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Lisa O'Neill (singer-songwriter)

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Lisa O'Neill
Birth nameLisa O'Neill
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Ireland
OriginCounty Cavan
Genres
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, tenor banjo
Years active2000–present
Labels
Websitelisaoneill.ie

Lisa O'Neill (born 1982[3]) is an Irish singer-songwriter.[4][5][6]

Early life

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O'Neill grew up in Ballyhaise, County Cavan.[3]

Career

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O'Neill moved to Dublin aged 18 to study music at Ballyfermot College. For seven years afterwards, she worked in the service industry in places such as Eddie Rocket's and Bewley's of Grafton Street, continuing to write songs.[3] Her first album, Has An Album, was released in 2009.[7] In 2011, David Gray invited her to open for him on his American and Canadian tour and she was also part of his touring band for a time.[8] Her 2013 and 2018 albums were nominated for the Choice Music Prize. She played at the 2016 Vancouver Folk Music Festival.[9]

In 2016, O'Neill made an appearance on the debut album by the trio Yorkston/Thorne/Khan, Everything Sacred.[10] In the album's liner notes, singer James Yorkston reveals that the possibility of calling the group Yorkston/Thorne/Khan/O'Neill was discussed, but that she saw herself as a guest.[11]

In 2017, O'Neill was featured in the film Song of Granite, in which she sang "The Galway Shawl".[12] That year, Donal Dineen and Miles O'Reilly showcased her in their seminal YouTube survey of contemporary Irish folk artists, This Ain't No Disco. She sang her own Factory Girl with Radie Peat of Lankum fame, laying down an a cappella performance that combined the best of trad with intense, minimal production values. [13]

O'Neill won Best Original Folk Track with "Rock the Machine" (from her album Heard a Long Gone Song) at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards,[14] and was nominated for Folk Singer of the Year, Best Traditional Track, Best Original Track and Best Album at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in the same year.[15]

In 2021, O'Neill's cover of Dylan's All the Tired Horses reached a huge mainstream audience when her dark contralto channelled Tommy Shelby's return to his Roma roots in the final episode of Peaky Blinders.[16]

In December 2023, O'Neill performed a rendition of "Fairytale of New York" alongside the Pogues and Glen Hansard at Shane MacGowan's funeral service held at St Mary's of the Rosary Catholic Church, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Ireland. They sang the roles of the 1987 original hit recording by the late Kirsty MacColl and MacGowan.[17][18]

Discography

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Studio albums

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List of albums, with year of release and peak chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
IRE
[19]
Has an Album 2009 —
Same Cloth or Not 2013 14
Pothole in the Sky 2016 40
Heard a Long Gone Song[20] 2018 81
All of This Is Chance 2023 6

EP

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  • The Wren, the Wren (2019)

References

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  1. ^ McMillen, Robert (28 April 2017). "I grew up surrounded by music says Cavan singer Lisa O'Neill". The Irish News.
  2. ^ "RTÉ Radio 1 Folks Awards". Lisaoneill.ie. 19 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Clayton-Lea, Tony. "Lisa O'Neill – Cavan's material girl". The Irish Times.
  4. ^ "Lisa O'Neill: 'Like anyone being creative, there's always some self-doubt'". Independent.ie.
  5. ^ Ganatra, Shilpa. "Lisa O'Neill: On My Culture Radar". The Irish Times.
  6. ^ "Lisa O'Neill: Home". Lisa-o-neill.blogspot.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Lisa O'Neill". Westcorkmusic.ie. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Lisa O'Neill to open for David Gray". Hotpress.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  9. ^ [1] [dead link]
  10. ^ Denselow, Robin (14 January 2016). "Yorkston/Thorne/Khan: Everything Sacred review – bravely original Indian-folk-jazz fusion". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  11. ^ Yorkston, James (15 January 2016). James Yorkston on Yorkston Thorne Khan (liner notes). Domino Records.
  12. ^ "Recalling Joe Heaney". The Journal of Music. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  13. ^ Hurr, Alex (13 July 2022). "This Ain't No Disco - a rediscovery". Tradfolk. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  14. ^ "THE WINNERS AT THIS YEAR'S RTÉ RADIO 1 FOLK AWARDS". Folk Radio. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Lisa O'Neill Receives Four Nominations at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards". Journal of Music. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Peaky Blinders & All The Tired Horses". Lisa O'Neill. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  17. ^ 'Fairytale of New York' played at Shane MacGowan's funeral. RTÉ. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Shane MacGowan funeral: Johnny Depp and Bob Geldof among star-studded congregation", The Daily Telegraph, 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Discography Lisa O'Neill". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  20. ^ Rogers, Jude (19 October 2018). "Lisa O'Neill: Heard a Long Gone Song review – raw and unvarnished folk for austere times". Theguardian.com.
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