Lowlands by Susan McKeown

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Susan McKeown's seventh solo album is an exploration of Creativity & Madness through the lyrics of great poets who were writing through the lens of depression, mania or substance abuse. With an introduction by Kay Jamison, author of 'Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament' the album features poems by Byron, Anne Sexton, Theodore Roethke, Lord Byron, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Gwyneth Lewis, Hayden Carruth and James Clarence Mangan, as well as songs from John Dowland, Violeta Parra and Leonard Cohen. A portion of the proceeds from the album will benefit mental health organizations NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Fountain House, BC2M (Bring Change to Mind) and MDSG (Mood Disorder Support Group).

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'A Winter Talisman' grew out of the idea that Johnny Cunningham and Susan McKeown "thought we'd like to do a winter program that's different from the normal holiday fare" says Cunningham. So they went to work devising such a program, selecting pieces from their own childhood winter memories, and researching the music of what the Celts really got up to in winter. The results are sometimes exquisite, sometimes downright hilarious.

Winter in Ireland and Scotland was and is a time of celebration and great merriment, which is reflected in stories of the supernatural, and songs of courtship and drinking. The album features driving rhythmical songs, stirring tunes, and wistful melodies of the non-secular sort, from the Mummer's song of the Old Maid's pigs who get their tails cut off to the gorgeous 'Auld Lang Syne'. In between are rousing tunes, beautiful songs and the hilarious poetry of Johnny Cunningham.

The two are joined by guitarist Aidan Brennan (Loreena McKennitt, Kevin Burke) whose "inventive guitar" (New York Times) and earthy tenor adds to the sweet musical delivery and brings an exquisite third part vocal harmony to many of the songs.

Beautifully recorded with the sweet sounds of vocals, fiddle and guitar, the album evokes the feel of a winter's night around the fire with some good friends, some fine songs and stories, some great laughs and a peaceful journey home.

"As the glorious colours of autumn fade into the stark beauty of a silvery winter, friends and family gather together around the fire. Songs and stories are exchanged and shared tears and laughter become a powerful talisman against the cold darkness ahead. We are never truly without hope and comfort when poetry and music light the way towards our new beginnings."

Johnny, Susan & Aidan, Winter 2001

The follow-up to their debut 'Bones' (SNG/Prime 1995), 'Prophecy' is "a record of many brilliant moods" (puremusic.com) from Susan McKeown & The Chanting House. Progressive, hard-edged folk-rock, 'Prophecy' "packs a serious belly-punch to complacency and indifference, and adds further ammunition to her reputation as an uncompromising writer and singer." (Irish Times) 'Be Brave, Love, Be Strong' leads off the album with Susan's defiant , soaring vocals before a metaphor of hope is invoked on 'River', "as poetic a plea for peace in Ireland as the world could wish" (Willamette Week). Natalie Merchant joins Susan in the incantation of the names of Ireland's rivers on this song, and in a duet on 'Because I could not stop for Death', the haunting Emily Dickinson poem set to music by McKeown. "'Chances Are' is as fine a capturing of the brittleness of relationships as you'll encounter" (Irish Times). 'Seven Cold Glories' is inspired by poems by Yeats and Eva Gore-Booth, and dedicated to the memory of Ann Lovett, the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl who died alone in childbirth at the foot of a statue of the Virgin Mary in an Irish churchyard in 1994. Also on the album, 'Prophecy'. "The lush title track, with its nostalgic feel and dissonant carnival organ backing, is a gem." (Hot Press, Ireland) Co-written with bandmate and co-producer Jon Spurney, the song was inspired by a tale of the dark Irish fairy Otherworld: McKeown saw it as eerily appropriate for New York City. "And we must weep and we must sing/And keep the little flame flickering." Throughout, Susan is accompanied by Spurney and longtime Chanting House members Lindsey Horner , Michelle Kinney and Joe Trump, as well as Jeff Allen, Allison Miller and Catherine Bent. Guests on the album include: Natalie Merchant, Johnny Cunningham, Gerry Leonard and Russ Johnson

The traditional vocal sounds of Ireland are fused with a modern urban sensibility by Dublin-born and New York-based vocalist Susan McKeown (pronounced "mick-yone"). Accompanied by her band, the Chanting House, McKeown's alto vocals have inspired comparisons to June Tabor, Chrissie Hynde, Sarah McLachlan, Grace Slick, and Sandy Denny. McKeown's musical approach was described by Time magazine as "the kind of music that will link Ireland's musical past with its future."

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