Mary Coughlan
Friday 30 May - 8pm
St Camin’s Catholic Church, Mountshannon
€20, €18 with wristband
Music Package €35 ; go to two concerts & wristband is included : Mary Coughlan and Jiggy!
A wristband gives also access to all the Music in the Marquee, special prices on events and supports the festival. More info Jiggy here
Photo Credit Ciara Buckley
Renowned Irish jazz and blues singer Mary Coughlan is set to take centre stage at this year’s Mountshannon Arts Festival. Known for her raw, soulful voice and deeply emotive storytelling, Coughlan’s headline act promises an unforgettable evening for festivalgoers.
Mary Coughlan’s career in music has been one hell-of-a-ride. Often described as the greatest female vocalist that Ireland has ever produced, Coughlan proudly stands alongside some of the world’s most iconic jazz singers. She is unique in blending whisky-blurred, smoke-seared, husky notes with the laconic wit of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. She draws the line of deep, down and dirty blues singers back to Bessie Smith with the sardonic, bitter-sweet defiance and despair of Edith Piaf. Yet Mary Coughlan delivers it all in a delicious and unapologetic Irish drawl: sceptical, rueful, mournful and melting and ardent for love.
Mary Coughlan is one of our greatest singers because over 40 years she has made the most grown-up, uncompromising, wholly personal yet utterly universal music on either side of the Atlantic about what goes on between men and women. It’s hard to believe that four decades have passed since Coughlan went into the studio to record her debut album, Tired and Emotional.
On new album Repeat Rewind, as the title might suggest, we see Mary at perhaps her most open, honest and introspective (‘Repeat Rewind’, ‘I Can Let Go Now’, ‘Really Gone’) – but not at the expense of her trademark humour and astute observations of everything from domesticity (‘Marital Bliss’) and relationships (‘Freefalling feat. Ultan Conlon’) to women’s traditional place in Irish society (‘More Like Brigid’). A cover of The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ and a brand new seasonal offering, ‘Tinseltown’ will delight listeners and concert-goers alike, as MaryCoughlan celebrates four decades in music with this accomplished and heartfelt new album.
Press
MAIL ON SUNDAY 4**** album of the week “Mary delivers a set of torch songs with fierce tenderness and precise timing. Her version of God Only Knows, the Beach Boys classic, is better than David Bowie’s”.
MOJO 4**** “Honey-voiced Irish national treasure looks over her shoulder on her 15th album”. Mark Cooper
Photo Credit Ciara Buckley
BLUES MATTERS “A wonderful album full of great songs, and an album that reminds us who Mary Coughlan is, a brilliant artist”. Stephen Harrison"
GET READY TO ROCK 4**** “a soulful voice which wrings every last drop of meaning from every last word” Pete Feenstra
RAMZINE “Mary has taken all life can throw at her but she’s still got an unquenchable thirst of life & song & has put it all into this quite delightful collection of tunes”.
IRISH POST “A dramatic & passionate performer. She has a unique voice and remains one of the legends of Irish music”.
MUSIC-NEWS.COM 5***** “This album is one of the best in a long career & clearly indicates that she is still in love with music. The opening – title – track is a gentle masterpiece. An album very much to fall in love with.”