Crying Over You: Maura O'Connell and "Stories"

Today's random tune is by Irish singer and actress Maura O'Connell. Maura O'Connell is known for contemporary interpretations of Irish traditional music, influenced by American country music. Born and raised in Ennis, County Clare in a musical family, she worked at her family's fish shop until she started music as a full-time career. She performed country music in the local folk scene with Mike Hanrahan as a duo called Tumbleweeds. In 1980, as vocalist for the Irish group De Danaan, she toured the US and got very interested in American experimental roots music and eventually moved to Nashville in 1986. There she met newgrass pioneers Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas, who produced most of her subsequent albums. While her first album didn't make any waves, her second gained her a Grammy nomination. In addition to her solo work, she has collaborated with a number of famous Celtic, folk, pop and country artists. She also was cast as a Irish migrant street singer in the movie Gangs of New York. You can find this song, Stories, on her 1995 album of the same name, and on the compilation album Putumayo Presents: Women of the World - Celtic (1995).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maura_O%27Connell

Telling Stories: Maura O'Connell and "Stories"

Today's random tune is by Irish singer and actress Maura O'Connell. Maura O'Connell is known for contemporary interpretations of Irish traditional music, influenced by American country music. Born and raised in Ennis, County Clare in a musical family, she worked at her family's fish shop until she started music as a full-time career. She performed country music in the local folk scene with Mike Hanrahan as a duo called Tumbleweeds. In 1980, as vocalist for the Irish group De Danaan, she toured the US and got very interested in American experimental roots music and eventually moved to Nashville in 1986. There she met newgrass pioneers Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas, who produced most of her subsequent albums. While her first album didn't make any waves, her second gained her a Grammy nomination. In addition to her solo work, she has collaborated with a number of famous Celtic, folk, pop and country artists. She also was cast as a Irish migrant street singer in the movie Gangs of New York. You can find this song, Stories, on her 1995 album of the same name, and on the compilation album Putumayo Presents: Women of the World - Celtic (1995).

Waiting for the Rain: Jonaé and "Summer Storm"

It's summer, and in New Mexico where we reside that means we wait for the summer rains. Summer Storm is by Jonaé, a band from Nashville, begun in 2005, and made up of Californian guitarist/composer Jody Alan Sweet, West Virginia fiddler Renaé Truex, and Swedish percussionist Tom Moller. Jonaé combines diverse instrumentation such as violin, cello, viola, acoustic guitar and a variety of percussion instruments such as cajones, djembes, and mondo drums with electrifying rhythms and haunting melodies. Summer Storm can be found on Jonae's 2005 album Into the Blue.

BTW: If this seems like déjà vu, it is. This is the first "repeat song" in over one year of this daily post. Our rules are that we won't repeat a song from June 15 to June 14 of following year, but after that, if the random gods want to repeat a song the next year, we'll repeat it. You'll see another repeat this week as well. It's not so bad - commercial radio repeats songs multiple times a day!

Monsoon Rising: Jonaé and "Summer Storm"

The random tune today is about a phenomenon that we won't see for a few months (unless you are in the southern hemisphere). Summer Storm is by Jonaé, a band from Nashville, begun in 2005, and made up of Californian guitarist/composer Jody Alan Sweet, West Virginia fiddler Renaé Truex, and Swedish percussionist Tom Moller. Jonaé combines diverse instrumentation such as violin, cello, viola, acoustic guitar and a variety of percussion instruments such as cajones, djembes, and mondo drums with electrifying rhythms and haunting melodies. Summer Storm can be found on their 2005 album Into the Blue.