Little Drummer Girl Remains Home-body, At Least for Now 

By Martin Hintz

Catching Caroline Georgine Corrs at home is a tough pursuit. As the drummer in the internationally known Irish band, The Corrs, she’s more often here, there and everywhere. But a lucky phone call to the sun-splashed island of Majorica caught her between rounding up her kids and fixing their lunch of Irish stew. The family lives in a still-in-progress villa that developer husband Frank Woods began building three years ago. 

Although Caroline now lives on the compact resort island off the coast of Spain, it’s a quick flight to her home country and the chance to hang with others in the extended Corrs musical brood. Incidentally, the family’s latest work, which was released in February, is called Home ($18.98, Rhino/Atlantic 73217). It was The Corrs' fifth studio album. Their first work was released in 1996, with that one and each subsequent disc making it to the international platinum level. 

Produced by Mitchell Froom — who worked with The Corrs on its The Corrs Unplugged and In Blue and featuring the BBC Radio 2 Orchestra, arranged by Fiachra Trench — Home offers a collection of 13 traditional and modern Irish songs performed by the siblings and their band. Andrea is on lead vocals and tin whistle; Caroline does the drums, bodhran, piano and vocals; brother Jim is on keyboards, guitar and vocals; and Sharon performs violin and vocals. 

"It’s an idea that I came up with years ago," Caroline explained of the latest work. "But it’s not commercial. We had our traditional instruments and wanted to do something different. So we said this is the time to do it. We rehearsed and recorded live, going into the studio over the course of six weeks. It was really a clear process," she added. Use of the backup orchestra was unusual. "We don’t often do that," she said of the smoothly crisp arrangements. "We spent time researching the songs. It was a lovely, nice experience." 

"There are a lot of flights back and forth (between Majorica and Ireland). But it’s more tranquil here, much more country," she enthused amid the background clatter of cleanup pots and cooking pans. "We spent so much time on the road over the past years, we are now doing our own things. The time has come when we need space for our own lives," she said. 

"I swear to God, I like to cook," Caroline laughed. That’s not a bad backup for the world’s best female drummer, an honorific bestowed allegedly by the Rolling Stone’s own beatmeister, the venerable Charlie Watts. 

Jim and Andrea regularly visit Majorica, sometimes spelled Mallorca, one of the myth-like Balearic islands in the Mediterranean, just beyond the Gulf of Valencia. Pregnant sister Sharon is about to add another tiny Corrs to the ever-growing family. Subsequently she’s not able to tour or do much international air travel. "So we have no live shows to promote right now," Caroline said, with relief. 

Yet despite their far-flung circumstances, family roots remain strong for all the Corrs. Home is a tribute to their mother, Jean, who died in 1999. Her handwritten songbook was a major source of material for this latest collection. Jean Corrs and her husband Gerry, the pater familia, used to perform weekends in pubs so their song list from those long ago gigs remained special for the younger Corrs. 

Caroline was a St. Patrick’s Day baby, born on March 17, 1973, the third in the clan, one with noted for good genes both in the looks and the talent categories. Graced with tantalizing emerald eyes, she stands at a mere 5" 4", which earned her the headline tag as "The Little Drummer Girl." Yet a number of early critics noted her muscular arms, developed over the years by practice and playing for upwards of 90 hard, almost nonstop minutes during each Corrs set. Form-fitting black golf gloves have long been her stage trademark, wearing them at first to cover blisters and subsequently to get a better grip on the ever-flying drumsticks. 

Born and raised in Dundalk, Co. Louth, 50 miles north of Dublin where dad Gerry still lives, the Corrs played instruments since they were youngsters. In 1991, they appeared in Alan Parker's film The Commitments, where Angela got a speaking part and their music was noticed by John Hughes, who eventually became their manager. Relatively unknown outside of Ireland until 1994 when they were invited to perform at the World Cup in Boston, their career has taken off like the proverbial racehorse. 

"Our parents were so encouraging, but there’s no master plan for my family. I would love it if my kids wanted to go into music. But I’m for whatever makes them happy," she said of her two youngsters. Jake was born February, 2003, and Georgina in October, 2004. 

Caroline herself seriously began playing the drums around age 17, under the watchful eye of a boyfriend at the time. She picked up the bodhran by viewing videos of master players. Husband Frank doesn’t perform any instruments, although he had tried his hand at the bass. 

"He loves music, particularly jazz to anything current," his wife pointed out. "Frank is more of a sporty person. He loves climbing and extreme sports although he hasn’t done a lot of that since the kids." 

Caroline married Frank in 2002. He had proposed while the couple were romancing in Paris, much to the delight of the music press and the paparazzi. She celebrated their engagement that spring in Derry Clarke's Baggot Street restaurant, L'ecrivain, allegedly spending 2,000-Euros for the party. 

Frank was unable to make it to the splash because he was in Cannes working on a project. But, wise to the affairs of the heart, he sent a bottle of prestigious and bubbly Dom Perignon in his stead. Thus, all was fine. Afterwards, Caroline joined him for the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix auto race, cutting a glamorous swath through the trendy set. Again, it certainly made more wonderful grist in the tabloid mill. 

Their home in Majorica does not have a practice room where Caroline can retreat but it does have a little house off the main building where she can go for a bit of drumming and piano playing to keep in musical shape. "I like to sit at the piano and love listening to songs accompanied by the piano, especially Irish music," she offered. "I’m a happy type musician." 

"For a long time, we never took any breaks," Caroline said of the hectic pace for The Corrs over the past years. "We were promoting constantly but there comes in a day in one’s life where you need time for yourself. That allows you think of your next project. What will inspire us, what will inspire me?" she said. "I’m always doodling around on the piano. If I find a melody, I’ll write it down."

Since four persons are always involved in any Corrs musical project, it’s necessary to take into consideration where each is at the moment. Something exciting usually comes out of the four-heads-are-better-than-one mode. It may not be today or tomorrow, but it’s there somewhere in Corrs Land..whether talking about Majorica, Dundalk or anywhere in-between.

Until then, it’s time for Caroline Corrs to wash the dishes. She is, after all, a Home girl at heart.