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ST. MARY'S, BALLSTON SPA

Musician connects with Catholic students

Four decades have passed since Celtic musician Kevin McKrell was dismissed from a Catholic school choir in the Albany Diocese for having "a voice that didn't blend in well" with the others.

"I'd been singing at the top of my lungs in the shower earlier that day and thought I was this choralist extraordinaire when my mother broke the news. I vowed I'd never sing again," recalled Mr. McKrell, whose musical talents have since brought audiences to their feet on both sides of the Atlantic.

The musician has also reconnected with his Catholic upbringing through an unlikely source: the youth choir at St. Mary's School in Ballston Spa. An enduring bond was forged between Mr. McKrell and the students when they played a special part in his band's 2001 Christmas concert at The Egg in Albany.

A native of Albany, Mr. McKrell was being cheered on by his "good Irish-Catholic family" long before a Carnegie Hall performance launched his band, the McKrells, into the national spotlight.

Prior to that, Mr. McKrell worked in construction, as a bartender and in a comic book store to supplement his income. But, as one of his songs proclaims, "all of the hard days are gone." 

A number of Mr. McKrell's original songs, including "Donegal," "I Miss the Rain" and "It's Not Me," have been picked up by international recording artists. Yet even with a packed schedule, it usually takes only a call to get him onstage to help a worthy cause. 

"I find it very hard to say no," he remarked. "A part of being blessed with any talent, be it singing or whatever, is using it to help others when you can." 

St. Mary's youth choir director Kathleen Winters said an impromptu chat with Mr. McKrell nine years ago led to the start of an annual holiday tradition involving her students. 

"I was a long-time fan and liked to get out to see his shows when I could. We just happened to start talking while Kevin was on a break one evening, when I made some offhand remark about needing to get up early to teach the kids," remembered Ms. Winters, who has taught music at St. Mary's for 24 years. 

"Kids!" he exclaimed. "You've got kids?"

"Kevin said something about loving the innocence of the sound of children's voices - and the next thing I knew, we were putting our heads together to include my students onstage with the McKrells at The Egg," Ms. Winters continued. 

During the show, Mr. McKrell read to the children from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens - keeping alive a holiday tradition from his own childhood. His late father, attorney James McKrell, read the story to his nine children each Christmas Eve.

"My Dad's family was from Dundalk, near Dublin, Ireland, and he was extremely proud of his Irish roots. He loved to tell us stories," Mr. McKrell recalled. 

What was to have been a one-time event with the St. Mary's choir has continued each holiday season since, although the original McKrells have disbanded and the concerts have moved to the Spa Little Theater in Saratoga Springs. 

Mr. McKrell has put on many shows over the years to help raise funds for St. Mary's School, most notably the Old Iron Spring Festival in Ballston Spa; he's also given the students gifts like t-shirts that read, "McKrell's Angels."

In addition, the musician pitches in with charitable efforts for senior citizens, for preschoolers at Kids' Creekside Village in Ballston Spa, for a global organization that works against white slavery, and for the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Irish eyes have also been smiling for several years because they were sketched, painted or sculpted that way by Mr. McKrell. As an artist, the subjects to which he is drawn are ordinary people who cross his path during tours he leads to Ireland: musicians, for instance, or pub patrons hoisting pints of Guinness. 

"As I'm not always able to come and perform live music to assist a worthy cause, I can now sometimes donate a work of art that can be raffled off instead," Mr. McKrell explained. "I consider myself fortunate to have an opportunity to do what I can when I can to help others."

(View samples of Kevin McKrell's art and hear his music at www.mckrells.com.)

(07/02/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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