Alison O'Donnell
| Alison O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
O'Donnell on stage at The Wishing Well Gig in The Garden, Blackrock, Dublin, July 2010
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alison Felicity Bools |
| Also known as | Alison Leigh, Alison Williams, Assie O'Donnell |
| Born |
5 October 1952 Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Folk, folk rock, psychedelic, traditional Irish, jazz |
| Instruments | Voice, bodhrán, percussion, autoharp |
| Years active | 1963 to present |
| Labels | Deram Records, Stanyan Records, Kissing Spell Records, Osmosys Records, Static Caravan Recordings, Fruits de Mer Records, Floating World Records |
| Associated acts | Mellow Candle, Flibbertigibbet, Plastik Mak, Éishtlinn, The Owl Service, United Bible Studies, Head South By Weaving, Bajik |
| Website | alisonodonnell |
Alison O'Donnell (born 5 October 1952) is an Irish musician, solo and band singer and songwriter. Born Alison Bools in Dublin to an English mother and Irish father, raised in Dalkey and educated at Holy Child, Killiney, County Dublin.
O'Donnell grew up in Dalkey and Killiney in south County Dublin, where she had a daily view of Dalkey Island (which was to provide inspiration for song writing in her teens and early 20s). Ballet and sporting activities were early interests until the age of 11 when music became her abiding passion. Her commitment was sealed when she took Cecilia as her Confirmation name (Saint Cecilia being the Patron saint of musicians). At the age of 11 she co-founded the progressive folk rock band Mellow Candle with school friends Clodagh Simonds and Maria White. They released their first single, Feeling High on SNB Records (Simon Napier-Bell) in 1968.
On leaving school, O'Donnell attended Art College in Dún Laoghaire (now Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology) and briefly joined Blue Tint, a covers band, where she met her first husband, guitarist Dave Williams, who was studying at Trinity College, Dublin. This was followed by a secretarial course and employment until a full electric line-up of Mellow Candle reformed. The band lived and worked in Ireland and England between 1969 and 1973 managed by Thin Lizzy manager, Ted Carroll. O'Donnell and Williams spent their wedding evening in concert with Thin Lizzy at the National Stadium in Dublin. Bob Geldof, Luke Kelly and members of Clannad were amongst early spectators at Irish concerts, and several members of the group participated in house sessions with pioneering traditional musicians, Dónal Lunny and Andy Irvine. The band released their latterly highly acclaimed, cult album, Swaddling Songs on Decca Records's Deram subsidiary in 1972.
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