Karan Casey

Karan Casey
Background information
Born	1969 (age 47–48) Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland
Genres	Celtic Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter producer Pianist
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Crow Valley Music (own label) Compass Records
Website	Official site Official Myspace site
Notable instruments
Piano

Karan Casey (born 1969) is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland.

Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she studied piano then took music at University College Dublin in 1987. Having learned to copy Ella Fitzgerald's scat singing, she performed in a Dublin bistro several nights per week while still a student. At the Royal Irish Academy of Music she studied classical music and sang in a jazz band, then a folk-ballad band, then another jazz band. She also fell under the influence of Dublin folk singer Frank Harte. During this time she also formed her own band, called "Dorothy".

In 1993 Karan moved to New York City. There she studied jazz at Long Island University. When she began to frequent Irish traditional sessions in New York, she started singing Irish traditional music again. During this time she mostly sang in bars and local centres. During 1994, she sang with Atlantic Bridge before joining Solas. She sang five songs on their début album in 1996 while also performing jazz and folk material herself in Tramps club in Manhattan, accompanied only by a percussionist. In 1997, Karan recorded a solo album, Songlines, inspired by the novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin. It was produced by Séamus Egan and included several members of Solas. The album featured both Irish traditional and contemporary folk songs.

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