Susan Mckeown

Susan McKeown Born In Terenure Dublin On 6 February 1967 Is An Irish Folk Singer Songwriter Arranger And Producer. As Well As Her Solo Recordings She Has Recorded As Susan McKeown And The Chanting House As Susan McKeown & Lindsey Horner And As Susan McKeown & Lorin Sklamberg. McKeown Briefly Attended The Municipal College Of Music In Dublin As A Teenager Before Abandoning A Promising Opera Career In Order To Sing Folk And Rock. She Formed Susan McKeown And The Chanting House In 1989 Initially As A Duo With John Doyle. Yhey Toured Europe With Donogh Hennessy And Other Musicians The Set List Consisting Of Original Songs And Traditional Tunes. They Released A Cassette-Only Album Called "The Chanting House" In 1990. On Graduating From University College Dublin McKeown Was Awarded A Scholarship To Attend The American Musical And Dramatic Academy In Manhattan. In 1990 With A Bursary From The Arts Council Of Ireland She Relocated To New York City. Doyle Followed And They Were Soon To Join Forces With Seamus Egan And Eileen Ivers With Whom They Recorded One Live Cassette And One Track "If I Were You" Which They Contributed To The Album Straight Outta Ireland In 1993. Later In 1993 McKeown Formed A New Version Of The Band With Fiddler Chris Cunningham American Cellist Michelle Kinney American Jazz Bassist Lindsey Horner And American Drummer Joe Trump. The Band Performed At Clubs Such As Sin-É Fez The Bottom Line And The Bowery Ballroom And Recorded A Cassette Album "Snakes" In 1993. It Was The Release In 1995 Of "Bones" An Album Of Original Songs With McKeown's Take On A Centuries-Old Keen Caoineadh And An Arrangement Of Robert Burns' "Westlin' Winds" Later Recorded By Fairport Convention That Garnered McKeown International Attention And Launched Her Further Touring And Recording Career. In 1997 She Recorded Three Albums Her Own Bushes & Briars Alula Peter & Wendy The Soundtrack To The Obie Award-Winning Mabou Mines Theatrical Production Of The Same Name Which Was Composed By Johnny Cunningham And Through The Bitter Frost & Snow A Collaboration With Bassist Lindsey Horner. At This Time She Began To Divide Her Work Into Albums Of Traditional Music Bushes And Briars 1998 And Singer-Songwriter Albums. In 1997 Cunningham Invited McKeown To Perform On The Album And PBS TV Special 'The Soul Of Christmas' With Thomas Moore. It Was While Working On This Show That McKeown Suggested To Cathie Ryan And Robin Spielberg The Idea Of Recording An Album Of Songs Relating To Motherhood Resulting In The Mother Album 1999 . McKeown Began Producing And Contributed To The Albums Lowlands 2000 Green Linnet And Sweet Liberty 2004 World Village/Harmonia Mundi . The Latter Earned A BBC Folk Music Award Nomination For Her Setting Of An English Gypsy Song With A Mariachi Band. Her Second Release For Harmonia Mundi's World Village Imprint Was Blackthorn 2006 . In December 2003 McKeown Joined The Klezmer Band The Klezmatics Onstage At The 92nd Street Y In Manhattan In A Concert Of Songs They Had Composed To Lyrics By Woody Guthrie. She Has Toured And Appeared With The Klezmatics Often Since Then Performing In Europe And Across The U.S. Including In Carnegie Hall In New York City And Disney Hall In Los Angeles. Together They Recorded Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah 2004 And Wonder Wheel 2006 Which Won A Grammy For Best Contemporary World Music Album. In 2009 McKeown And Lorin Sklamberg The Lead Singer Of The Klezmatics Released Saints & Tzadiks World Village/Harmonia Mundi As Susan McKeown & Lorin Sklamberg An Album Combining Yiddish And Irish Songs. In October 2010 She Released The Solo Album Singing In The Dark. In November 2012 She Released Belong Her Third Album Of Original Song. In February 2018 She Was IrishCentral.Com's 'Anam' Soul Award Recipient For "discovering And Revealing The Soul Of Irish Song". Later In 2018 McKeown Was Music Network Ireland's Musician-In-Residence At Dun Laoghaire LexIcon Library. In January 2020 McKeown Wrote And Performed Original Songs In Honor Molloy's 'Round Room' As Part Of New York-Based Origin Theatre Company's 1st Irish Theatre Festival. read less