Nuala Kennedy

Nuala Kennedy
Background information
Born	(1977-01-30)30 January 1977
Genres	Irish traditional music, Indie folk
Instruments	Voice, Irish Flute, keys
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Compass Records
Associated acts	Will Oldham Oliver Schroer AJ Roach John Doyle Norman Blake Kris Drever
Website	www.nualakennedy.com
Notable instruments
Chris Wilkes Handmade Wooden Flute

Nuala Kennedy (born 30 January 1977) is an Irish composer, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She grew up in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland Dundalk where she played piano and flute in a local ceili band Cèilidh and studied classical piano under Prof. John O' Connor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Dundalk is an area rich in mythology and musical heritage and has strong historical links to Scotland. This was to influence her later career when she moved at age eighteen to the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh.

In Edinburgh Nuala studied Design at Edinburgh College of Art and played regularly at sessions throughout the city. Nuala holds a post graduate diploma in Education from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Music from Newcastle University. In late 2000 Nuala began playing alongside Kris Drever and Anna-Wendy Stevenson in a weekly session at Sandy Bell's pub in Edinburgh. The trio became known as Fine Friday and toured in the UK, Europe and Australia, releasing two albums before disbanding.

In 2007 Compass Records released Nuala's first solo recording 'The New Shoes' where she was recognized as an exceptional interpreter of the tradition/^[1] She went on to release two further solo albums with Compass Records 'Tune In/ (2010) and Noble Stranger (2012).^[2] She has collaborated, performed and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Will Oldham,^[3] Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub,^[4] Cathal McConnell from Boys of the Lough,^[5] Frode Haltli, Vegar Vardal, Oliver Schroer,^[6] John Doyle,^[7] and American singer-songwriter, AJ Roach^[8]

Nuala tours globally as Nuala Kennedy Band headlining at major festivals such as Rudolstadt (GER) Telemark (NOR) Celtic Connections (UK) Celtic Colours International (CAN) Festival Interceltique de Lorient (FRA) Eurofonik (FRA) and Milwaukee Irish Festival (USA). She is a member of Oirialla playing music from her native Oriel alongside Gerry O'Connor, accordionist Martin Quinn and Breton guitarist Gilles Le Bigot. Nuala also plays in the Irish traditional music power trio, The Alt[www.thealtmusic.com] with John Doyle and Eamon O'Leary, and in 2014 she released their eponymous record on her independent label 'Under the Arch Records'. Her most recent release is entitled 'Behave the Bravest' (2016).

Personal life

Nuala is married to the Appalachian singer-songwriter A. J. Roach.

Discography

Fine Friday, "Gone Dancing", Footstomping Records, 2002
Harem Scarem, "Let Them Eat Fishcake", Vertical Records, 2002
Harem Scarem, "The Birnam Witch Project", Vertical Records, 2005
Fine Friday, "Mowing the Machair", Footstomping Records, 2005
Nuala Kennedy, "The New Shoes", Compass Records, 2007
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, "Is It The Sea?", Domino, 2008
Nuala Kennedy, "Tune In", Compass Records, 2010
Nuala Kennedy and Oliver Schroer, "Enthralled", Borealis, 2011
Nuala Kennedy, "Noble Stranger", Compass Records, 2012
Nuala Kennedy and Michael Bryan, "A Wee Selection", Under The Arch, 2013
The Alt, "The Alt", Under The Arch, 2014
Nuala Kennedy "Behave the Bravest", Under The Arch Records, 2016

Awards

Nominated for Instrumental Group of the Year, Canadian Folk Awards, 2012^[9]
Nominated for Ensemble of the Year, Canadian Folk Awards, 2012, ^[10] Nominated for Best Live Act, Scottish Folk Awards, 2013

Performed On

Battlefield Band "Beg & Borrow" 2015 Kimberley Fraser "Falling On New Ground" 2006 Troy MacGillivray "Eleven" 2005

References