Karan Casey

Legendary Irish folk singer Karan Casey has released 11albums to date. She has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, singing songs charged with a sense of social responsibility in a career spanning over 25 years. Karan is joined by Niamh Dunne on fiddle and vocals, and guitarist and accordionist Sean Óg Graham (both of the Irish folk band Beoga). The evocative trio have toured together for several years and this show premieres new material developed and recorded since the start of the pandemic as well as favourites from Karan’s back repertoire. The songs draw inspiration from a wide range of sources from the personal to the historical and political, touching on themes of family, loss, love, the empowerment of women and Irish revolutionary struggle.

Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey has been blazing a trail for over 25 years. A lover of ballads, love songs and searing versions of social justice songs, 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. Karan has been striking out lately to explore new areas of performance on the piano and with spoken word and theatre.

Karan 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. In 2018 Karan helped found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk musics. Karan tours with her band Niamh Dunne, Sean Óg Graham and Niall Vallely.

Karan’s new album Nine Apples of Gold, released in February, has had 8 songs in the top of the FAI folk music charts, and held the #1 album spot for March! Her prior album, Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale, produced by Donald Shaw, was released on the Vertical Records Label, and her song “Down in the Glen” from that album was nominated for Best Original Folk Song at the RTE Folk Awards 2019.

Karan, who also completed a PhD in music in 2019, recently performed her new dramaturgic show with Director Sophie Motley called I Walked into My Head which premiered at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2021. Karan is currently working on another stage show about women in the Irish revolutionary period to be produced at the Everyman Theatre in Cork in 2023.

Follow Karan Casey online:
https://www.karancasey.com
https://www.facebook.com/KaranCasey
https://www.instagram.com/karan.casey.9
https://www.youtube.com/@karancasey

‘Expertly-crafted work developed by an astute and heartened artist’ – Jonathan Frahm, For Folk’s Sake

SF based singer/songwriter EllaHarp is a curious sort of artist. After years honing her skills touring, recording, and releasing music on a unique harp she designed for the purpose, 2020 saw the addition of another self designed/built instrument that got swiftly put to work; a small, 5 string banjo which fits just inside said harp’s case, which in turn fits neatly in an airplane overhead. A bit like musical Russian dolls…

New singles (off her upcoming 3rd album) like ‘Lost in January’ and ‘Restless Lullaby’ showcase both instruments in signature style, blending folk and Americana with pop sensibilities, highlighting dark, thoughtful lyrics and memorable hooks.

Her 2021 and 2018 albums ‘Screaming Into the Void’ (which saw multiple chart appearances on the NACC Top 30 Folk, the AMA top 200 and the FAI Top Albums in both Oct and Nov 2021) and ‘Who Asked You Back’ (#4 and #2 on RMR Top 50 Folk and Top 50 Contemporary Folk Album charts) spinned on over 100 radio stations nationally and abroad.

Bringing dynamic live performances that contrast dark songwriting with humor and a knack for creative storytelling, EllaHarp has opened for Hollow Coves, Harrison Storm, Smith and Thell, Ira Wolf, Humbird and Willie Watson with her unique, travel-made instruments. She has built 50k followers across Instagram + Facebook and over 3 million streams since COVID. Her track ‘Time’ can be heard on popular Netflix show ‘Emily in Paris’.

Follow EllaHarp online:
https://ellaharp.com
https://www.facebook.com/EllaHarpMusic
https://www.instagram.com/ellaharp
https://www.youtube.com/@EllaHarp