MATT NEAL
Warrnambool Standard 23rd June 2005 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2005 All rights reserved
A CHANCE meeting at a Port Fairy pub has led to a six-week tour of Ireland for south-west singer-songwriter Oriel Glennen. The Port Fairy musician left yesterday for the trek around the Emerald Isle, which will feature gigs in Dublin, Galway, the acclaimed Spirit Store in Dundalk and a couple of major festivals around the country. Glennen said the tour came about when her partner, Peter, met a couple of Irish tourists at the Star Of The West in Port Fairy. "It was the typical story of `My mate knows a guy who owns a venue'," she laughed. Names and addresses were exchanged and Glennen sent a copy of her album Two Pink Turtles, recorded at Peter Bird's Yelp Studios in Warrnambool about five years ago, to the owner of the Spirit Store. The owner replied to Glennen's letter by booking her for a gig, describing the singer's voice as captivating and sending through a list of other venues she should try in order to arrange a full tour. "It doesn't feel real yet," Glennen said. "I'll be really excited when I get on the plane." The Port Fairy musician said she had been in touch with Irish singer Sean Keane, who toured Warrnambool in March, and teed up his backing band for the tour. "I'm looking forward to meeting and jamming with other musicians because in Ireland on a social level I've heard that's the culture," Glennen said. After the six-week tour Glennen hopes to record another album in the south-west. The songwriter played in her ancestral home of Cornwall almost three years ago after finishing second in a songwriting competition there.
Oriel Glennen is a musician, composer, jeweller and visual artist based in Port Fairy.
Over the last 13 years, she has performed at various venues and festivals; both in Australia and overseas.
Port Fairy 2016 festival bio :
"Born and raised in South West Victoria and powerfully influenced by the region’s rich Anglo-Celtic traditions, Oriel’s songs give voice to stories of that landscape and her family’s long relationship with the sea. An accomplished visual artist and fine jeweller, her songs reflect her insightful observations and keen eye for detail. Her contralto voice, hauntingly rare and beautiful, like her powerful and poetic songs, reaches down into the depths. She has the voice and songwriting ability of someone who has worked to balance being both artist and Mother. From lived experience, she understands the bittersweet mysteries of life and speaks with gentle authority. Her new album, Dead Reckoning, recorded by Pete Bird and Shane Howard, is due for release in early 2016. Dark and mysterious, it holds within the words, the golden treasures of the human heart."
www.orielglennen.weebly.com
‘An extremely talented , under publicised and utterly captivating singer’
Sheena Keane, Roundstone Festival, Ireland."
Her live performances have included
2016 - PFFF
2014 'Acoustic sessions' Clifton Hill Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
2011 Port Arlington, Celtic Festival.
2010 Women in Song, Winter Weekends, Port Fairy, VIC
2008 Port Fairy Folk Festival, VIC
2008 National Celtic Festival, Port Arlington, VIC
In October 2000 3WAY-FM presenter Brendan Dowd was joined by Oriel Glennen, Tommy Carty and Andy Alberts who helped to promote Oriel's new CD Two Pink Turtles during 3WAY-FM's 10th anniversary celebrations as they broadcasted from Gateway Plaza.
In June 2014 she performed at a day of song for refugees at the Mozart Hall.
Her album "Two Pink Turtles" was produced by Shane Howard in 2000 and included the song MY BACK VERANDAH
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