Cathie Ryan

Although born in Detroit, MI, Cathie Ryan grew up as the child of Irish immigrants. Her father’s work as a tenor vocalist and her grandmother’s activities as a fiddler and singer sparked an early passion for music, prompting frequent trips to Ireland where she participated in Gaelic league sessions. Once she relocated to New York, she trained under the celebrated sean-nós singer Joe Heaney. In 1987 she entered the ranks of the Irish traditional women’s ensemble Cherish the Ladies, contributing the title track to the group’s second album, the 1992 release The Back Door, which honored Irish immigrants; she stayed with the ensemble for seven years.

Departing Cherish the Ladies in 1995, Ryan embarked on a solo path, securing a contract with the Shanachie label that yielded her self-titled debut in 1997 and the subsequent albums The Music of What Happens in 1998 and Somewhere Along the Road in 2001. Among her honors, the Irish American News in Chicago designated her Irish Female Vocalist of the Decade, while the New York Daily News described her as “firmly in the upper echelons of Irish music singers.” Beyond performing, she serves as one of the hosts for pledge programming on New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut’s PBS outlet WNET, Channel 13, and co-leads tours to mythological sites in Ireland organized by the New York Center for Jungian Studies.