Northern Ireland
Mary Mc Laughlin is a singer / songwriter who is steeped in the Gaelic song tradition of her native Ireland.Mary records, performs and teaches workshops in singing skills, performance technique and Gaelic song and culture.Mary was born and raised in Northern Ireland. At the age of eleven Mary began to learn Gaelic and was influenced by ‘sean nós' (old style) singing which she heard in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area). She was also heavily influenced by Latin Church music in her early years. During her adolescence she began to listen to contemporary singer songwriters from the USA, in particular Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. These artists not only provided her first models for song writing but also inspired her to develop her vocal harmony skills.
England
At eighteen she moved to London, England, to attend university and subsequently became a teacher of children with special needs. During this time she became involved in the English Folk Scene, singing and playing guitar and keyboards with various groups including the Folk Rock group Traitor’s Gait, Anonyma (a duo with singer-songwriter Anne Lister), multi- instrumentalist Steafán Hannigan and the Martin Simpson Band Flash Company which included the late great John Spencer. At this time she also graduated as a teacher and began to work in Special Education.
Having had recording experience throughout the eighties and early nineties, Mary was very excited about the possibilities of multi track recording in the studio and using the studio itself as an instrument – she began to see it as a musical canvass on which to paint a broad soundscape . She got her chance to explore this concept in 1991 when she embarked on her first solo album The Daughter of Lir. The album was produced by internationally known producer Jon Jacobs who had been trained by George Martin and it showcased Mary's writing as well as her vocal abilities. Although the album as a completed project was not finally released until 1999, it led to her work being heard by the American record company Narada. Narada chose three of Mary's songs to head off the 1995 release Celtic Voices which charted at #3 on the Billboard World Music Charts.
Having trained in vocal technique with the internationally acclaimed teacher Frankie Armstrong, Mary formalized her training in 1995 by acquiring a Certificate of Vocal Music Education from Trinity College London. She was by now teaching disabled children part time and teaching vocal technique to a wide variety of students, specializing in helping emerging singers find their voice. In 1996 she reconnected with her Irish roots and spent the Summer in Donegal on an Irish language refresher course where she learned new songs as well as revising songs from her childhood. This began a whole new love affair with the Irish language and tradition which became her focus for the next decade.
America
In 1997 Mary moved to California to join Martin Simpson's Band of Angels with whom she toured throughout the USA.
Clockwise from top left:
Doug Robinson, Mary, Lisa Ekstrom, Martin Simpson, and Jessica R. Simpson.
Later in 1997 she began to work with guitarist William Coulter. Together they recorded Celtic Requiem for Windham Hill, which was released in 1998. This was followed by the release of Daughter of Lir in 1999 on the Gourd Music label. This release was a combination of the early Daughter of Lir with four new tracks, all digitally re-mastered in California.
In 2002 Mary released an instructional book / CD set on Mel Bay Publishing: Singing in Irish Gaelic which was geared at anyone who would like to sing in Irish, without having to go through a language course, and uses a phonetic / aural approach. Apart from performing with various new collaborations including Robin Bullock, Neal Hellman and William Coulter, Mary now developed many courses based on Gaelic language and culture which she began to teach extensively throughout the USA.
In 2004 she collaborated with three well known and highly respected California Bay-Area musicians to form a new band Camogie. All four are singers, songwriters and instrumentalists; Robin Flower (vocals, guitar, mandolin, fiddle), Libby Mc Laren (vocals, piano, accordion), Danny Carnahan (vocals, mandola, guitar, fiddle) and Mary (vocals, keyboards) combine to create innovative four part harmonies driven by exciting instrumental accompaniments.
Her rich layers of interweaving vocals and intricate arrangements are well supported by the guest musicians, who include not only the afore-mentioned Robin Bullock (guitar, bass and cittern) but also U.S. mandolin champion Radim Zenkl (mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, flutes and whistles).
Other instrumentation on the album includes cello (Barry Phillip), percussion (Heidrun Hoffman Rushworth) and dulcimer (Neal Hellman).
2006 saw the formation of the Cór Ainglí, a Community Choir in Santa Cruz California. Mary formed this choir to perform Gaelic Christmas songs which she taught phonetically. The project was such a resounding success that not only will it be repeated in 2007 but Mary is also intending to take the project “on the road” – working with Choirs in other locations to perform this show. She also began work on a new album of Gaelic Christmas songs in 2007 for an end of year release.
Florida Folk Festival FL, Old Songs Festival NY, Sebastopol Celtic Festival CA, , Ben Lomond Highland Games CA, Kuumbwa Jazz Center CA, California Coast Music Camp CA, Southern California Dulcimer Heritage, Festival CA, National Women's Festival IN, Common Ground on the Hill MD, Swannanoa Gathering NC Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts NY, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies NY, North East Dulcimer Festival NY, Oklahoma Irish Arts Project OK, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop WA, Freight and Salvage CA, Little Fox CA, Don Quixote’s CA.
