Biography
Louis Killen occupied a central position within British folk traditions beginning in the 1950s, where his reputation rested chiefly on compilations of maritime work songs and whaling ballads. His standing aligned with that of Ewan MacColl, Pete Seeger, and A.L. Lloyd, each of whom he collaborated with across various projects. At age 76 in 2010, Killen initiated a public life as a woman and completed gender reassignment surgery in 2012. Thereafter identified as Louisa Jo Killen, she survived only briefly before succumbing to cancer at her Gateshead home in England during August 2013, at the age of 79.
The artist entered the world in 1934 within the northern village of Gateshead-on-Tyne, County Durham, England. While studying at Oxford University, he developed an early attraction to folk music through association with the surrounding scene, refining his singing approach alongside mastery of the pennywhistle and concertina. Departing the university in 1958, he relocated northward, established residence in Newcastle, launched one of the country’s earliest folk clubs, and sustained himself through employment in local shipyards. After losing that position in 1961, Killen chose a professional path and secured a contract with Topic Records, the historic British folk imprint. His initial offerings consisted of two EPs issued in 1962: The Colliers Rant, recorded jointly with Johnny Handle, and A Northumbrian Garland.
Throughout the British folk revival of the early and mid-1960s, Killen sustained an active schedule of joint performances and contributed to numerous anthologies, while also arranging concerts and hootenannies across the British Isles; his debut solo album, Ballads and Broadsides, appeared in 1964. As the revival subsided, he took the uncommon step, for a British performer of the genre, of relocating to the United States in 1967, where he resided primarily until after the turn of the millennium while continuing to concentrate exclusively on material from Great Britain. Initially immersing himself in New York’s folk community, he joined Pete Seeger for multiple concerts and, under the name Lou Killen, recorded the 1968 album Sea Chanteys for ESP-Disk. This live, largely a cappella set of traditional pieces, save for MacColl’s “Shoals of Herring,” marked Killen’s first extended exploration of seafaring repertoire, a subject that would define much of his subsequent work.
Following a stint in Seattle shipyards that also produced the 1969 benefit recording 50 South to 50 South for the city’s seaport museum, Killen returned to New York and assumed Tommy Makem’s place in the Clancy Brothers. He remained with the group through the first half of the 1970s while maintaining independent projects, among them the 1971 duo album with Peter Bellamy of the Young Tradition, titled Won’t You Go My Way? Upon Makem’s return, Killen departed and issued a further duo recording with his wife Sally, Bright Shining Morning, in 1975, followed by the solo collection Old Songs, Old Friends in 1977. After Gallant Lads Are We in 1980, he devoted the greater part of the 1980s to instruction and authorship rather than performance. Resuming recording, he established the KnockOut! label and self-released subsequent titles, beginning with 1989’s The Rose in June, which incorporated several original compositions including the title track, and continuing with 1993’s A Bonny Bunch. His maritime focus reemerged in the two volumes Sailors, Ships and Chanteys (1995) and A Seaman’s Garland: Sailors, Ships and Chanteys, Vol. 2 (1997).
Killen settled once more in Gateshead in 2003. After extended internal conflict regarding gender and following professional counseling, she proceeded with reassignment despite apprehensions over public and audience response. Upon presenting as Louisa Jo Killen, however, she encountered widespread acceptance and sustained both performances and lectures even after her cancer diagnosis.
The artist entered the world in 1934 within the northern village of Gateshead-on-Tyne, County Durham, England. While studying at Oxford University, he developed an early attraction to folk music through association with the surrounding scene, refining his singing approach alongside mastery of the pennywhistle and concertina. Departing the university in 1958, he relocated northward, established residence in Newcastle, launched one of the country’s earliest folk clubs, and sustained himself through employment in local shipyards. After losing that position in 1961, Killen chose a professional path and secured a contract with Topic Records, the historic British folk imprint. His initial offerings consisted of two EPs issued in 1962: The Colliers Rant, recorded jointly with Johnny Handle, and A Northumbrian Garland.
Throughout the British folk revival of the early and mid-1960s, Killen sustained an active schedule of joint performances and contributed to numerous anthologies, while also arranging concerts and hootenannies across the British Isles; his debut solo album, Ballads and Broadsides, appeared in 1964. As the revival subsided, he took the uncommon step, for a British performer of the genre, of relocating to the United States in 1967, where he resided primarily until after the turn of the millennium while continuing to concentrate exclusively on material from Great Britain. Initially immersing himself in New York’s folk community, he joined Pete Seeger for multiple concerts and, under the name Lou Killen, recorded the 1968 album Sea Chanteys for ESP-Disk. This live, largely a cappella set of traditional pieces, save for MacColl’s “Shoals of Herring,” marked Killen’s first extended exploration of seafaring repertoire, a subject that would define much of his subsequent work.
Following a stint in Seattle shipyards that also produced the 1969 benefit recording 50 South to 50 South for the city’s seaport museum, Killen returned to New York and assumed Tommy Makem’s place in the Clancy Brothers. He remained with the group through the first half of the 1970s while maintaining independent projects, among them the 1971 duo album with Peter Bellamy of the Young Tradition, titled Won’t You Go My Way? Upon Makem’s return, Killen departed and issued a further duo recording with his wife Sally, Bright Shining Morning, in 1975, followed by the solo collection Old Songs, Old Friends in 1977. After Gallant Lads Are We in 1980, he devoted the greater part of the 1980s to instruction and authorship rather than performance. Resuming recording, he established the KnockOut! label and self-released subsequent titles, beginning with 1989’s The Rose in June, which incorporated several original compositions including the title track, and continuing with 1993’s A Bonny Bunch. His maritime focus reemerged in the two volumes Sailors, Ships and Chanteys (1995) and A Seaman’s Garland: Sailors, Ships and Chanteys, Vol. 2 (1997).
Killen settled once more in Gateshead in 2003. After extended internal conflict regarding gender and following professional counseling, she proceeded with reassignment despite apprehensions over public and audience response. Upon presenting as Louisa Jo Killen, however, she encountered widespread acceptance and sustained both performances and lectures even after her cancer diagnosis.
Albums
