Tyrone songstress goes stateside

Ciara Fox has a set of pipes envied by singers the length and breadth of the Emerald Isle.

With her cloud-piercing range and transcendent tone, Ciara has justly earned a reputation as one of the finest female vocalists in the country.

Until recently, though, the Tyrone woman’s talent had been the preserve of the people of Ireland: A secret treasure hidden within the garden of Irish trad and folk.

However, after a two week tour with one of America’s biggest Irish-American music acts, the Greencastle girl has, if not broke, at least cracked America.

“I am still out here,” said Ciara delightedly when I spoke with her recently. She had just come to the end of a two week tour put on and headlined by Andy Cooney.

While the name might not mean a pile to the readers of this publication, Andy is one of the kings of the Irish-American music scene, having sold out New York’s Carnegie Hall nine times.

“Andy heard me singing through Facebook, and got in contact asking if he could play some of my music on his podcast,” explained Ciara.

Matt McGlynn, who has produced much of Ciara’s music, sent a few tracks off to Andy, which, after a couple of listens, sealed the deal in the eyes of the Irish-American hotshot.

“He asked me if I would like to be part of this tour with him and a few other acts, and I jumped at the chance.

“What an opportunity!” reasoned the Greencastle songstress.

Ciara chatted about the shape of the show, the people she met, the music she played, and, with an observation that partially confounded my expectations, generalised about the nature of the average American audience member.

“So, in terms of the show, it was me, Andy, a trio of Irish dancers and a comedian called Mick Thomas, who is a Wexford man that has been living in America for years,” she said. “Everybody was good at what they done, and the result was a show full of variety,” said Ciara.

Performing two staples from the canon of classic Irish folk, Ciara treated audiences in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts to renditions of ‘Sonny’ and ‘The Galway Shawl’.

“I also done a folk’d up version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin In The Wind’,” said Ciara. “Americans are really free with their complements, and generous with their praise,” said Ciara.

“They have no bother coming up to you at the end of a gig and telling you how much they loved it.

‘I found that really nice,” she said.

One night, just after the show had ended, an elderly woman who had moved to America from Ireland for over 60 years approached Ciara.

“She came over and told me that she had been away from home for 60 years, and that my music had made her feel homesick for the first time in a long time,” said Ciara, clearly affected by the woman’s words. “You will always remember stuff like that.”

What’s next on the horizon

But, for now at least, the show is over, and a big bowl of porridge lies waiting for Ciara on the Atlantic horizon.

However, she is already thinking of next time.

“I got on really well on the tour,” said Ciara, upbeat and full of American positivity.

“I got a good reception, sold plenty of albums, and met people that I think will be become lifelong friends – and I would absolutely love to get back out,” she said.

“Other Tyrone people – like Tom Sweeney, for example – have had success out here, and I would like to do the same.

“It’d be a bit of a dream to get a spot at one of the Irish festivals in the likes of Milwaukee or Ohio,” said Ciara.

After a bit of coaxing, Ciara delivered a concluding anecdote so apt as a finisher that you would nearly think it fabricated for present purposes.

“I remember when I told my parents that I had been asked to go on tour with Andy Cooney, they looked at each other in astonishment,” began Ciara.

“They were out in New York in the ‘90s, and they use to go to this bar called ‘An Poitín Stil’ that had all the papers from back home.”

Sitting in the pub on a Monday night, Ciara’s parents were flicking through the local papers, intent on leaving once the last pages had been read.

“Some young fella started setting up his stuff to play a few tunes, so they said they would sit and listen to a song or two,” said Ciara. “As happens, they ended up staying the whole night.”

And who was the young fella?

“None other than a fresh-faced Andy Cooney, just setting out to make a life for himself playing music.”