Karan Casey, one of Ireland’s preeminent female singer-songwriters, may hail from County Cork, but she’s still a Philly home girl at heart.
Casey, who just returned to the US for a concert tour in support of her acclaimed new record, Nine Apples of Gold (Crow Valley Records), that will bring her to the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE, on March 7 and to the Susquehanna Folk Society in Harrisburg on March 8, lived in Philadelphia for many years early in her career as a member of the great Irish-American supergroup, Solas.
“Oh, I loved Philly! I lived there from 1996 to 1999, I think? I started my solo career there and recorded my first three or four records there,” recalls Casey. “I have so many fond memories…Johnny Cunningham (the late Scottish composer who helped bring Celtic music to the world) introduced me to my first cocktail in Philly – and it had olives in it!,” she laughingly recalls. “Germantown is where I got to know and love Mick Moloney (the late, legendary Irish musician who championed Irish music and culture across America). Mick was incredibly supportive. Philly was brilliant and I still miss the food in Chinatown!”
Karan was raised by music-loving parents in her birthplace of County Waterford, Ireland. She laughingly recalls how her Irish “Aunties” would lift her up onto the kitchen table, hand her the plastic end of the drapery draw string to use like a microphone, and ask her to sing for them. A career in music seemed destined.
Despite her deep Irish roots, Karan’s musical journey did not immediately begin with the traditional Irish tunes that have defined her career and led to international acclaim. Rather, young Karan Casey’s first serious musical foray was in jazz.
“I was hijacked!” she laughs. “As a kid, I was asked to audition for a role in ‘Grease’ in a Dublin production. They wanted to know if I could sing jazz. The next thing I know, I’m studying the Cole Porter Songbook. But I immediately fell in love with great singers like Sara Vaughan, Betty Carter, Nina Simone and, of course, Ella Fitzgerald.”
She may not have known it at the time, but that early immersion in jazz has served her well in her long and still-evolving career in music. Casey’s beguiling voice, full of range and emotion, can hit incredible crescendos and world-weary whispers within the same song. Like all great Irish singers, her sweet and singular voice stirs the soul.
Nowhere is that vocal magic more evident than on Nine Apples of Gold, Casey’s brand-new record on her and husband Niall Valleley’s own Crow Valley record label, her ninth solo record. The early reviews have been exceptional. Folk Radio UK calls it “A dynamic and enchanting album of songs that speaks to healing, camaraderie in times of strife, finding enrichment and new life in campaigning for women, and, of course, death.”
The glowing reviews have thrilled Casey. “I cannot believe the reception it’s getting. I actually curse on this record for the first time…maybe I should have cursed on all of the other records, too!”, she laughs.
Nine Apples of Gold features many original Karan Casey compositions that carry the running themes of female empowerment and the healing power of music.
“I truly believe in the power of music to bring people together,” she continues. “Things are so difficult in this world right now. People are so polarized. When people sing together, commune together around music, it moves us. It heals us.”
Karan Casey is working to empower women through music and advocacy. She is the architect of FairPle, a non-profit organization she helped found in Ireland that is committed to achieving equality, gender balance and freedom from sexual harassment and misogyny in the music industry specifically, and in the performing arts generally.
“We actually conducted a study. Of 12 major music festivals staged in Ireland, females comprised only 24% of the entire lineup of talent. That’s simply not good enough. FairPle exists to make the music scene more fair and equitable and also to promote camaraderie – rather than competition – among female artists. I’ve met some amazing people through FairPle.”
On the current US tour in support of Nine Apples of Gold, Casey, an accomplished pianist, is joined on stage by fiddler Sheila Falls and guitarist Matt Heaton. The 13-date US tour kicked off on March 3 in Vermont and will hit 10 states before concluding March 18 in Ann Arbor, MI. Casey then returns home to Ireland, where the tour continues through the end of April.
Tickets to the March 7 show at the Grand Opera House In Wilmington, DE, are still available. Tickets to the March 8 performance at the Susquehanna Folk Society in Harrisburg, PA, are also still available as of this writing.
Like so many musicians in these days of digital downloads, diminished record sales, and low-paying music streaming services, a near-constant touring schedule has become an economic necessity. Karan Casey and her husband and fellow touring musician, Niall Vallely, alternate their tour schedules so that one parent is in County Cork to keep the home fires burning and to be there for their two daughters, Muireann, 23, and Aine, 17.
“Now that our kids are older, I don’t mind the road nearly as much as I used to,” she admits. “In fact, I get a lot of energy from the gigs and appreciate the opportunity to say what I want to say. It’s an honor to sing for a living, to sing your heart out for people, whether it’s an audience of five or 500. I’m so appreciative of my audience–they keep me going.”
To go see Karan Casey live in-concert or to learn more about this transcendent Irish singer-songwriter, visit her website .
