Pilgrim Road

“These are songs of the land!”

(From the January - March 2020 issue of VOX)

Canadian vet and singer-songwriter Rodney Gale and his wife Heather live in a renovated Franciscan monastery in Co. Roscommon. After recording an album of songs he has written while living in Ireland, Rodney spoke to VOX magazine about his music and the journey that brought him here.

“It has been an interesting journey,” Rodney says, “Fifteen years ago, while still in Canada, we started playing around with doing some recording. I’m 62 years old this year and so it was kind of now or never. In one sense I’m happy that it has taken this long because all of the songs on this album were written here in Ireland and they are songs of the land.”

It was because they had continued to follow Ray Hughes in the years after his having visited their church in Alberta, Canada that Rodney and Heather first discovered that he was planning a worship tour of Ireland.

“Ireland was never on our radar but Heather, my wife, felt we should go,” Rodney explained. “I remember that once we had made the decision we prayed a prayer (that I had never prayed before), ‘God, we want everything you have for us. We don’t want to get in the way!’ And so we joined the tour and arrived in Ireland very open to whatever God would say to us.”

Within a few days the couple began looking at “For Sale” signs. Travelling through Ireland, playing worship music and meeting Christians in different parts of the country, Rodney and Heather were struck by the beauty all around them, but they were particularly drawn to the west of Ireland.

“We were planning to visit Skellig Michael but in the middle of the tour, everyone went down with a virus and I was the only one who went. It was life changing. Later, when visiting the Aran Islands, I turned to Heather and said, ‘I feel a really strange connection to the land.’ We laugh about it now but her quick reply was, ‘I am not living on Inis Mór!’”

After returning to Canada, Rodney and Heather waited to see if the feeling would go away. “People go to Ireland all the time and fall in love but that is not necessarily God’s call,” Rodney remarked. But the feeling didn’t go away and instead it began to strengthen, so much so that Heather began looking for property and found the old monastery “For Sale” in Garranlahan, Co. Roscommon. It took another two years but the couple eventually moved to Ireland and began renovations to make the monastery into a home and also a place of prayer, worship and retreat.

Rodney, a vet by profession, began working in Co. Roscommon and more recently has been teaching veterinary students in UCD in Dublin. But he also began to write songs that reflected the experiences he was having and his observations about Ireland and Irish life.

“I wrote one song after spending the summer in the bog, cutting turf. Another is about being a ‘blow in.’ Having heard stories even from Irish people who were considered ‘blow ins’ because they had moved from somewhere else, this song speaks into the pain of being an outsider,” Rodney said.

“Although Jesus isn’t obviously front and centre in all the songs, gradually the truth of Jesus comes through. I wrote a song called Patrick’s Well (about St. Patrick). There are all these holy wells around the country but sadly so much of Jesus has been lost in these symbols. My song ends with showing that Patrick’s own well was Jesus Christ - he went to Jesus for living water.

“Sadly, it appears that, for many people, there is very little that is beautiful about Christianity.”

“In Philip Yancy’s book Vanishing Grace he talks about how in a post-Christian culture, it is going to be the arts that evoke the beauty of the Christian faith. Sadly, it appears that, for many people, there is very little that is beautiful about Christianity. I feel that is more my call. I still write worship songs but, more and more, I’m writing to speak to people who simply feel they don’t have any reason to listen any more. I’m hoping this will be a door opener.”

That sense of engagement was especially evident in a song Rodney wrote for an artist friend. On their first meeting, he told Rodney, “I am an atheist!” This man, who is from the north, had seen such trouble caused in the name of Christianity and he made it quite clear he wanted nothing to do with it.

Rodney wrote a song called Head in the Hedgerow for this friend, inspired by some of his paintings. When the album was complete, Rodney and Heather took it over to his home to play it for him. At the end they asked, “What do you think?” “It’s very good!” he said and even started making arrangements with a friend who hosts a local radio show. When pressed regarding how he felt about the obvious references to Jesus he simply replied, “That is just who you are.”

“Pilgrim Road” was recorded in Tuam, Co. Galway and produced in England together with Sounds of Wonder (musicians and music producers who have also created some stunning Celtic music).

Sarah’s Song, written for Rodney’s daughter Sarah, is one track that particularly resonates with people, especially women. “I wrote a very personal song but soon realised that it resonated with other women. [It is] another reminder of how important it is for fathers and mothers to speak words of blessing and encouragement. The first time I played it for a friend she suddenly began to weep and was able to tell us some of her story. This then led to a vulnerable moment where Heather was able to minster to her,” Rodney said.

The only song Rodney didn’t write is the popular trad melody, Wild Mountain Thyme. When Rodney first heard the song, it reminded him of the Bible’s Song of Songs, except for the third verse, which he re-wrote for this recording. Friends who are members of a folk music group commented on how much they liked this new verse saying, “I like the idea of a lover who is not so disposable”.

“Music has a way of breaking down walls and boundaries.”

Rodney has sent his album to local radio stations and, at the time of writing, had one interview lined up. “Music has a way of breaking down walls and boundaries. I’m also hoping to coordinate with local churches to do house concerts and perform in more intimate settings. In that way, I can weave a bit of the backstory of the songs and perhaps speak to those who may not otherwise be open to hearing about Jesus,” he said.

You can order Rodney Gale’s album - ‘Pilgrim Road’ from Sounds of Wonder (www.soundsofwonder.org). It is also available to download from cdbaby.com, iTunes, Amazon, etc. Get more information on his Facebook page.