[ Usenet FAQs | Search | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ]

FAQ [alt.music.enya] Frequently Asked Questions

From: Kevin Martin <enyafaq@brasscannon.org> Newsgroups: alt.music.enya Subject: FAQ [alt.music.enya] Frequently Asked Questions (Monthly Posting) Sender: kevin@nyc1.brasscannon.net Message-ID: <be3n5e$sdb$1@nyc1.brasscannon.net> Reply-To: enyafaq@brasscannon.org Summary: Frequently asked questions, and their answers, about the Irish musician Enya. It should be read by anyone considering posting questions to alt.music.enya. Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 11:07:26 +0000 (UTC) Archive-name: music/enya-faq Posting-frequency: monthly (first Friday) Last-modified: 2003/07/04 Version: 106 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Enya - Frequently Asked Questions Issue 106 4 July 2003 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ META INFO ============================================================== Current maintainer: Kevin Martin <enyafaq@brasscannon.org> PLEASE NOTE! ******************************************************************** The answers in this FAQ were all contributed by third parties; I have no special connection to Eithne Brennan, the Ryans, enya.com, Warner/Reprise, or anyone else directly associated with "Enya". To those of you who have contributed: My thanks. I cannot forward mail or email to Ms. Brennan, nor do I have any mailing addresses for her (other than the ones listed below). ******************************************************************** As of Issue 100 the FAQ has been completely rewritten, mostly to remove redundant material. The "old" FAQ will remain avaiable online at http://brasscannon.org/Enya/enyafaq99.txt indefinitely. If you find any broken URLs, please let me know. The most recently posted issue of this FAQ can also be obtained in the following formats: Plaintext: http://brasscannon.org/Enya/enyafaq.txt ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/music/ HTTP: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/enya-faq/ Email Send a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with a blank subject line and "send usenet-by-group/news.answers/music/enya-faq" (without the quotes) as the only text in the body of the message. QUESTIONS ============================================================== * = updated 1. Enya ------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 Enya is Eithne Brennan... 1.2 ... plus Roma and Nicky Ryan 1.3 Clannad and afterward 1.4 Enya's big break 2. Enya's Work ------------------------------------------------------ 2.1 Enya's discography 2.2 Sheet music and books 2.3 Some of her songs aren't in English. What other languages...? 2.4 Where can I get translations? 2.5 Was that Enya I heard --? 2.6 ... or was it someone else? 3. Enya's Friends ------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 Apart from Clannad has she appeared on any other artists' records? 3.2 Who is Ridley Scott and why is/was Aldebaran dedicated to him? 3.3 Who are Rob Dickins and Ross mentioned in Orinoco_Flow? 3.4 What do the Irish dedications mean? 3.5 Who are Miss Clare and Miss Quinn? 3.6 Any news of Clannad and the rest of the family? 4. Outside the Studio ------------------------------------------------------ 4.1 Does she tour? (Maybe soon) 4.2 How many records has she sold? 4.3 Have any articles or interviews been transcribed? 4.4 Are any Enya posters available? 4.5 Are there any fan clubs? 4.6 What other artists make music similar to Enya's? 5. Enya and the Net ------------------------------------------------------ 5.1 What's her address? Is she on the Net? 5.2 Are fonts of the "Enya" typefaces available? 5.3 Are there any Enya sound files available? 5.4 I heard something terrible happened to Enya! 5.5 Other "Enyas" 5.6 Which Usenet newsgroups discuss Enya? 5.7 Is there a mailing list? 5.8 Where is all this information archived? 5.9 Why not post my binary stuff right here? ANSWERS ================================================================ 1. Enya 1.1 Enya is Eithne Brennan... To spell Irish names properly requires diacritical or "accent" marks which do not always display properly in a Usenet posting. I am going to include them in this section for the sake of correctness, but will try to do without them in the rest of the FAQ. "Enya" is a phonetic spelling of the Irish name Eithne, a name that comes from ancient legend. [Appendix 1] Eithne's maternal grandparents' last name was Ó Dugáin (Duggan) and, of course, this is also the last name of their children Pádraig, Noel and Máire (Eithne's mother, also known as Baba). When Baba married Leo Ó Braonáin (Leo Brennan), her last name became Uí Bhraonáin and their children's last names were, in consequence, also Ó Braonáin for the boys, or Ní Bhraonáin for the girls. The Brennans played in a dance band before settling down. Her father Leo ran a local pub, Leo's Tavern in Min na Leice (Meenalech), and her mother Baba taught music in the local school. They settled in the small village of Dobhar (Dore, in English) in the Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore) region of County Donegal in the northwest of the Republic of Ireland. Eithne was born on May 17th 1961, one of nine children: Máire, Ciarán, Pól, Deirdre, Leon, Eithne, Bartley, Olive, and Bridin. We don't know what time of day she was born; the question has been asked, but her mother doesn't recall or won't say. (Yes, her grandmother, mother, and oldest sister are all named Máire.) Eithne now lives in Killiney, a coastal district on the southern outskirts of Dublin, and in London. 1.2 ... plus Roma and Nicky Ryan "Enya" is also a trademark, held jointly by Eithne and her long-time partners, Nicky and Roma Ryan. Although fronted by Eithne ("Enya") herself, the music released under her name is the result of a collaboration between Enya (music/arrangements), Nicky Ryan (production/arrangements) and Roma Ryan (lyrics). Enya has said in several interviews that without any one of them 'Enya' could not exist. To understand who the Ryans are and how they came to be part of Enya, it helps to know a bit more about her connection to the group Clannad. 1.3 Clannad and afterward Pádraig Ó Dugáin (Patrick Duggan) and Noel Ó Dugáin (Noel Duggan) are Eithne's uncles. Ciarán Ó Braonáin (Ciaran Brennan) and Pól Ó Braonáin (Paul Brennan) are her brothers. In 1968 they formed the band An Clann As Dobhair* and began to perform traditional Irish music at festivals. *Pronounced "an Clannador" (approximately); "The Family from Dore" Changing their name to Clannad, and recruiting sister Maire in 1973, the band went on to international success performing both traditional and original material. After leaving school Eithne joined Clannad in 1980 and, credited under her real name, provided keyboards and (mostly) backing vocals. She appears without a credit on their 1980 album _Crann_Ull_, and, properly credited, on _Fuaim_ (1982). (Mike Hoffman reports that Enya's first TV appearance was on "Sunday, Sunday with Gloria Hunniford" in 1980.) For a while Clannad was on the Tara Music label, and the web site at http://www.taramusic.com/clannad.htm has pictures of Eithne as a member of Clannad. Two other songs taped during this period were not released until 1996, when they appeared on a compilation album called _Celtic Folk Festival_ according to a report in the newsgroup. In 1982 Clannad split with their long time manager and producer Nicky Ryan. Nicky had some theories about acoustics, and found in Eithne the perfect artist to explore them. Eithne in turn found the painstaking production process that Nicky required was a perfect match for her temperament and skills. Eithne left Clannad and moved to Dublin to live with Nicky and his wife Roma. In 1983 Eithne recorded the instrumental pieces "An Ghaoth On Ghrian (The Solar Wind)" and "Miss Clare Remembers" which were released the following year on a compilation album titled _Touch_Travel_. Fachtna O'Kelly, who had been Clannad's manager, was acquainted with the partners at the label and brought Eithne's music to their attention. Film producer David Puttnam heard some demonstration tapes sent to him by Roma Ryan. He commissioned Eithne to write music for his film _The_Frog_Prince_, a romantic comedy set in France, which was released in 1985. ("A young British girl journeys to Paris to go to college, and is determined to find the man of her dreams and fall madly in love. However, things don't work out quite the way she planned." The title is a play on words.) In the end only a few of her pieces were used and these were arranged and performed by others. The film was released as _The_French_ Lesson_ in the US. (On the soundtrack album, re-released in 1995, there are two vocal tracks performed by Enya that did not appear in the film.) The titles on _The_Frog_Prince_ credit music to Enya Ni Bhraonain, and so the transition from 'Eithne' to 'Enya' began. In 1986 BBC-TV began work on a six part documentary series charting the history and continuing cultural influence of the Celts. Enya was signed to write and perform music for the series. _The_Celts_ was first shown in 1987 and a selection of its music released under the title _Enya_, giving the artist her first album, though it went largely unnoticed at the time. 1.4 Enya's 'big break' Enya's career really took off in 1987 when she was signed by Rob Dickins, head of WEA Music UK, after he had heard and been entranced by the _Enya_ album. Renowned as one of the most arrogant men in the business, Dickins has a talent for promoting 'difficult' artists - no matter how long it takes. WEA's backing made the recording of _Watermark_ possible and the album was released in 1988. Although no singles were originally planned, it was the release Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) that brought Enya to public attention and resulted in an unexpected chart number 1 in several countries. The rest, as they say, is history.... 2. Enya's Work ------------------------------------------------ 2.1 Enya's Discography Rather than try to keep up with all the albums, CDs, singles and rarities that Enya has produced over the years, it makes more sense to refer you to sites where you can get current information. For readers with World Wide Web access a comprehensive discography is available at: http://www2.netdoor.com/~jallison/enya/ This is a restored version of Dave Allum's definitive Enya discography. I'm sure we would all like to thank Dave, not only for his original work but also for his gracious support of the new discographers, Jens Speh and Jerome Allison. In recent news, the Discography will be joining www.enya.com, Enya's official website. There is a biography and discography out in Spanish only: Author: Sergio Casado Publisher: Ediciones Catedra (http://www.catedra.com/) Juan Iglacio Luca de Tena, 15. 28027 Madrid, Spain. ISBN 84-376-1696-4 Published 1999 130 pages. Incl. complete up-to-date discography. Of course enya.com is the official site for all things Enya-related. The Enya DVD: Information about this item is almost as hard to find as the DVD itself. Reports on the newsgroup would seem to indicate that it saw only a very limited release, mostly in Europe. Information posted to the newsgroup indicates there are a few bootleg versions, though. 2.2 Enya music books / sheet music Watermark (1988) Available from International Music Publications (ISBN 1-85909-243-8, order number 2873A) and from Hal Leonard (order number HL00308160). Shepherd Moons (1991) Available from International Music Publications (ISBN 1-85909-286-1, order number 3100A) and from Hal Leonard (order number HL00308133). The Best Of Enya (1996) Available from EMI Music Publishing / Hal Leonard (ISBN 0-7935-4717-2, order number HL00306039). Contains twelve songs in simplified arrangements for the piano: 'Afer Ventus', 'Book Of Days', 'Caribbean Blue', 'The Celts', 'Fairytale', 'No Holly For Miss Quinn', 'On Your Shore', 'Orinoco Flow', 'Shepherd Moons', 'Storms In Africa', 'To Go Beyond' and 'Watermark'. The Memory Of Trees (1996) Available from International Music Publications (ISBN 1-85909-338-8, order number 3656A) and from EMI Music Publishing / Hal Leonard (ISBN 0-7935-6474-3, order number HL00306084) Enya Best Selection (1996) Rittor Music (Japan) Ltd. (ISBN 4-8456-0152-4) A collection of solo piano arrangements: 'Watermark', 'Miss Clare Remembers', 'River', 'The Longships', 'Shepherd Moons', 'No Holly For Miss Quinn', 'Book Of Days', 'Lothlorien', 'From Where I Am', 'Tea-House Moon'. Paint The Sky With Stars EMI Music Publishing/IMP (UK) ISBN 1-85909-554-2 Order No. 5987A Contains Piano, Vocal, Guitar for all 16 tracks on the album. 2.3 Some of her songs aren't in English. What other languages does she use? Enya's non-English songs are generally sung in Irish, which is her first language. Irish belongs to the Goidelic, or Gaelic, branch of the Celtic family of languages. This branch consists of Irish, (Scottish) Gaelic and Manx. Irish speakers refer to their language as 'Gaeilge' (i.e. Gaelic), but the English word 'Gaelic', unqualified, normally refers only to Scottish Gaelic. So when using standard English to describe Enya's native tongue it is correct to say either 'Irish' or 'Irish Gaelic.' (And by the way - Celtic is pronounced "Keltic," NOT "Seltic".) Of the other songs, four are sung in Latin (Cursum Perficio, Afer Ventus, Pax Deorum, Tempus Vernum), one is in Welsh (Dan Y Dwr), and one in Spanish (La Sonadora). Also, a few lines of French are sung in the mostly English 'Only If'. With the release of the soundtrack for Lord of the Rings, we can add the Elvish languages invented by J.R.R. Tolkien. "May It Be" has a passage in Quenya. The other Elvish language, called Sindarin, is sung by Enya in the song "Aniron" (which in Sindarin means "I Desire"). 2.4 Where can I get translations? Daniel Quinlan maintains an excellent indexed hypertext set of translations on the web at: http://www.pathname.com/enya/ These are based in part on a compilation of material put together by Lyle Corbin. Copies are available in both plain text and Word for Windows formats. 2.5 Was that Enya I heard -- ? Several of her pieces have been used in films and she has no problem getting commissions for original work: 1990 Green Card - River, Storms In Africa, Watermark 1991 L.A. Story - Epona, Exile, On Your Shore 1992 Far And Away - Book Of Days (English version) 1992 Sleepwalkers - Boadicea 1992 Toys - Ebudae 1993 Age Of Innocence - Marble Halls 1995 Cry The Beloved Country - Exile 2001 Sweet November - Only Time 2002 Lord of the Rings - May It Be, Aniron The BMI index indicates that she has written theme music used by at least two TV news programs. A number of her tracks have been used in TV commercials and also as incidental music in numerous shows and documentaries. This list is not intended to be a complete one: - The CBS television series "Northern Exposure" was known for its sophisticated and eclectic mix of background music. Enya's 'Carribean Blue' was featured in the 2nd episode of the third season (1992), and 'Ebudae' was played during Cicely's "festival of lights" episode, #18 of the fourth season (1993). -"Orinoco Flow" (Sail Away) was used to promote Crystal Light soft drink mix. More recently (and logically) it was used to promote a cruise line. -"Storms in Africa" was used to promote the NBC series "ER", but not in the program as aired. It is also being used in ads for Ansett Airlines in Australia. -"Book of Days" was the closing theme for the Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman movie "Far and Away." -"The Memory of Trees" played over the closing credits of the HBO movie _Shot Through the Heart_. -"Only Time" became something of a national hymn in the US following the 9/11/01 attacks. It was incorporated into a large Flash presentation along with an exhaustive collection of news photos, still online at www.politicsandprotest.org (a note from their webmaster -- please do not link directly to the .swf file! The framing page may direct you to a faster server if you give it a chance). -"May It Be" was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song in a motion picture. It won awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Las Vegas Film Critics (according to the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com). 2.6 ...or was it someone else? Some ads that are NOT by Enya brought new fans to the newsgroup, asking "Was that her?" When in doubt, I suggest you check the revival of Dave Allum's excellent discography (see 2.1). - The Irish Tourism Board commercial aired in the US (1995-1996) is by Clannad, and the singer is Maire ("Moya") Brennan, Enya's sister. It was a special commission similar to - but not the same as - Clannad's theme for the Thames TV programme "Harry's Game." You might want to check out "Clannad Themes", "Past/Present", or "Anam". - A new ad for Irish tourism also features Moya, as sampled by a group (or is it a DJ?) called Chicane. - The Delta Airlines commercial aired in the US (1997) is by Miriam Stockley. The song is "Adiemus" from the album _Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary_ (Virgin/Carol-7524-2). You can hear RealAudio excerpts of her work at: http://www.miriam.co.uk/ - British Airways ads aired world-wide featuring various versions of "The Flower Duet" from the opera Lakme, by the composer Delibes. (You may have heard an arrangement of this song by Yanni, which he calls "Aria.") - Many newsgroup participants have remarked on the "Enya-like" soundtrack of James Cameron's TITANIC. The vocal performance is by a Norwegian artist named Sissel Kyrkjebo. - The 1999 release AT FIRST SIGHT, starring Val Kilmer, used an Enya-like tune in its advertising; but the credits say that the music for the film was written by Mark Isham, an active Hollywood composer. - Several Napster users have mislabelled the song "Secret World" as an Enya tune. It is actually by the Irish composer Ronan Hardiman, from his third album, 'Solas.' He also composed the soundtrack of the musical show 'Lord of the Dance'." ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Enya's Friends 3.1 Apart from Clannad has she appeared on any other artists' records? Quite a few: 1983 Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh & Frankie Kennedy / Ceol Aduaidh Synthesizer on track An Clar Bog Deil. The duo later formed the folk band Altan. 1985 Christy Moore / Ordinary Man Keyboards and backing vocals. Also credited as one of the album's arrangers. 1987 Sinead O'Connor / The Lion And The Cobra Spoken passage from the Bible (Psalms 91:11-13), in Irish, on the track "Never Get Old." 1991 Terry Reid / The Driver Recorded at London's Sarm West studios at the same time that the Enya team were there mixing _Shepherd_Moons_. The album features several unaccredited guest artists, with Enya providing a typical multi-tracked backing vocal on "The Whole Of The Moon." Any other contributions from her are less obvious. 1996 Clannad / Celtic Folk Festival This album features works by various artists including two previously unreleased tracks by Clannad from the period when Enya was a member of the band. Horo Gheallaid and Dulaman were recorded live at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg Folk Festival at Utrecht, Holland, on 13 February 1982. 3.2 Who is Ridley Scott and why is/was Aldebaran dedicated to him? Ridley Scott is a British film director with _Alien_, _Blade_Runner_, and _Thelma_&_Louise_ among his better known works. The dedication is believed to be the result of Roma Ryan, Enya's lyricist, being a big fan of _Blade_Runner_. This may be the best insight we have into another Frequently Asked Question: "What sort of person would Enya choose as a friend?" Roma Ryan is creative and is interested in astronomy, "hard science," and science fiction. 3.3 Who are Rob Dickins and Ross mentioned in Orinoco Flow? "we can sail, we can sail... we can steer, we can near with Rob Dickins at the wheel, we can sigh, say Goodbye Ross and his dependencies we can sail, we can sail..." Rob Dickins (see the section on "Enya's big break") was the head of WEA Music UK at the time, and was the executive producer of _Watermark_. See also the next section. Ross Cullum was listed as the album's engineer, and also its co-producer with Nicky Ryan and Enya. (A reader has noted that Mr. Cullum was actually out sick the day of the recording.) "The Ross Dependencies" is a geographic reference, only one of many in the song. It seems likely that Roma simply couldn't resist making a little joke based on Ross's name. 3.4 What do the Irish dedications in the various album liner notes mean? _Watermark_ Ta muid fiorbhuioch do Rob Dickins ar son an chuidiu agus an mhisneach a thug se duinn. We are truly grateful to Rob Dickins for the help and courage he gave us. _Shepherd_Moons_ Ar mbuiochas do Rob Dickins a d'fhan, "ag an stiuir". Our thanks to Rob Dickins who "stayed at the helm". _The_Memory_Of_Trees_ Ba dheacair duinne an t-album seo a shamhlu gan focla spreagtha sin Rob Dickins. It would be difficult for us to imagine this album without those inspiring/encouraging words of Rob Dickins. _Paint_The_Sky_With_Stars_ Mar as gnath... mbuiochas do Rob Dickins As always... our thanks to Rob Dickins 3.5 Who are Miss Clare and Miss Quinn? This is adapted from "Caribbean Blue", the magazine of the Enya International Club: Mrs. Dora Saint, a former teacher, is better known as Miss Read, the author of many well-loved books, popular for their humorous and honest portraits of English rural life. Two of these are _No Holly for Miss Quinn_ (1976) and _Miss Clare Remembers_ (1962). 3.6 Any news of Clannad and the rest of the family? Clannad have continued to perform and record. The album _Landmarks_ won the 1998 Grammy for Best New Age Album. Pol left the band in 1989/90 and has recorded with the trio Trisan, who have released an album of the same name. He also composed music for the soundtrack of a film, "When the Sky Falls" (2000). Recently he put together a new band called Dreambard, and is co-composer and producer of an album by Eimear Quinn. For many years people have mispronounced Maire as "Marie" or "Mare" -- and so she has now decided to adopt a phonetic spelling of her name much as Enya did. She will be known professionally as Moya Brennan. You can see her new website at http://www.moyabrennan.com/ Besides her work with Clannad, she has released four solo albums: _Maire_ (1992), _Misty_Eyed_ Adventures_ (1994), _Perfect_Time_ (1998), and _Whisper_to_the_Wild_Water_ (1999). She released an autobiography in 2000 called 'The Other Side of the Rainbow' published by Hodder & Stoughton in hardback and paperback in English. It is also available in the German language as hardback with the title 'Mein Irisches Leben' (My Irish Life) by publisher Brunnen Verlag Basel, Switzerland (released in 2001). Maire's album is a great source of information on the Brennan and Duggan families. Moya has been involved in numerous other project in recent years; most recent is a special album called "New Irish Hymns" with Margaret Becker and Joanne Hogg, released late in 2001. She also provided backing vocals for the soundtrack of the HBO mini-series, Band of Brothers (2001). Sisters Deirdre, Olive and Bridin feature on Maire's first two albums, and Bridin has also toured and recorded with Clannad as a backing vocalist. Bridin released a CD single 'Hang On' in January 2001 in Ireland (with some distribution in the U.K.). A full album called 'Deep, Deep, Sleep' will be released (still pending a deal). Bridin married in October 2001 and now lives in London. She has a web site at http://www.bridinbrennan.com/. Olive has lived in Sydney, Australia with her husband for several years. Deirdre now lives in Donegal. Another brother, Leon (married in 2000) has been living in Dublin for a few years now, managing Moya Brennan's live concert tours and appearances. He works closely with Tim Jarvis, Moya's husband and manager. Leo's Tavern has been turned into a small museum on the career of Clannad and Enya. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Outside the Studio 4.1 Does Enya tour? The short answer is "Not yet." She apparently used a live microphone during appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in the USA, and of course at the 2002 Academy Awards. 4.2 How many records has she sold? Enya has now sold in excess of 50 million albums worldwide. How many more? It's hard to keep up with her sales! 2002 was a very successful year for her. 4.3 Have any articles or interviews been transcribed? A number of magazine articles and TV and radio interviews have been transcribed, mostly by Peter Warburton and posted as the Enya Papers. Copies - 26 papers were posted - are archived along with a collection of other transcriptions, on the World Wide Web (see below). 4.4 Are any Enya posters available? The only posters seen so far are those used in record promotions. It's worth checking out the advertisements in music and record collecting magazines. In the UK a small selection is usually available from: Push Posters, PO Box 327, Clydebank, Dunbartonshire G81 3HE, U.K. Tel: (+44) (0)141 951 4460 / Fax: (+44) (0)141 951 4464 URL: http://www.pushposters.com/ A list is available and the company will take international orders. 4.5 Are there any fan clubs? The "Everywhere Is" fan club has closed down. Here are the ones that we know about: ONLINE The Isle of Enya (English) http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/theisleofenya Enyaclub (Spanish) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enyaclub ESTONIA Contact: Henry O'Possum <henry@raadio.vil.ee> Address: Henry, Viljandimaa Post, P.K. 25, EE2900 Viljandi, Estonia. NETHERLANDS Contact: Reinder van Til <281165r@xs1.xs4all.nl> Address: The Dutch Enya Fanclub, Reinder van Til, Thomas van de Dijkweg 13, 9801 EK Zuidhorn, The Netherlands. Details: Send a self addressed envelope and an International Reply Coupon for further information. 4.6 What other artists make music similar to Enya's? Given the family connection, Clannad and Moya Brennan are obvious choices although their music is distinctly different. See: http://www.empire.net/~whatmoug/clanhome.htm (John Whatmough) There is a Clannad newsgroup, alt.music.clannad. Also see Jean Debord's "Enya-like Artists" FAQ, available at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/music/ and reposted monthly in alt.music.enya. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Enya and the Net 5.1 What's her address? Is she on the Net? PLEASE NOTE! ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************** I cannot forward your fan mail to Enya. I do not have her address. ******************************************************************** ******************************************************************** Several new Enya-related domain names were set up in 2000, e.g. enyamusic.com, enyaonline.com, and enya.com, each registered to Eithne and the Ryans. We should probably note this line from the liner notes for ADWR: "Recorded in the digital domain by an analogue brain." Eithne herself was asked if she feels she is ready for the Internet age, and responded that "It doesn't seem to convey emotion well." The Forum at enya.com (http://forum.enya.com/) is "a community of about 900 people" that has accumulated well over 30,000 messages in its first year of existence, according to webmaster Peter Pehrson. It is the best place to get news directly from Nicky, Roma, and Eithne. The best way to write to Enya is via her record company: WEA in most of the world and Reprise in the USA: outside USA Enya c/o Warner Music (UK) The Warner Building 28 Kensington Church St. London W8 4EP United Kingdom inside USA Enya c/o Reprise Records 3300 Warner Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505 Please remember that it is trivial to fake an online message from a famous person -- whether it claims to be from Enya or "<president@whitehouse.gov>". 5.2 Is a font of the "Enya" script available? A TrueType font similar to the _Watermark_ script exists for Windows as well as the Apple II and Macintosh. It is available in several font repositories. The font family "Mistral" is a pretty good match. One link is at http://www.acidcool.com/e7.htm (Acid Fonts) (The file 'enya.zip' may be moved as new fonts are added -- they are listed in alphabetic order, so if you don't see it listed, just browse to the next page.) The font used for _A Day Without Rain_ is a commercial font similar to "Calligraphic 810 BT." Please DO NOT "share" these or other binary files by posting them to alt.music.enya. We are not a "binaries" group, and having binary posts appear here puts the entire group at risk of being kicked off some ISPs. 5.3 Are there any Enya sound files available? Short samples are available on Reprise Records' Enya page at: http://www.RepriseRec.com/enya/ and of course at Enya's own site, www.enya.com 5.4 I heard something terrible happened to Enya! Please be skeptical about unpleasant rumors. Specifically, it seems every few months someone repeats an ugly rumor that "Enya killed herself x years ago." Not true, and frankly it was a bit sickening the way it kept coming back. I think we've finally put a stop to that one. There was a report on Usenet - not picked up in the press - that Enya and the Ryans were involved in a minor auto accident in July 1997. She was treated and released from the hospital within a day. 5.5 Other "Enyas" * On June 20th 1996 the asteroid previously designated 6433 was renamed "Enya." * An Irish naval vessel has been named for Enya's namesake, Eithne. (Probably for the goddess, not "our" Enya. Oh, well!) * The Ecumenical Network for Youth Action (E.N.Y.A.) is a European organization that struggles for "a higher profile of the concerns of children, youth, women and those who are excluded by the church and society". 5.6 What Usenet newsgroups discuss Enya? The newsgroup alt.music.enya is dedicated to Enya. There was previously a group called alt.fan.enya but this has now merged with alt.music.enya and all postings should be made to the latter. Sadly, not all sites take the alt groups. Enya is discussed occasionally in rec.music.newage and rec.music.celtic. 5.7 Is there a mailing list? Yes, more than one, although some of them have closed down. You will receive an introductory message when you subscribe to any mailing list -- please save this message so that you will know how to manage your subscription, e.g. what to do when your address changes, or when you go on vacation. It's awfully annoying to see a mailing list fill up with noise from people who don't remember how to unsubscribe! Trevor Stewart, ICQ 9971019, announced a new list in September 1998. The instructions are simply to send an email to enya-subscribe@egroups.com Pablo Sebastian Velazco is running a moderated mailing list; write to "eml@tsode.com.ar" in English or Spanish, or visit the list's page at http://onelist.com/community/enya Jean Debord has a page at: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/4050/enyalist.html that has links to other Enya resources as well as a mailing list. There is an Enya Mailing List in Spanish at: enyaclub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com You can also subscribe from the web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enyaclub This replaces the Spanish mailing-list link formerly hosted at enya.org. The rest of the enya.org site remains active, though its bandwidth is limited. 5.8 Where is all this information archived? The official Enya website is of course http://www.enya.com/ It has been completely redesigned by its new webmasters Peter Pehrson and John Eckroth, both frequent contributors to alt.music.enya and the Enya community. Be warned that http://www.shepherdmoons.net has been taken over by a domain name speculator who has placed a portal page there; it is no longer an Enya page. Reprise Records runs another "official" Enya web page at: http://www.repriserec.com/Enya Jeremy Ho's Enya page has a number of links and Enya MIDI files: http://www.vdc-interactive.com/angeles/ It also provides access to the first Chinese-language Enya Web page: http://www.vdc-interactive.com/angeles/about/chinenya.htm Kevin B Black's Page of Enya URLs/links http://homepages.enterprise.net/kbb/EnyaLinks.html Enya on UBL.Com http://ubl.com/ubl_artist.asp?artistid=1093 and click on "Artist Websites" Clannad on UBL.Com http://ubl.com/ubl_artist.asp?artistid=11651 Gary's list of Enya pages: http://members.aol.com/gnsharkfan/enya.htm Informacion en espanol: Enya Unofficial Home Page (spanish version/mirror) Enya Discography (spanish version/mirror) Enya FAQ (spanish version) http://enya.org/ Another useful ftp archive for those also interested in Celtic music and artists in general is the Celtic Music Archive run by Gerard Manning at: http://celtic.stanford.edu/ceolas.html ftp://celtic.stanford.edu/ 5.9 "I see people asking for Enya files -- why can't I just post some?" Posting binaries to a non-binaries group will get your account terminated most places. Check your service provider's terms of service or AUP if you don't believe me. Please don't post ANY binaries to alt.music.enya, even if they seem to be 'on-topic.' That includes pictures of Enya, .MIDi files, and especially MP3s. Before you get upset, let me explain: The problem is NOT with the content! It's purely a question of volume. There are groups whose name begins with "alt.binaries", and they exist only to keep binaries out of the discussion groups such as this one. The ironclad rule that "binaries go in a binaries group" was made because otherwise many small sites would refuse to carry ANY alt. group... and that includes alt.music.enya! We, as a group, MUST NOT tolerate binary files in our space. Binary posts are cancelled on sight and the poster's ISP is notified. It's as automatic as the law of gravity; it has to be. The Web is full of free or cheap hosting where people can get files at a time of their own choosing. Please use one of those sites. You might argue that posting a really popular file one time makes more sense than imposing the load on a single server -- and yes, that is true; but that isn't a reason to post binaries here. It justifies having the binaries groups, if your ISP is big enough to handle them. Not all ISPs are. Of course you are always welcome to post a text message to alt.music.enya to tell us where to find a new Enya-related file, whether it's on an ftp site, a web page, or in one of the alt.binaries newsgroups. Thank you! ------------------------------------------------------------------- [Appendix 1] "Enya" in Irish mythology From Enya's appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell TV show, 12 Dec 1997: ROSIE: ...and "Enya" is an Irish name? I never heard [of] it before you. ENYA: Where I was born was in the Gaeltact area in County Donegal and Gaelic is my first language, so "Enya" is Gaelic but there's a story behind it; there's a goddess in Irish mythology that was known as "Enya". ROSIE: And what was the myth about her? ENYA: Oh, it wasn't so pleasant... ROSIE: Oh, really? ENYA: [starts laughing] ROSIE: Was it that she had a beautiful spiritual voice and then, you know...? ENYA: No. It was actually she was not to marry because it was destined that her husband would eventually kill her father. So her father sent her away to this remote island but, alas, she met somebody and it happened. It wasn't like he intended to kill the father, but through battle or whatever, the father was killed by her husband. ROSIE: Did your father name you? ENYA: No, it was my grandfather actually. [starts laughing] [This is a variation on the legend; most books on the subject say it was Eithne's son, Lugh, who killed Balor, the legendary Eithne's monstrous father.] ======================================================================== -- Please send FAQ corrections, comments, or new information to the FAQ maintainer: Kevin Martin <enyafaq@brasscannon.org> If your subject line does not mention 'Enya' your mail will not reach me.