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Noriana Kennedy with Nicola Joyce and Noelie McDonnell
"...exquisite phrasing and a songbook as wide as a southern porch..." IRISH TIMES
Folk singer Noriana Kennedy together with Nicola Joyce and Noelie McDonnell will be touring Australia in March through an exciting record deal offered by ABC Australia. Their splendid vocals combined with guitar, percussion and the banjo-ukele weave a beguiling tapestry of Irish and American folk.
The release of Noriana Kennedy's debut album Ebb ‘N’ Flow is a fresh exploration of the links old between Irish and Appalachian folk music. Noriana's pristine voice takes the audience from cruel wars to kind love, from New England to Waterford, and a thousand heartworn places in between.
From a Filipino and Irish background, Noriana Kennedy was born in Dublin. She worked in Castlebar for a year with the EPA but moved to Galway in 2005 to become part of its thriving Irish music scene. After six years of gigging and honing her craft, last year she released Ebb n Flow, an album that revels in both the Irish and American folk tradition. The Irish Times lauded Ebb N Flow for its “…exquisite phrasing and a songbook as wide as a southern porch…”. Noriana now finds herself at the fore of the Irish roots music scene, singing with esteemed players like Sharon Shannon and The Waterboys' Trevor Hutchinson. The singer was awarded the Irish Music Network Performance and Touring Award in February 2011, and consistently wins audiences over with her nuanced, joyful performances and her fluid playing of the quirky hybrid banjo-ukulele. Her performance at the Galway Arts Festival last year was reviewed by the Connacht Tribune as one of Galways most memorable folk concerts in 2011.
Noriana will be joined by Galway native Nicola Joyce, who Earl Hitchner of the Wall Street Journal praised as ‘a magnificient vocalist who sings with sheer beauty and poignancy’. Nicola is a seasoned and gifted performer who has played in over 500 cities across the globe with Americana/Irish group Gráda. Nicola plays percussion and mandolin and is a harmony singer of both precision and grace.
Also hailing from Galway, Noelie McDonnell plays with an ease and magnetism that is all too rare in modern performers. A singer-songwriter of genuine class, Noelie received extensive airplay in Ireland with 'Nearly Four', a song inspired by his nephew. He has been hailed by the New York Post as 'a startlingly good new Irish talent’ and his album Beyond Hard Places spent two months in the iTunes Top 10 folk album charts. The live arena is where Noelie thrives, and he has been invited to share the stage with such luminaries as John Martyn, Greg Brown, Luka Bloom, and Eddie Reader.
Noriana is overwhelmed by the reaction the Australian market seems to be having on her music saying "its a really exciting time for us as great friends and musicians to all to head off to Australia. We are blessed that ABC Australia have taken us on so confidently. There's talk of us playing Sydney Opera house...but all to be confirmed soon!". Together, Noriana Kennedy, Noelie McDonnell and Nicola Joyce spark splendidly off each other, bringing added magic to the already impressive Ebb N Flow.
See norianakennedy.com for further details and beautiful audio.