Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey has been blazing a trail for over 25 years. On Tuesday, June 20, that trail will lead to Pendleton for a special appearance at the Pendleton Center for the Arts.
The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15 and available at PendletonArts.org or by calling 541-278-9201.
A lover of ballads, love songs and searing versions of social justice songs, and fond of a good yarn, she has toured the world making deep connections with her audience connecting via Ireland’s past but crucially repositioning women and songs in a universal and a modern setting.
Casey will be playing songs from her latest album, “Nine Apples,” which the Irish Times called, “… filled with utterly gorgeous original songs that show she is an artist still at the top of the game.”
A Waterford native, Casey was among the vanguard of the Irish music revival’s “third wave” of the late 1980s/early 1990s, a founding member of the seminal Irish American band Solas before launching her solo career in 1999, and going on to record 11 albums. Though steeped early on in Irish traditional and folk music, Casey has long followed an eclectic path, whether studying classical music (she is a talented pianist), fronting jazz bands or working with Frank Harte, a much-revered folk/traditional singer from Dublin.
She has released eleven albums as well as contributing to numerous other artists’ projects – appearing on more than 50 albums so far – and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, Kate Ellis, Niall Vallely, Pauline Scanlon, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson, Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Tim O’Brien and Solas.
She is widely considered one of Ireland’s finest singer-songwriters – and a leading advocate for gender balance in the Irish folk and traditional music scene. Karan completed a PhD in music in 2019 and tours with her band Niamh Dunne, Sean Óg Graham and Niall Vallely.
The Blue Heron Music Series at the Pendleton Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of Drs. Connie and Dan Marier. More information is available by calling 541-278-9201 or online at PendletonArts.org.
