Grainne Duffy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gráinne Duffy is an Irish singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

from Castleblayney

Castleblayney

Castleblayney or Castleblaney is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town has a population of about 3,000.Castleblayney lies near the border with County Armagh and is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry...

, Co. Monaghan, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. All Access Magazine described her music as a "powerhouse of soul and inspiration mixed with desire and passion".
Her Success has led her to play 3 days on the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2008

Glastonbury Festival 2008

The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 25 to 29 June 2008.-New features:* The John Peel stage doubled in size and had a screen outside it to watch bands.* There was a new 'Shangri-La' area that replaced Lost Vagueness...

, UK. and Blues On The Bay Festival 2008 in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, which has been twice headlined by Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

. Grainne Duffy has opened for many major acts including Robben Ford

Robben Ford

Robben Ford is an American blues, jazz and rock guitarist.-Biography:Ford was born in Woodlake, California, United States, but raised in Ukiah, California, and began playing the saxophone at age 10, picking up the guitar at age 13...

, Dino Baptiste, Shawn Jones

Shawn Jones

Shawn Jones was a National Football League player for the Minnesota Vikings. Jones was a four year starter at Quarterback for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.- High School :...

and The Yardbirds

The Yardbirds

- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...

. Her tracks have also made it on many BBC Radio Ulster

BBC Radio Ulster

BBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...

playlists including Alan Simpson's Playlist, Late Show with Cherrie as well as the blog of BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

Presenter Stuart Bailie Grainne Duffy has also been asked to record Oleta Adams

Oleta Adams

Oleta Adams is an American soul, jazz, and gospel singer and pianist.-Biography:Adams was born the daughter of a preacher and was raised with gospel music. In her youth her family moved to Yakima, Washington, which is sometimes shown as her place of birth.Before gaining her opportunity to perform,...

' Get Here if you Can for the BBC

BBC

in George Martin

George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

's renowned Air Studios in London.

Early career

Previous to her solo career Grainne Duffy obtained a degree in music at NUI, Maynooth and took part in session work across Italy, Sicily and France. She also toured Ireland with the band Shanco.

Out Of the Dark Album

Grainne Duffy's debut album Out of the Dark was recorded with Ronnie O’Flynn who also plays with Sharon Shannon

Sharon Shannon

Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...

, Paul Sherry, Richard Nelson who played with Van Morrison

Van Morrison

and John McCullagh.
Grainne is currently working with Paul Charles who has managed Van Morrison

Van Morrison

, Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

and Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...

. as well as imaj promotions who have promoted the likes of Steve Earle

Steve Earle

Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....

, John Prine

John Prine

John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...

and Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

in their Irish tour dates.

Comparisons and Influences

Due to Grainne Duffy's "husky voice" her sound has been compared to Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...

whom she lists as an influence. Other influences include Linda Rondstat, Keith Richards, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green and Bob Dylan.

Future projects

Grainne Duffy will be opening for Little Feat

Little Feat

Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....

at the Celtic Connections

Celtic Connections

The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international...

Festival in Scotland in February 2009 as well as opening for Paul Brady

Paul Brady

Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...

at the Ulster Hall Belfast in March 2009.
Future Irish tour dates for 2008 include a solo gig in Dublins, Whelens, as well as opening for Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...

in Belfast . Grainne is set to make TV appearances in RTÉ Other Voices (television)

Other Voices (television)

Other Voices is a music television show broadcast on RTÉ Two in Ireland, usually on a Wednesday night. It features live performances & interviews from many Irish and international musicians. Filming of the live performances is usually in the intimate setting of the 200 year-old Church of St James...

on 5 December 2008 and has appeared in BBC NI Blas Ceoil broadcasted on 13 November 2008.
Currently finishing tracks for her second album, as a follow up to her debut album Out of the Dark which was released last year to warm reception which included her being asked to appear for three days at Glastonbury 2008 Festival. Grainne also appeared at many of Ireland's leading festivals and was also approached by the BBC to record a track for a T.V. promotion campaign in George Martin's Air Studio in London. She has taken part in two T.V. shows for R.T.E. One of which is for the music programme Other Voices

Other Voices

Other Voices may refer to:Literature* Other Voices, Other Rooms , the 1948 novel by Truman Capote* Other Voices , an electronic journal of cultural criticism and cultural studies...

and the second is a documentary piece for the R.T.E. series Nationwide with a featured interview with Paul Charles

Paul Charles (novelist)

Paul Charles is a Northern Irish novelist, music promoter, and talent agent.Charles managed his first act, The Blues by Five, when he was 15 years old, and had to list the number of his local telephone call box on business cards...

. Her music is also featured in Belfast director and filmmaker Carol Moore's movie "Pumpgirl

Pumpgirl

Pumpgirl is an acclaimed play by Abbie Spallen, which is set in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a co-winner of the 2006-2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best play written in English by a woman....

External links

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