Susan McKeown

Susan McKeown is a pivotal figure in the late 20th and early 21st-century folk revival, specifically noted for her role in the New York 'Celtic' diaspora. Born in Dublin and classically trained, she abandoned opera for the grit of the Manhattan folk scene in the early 1990s.

Her sound identity is built on a foundation of traditional Irish music, but it is heavily modified by chamber music aesthetics and global collaborations. Her career is marked by a refusal to stay within the 'Celtic' box, evidenced by her Grammy-winning work with The Klezmatics and her explorations of Mariachi and African rhythms on 'Sweet Liberty'. Critically, she is lauded for her vocal depth and her intellectual approach to song selection, often collaborating with poets like Paul Muldoon. She occupies a unique cultural space as a bridge between the traditionalists of the Irish folk scene and the experimental singer-songwriters of the East Village. Her influence is seen in the way modern folk artists incorporate non-traditional instrumentation like cello and harmonium into acoustic frameworks.