Biography
A member of one of Ireland’s most respected singing families, Dolores Keane possesses some of the most captivating voices in Celtic music. She served as the inaugural singer for the Irish ensemble De Danann and has performed alongside the Chieftains and Planxty, as well as alongside her husband, John Faulkner, and in solo settings.
Her musical path started remarkably early. Already at age five she was performing with her aunts Sarah and Rita Keane, renowned interpreters of traditional Irish ballads. When Johnny Moynihan invited her to join the newly forming De Danann, the engagement marked her first experience singing to instrumental support. She stayed with the group for four years and appeared on its self-titled debut release.
In the late 1970s Keane moved to England and wed guitarist, bouzouki, and mandolin player John Faulkner. Beyond their joint performances, the couple contributed to several BBC documentary films, one of which involved research on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Her first solo record, There Was a Maid, appeared in 1978 with accompaniment from the tradition-rooted Reel Union, whose members included the late Chieftains bodhrán player Peador Mercier and East Galway fiddler Martin Byrnes. The following year she issued the collaborative Brokenhearted I’ll Wander with Faulkner, again supported by Reel Union. In 1983 she briefly joined the Irish traditional-rock outfit Planxty. By the mid-1980s she had rejoined De Danann, recording with successive lineups that included the 1987 configuration alongside vocalist Mary Black. In 1989 she supplied the featured voice on the Chieftains’ Bonaparte’s Retreat.
Two further joint projects with Faulkner followed: Farewell to Eireann in 1980 and Sail Og Rua in 1983. Subsequent solo albums comprise Lion in a Cage (1989), Dolores Keane (1991), and Solid Ground (1993), the last of which enlisted De Danann’s Martin O’Connor and Jackie Daly on accordion, her brother Sean Keane on flute, and Emmylou Harris for harmony and backing vocals. A retrospective, The Best of Dolores Keane, surfaced in 1997, with Night Owl arriving three years later.
Although she has not composed original material, Keane has shown unerring judgment in selecting songs. In addition to interpreting works by Irish writers such as Dougie MacLean, Shaun Davey, Paul Brady, and Van Morrison, she has recorded pieces by North American songwriters David Mallett, Chris Rea, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle, as well as British songsmiths Richard & Linda Thompson and Steve Winwood.
On the 1998 Pete Seeger tribute Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Keane joined Tommy Sands and Vedran Smailovic for a distinctive reading of Seeger’s title song.
Her musical path started remarkably early. Already at age five she was performing with her aunts Sarah and Rita Keane, renowned interpreters of traditional Irish ballads. When Johnny Moynihan invited her to join the newly forming De Danann, the engagement marked her first experience singing to instrumental support. She stayed with the group for four years and appeared on its self-titled debut release.
In the late 1970s Keane moved to England and wed guitarist, bouzouki, and mandolin player John Faulkner. Beyond their joint performances, the couple contributed to several BBC documentary films, one of which involved research on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Her first solo record, There Was a Maid, appeared in 1978 with accompaniment from the tradition-rooted Reel Union, whose members included the late Chieftains bodhrán player Peador Mercier and East Galway fiddler Martin Byrnes. The following year she issued the collaborative Brokenhearted I’ll Wander with Faulkner, again supported by Reel Union. In 1983 she briefly joined the Irish traditional-rock outfit Planxty. By the mid-1980s she had rejoined De Danann, recording with successive lineups that included the 1987 configuration alongside vocalist Mary Black. In 1989 she supplied the featured voice on the Chieftains’ Bonaparte’s Retreat.
Two further joint projects with Faulkner followed: Farewell to Eireann in 1980 and Sail Og Rua in 1983. Subsequent solo albums comprise Lion in a Cage (1989), Dolores Keane (1991), and Solid Ground (1993), the last of which enlisted De Danann’s Martin O’Connor and Jackie Daly on accordion, her brother Sean Keane on flute, and Emmylou Harris for harmony and backing vocals. A retrospective, The Best of Dolores Keane, surfaced in 1997, with Night Owl arriving three years later.
Although she has not composed original material, Keane has shown unerring judgment in selecting songs. In addition to interpreting works by Irish writers such as Dougie MacLean, Shaun Davey, Paul Brady, and Van Morrison, she has recorded pieces by North American songwriters David Mallett, Chris Rea, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle, as well as British songsmiths Richard & Linda Thompson and Steve Winwood.
On the 1998 Pete Seeger tribute Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Keane joined Tommy Sands and Vedran Smailovic for a distinctive reading of Seeger’s title song.
Albums
