A Need for Pied Pipers? Making Connections in a Community Arts Song-Making Project

Music and musicking are powerful contributors to a sense and awareness of place. A community music project in 2021 focused on the small town of Dunleer on the east coast of Ireland. Overshadowed by the larger towns of Dundalk and Drogheda to the north and south respectively, Dunleer has a rich history and many opportunities for the local community to engage in the arts. However, despite much talent, the groups and individuals involved are largely disconnected from and sometimes unaware of each other. This paper considers how a participatory, arts-based virtual project that sought to encourage collaboration through artistic endeavour highlighted the potential for greater collaboration between stakeholders to achieve increased participation in the arts and the local community. Drawing on the author’s perspective as an artist and lead facilitator, it details the process and critiques the role of various stakeholders in the project, incorporating an autoethnographic approach that focuses on the role of third-party facilitators in community music initiatives.