Aoife O'Donovan
Encyclopedia
Aoife O’Donovan(born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. She is also the lead singer for the progressive bluegrass
/string band
, Crooked Still
, and a member of the female folk-noir trio, Sometymes Why
. Her first professional engagement was singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers. She has performed and recorded with Ollabelle
, Karan Casey
and Seamus Egan
, Jerry Douglas
, Jim Lauderdale
, Darol Anger
, Sarah Jarosz
, Sara Watkins
, Christina Courtin
, Chris Thile
(Nickel Creek
, Punch Brothers
), Noam Pikelny
(Punch Brothers
), Edgar Meyer
, Stuart Duncan
and Yo-Yo Ma
. Aoife has also performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra
and the Utah Symphony Orchestra
.
. She spent her school-year summers in Ireland
studying Celtic folk music
and dance
. She became interested in American folk music
through artists such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Aoife went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory, where she graduated in 2003.
, who was studying at Berklee College of Music
, and Gregory Liszt, a graduate student at MIT
, were playing music together around the same time, and when the four met that summer, they formed the band Crooked Still
. The group grew in popularity by playing Boston area venues. The group was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival
and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
, the same year they released their debut album, Hop High. Crooked Still has toured in 23 states and several countries. In August 2006, the group released their second album, Shaken by a Low Sound. In November of 2007, cellist Rushad Eggleston parted ways with the band to pursue his own music. In January 2008 two new members joined the band: cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas
. The band released its first album with the new lineup Still Crooked in 2008, a live album in 2009, a studio full-length Some Strange Country in 2010 and an EP
Friends of Fall in October 2011. (7)
noir trio Sometymes Why
was formed in 2005 by O’Donovan, Kristin Andreassen
and Ruth Ungar
Merenda. They came together from other bands, including Uncle Earl
the Jolly Bankers (Andreassen), Crooked Still
, the Wild Band of Snee
, the Wayfaring Strangers (O’Donovan), The Mammals
and Jay Ungar
& Molly Mason’s Family Band (Merenda). Sometymes Why
released their debut cd in 2005 titled Sometimes Why, followed by Your Heart Is A Glorious Machine in 2009.
, who recorded Aoife’s song Lay My Burden Down, which is included on Krauss’ new album Paper Airplane
(2011 Rounder Records) and is also used in the film Get Low
(2010 Sony Pictures). O’Donovan has also had songs placed on True Blood
(HBO) and Private Practice
(ABC).
In June 2010, O’Donovan released her first solo recording, Blue Light, in the form of a limited edition 7” vinyl.
O’Donovan is the guest vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions
(2011 Sony Masterworks), an album recorded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma
, bassist Edgar Meyer
, mandolinist Chris Thile
and fiddler Stuart Duncan
. The album includes two vocal tracks featuring Aoife and Chris Thile. Aoife co-wrote one of those tracks,Here And Heaven with Meyer, Thile and Duncan.
O’Donovan performs shows with her band, Robin MacMillan on drums, Jacob Silver on bass and Ryan Scott on guitar, with plans to record a full length album due for release in 2012.
O’Donovan currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
/string band
String band
A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.-String bands in old-time music:...
, Crooked Still
Crooked Still
Crooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...
, and a member of the female folk-noir trio, Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why is an American Folk Noir group, formed in 2005 by Kristin Andreassen, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Ungar Merenda.The band has released two records. Its members all live in New York....
. Her first professional engagement was singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers. She has performed and recorded with Ollabelle
Ollabelle
Ollabelle is a New York based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.-History:...
, Karan Casey
Karan Casey
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
and Seamus Egan
Séamus Egan
Séamus Egan is an Irish musician.-Early days:Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Jack and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland....
, Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale is a musician & singer-songwriter who performs bluegrass and country music. He has recorded since 1986 and has released nineteen studio albums. Artists who have recorded his material include George Strait and Patty Loveless.-Biography:...
, Darol Anger
Darol Anger
-Career:Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandolin in The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut. He co-founded the Turtle Island String Quartet with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed,...
, Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz is a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter whose first CD, Song Up in Her Head, was released by Sugar Hill Records on June 16, 2009. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance for the track "Mansinneedof" from that...
, Sara Watkins
Sara Watkins
Sara Ullrika Watkins is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which consisted of herself, her elder brother Sean, and mandolinist Chris Thile. As a band, they are notable for three wide-released albums:...
, Christina Courtin
Christina Courtin
Christina Courtin is an American singer, violinist, and songwriter.A performer from an early age and a recent graduate of the Juilliard School, Christina Courtin released her first, self-titled, album in June 2009 on Nonesuch Records of which Patrick McKiernan of website allgigs.co.uk stated "It's...
, Chris Thile
Chris Thile
Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic...
(Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
, Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile , Gabe Witcher , Noam Pikelny , Chris Eldridge , and Paul Kowert...
), Noam Pikelny
Noam Pikelny
Noam Pikelny is an American banjoist. He is a member of the "Americana country-classical chamber music" group Punch Brothers and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band.-History:...
(Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile , Gabe Witcher , Noam Pikelny , Chris Eldridge , and Paul Kowert...
), Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician...
and Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
. Aoife has also performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
and the Utah Symphony Orchestra
Utah Symphony Orchestra
-History:The first attempt to create a symphony group in the Utah area occurred in 1892, before Utah was a state. The Salt Lake Symphony was created and presented just one concert before disbanding. In 1902 the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra was formed, and it remained in existence until 1911...
.
Life and career
O’Donovan grew up in Newton, MassachusettsNewton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
. She spent her school-year summers in 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...
studying Celtic folk music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
and dance
Irish dance
Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing...
. She became interested in American folk music
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
through artists such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Aoife went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory, where she graduated in 2003.
Crooked Still
O'Donovan and Corey DiMario met at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the spring of 2001. Former cellist Rushad EgglestonRushad Eggleston
Rushad Eggleston is a contemporary improvisational cellist.Eggleston, a graduate of Carmel High School in Carmel, California, United States, played the cello as a member of the Youth Music Monterey orchestra in Monterey Bay. Later he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts,...
, who was studying at Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
, and Gregory Liszt, a graduate student at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, were playing music together around the same time, and when the four met that summer, they formed the band Crooked Still
Crooked Still
Crooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...
. The group grew in popularity by playing Boston area venues. The group was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival and dance festival formerly held at the Long Hill Farm in Hillsdale, New York, USA. In 2006, the event moved to nearby Dodds Farm, just off Rt. 22, five miles north of the Rt. 22/Rt. 23 intersection in Hillsdale, on...
, the same year they released their debut album, Hop High. Crooked Still has toured in 23 states and several countries. In August 2006, the group released their second album, Shaken by a Low Sound. In November of 2007, cellist Rushad Eggleston parted ways with the band to pursue his own music. In January 2008 two new members joined the band: cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas
Brittany Haas
Brittany Haas is an American fiddle player. She is currently a member of the Boston-based alternative bluegrass band, Crooked Still. She graduated from Princeton University in 2009 and was a member of the Princeton University Band. Previously she was a member of Darol Anger's Republic of Strings...
. The band released its first album with the new lineup Still Crooked in 2008, a live album in 2009, a studio full-length Some Strange Country in 2010 and an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Friends of Fall in October 2011. (7)
Sometymes Why
Contemporary/neo-traditional folkNeofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
noir trio Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why is an American Folk Noir group, formed in 2005 by Kristin Andreassen, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Ungar Merenda.The band has released two records. Its members all live in New York....
was formed in 2005 by O’Donovan, Kristin Andreassen
Kristin Andreassen
Kristin Andreassen is an American musician and dancer. She grew up in Portland, Oregon as Kristin Andrews. In 2002 she started using her great-grandfather's name Andreassen. Kristin sings, plays harmonica, piano, guitar, banjo-uke and fiddle and she is also a songwriter...
and Ruth Ungar
Ruth Ungar
Ruth Ungar is a singer songwriter who performs with many folk bands. She also plays fiddle, ukulele and guitar. She is the daughter of Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy and is married to Michael J. Merenda, Jr.- Bands :...
Merenda. They came together from other bands, including Uncle Earl
Uncle Earl
Uncle Earl is an American old-time music group, formed in 2000 by KC Groves and Jo Serrapere. They are an all-women-band and often they refer to themselves as the g'Earls. Their fans have also been nicknamed as g'Earlfriends....
the Jolly Bankers (Andreassen), Crooked Still
Crooked Still
Crooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...
, the Wild Band of Snee
Wild Band of Snee
Wild Band of Snee is a folk-rock American band, formed by cellist Rushad Eggleston in 2005. It also features Aoife O´Donovan, front-lady of progressive bluegrass band Crooked Still....
, the Wayfaring Strangers (O’Donovan), The Mammals
The Mammals
The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley, area of New York, in the United States.Current band members are Michael J. Merenda, Jr., Chris Merenda, Ruth Ungar, Jacob Silver and Tao Rodríguez-Seeger.- Band history :...
and Jay Ungar
Jay Ungar
Jay Ungar is an American folk musician and composer. -Biography:Ungar was born in the Bronx , the son of immigrant Jewish parents from Eastern Europe. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s...
& Molly Mason’s Family Band (Merenda). Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why
Sometymes Why is an American Folk Noir group, formed in 2005 by Kristin Andreassen, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Ungar Merenda.The band has released two records. Its members all live in New York....
released their debut cd in 2005 titled Sometimes Why, followed by Your Heart Is A Glorious Machine in 2009.
Present
O’Donovan’s songwriting came to the attention of Alison KraussAlison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
, who recorded Aoife’s song Lay My Burden Down, which is included on Krauss’ new album Paper Airplane
Paper Airplane (album)
Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album a four star rating, citing it a melancholy record with songs largely revolving around themes of trial and perseverance. He also praised the cover version of "Dimming of the Day" and "My Opening Farewell"...
(2011 Rounder Records) and is also used in the film Get Low
Get Low
Get Low can mean:* "Get Low" , a song by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins* "Get Low", a song by Lloyd Banks from the Get Rich or Die Tryin soundtrack* "Get Low", a song by Stat Quo from Eminem Presents The Re-Up...
(2010 Sony Pictures). O’Donovan has also had songs placed on True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
(HBO) and Private Practice
Private Practice
Private Practice is an American medical drama television program which premiered on September 26, 2007 on ABC. A spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, the series takes place at Oceanside Health & Wellness Group and chronicles the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery, played by Kate Walsh, as she leaves Seattle...
(ABC).
In June 2010, O’Donovan released her first solo recording, Blue Light, in the form of a limited edition 7” vinyl.
O’Donovan is the guest vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a 2011 collaborative album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. The album is Ma's third collaboration with Meyer.-Conception and production:...
(2011 Sony Masterworks), an album recorded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, bassist Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, mandolinist Chris Thile
Chris Thile
Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic...
and fiddler Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician...
. The album includes two vocal tracks featuring Aoife and Chris Thile. Aoife co-wrote one of those tracks,Here And Heaven with Meyer, Thile and Duncan.
O’Donovan performs shows with her band, Robin MacMillan on drums, Jacob Silver on bass and Ryan Scott on guitar, with plans to record a full length album due for release in 2012.
O’Donovan currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Solo Recordings
| Year | Album | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Blue Light (EP) | Media Blitz Record Co. |
Sometymes Why
| Year | Album | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sometimes Why | Self Released |
| 2007 | Sometimes Why Silver Edition | Self Released |
| 2009 | Your Heart Is A Glorious Machine | Signature Sounds |
Crooked Still
| Year | Album | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Hop High | Footprint Records |
| 2006 | Shaken By A Low Sound | Signature Sounds |
| 2008 | Still Crooked | Signature Sounds |
| 2009 | Crooked Still Live | Signature Sounds |
| 2010 | Some Strange Country | Signature Sounds |
| 2011 | Friends of Fall (EP) | Signature Sounds |
Video (with Crooked Still)
| Year | Title | Producer |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Half of What We Know | Grey Sky Films |