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 niamh
parsons
Niamh Parsons has come
to be known as one of the most distinctive voices in Irish
music. Her voice has drawn comparisons to such venerated
singers as Dolores Keane, June Tabor and Sandy Denny.
The great Scottish balladeer Archie Fisher said of Niamh,
“a songstress like her comes along once or twice
in a generation.”
Never has this been more clear than on her new album,
Heart’s Desire (Green Linnet, 2002). True to the
direction of the two solo albums that preceded it, In
My Prime and Blackbirds and Thrushes, Niamh’s latest
album furthers the tradition of Irish song with unadorned
settings and heartfelt delivery.
She has gathered together a collection of songs drawn
from both traditional sources and modern writers including
Mark Knopfler and Andy Irvine. The talented musicians
who play on the album include guitarist Graham Dunne,
accordionist Josephine Marsh and Dennis Cahill, who produced
the CD, and calls it “her best work yet.”
Throughout her career, Niamh has performed with a wide
variety of artists and has appeared at nearly every prestigious
folk festival on either side of the Atlantic. She was
a member of the traditional Irish band Arcady, led by
Johnny “Ringo” McDonagh (of De Dannan) and
on the Shanachie recording Many Happy Returns. She appeared
before President Clinton and Irish Prime Minister Bertie
Ahern in Washington, joined Grammy Award winner Paul Winter
for an album and a summer concert in New York, and performed
on “A Prairie Home Companion” when the show
broadcast live from Dublin.
Niamh’s recording career began with The Loose Connections,
a band of top-notch Belfast musicians she formed with
songwriter and bass-player Dee Moore.
In 1999, Niamh took a bold step and returned to her roots
with her first solo album, Blackbirds and Thrushes (Green
Linnet) a collection of traditional Irish ballads gathered
from over 15 years of Niamh’s singing repertoire.
Keeping in form, Niamh’s next CD In My Prime (Green
Linnet 2000) was another collection of mostly traditional
material, and again received widespread praise. Folk Roots
named it one of the top albums of the year and The Irish
Voice called the album “a must-have disc for lovers
of Irish song.” The album was nominated for Album
of the Year by BBC Radio 2 (UK) and the Association for
Independent Music (US).
Heart’s Desire is an addition to a body of work
that has proven Niamh Parsons as one of the premier vocalists
of her time and a keeper of the flame in Irish traditional
song.
Niamh Parsons' Heart's Desire won the American Federation
of Independent Musicians INDIE award for best Celtic/British
Isles CD. |
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