Karan Casey

All Music Guide:

As a part of the Irish folk group Solas, Karan Casey has defined herself as one of Ireland's best, joining the distinguished ranks of fellow female singer/songwriters such as Clannad's Maire Brennan, Sharon Shannon, and Karen Matheson of Capercaillie. The Wall Street Journal's music writer Earle Hitchner praises her singing, harking that Casey's voice "is one of the true glories of Irish music today."

Karan Casey grew up singing with her family while growing up in the southeastern side of Waterford in the Irish village of Ballyduff Lower. As a child, she sang in the church choir, but turned to the piano as a young adult. While studying voice and piano at the University College Dublin and later at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in the late '80s, Casey was singing Ella Fitzgerald standards in a jazz duo at a local pub in Dublin. She also started her own Irish group called Dorothy. She credits jazz music for allowing her to wholly approach and understand her tact to singing traditional Irish folklore. Dublin, however, was not the place for her to continue her exploration.

In 1993, Karan Casey emigrated to New York to find herself studying music once again as a jazz music major at Brooklyn's Long Island Univesity. Around this time, she rediscovered her fondness for Irish traditional music and made the rounds singing in locals bars in Manhattan. Such passion led Casey to briefly play with the New York-based band Atlantic Bridge, but by the end of 1994, Casey joined Seamus Egan, John Doyle, John Williams, and Winifred Horan to form Solas. The band quickly received critical acclaim, recording three albums with Shanachie, which coincided winning the NAIRD awards with each release. Solas also found themselves touring American, Europe, and Japan, playing alongside greats such as Bela Fleck, the Chieftains, Iris DeMent, and Donal Lunny.

All in the midst of this, Karan Casey still found time to record a solo album called Songlines, which was released in 1997. Winds Begin to Sing followed in early 2001. Casey eventually decided to go solo full time in order to better control her touring schedule, which in turn would allow her to spend more time with her young family. After playing shows in North America and Europe (and appearing as a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion), Casey briefly returned to Solas for the group's 2006 release Reunion. Her fifth solo album, Ships in the Forest, was released in 2008.

Wikipedia:

Karan Casey (born 1969) is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.

Early years

Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, 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 in 1987. Having learned to copy Ella Fitzgerald's scat singing, she performed in a Dublin bistro several nights per week while still a student. At the Royal Irish Academy of Music she studied classical music 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. During this time she also formed her own band, called "Dorothy".

Immigration to the USA

In 1993 Karan moved to New York City. There she studied jazz at Long Island University. When she began to frequent Irish traditional sessions in New York, she started singing Irish traditional music again. During this time she mostly sang in bars and local centres. During 1994, she sang with Atlantic Bridge before joining Solas. She sang five songs on their début album in 1996 while also performing jazz and folk material herself in Tramps club in Manhattan, accompanied only by a percussionist. In 1997, Karan recorded a solo album, Songlines, inspired by the novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin. It was produced by Séamus Egan and included several members of Solas. The album featured both Irish traditional and contemporary folk songs.

Solo career

Karan 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 and America. In 2000 Karan collaborated with several other vocalists on Seal Maiden: a Celtic Musical. It was a musical version of the film "The Secret of Roan Inish", designed for children. It concerned the mythical creature called the selkie (in this case, a seal-woman). Casey's songs were arranged by her friend and regular collaborator Iarla Ó Lionáird.

In 2001, Casey finished working on her second solo album, The Winds Begin to Sing (2001) which was well received by critics and propelled Casey 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. Chasing the Sun, included a number of songs written by Casey herself as well as songs by young Belfast musician Barry Kerr. The album was well received and was the last to be released on the Shanachie and Vertical labels so that Casey, husband Niall Vallely 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, Karan Casey and her husband set up Crow Valley Music to release Karan's latest album, Ships in the Forest in Europe. The album was released on Compass Records in the Americas.

Personal life

Karan is married to Irish concertina player Niall Vallely and has collaborated frequently with the Vallely brothers and their bands. She has two daughters (Muireann and Áine) and currently lives in Coome, County Cork.