Has included - Jeff Allen (bass); Catherine Bent (cello); Jeff Berman (drums); Joe Bonadio (drums); Aidan Brennan (guitar); Chris Cunningham (guitars); Johnny Cunningham (fiddle); Lindsey Horner (bass, bass clarinet, tin whistle); Michelle Kinney (cello, accordian); Gerry Leonard (guitars); Dana Lyn (fiddle); Alison Miller (drums); Eamon O'Leary (guitar, banjo); Jon Spurney (guitars, piano); Joe Trump (drums).
Influences
My parents, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Michelle Shocked, Natalie Merchant, Christy Moore, Tom
Munnelly, Sandy Denny, June Tabor, Janis, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Jimmy MacCarthy, Martin Carthy, Planxty, Paul Brady, Joni Mitchell, Portishead, Richard & Linda Thompson, Nick Cave's Murder Ballads, The Beta Band.
Once heard, you would never take Grammy-award-winning vocalist Susan McKeown for anyone else. Hailed by Q Magazine as the surprise hit of Glastonbury 2000, the strong, richly-colored contralto and the enlivening intelligence of her songs mark her as a distinctive talent. Susan grew up in Dublin, Ireland, which she left in 1990 for Manhattan.
Settling in the East Village she first gained attention as a singer-songwriter through her performances at Café Sin-é (Susan is featured in the film about the legendary informal Irish cultural center of the early 90s). Her debut album "Bones" in 1995 drew influences from sources as far flung as the ancient Irish legend of The Táin, the words of Chief Seattle, poets such as Emily Dickinson, Yeats & Coleridge, and the complexities of relationships. Her lyrics are emotion-centered and as inventive as her arrangements, from the hurdy-gurdy solo on the rock song "I Know, I Know" (Bones, 1996 Prime/SNG) to the pairing of banjo and erhu on "The Lowlands of Holland" (Lowlands, 2000 Green Linnet). Her self-produced album 'Sweet Liberty' (2004 World Village) drew accolades and a BBC Folk Music Award nomination for her setting of an English gypsy song with the group Mariachi Real de Mexico.
Susan has built an impressive career through her many releases, extensive touring, and performances on programs such as 'A Prairie Home Companion', 'All Things Considered', 'Mountain Stage' and 'Sessions at West 54th' as the guest of Natalie Merchant. Susan's voice and music have been featured in numerous documentary films, among them - Robert Capa - In Love and War (PBS American Masters), Absolutely Irish (PBS), At Home With The Clearys (BBC/RTE), Thomas Moore's Soul of Christmas (PBS) and The Irish Empire (BBC/RTE/ABC).
She has performed with Natalie Merchant, Pete Seeger, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Linda Thompson, Billy Bragg, Johnny Cunningham and The Klezmatics, on whose Grammy-winning album 'Wonder Wheel' she is prominently featured.
www.susanmckeown.com
McKeown grabbed both song and audience by the throat, dragged them through heaven and hell and back again, and left the stage to the loudest applause heard all evening. - ROLLING STONE
Music that lives and breathes in the wider world.
- Q MAGAZINE
Reflective and pensive as Sweet Liberty is, it demands a listening on an amp whose dial runs to 11, all the better to savour McKeowns' elasticised vocals stretching from the gloriously wizened to the startlingly youthful.
Think Frida Kahlo crossed with Oumou Sangare.
- THE IRISH TIMES
If there's some dividing line between Celtic traditionalism and eclectic contemporary songwriting, McKeown refuses to acknowledge it. And with a voice as warm, resonant and versatile as hers, why should she?
- THE OREGONIAN
She walks on the wild side of Gaelic melody. - BOSTON GLOBE
A singer of passion, grace and striking presence with the ability to capture both the essence of a traditional folk song or the more hard-edged domain of contemporary adult rock; she seems to personify both past and present.
- IRISH EXAMINER
We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness and call that handful of sand the world. - Robert Pirsig
The universal door manifests itself in the voice of the rolling tide. Hearing and practicing it, we become a child, born from the heart of a lotus, fresh, pure, and happy, capable of speaking and listening in accord with the universal door. With only one drop of the water of compassion from the branch of the willow, spring returns to the great Earth. Thich Nhat Hanh
Just dropping by to say Hi and see what you’re up to and how you are doing.
As always, wishing you well. Stay positive, productive & purpose driven.
Peace
Michael
..Springtime is at hand. When will you ever bloom if not here and now?" from "living buddha, living christ" Thich Nhat Hanh to peace, love, joy and freedom thank you Susan for your music to the divine that dwells in you~ I bow tess
Enjoyed your show in Alexandria, VA, last weekend. Saw you last in Charlottesville in 2008. Hope you keep coming back down here to the Old Dominion--you make it a better place! I emailed the Birchmere in Alexandria that they should book you; will keep trying!
Have you heard The Avett Brothers? Also talented musicians and great songwriters with a lot of heart. Peace, Kelly
As gach póir Díot scallann an ghrian Ar Do dhamhsa gan chríoch Taobh dorcha na gealaí is geal Má osclaíonn Tú Do bhéal Éalóidh réaltaí, canfaidh iomainn Duit Is Tusa iadsan Ealaí ag eitilt go gasta ar gcúl Conas a shamhlóinn barróg Uait Mura bpléascfainn Id réaltbhuíon?
From each and every pore
From each and every pore look how the sun beams On Your eternal dance The dark side of the moon is bright If You open Your mouth Stars will escape and chant their hymns for You You are they Swiftly swans fly backwards How can I imagine Your embrace Without rejoicing in Your galaxy?
- Gabriel Rosenstock susan~may you dwell in the heart of love and peace... Namaste! tess
