Alison O'Donnell
Encyclopedia
Alison O'Donnell is an Irish musician
, solo and band singer and songwriter
. Born Alison Bools in Dublin to an English mother and Irish father, raised in Dalkey
and educated at Holy Child, Killiney
, County Dublin
.
(which was to provide inspiration for song writing in her teens and early 20s). Ballet
and sporting activities were early interests until the age of 11 when music became her abiding passion. Her commitment was sealed when she took Cecilia as her Confirmation name (Saint Cecilia
being the Patron saint
of musicians). At the age of 11 she co-founded the progressive
folk rock
band
Mellow Candle
with school friends Clodagh Simonds
and Maria White. They released their first single, Feeling High on SNB Records (Simon Napier-Bell
) in 1968.
(now Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
) and briefly joined Blue Tint, a covers band, where she met her first husband, guitarist
Dave Williams
, who was studying at Trinity College, Dublin
. This was followed by a secretarial course and employment until a full electric line-up of Mellow Candle reformed. The band lived and worked in Ireland and England
between 1969 and 1973 managed by Thin Lizzy
manager
, Ted Carroll
. O'Donnell and Williams spent their wedding evening in concert with Thin Lizzy at The National Stadium
in Dublin. Bob Geldof
, Luke Kelly
and members of Clannad
were amongst early spectators at Irish concerts, and several members of the group participated in house sessions with pioneering traditional musicians, Dónal Lunny
and Andy Irvine
. The band released their latterly highly acclaimed, cult
album, Swaddling Songs
on Decca Records
's Deram
subsidiary in 1972.
The untimely and unhappy demise of Mellow Candle and the tough economic climate of the Three-Day Week
in 1973/74 London
sent O'Donnell and Williams to Johannesburg
, South Africa
. Simonds and Murray ultimately went to New York
, and Boylan joined The Gary Moore Band
for a time. In the year before their departure they played Belgian bars as a folk duo and formed a short-lived band with legendary guitarist Jimmy Faulkner
, who died in 2008. Disenchanted by hard drug use backstage, they abandoned the project. Two years after their arrival in South Africa the couple participated in Palet, an Afrikaans
music and poetry programme in 1976 for the fledgling South African Broadcasting Corporation
's television service. The show was considered too radical and highbrow, and never aired, resulting in the producer's resignation. They formed traditional group Flibbertigibbet
in 1977 with Barrie Glenn and Jo Dudding whom they met at Mangles Folk Club. The band recorded their vinyl album, Whistling Jigs to the Moon in 1978 in South Africa for a slim, niche market, and made several appearances on SATV. The recording was more fully appreciated and reissued in 1996.
After the break-up of Flibbertigibbet in 1979 O'Donnell worked as a session singer for singer-songwriters and advertising
agency recordings, toured in the musical I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road
produced by Des and Dawn Lindberg, and performed in a series of satirical revues in 1980/81 with South African actors and musicians: Tortue Revues I and II in Rockey Street's famed 80s clubs, and Fool Marks and Commit No Nuisance at the Chelsea Hotel
Hillbrow with music by David Marks (songwriter, producer and archivist), who had earlier given Flibbertigibbet their first run at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg. In the early to mid-80s O'Donnell appeared briefly with jazz group Theta
and an early incarnation of the popular rock group Ella Mental at Sun City
. She recorded an album with writer/producer Terry Dempsey
's band, Plastik Mak, which included his hit song Daydreamer and performed in after-show cabaret
with musician/actress Michelle Maxwell and on the folk club stage with blues
/folk guitarist Mike Dickman. She also appeared regularly with singer-songwriters Colin Shamley and Roger Lucey
, guesting on their respective albums. During this period she assisted in running the door for Club Le Chaim, which featured musicians opposed to the Apartheid regime. In the year before she departed Johannesburg for London in early 1986, O'Donnell co-wrote the repertoire and performed with contemporary jazz group Earthlings at night. By day she worked for South African Associated Newspapers, which at that time included the The Rand Daily Mail
and the The Sunday Times
.
administration in London. At this time interest in Mellow Candle was gathering pace. The pre-drums demos were released as The Virgin Prophet and the re-mastered
Swaddling Songs
has been reissued on vinyl
and CD regularly since then. In 2006 a Mojo magazine
poll Beyond Folk the group was listed in the top 50 genre-bending folk classics of the last forty years. The band features in a number of Top Ten lists in Galactic Ramble (a complete study of 60s and 70s music in the UK). Tracks are regularly licensed out to compilations, amongst them, O'Donnell's Messenger Birds for The Story of British Folk (a double CD collection covering British folk music
from the early 60s to modern day contemporaries), the co-written Sheep Season on Early Morning Hush, Notes from the Folk Underground 1969-1976, and Heaven Heath on Legends of Ireland. In 2007 an original vinyl copy of the album sold to a Canadian eBay
bidder for $2,650.
In 1997 after leaving an administrative post with the London School of Economics
, O'Donnell moved to Brussels
, working with jazz and folk musicians, in pantomime
, and giving voice coaching
lessons and workshops. O'Donnell's own vocal training had included a period at the Leinster School of Music & Drama
in Dublin in her teens, in Johannesburg during the mid-1970s for a six month period with a teacher specialising in syncopation
, and a further three months with a former opera singer. Traditional group Éishtlinn was formed by O'Donnell with Flemish
guitarist Philip Masure in 1998. The band played in Belgium, France
, Luxembourg
and the Netherlands
, releasing the album, Éist Linn in 2001.
O'Donnell returned to Ireland
in 2001 but continued to work with three Flemish women singers in French
, Flemish
and English
in the band Oeda, which came joint second in the nationwide Belgian band competition Nekka-contest 2001-2002. Soetkin Collier, of Oeda, is more frequently associated with the Belgian folk
group Urban Trad
, who finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
.
O'Donnell's repatriation after 28 years away from the Irish music scene meant that she had to embark on a steep learning curve. She sings and plays bodhrán
in sessions
, festivals, gigs and charity events in Ireland and abroad, mostly collaborating with other artists. O'Donnell and a male entrant won a medal each for a "Newly Composed Song in English" at the Dublin Fleadh in 2004, they being the only two entrants in the category that year. Aside from her concert repertoire of original psych folk and trad rock songs, she has a wide repertoire of traditional, folk and jazz songs. She is a member of An Góilín
(a traditional singers' club) and the Howth Singing Circle. With instrumentalist Isabel Ní Chuireáin, she released the album Mise agus Ise in 2006.
From 2007 there were collaborations and contributions to recordings with Dave Colohan of Agitated Radio Pilot
, Canadian psych folk
band, Mr. Pine
, Colin Harper
's collective The Field Mouse Conspiracy and The Guessing Game
, the 9th album from the Doom metal
band Cathedral
. In 2008 O'Donnell featured on a vinyl double A-Side single of Nick Drake
's Day is Done
and Nico
's Frozen Warnings with Graeme Lockett of Head South By Weaving and an EP, The Fabric of Folk, with The Owl Service
. They appeared together at the Green Man Festival
. O'Donnell and Steven Collins
of The Owl Service have collaborated regularly, including on several tracks for her first solo album, Hey Hey Hippy Witch, released in 2010. Other contributors and collaborators on this project are Michael Tyack of the psychedelic folk rock band Circulus
, Kevin Scott
of Mr. Pine, Head South By Weaving and Gavin Prior and Dave Colohan of United Bible Studies
. In 2008 O'Donnell became a member of United Bible Studies, an experimental collective which draws on members from a number of countries. She contributed to their 2009 album The Jonah and a UBS/Jozef Van Wissem
vinyl album, Downland
, in 2011. O'Donnell is known for her enthusiastic and varied collaborations. A joint album with Head South By Weaving is due for release in 2011 and a contribution to the album Towards Abstraction by Big Dwarf. Bajik, a live band playing new and recent O'Donnell material formed in 2010, headlining at their maiden concert in Spain
at the Datura Folk Festival.
O'Donnell developed an interest in Genealogy
in 1996, working extensively on her family tree
. This led to an appearance in the BBC Four
documentary series Family Ties
(a precursor to Who Do You Think You Are?) in 2004. The programme focused on her grandmother Nina, a singer who, long after her death, was revealed to be a secret bigamist with another family living in Scotland
(the two branches of the family are now in contact). O'Donnell's musical heritage hails from her English maternal granny, Irish great grandfather Peter, and her grandfather P.S.G. O'Donnell and his two brothers Rudolph Peter and Bertram Walton, military musicians with distinguished careers with the Royal Marines Band Service
during the first half of the twentieth century. O'Donnell is an animal-lover, particularly of cats and dogs. She lives in Dublin.
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
, solo and band singer and 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...
. Born Alison Bools in Dublin to an English mother and Irish father, raised in Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
and educated at Holy Child, Killiney
Killiney
Killiney is a suburb of Dublin in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is within the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. The area is by the coast, south of neighbouring Dalkey, and north to Shankill area in the most southern outskirt of Dublin....
, County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
.
Childhood
O'Donnell grew up in Dalkey and Killiney in south County Dublin, where she had a daily view of Dalkey IslandDalkey Island
Dalkey Island is an uninhabited island about 16 km south of Dublin, near the village of Dalkey, 3 km south of Dún Laoghaire harbour...
(which was to provide inspiration for song writing in her teens and early 20s). Ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and sporting activities were early interests until the age of 11 when music became her abiding passion. Her commitment was sealed when she took Cecilia as her Confirmation name (Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians and Church music because as she was dying she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican,...
being the Patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of musicians). At the age of 11 she co-founded the progressive
Progressive folk music
Progressive folk or prog folk was originally a type of American folk music that pursued a progressive political agenda, but in the United Kingdom the term became attached to a sub-genre that rejects or de-emphasizes the conventions of traditional folk music and encourages stylistic or thematic...
folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Mellow Candle
Mellow Candle
Mellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also unusually young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB...
with school friends Clodagh Simonds
Clodagh Simonds
Clodagh Simonds Clodagh; , is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, UK and raised and educated in Killiney, Co...
and Maria White. They released their first single, Feeling High on SNB Records (Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
) in 1968.
Early career
On leaving school, O'Donnell attended Art College in Dún LaoghaireDún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...
(now Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
IADT - Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology is located at Dún Laoghaire, Ireland was established in 1997 and incorporated the former Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design as its School of Creative Arts.-Campus:...
) and briefly joined Blue Tint, a covers band, where she met her first husband, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Dave Williams
Dave Williams
Dave Williams may refer to:*Dave Williams , late original singer for the band Drowning Pool*Dave Williams , Australian Radio Host* Dave Williams, wrestler better known by the ring name David Young...
, who was studying at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. This was followed by a secretarial course and employment until a full electric line-up of Mellow Candle reformed. The band lived and worked in Ireland and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
between 1969 and 1973 managed by Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
manager
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
, Ted Carroll
Ted Carroll
Ted Carroll was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Lisdowney and with the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1961 until 1971.-Early & private life:...
. O'Donnell and Williams spent their wedding evening in concert with Thin Lizzy at The National Stadium
National Stadium (Ireland)
The National Stadium or National boxing Stadium is one of Ireland's best known boxing venues.The National Stadium was the first purpose built boxing stadium in the world and was opened by Frank Aiken in 1939.-Venue:...
in Dublin. Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
, Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly was an Irish singer and folk musician from Dublin, Ireland, notable as a founding member of the band The Dubliners.-Early life:...
and members of Clannad
Clannad
Clannad are an Irish musical group, from Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Their music has been variously described as bordering on folk and folk rock, Irish, Celtic and New Age, often incorporating elements of an even broader spectrum of smooth jazz and Gregorian chant...
were amongst early spectators at Irish concerts, and several members of the group participated in house sessions with pioneering traditional musicians, Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
and Andy Irvine
Andy Irvine (musician)
Andrew Kennedy 'Andy' Irvine is a folk musician, singer, and songwriter, and a founding member of the popular band Planxty. He is an accomplished player of the mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, guitar-bouzouki, harmonica and hurdy-gurdy....
. The band released their latterly highly acclaimed, cult
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
album, Swaddling Songs
Swaddling Songs
Swaddling Songs is the only studio album released by Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle.-Track listing:#"Heaven Heath" – 3:00#"Sheep Season" – 5:01#"Silversong" – 4:26...
on Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
's Deram
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
subsidiary in 1972.
The untimely and unhappy demise of Mellow Candle and the tough economic climate of the Three-Day Week
Three-Day Week
The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970–1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners...
in 1973/74 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
sent O'Donnell and Williams to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Simonds and Murray ultimately went to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Boylan joined The Gary Moore Band
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
for a time. In the year before their departure they played Belgian bars as a folk duo and formed a short-lived band with legendary guitarist Jimmy Faulkner
Jimmy Faulkner
Jimmy Faulkner was one of Ireland's top guitarists, who in a four-decade career played with many of Ireland's leading rock, blues, folk and jazz musicians....
, who died in 2008. Disenchanted by hard drug use backstage, they abandoned the project. Two years after their arrival in South Africa the couple participated in Palet, an Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
music and poetry programme in 1976 for the fledgling South African Broadcasting Corporation
South African Broadcasting Corporation
The South African Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations as well as 3 television broadcasts to the general public.-Early years:Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923...
's television service. The show was considered too radical and highbrow, and never aired, resulting in the producer's resignation. They formed traditional group Flibbertigibbet
Flibbertigibbet
Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young woman. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Its origin is in a meaningless representation of chattering...
in 1977 with Barrie Glenn and Jo Dudding whom they met at Mangles Folk Club. The band recorded their vinyl album, Whistling Jigs to the Moon in 1978 in South Africa for a slim, niche market, and made several appearances on SATV. The recording was more fully appreciated and reissued in 1996.
After the break-up of Flibbertigibbet in 1979 O'Donnell worked as a session singer for singer-songwriters and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
agency recordings, toured in the musical I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road
I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road
I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road is an Off Broadway musical, with music by Nancy Ford and book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer. It was produced by Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival at The Public Theater, opening on June 14, 1978 and running for 1165 performances...
produced by Des and Dawn Lindberg, and performed in a series of satirical revues in 1980/81 with South African actors and musicians: Tortue Revues I and II in Rockey Street's famed 80s clubs, and Fool Marks and Commit No Nuisance at the Chelsea Hotel
Chelsea Hotel
Chelsea Hotel can refer to:*Hotel Chelsea in New York City*"Chelsea Hotel #2", a song from the 1974 Leonard Cohen album New Skin for the Old Ceremony*Chelsea Hotel, a book of photographs by Claudio Edinger, published in 1983See also...
Hillbrow with music by David Marks (songwriter, producer and archivist), who had earlier given Flibbertigibbet their first run at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg. In the early to mid-80s O'Donnell appeared briefly with jazz group Theta
Theta
Theta is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth...
and an early incarnation of the popular rock group Ella Mental at Sun City
Sun City, North West
Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.- History :...
. She recorded an album with writer/producer Terry Dempsey
Terry Dempsey
Terence M. "Terry" Dempsey is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented the old House districts 23A and 28B, which included all or portions of Brown, Cottonwood, Nicollet and Redwood counties in the south central part of the state...
's band, Plastik Mak, which included his hit song Daydreamer and performed in after-show cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
with musician/actress Michelle Maxwell and on the folk club stage with blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
/folk guitarist Mike Dickman. She also appeared regularly with singer-songwriters Colin Shamley and Roger Lucey
Roger Lucey
Roger Lucey is a musician, journalist, film maker, actor and educator who was born in South Africa. In the late 1970s and early 1980s his early career as a musician was destroyed by Paul Erasmus of the South African Special Branch, because the lyrics to Lucey's protest songs were considered a...
, guesting on their respective albums. During this period she assisted in running the door for Club Le Chaim, which featured musicians opposed to the Apartheid regime. In the year before she departed Johannesburg for London in early 1986, O'Donnell co-wrote the repertoire and performed with contemporary jazz group Earthlings at night. By day she worked for South African Associated Newspapers, which at that time included the The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail
The Rand Daily Mail was a Johannesburg daily newspaper with an anti-apartheid bias that broke the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979.- History :...
and the The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (South Africa)
The Sunday Times is a popular South African Sunday newspaper. It has an audited circulation of 504,000 and a weekly readership of 3.2 million, making it the largest weekly newspaper in South Africa. Recently it was involved in exposing a corruption scandal involving the South African government's...
.
Later music career
Between 1986 and 1996 O'Donnell worked in public sectorPublic sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
administration in London. At this time interest in Mellow Candle was gathering pace. The pre-drums demos were released as The Virgin Prophet and the re-mastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Swaddling Songs
Swaddling Songs
Swaddling Songs is the only studio album released by Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle.-Track listing:#"Heaven Heath" – 3:00#"Sheep Season" – 5:01#"Silversong" – 4:26...
has been reissued on vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
and CD regularly since then. In 2006 a Mojo magazine
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
poll Beyond Folk the group was listed in the top 50 genre-bending folk classics of the last forty years. The band features in a number of Top Ten lists in Galactic Ramble (a complete study of 60s and 70s music in the UK). Tracks are regularly licensed out to compilations, amongst them, O'Donnell's Messenger Birds for The Story of British Folk (a double CD collection covering British folk music
Folk music of England
Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings...
from the early 60s to modern day contemporaries), the co-written Sheep Season on Early Morning Hush, Notes from the Folk Underground 1969-1976, and Heaven Heath on Legends of Ireland. In 2007 an original vinyl copy of the album sold to a Canadian eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
bidder for $2,650.
In 1997 after leaving an administrative post with the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, O'Donnell moved to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, working with jazz and folk musicians, in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, and giving voice coaching
Vocal coach
A vocal coach is a music teacher who instructs singers on how to improve their singing technique, take care of and develop their voice, and prepare for the performance of a song or other work. Vocal coaches may give private music lessons to singers, or they may coach singers who are rehearsing on...
lessons and workshops. O'Donnell's own vocal training had included a period at the Leinster School of Music & Drama
Leinster School of Music & Drama
The Leinster School of Music & Drama provides tuition and examinations in music and drama throughout Ireland."She beckoned to him with her finger like one preparing a certificate in pianoforte...at the Leinster School of Music." -History:...
in Dublin in her teens, in Johannesburg during the mid-1970s for a six month period with a teacher specialising in syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
, and a further three months with a former opera singer. Traditional group Éishtlinn was formed by O'Donnell with Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
guitarist Philip Masure in 1998. The band played in Belgium, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, releasing the album, Éist Linn in 2001.
O'Donnell returned to 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...
in 2001 but continued to work with three Flemish women singers in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Flemish
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in the band Oeda, which came joint second in the nationwide Belgian band competition Nekka-contest 2001-2002. Soetkin Collier, of Oeda, is more frequently associated with the Belgian folk
Music of Belgium
The music of Belgium is a cultural crossroads where Flemish Dutch-speaking and Walloon French-speaking traditions mix with those of German minorities and of immigrant communities from Democratic Republic of the Congo and other distant countries....
group Urban Trad
Urban Trad
Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.-Members:*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe*Veronica Codesal: vocals*Soetkin Collier: vocals...
, who finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Eurovision Song Contest 2003
The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the forty-eighth Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Skonto Hall in Riga, Latvia on 24 May 2003. The hosts were Marie N and Renārs Kaupers. Sertab Erener, the Turkish entrant, won the contest with "Everyway That I Can", scoring 167 points. The winning...
.
O'Donnell's repatriation after 28 years away from the Irish music scene meant that she had to embark on a steep learning curve. She sings and plays bodhrán
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
in sessions
Music session
A Music session, traditional music session or simply session is a term often used to describe a social gathering of musicians. Sometimes a music session is referred to as a jam session. Much of the music at such events revolves around traditional music for the area or popular songs. A suitable...
, festivals, gigs and charity events in Ireland and abroad, mostly collaborating with other artists. O'Donnell and a male entrant won a medal each for a "Newly Composed Song in English" at the Dublin Fleadh in 2004, they being the only two entrants in the category that year. Aside from her concert repertoire of original psych folk and trad rock songs, she has a wide repertoire of traditional, folk and jazz songs. She is a member of An Góilín
An Góilín
An Góilín Traditional Singer's Club is a traditional singing club in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1979 by Dónal de Barra and his brother-in-law, Tim Dennehy, the club serves as a meeting place for those who want to sing and listen to traditional songs...
(a traditional singers' club) and the Howth Singing Circle. With instrumentalist Isabel Ní Chuireáin, she released the album Mise agus Ise in 2006.
From 2007 there were collaborations and contributions to recordings with Dave Colohan of Agitated Radio Pilot
Agitated Radio Pilot
Formed in September 1993, Agitated Radio Pilot is the solo musical outlet of Irishman David Colohan...
, Canadian psych folk
Music of Canada
The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
band, Mr. Pine
Mr. Pine
Mr. Pine are a Canadian psych folk band formed in 2003 from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.-History:The band's music combines elements of acid folk, classical music, pop, and several kinds of roots music, especially British folk music. The band was formed in 2003 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by Matt McLennan...
, Colin Harper
Colin Harper
Colin Harper is an Irish music journalist. He was born in Belfast and graduated in 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast. As a writer for the Belfast "Irish News" he wrote unsiged features on local bands and famous bands on tour...
's collective The Field Mouse Conspiracy and The Guessing Game
The Guessing Game
The Guessing Game is the ninth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on March 26, 2010. It is the first double-album from the band....
, the 9th album from the Doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
band Cathedral
Cathedral (band)
Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style,...
. In 2008 O'Donnell featured on a vinyl double A-Side single of Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
's Day is Done
Day is Done
Day Is Done is the fifth track from the album Five Leaves Left by the British folk musician Nick Drake. The song features Robert Kirby on the string arrangement while Drake contributes Acoustic Guitar and Vocals to the track. The song is written in standard tuning and the capo is placed on the...
and Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
's Frozen Warnings with Graeme Lockett of Head South By Weaving and an EP, The Fabric of Folk, with The Owl Service
The Owl Service (band)
The Owl Service is a British folk/rock band formed in 2006 by multi-instrumentalist Steven Collins, named after the 1967 novel by Alan Garner.-History:...
. They appeared together at the Green Man Festival
Green Man Festival
The Green Man Festival is an independent music festival held annually in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. It has evolved from a one-day, 300 capacity event in 2003, to a three-day festival with live music including psych, folk, indie, dance and Americana across five stages, as well as DJs playing...
. O'Donnell and Steven Collins
Steven Collins
Dr. Steven Collins is a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science in Trinity College, Dublin and co-manager of the GV2 Research Group...
of The Owl Service have collaborated regularly, including on several tracks for her first solo album, Hey Hey Hippy Witch, released in 2010. Other contributors and collaborators on this project are Michael Tyack of the psychedelic folk rock band Circulus
Circulus
Circulus are a psychedelic folk/progressive rock band from South London, England, founded by vocalist Michael Tyack.The band uses a mix of modern and medieval instruments, such as the lute, cittern, crumhorn and rauschpfeife, along with the moog synthesizer, bass and electric guitars...
, Kevin Scott
Kevin Scott
Kevin Scott may refer to:* Kevin Scott , Canadian speed skater* Kevin Scott , English footballer* Kevin Scott , former professional American football cornerback...
of Mr. Pine, Head South By Weaving and Gavin Prior and Dave Colohan of United Bible Studies
United Bible Studies
United Bible Studies is an experimental and improvisational folk band from Ireland. There are a few core members such as David Colohan as well as a host of incidental contributors on both the live performances and regular albums...
. In 2008 O'Donnell became a member of United Bible Studies, an experimental collective which draws on members from a number of countries. She contributed to their 2009 album The Jonah and a UBS/Jozef Van Wissem
Jozef van Wissem
Jozef van Wissem is a Dutch minimalist composer and lute player.Composer and lutenist Jozef van Wissem is devoted to what he terms “The Liberation of the Lute”...
vinyl album, Downland
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
, in 2011. O'Donnell is known for her enthusiastic and varied collaborations. A joint album with Head South By Weaving is due for release in 2011 and a contribution to the album Towards Abstraction by Big Dwarf. Bajik, a live band playing new and recent O'Donnell material formed in 2010, headlining at their maiden concert in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
at the Datura Folk Festival.
Personal life
O'Donnell married Dave Williams in January 1972 in Dublin and Ian Brower in Johannesburg in January 1986. She has one daughter, Kate Brower, born London 1988. O'Donnell has worked under her mother's maiden name since 1980.O'Donnell developed an interest in Genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
in 1996, working extensively on her family tree
Family tree
A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.-Family tree representations:...
. This led to an appearance in the BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
documentary series Family Ties
Family Ties (disambiguation)
Family Ties is a 1980s American TV sitcom.Family Ties may also refer to:* Family Ties , a 2006 album by Daddy X* Family Ties , a 2006 South Korean film* Family Ties , a 2010 novel by Danielle Steel...
(a precursor to Who Do You Think You Are?) in 2004. The programme focused on her grandmother Nina, a singer who, long after her death, was revealed to be a secret bigamist with another family living in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(the two branches of the family are now in contact). O'Donnell's musical heritage hails from her English maternal granny, Irish great grandfather Peter, and her grandfather P.S.G. O'Donnell and his two brothers Rudolph Peter and Bertram Walton, military musicians with distinguished careers with the Royal Marines Band Service
Royal Marines Band Service
The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy. It currently consists of five Bands and its headquarters is the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson in Portsmouth dockyard.-History:...
during the first half of the twentieth century. O'Donnell is an animal-lover, particularly of cats and dogs. She lives in Dublin.
Albums
- Swaddling SongsSwaddling SongsSwaddling Songs is the only studio album released by Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle.-Track listing:#"Heaven Heath" – 3:00#"Sheep Season" – 5:01#"Silversong" – 4:26...
- Mellow CandleMellow CandleMellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also unusually young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB...
, 1972 (Deram SDL 7) - Whistling Jigs to the Moon - FlibbertigibbetFlibbertigibbetFlibbertigibbet is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young woman. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Its origin is in a meaningless representation of chattering...
, 1978 (Stanyan 3EE 7002) - Love Connection - Plastik Mak, 1980 (Flash Records FL 1001)
- The Virgin Prophet - Mellow Candle, 1996 (Unreleased sessions 1969-1970, Kissing Spell KSCD 9520-F)
- My Lagan Love - Flibbertigibbet, 1998 (live/demos Kissing Spell KSCD 902)
- Éist Linn - Éishtlinn, 2001 (Spiral SCD 925)
- Mise agus Ise - Alison O'Donnell & Isabel Ní Chuireáin, 2006 (Osmosys CD 033)
- Hey Hey Hippy Witch - Alison O'Donnell, 2010 (Floating World FREEM5021)
- Downland - United Bible StudiesUnited Bible StudiesUnited Bible Studies is an experimental and improvisational folk band from Ireland. There are a few core members such as David Colohan as well as a host of incidental contributors on both the live performances and regular albums...
& Jozef Van Wissem, 2010 (Deserted Village/Incunabulum)
Singles
- Feeling High/Tea With The Sun - Mellow Candle, 1968 (SNB 55-3645)
- Dan the Wing - Mellow Candle, 1972 (Deram DM 357)
- Mariner Blues - Flibbertigibbet, 1978 (Stanyan Records 3EE 7002)
- Blackberry Bush - Flibbertigibbet, 1978 (Stanyan 3ES 703)
- Love Connection - Plastik Mak, 1980 (Flash Records FLS 001)
- Let the Bad Times Roll - The Medium Wave BandThe Medium Wave BandAvalon previously known as The Medium Wave Band, was a Scottish folk rock band that started in the 1970s under the original name. It reformed in the mid 1980s and throughout the 1990s under the name Avalon, releasing a number of successful albums. Band leader Erne Parkin died in July 2009.-The...
, 1982 (3rd Ear Music 3EE 7007) - Frozen Warnings/Day is Done - Alison O'Donnell with Head South By Weaving, 2008 (Fruits de Mer, Crustacean 03)
EPs
- The Fabric of Folk - The Owl ServiceThe Owl Service (band)The Owl Service is a British folk/rock band formed in 2006 by multi-instrumentalist Steven Collins, named after the 1967 novel by Alan Garner.-History:...
and Alison O'Donnell, 2008 (Static Caravan Recordings VAN 142)
Guest appearances
- Towards Abstraction - Big Dwarf, 2001 (Inner Space)
- The Guessing GameThe Guessing GameThe Guessing Game is the ninth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on March 26, 2010. It is the first double-album from the band....
- CathedralCathedral (band)Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style,...
, 2010 (Nuclear Blast 27361 22760) - The View From a Hill - The Owl Service, 2010 (Rif Mountain RM-004)
- The Jonah - United Bible Studies, 2009 (Camera Obscura CAM 084CD)
- Rewilding - Mr. PineMr. PineMr. Pine are a Canadian psych folk band formed in 2003 from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.-History:The band's music combines elements of acid folk, classical music, pop, and several kinds of roots music, especially British folk music. The band was formed in 2003 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by Matt McLennan...
, 2008 (Whiskey Lad Recordings 78632 90223) - Freedom and the Dream Penguin - The Field Mouse Conspiracy, 2008 (WMNY Recordings CD 039)
- World Winding Down (Double Album) - Agitated Radio PilotAgitated Radio PilotFormed in September 1993, Agitated Radio Pilot is the solo musical outlet of Irishman David Colohan...
, 2007 (deadslackstring records Truenote 10) - The Road is Much Longer - Roger LuceyRoger LuceyRoger Lucey is a musician, journalist, film maker, actor and educator who was born in South Africa. In the late 1970s and early 1980s his early career as a musician was destroyed by Paul Erasmus of the South African Special Branch, because the lyrics to Lucey's protest songs were considered a...
, 1979 (3rd Ear Records 3EE7004)