Karan Casey (born 1969) is an Irish

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland.

Early years

Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower,

Kilmeaden Kilmeadan or Kilmeaden () is a village in County Waterford, Ireland. It is on the R680 regional road. The town is from Dungarvan and from Waterford. Kilmeadan Castle was a stronghold of the le Poer family in the fourteenth century. In th ...

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she studied piano then took music at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in 1987. Having learned to copy

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

, she performed in a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

bistro several nights per week while still a student. At the

Royal Irish Academy of Music The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which ...

she studied

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and sang in a jazz band, then a folk-ballad band, then another jazz band. She also fell under the influence of Dublin folk singer

Frank Harte Frank Harte (14 May 1933 – 27 June 2005) was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer. He was born in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and raised in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte, who had moved from a farming backgroun ...

. During this time she also formed her own band, called "Dorothy".

Emigration to the USA

In 1993, Casey moved to New York City, to study jazz at

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

. When she began to frequent Irish traditional sessions in New York, she started singing

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...

again, performing mostly in bars and local centres. During 1994, she sang with Atlantic Bridge before joining Solas, recording five songs on their début album in 1996. At the same time, she was still performing jazz and folk material herself at the Tramps club in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, accompanied only by a percussionist. In 1997, Casey recorded a solo album, ''Songlines'', inspired by the novel of the same name by

Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, i ...

and produced by Séamus Egan. The album featured both Irish traditional and contemporary folk songs, and included several members of Solas.

Solo career

Casey left Solas at the beginning of 1999 to pursue her solo ambitions. She then moved back to Ireland, although frequently travelled between her home in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and America. In 2000, she collaborated with several other vocalists on ''Seal Maiden: a Celtic Musical''. It concerned the mythical creature called the

selkie In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled ', ', ') or selkie folk ( sco, selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk' are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found ...

(in this case, a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

-woman). The album featured a story written by Irish playwright

Marina Carr Marina Carr is an Irish playwright who has written almost thirty plays, including '' By the Bog of Cats'' (1998). Early life and education Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent the majority of her childhood in Pallas Lake, County O ...

narrated by Casey, produced by Niall Vallely and Leib Ostrow, and featured contributions from Martin Hayes &

Dennis Cahill Dennis Cahill was an Irish missionary priest working in western Maryland, USA, in the late 1700s, where he founded several Catholic parishes in the Potomac River valley area. History Cahill was involved in the founding of several Catholic paris ...

, Iarla Ó Lionaird, Máiréad Ní Mhaonaigh,

Michael McGoldrick Michael McGoldrick (born 26 November 1971, in Manchester, England) is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin. Bands McGo ...

, Mel Mercier and Robbie Overson. In 2001, Casey finished working on her second solo album, ''The Winds Begin to Sing'' (2001) which was well received by critics and propelled her into a stable solo career. She released ''Distant Shore'' in 2003 and toured extensively throughout the Americas and Europe. In 2005, Casey released ''Chasing the Sun'' featuring Irish traditional and folk songs which she learned from her mother and maternal grandmother. The album included a number of songs written by Casey herself as well as songs by

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

musician Barry Kerr. The album was well received and was the last to be released on the Shanachie and

Vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

labels so that Casey, husband

Niall Vallely Niall Vallely is an Irish musician, born 1970 in Armagh, Northern Ireland. In 1966 his parents, Brian and Eithne Vallely had founded the Armagh Piper's Club, but he chose to learn the concertina instead, from the age of seven. His brother Cil ...

and other associated acts could release her music independently. In 2006, Casey joined her previous band Solas to guest on their live DVD and album, ''Reunion: a Decade of Solas''. On the recordings, Casey was joined by all of the band's past members and current members from the period. She joined Deirdre Scanlan (Solas vocalist 2000–2007) and Antje Duvekot, along with the male vocalists from the band. In 2008, Casey and her husband set up Crow Valley Music to release ''Ships in the Forest''. In early 2010, Casey released ''Exiles Return'', a duet album with former Solas bandmate John Doyle; it was listed among the Top 5 albums of the year by ''

The Irish Echo ''The Irish Echo'' is a weekly Irish-American newspaper based in Manhattan in the United States. In 2007, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Irish businessman and publisher of the '' Andersonstown News'', purchased the paper. Founded in 1928, it bills i ...

'' newspaper. Released in 2014, ''Two More Hours'' was Casey's sixth solo album and her first entirely self-penned work. Contemporary in tone, it takes a much more personal approach to her writing and singing. It features a duet with Irish chart-topper

Mick Flannery Mick Flannery (born 28 November 1983) is an Irish singer and songwriter. His debut album ''Evening Train'' resulted from his time spent studying music and management at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork. It featured tracks which had previously ...

as well as contributions from

Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a du ...

and Aoife O’Donovan, and was produced by Niall Vallely. A departure from the traditional music she has focused on for many years, ''Two More Hours'' draws on Casey's lifelong love of R&B, jazz and blues in creating a vibrant new mix of sounds. Vallely's string arrangements help meld together a cast of Ireland's musicians from the worlds of classical, folk and rock music including Ken Rice, Kate Ellis, Sean Og Graham (of

Beoga Beoga ( Irish word for ''vivid'' or ''lively'') are an Irish folk band. They were formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh although the original four members of the band hail from County Antrim and County Londonderry in Northern ...

Trevor Hutchinson Trevor Hutchinson is a Northern Irish bass player and a founding member of Lúnasa. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland, he played with numerous bands before Lúnasa, including The Waterboys and Sharon Shannon. Discography ; ...

, Eoghan Regan, Danny Byrt and Caoimhín Vallely. In 2017 Karan was Traditional Artist in Residenceat University College Cork, toured the UK with the Transatlantic Sessions, performed at Glasgow's Celtic Connections, and toured in the US both with her own band and with Lúnasa, including a performance at New York's Carnegie Hall. In 2018 Karan helped to found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk musics. In 2019 she released her latest album Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale on the

Vertical Records Vertical Records is an independent record label founded by Capercaillie member Donald Shaw in 2000, based in Glasgow, Scotland. Releases The label has predominantly focused on Celtic and roots music, with releases from Michael McGoldrick ('' ...

Label. Produced by renowned Scottish producer and BAFTA-nominated composer Donald Shaw, the album also features Karan's long-time musical collaborators Sean Óg Graham & Niamh Dunne (

), Kate Ellis (The Crash Ensemble) and

(Buille). Drawing inspiration from contemporary folk writers

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...

Eliza Gilkyson Eliza Gilkyson (born August 24, 1950, Hollywood, California) is a Taos, New Mexico-based folk musician.Gilkyson moved her base from Austin, Texas, to Taos in 2020. She is the daughter of songwriter and folk musician Terry Gilkyson and his wife, J ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, the album displays Casey's impressive talent as a songwriter. She is joined on vocals by some of the women singers she's long-admired, including

Karen Matheson Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lea ...

, Niamh Dunne,

Pauline Scanlon Pauline Scanlon (born in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland) is a singer of contemporary and traditional Irish music. Dingle is in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht, which is an area where the population's first language is Irish. Scanlon has been singin ...

Maura O'Connell Maura O'Connell (born 16 September 1958) is an Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music. Background O'Connell was born in Ennis, the main t ...

and Aoife O Donovan. Casey has also collaborated with

Bela Fleck Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur, ...

, Tim O'Brien,

Lunasa Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in gd, Lùnastal, and in gv, ...

, The Boston Pops Orchestra,

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (born Imelda Mary Clabby, 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Known primarily as a singer, she also plays the bodhrán, guitar, bass guitar and tambouri ...

, A Stór Mo Chroí (featuring

John Spillane John Spillane (born 1961) is a singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland. Background Spillane grew up in the Cork suburb of Wilton, in a family of five boys. He was educated in Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown. Raised by his mother, she ...

, Lumiere and

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (born 1978) is a musician and singer from County Kerry, Ireland. Until 2016, she was the lead singer for the traditional music group Danú, and from that year on she has been half of the electronica duo Aeons. Biography ...

), among others.

Personal life

Casey is married to Irish

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

player

and has collaborated frequently with the Vallely brothers and their bands. She has two daughters (Muireann and Áine) and currently lives in Cork.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1997 – ''

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

'' * 2000 – ''Seal Maiden'' (Karan Casey & friends) * 2001 – ''The Winds Begin To Sing'' * 2003 – ''Distant Shore'' * 2005 – ''Chasing The Sun'' * 2008 – ''

Ships in the Forest ''Ships in the Forest'' is a studio album by Irish traditional singer Karan Casey, and the first to be released primarily on her own label. The album features much of Casey's live band, as well as her brother-in-law and husband, both members of ...

'' * 2014 – ''Two More Hours'' * 2018 – ''Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale''

With Solas

* 1996 – ''Solas'' * 1997 – ''Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers'' * 1998 – ''The Words That Remain'' * 2006 – '' Reunion: A Decade of Solas'' (CD/DVD)

Miscellaneous recordings

* 1996 – ''Her Song: Exotic Voices of Women from Around the World'' (Various Artists) * 1997 – ''Celtic Tapestry, Vol. 2'' (Various Artists) * 1997 – ''Holding up Half the Sky: Women's Voices from Around the World'' (Various Artists) * 1997 – ''Her Song: Exotic Voices of Women from Around the World'' (Various Artists) * 1997 – ''Voices of Celtic Women: Holding up Half the Sky'' (Various Artists) * 1998 – ''Africans in America (Original Television Soundtrack)'' (Various Artists) * 1998 – ''Celtic Tides'' (Various Artists) * 1998 – ''Greatest Hits'' (

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

) * 1998 – ''Legends of Ireland'' (Various Artists) * 1998 – ''Winter's Tale'' (Various Artists) * 1999 – ''Celtic Solstice'' (Paul Winter) * 1999 – ''Holding up Half the Sky: Voices of Celtic Women Vol 2'' (Various Artists) * 1999 – ''Thousands Are Sailing'' (Various Artists) * 2000 – ''Emerald Aether: Shape Shifting/Reconstructions Of Irish Music'' (

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

) * 2000 – ''Fused'' (

) * 2000 – ''Fits of Passion – High Spirited Celtic Captured by Starbucks'' (Various Artists) * 2000 – ''Ceol Tacsaí'' (Various Artists) * 2001 – ''Celtic Christmas: Silver Anniversary Edition'' (Various Artists) * 2001 – ''Evening Comes Early'' (John Doyle) * 2001 – ''Two Journeys'' ( Tim O'Brien) * 2001 – ''Lullaby: a Collection'' (Various Artists) * 2003 – ''Brown Girl in the Ring'' (Various Artists) * 2004 – ''Very Best of Celtic Christmas'' (Various Artists) * 2004 – ''Other Voices: Songs from a Room Vol 2'' (Various Artists) * 2005 – ''Lullaby: 20th Anniversary Special Edition'' (Various Artists) * 2005 – ''20 Great Kid’s Songs: 20th Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition'' (Various Artists) * 2005 – ''Folktopia'' (Various Artists) *2006 - ''Magic Nights in The Lobby Bar (Various Artists)'' * 2006 – ''Acoustic Affair Vol. 1'' (Various Artists) * 2007 – ''A Christmas Celtic Sojourn Live'' (Various Artists) * 2007 – ''Excalibur: Vol. 2'' ( Alan Simon) *2008 - Absolutely Irish (Various Artists) * 2010 – ''Exiles Return'' (with John Doyle) * 2014 - ''A Prairie Home Companion- Duets 2'' (Various Artists)

External links

Official website

Wedding in Barga between Karan and husband Niall

Karan Casey Uk Tour 2009
Folk Radio UK {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Karan 1969 births Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Irish women singers Irish folk singers Living people Musicians from County Waterford People from County Waterford Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Shanachie Records artists Compass Records artists Vertical Records artists