"The Irish Washerwoman" with Trixie and the Jumping Fleas

Mar 14, 2025
2 min read

RELEASED: March 14, 2025

Ah yes, the "quick and easy" video — we all know how that goes! While we were deep in the middle of working on a more involved project, Marina brought in a fun little trio arrangement of The Irish Washerwoman, an upbeat Irish jig arranged by Ian Porter (thanks Ian, wherever you are!). It was perfect for St. Patrick's Day, so we thought, "Hey! Let's do a simple, single-shot video for Instagram. No editing required!"

Costuming

Farrah had some costume pieces that felt just right for the vibe, and we filled in the rest with some pieces from Scarlett Darkness. Farrah and Sivan made some lovely flower crowns with horribly waxy and sticky floral tape. Worth it? Absolutely.

A historic washerboard

Marina suggested adding a washboard for some extra flair. We found an antique, weathered one about 45 minutes away for just $8 (thanks, Ann!). Conveniently, Sivan happened to be nearby and was able to pick it up. The gentleman who sold it to us said he'd had it for years — it was falling apart, but it was so cool to use something with such a history. Imagining all the laundry that had been scrubbed on that thing over the years added a special charm to the whole project. The sound reminded us of a sea of Irish dancers, so of course we had to add dancing to the video!

Let's add some embellishments!

Two days before recording, Farrah decided to add embellishments to the melody. Plenty of time to retrain her fingers, right? Her muscle memory had... other ideas. But hey, "It's fine! Don't worry about it." (Thanks to Marina, that has basically become our band motto.)

Location, location, location

Farrah and Sivan went for a hike in Whitney Canyon one morning, and surprise! They stumbled upon the perfect filming spot. It seemed close enough to the entrance of the trail that lugging our gear wouldn't be too bad. Well, it turned out that a mile with a backpack and a mile with tons of gear do NOT feel the same, lol. Of course, we got a later start than planned.

Filming

Playing outside on this brisk morning was fun… it was 37°F when we started! Turns out, fingers don't exactly dance over strings in those temperatures. Thankfully, hand warmers — and Marina's ever-present stash of chocolate — saved the day. We love her for that!

While filming, we decided to add some playful shots of us "doing laundry" and dancing to bring the video to life. Turns out, the ants wanted to join the fun too! We ended up covered in very large ants (several times! lol). Luckily they didn’t bite too hard

In the end

What started as a "quick and simple" video turned into a full edit after all. And yes, Farrah was a little salty that we didn’t shoot in landscape. C'est la vie!

In the end, the video was worth every chilly finger, sticky crown, and ant-induced jig. We hope you enjoy our lively little tribute to The Irish Washerwoman