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).

Telling Stories: Souad Massi and "Raoui"

Today random tune is by Souad Massi. An Algerian singer, songwriter and guitarist of Berber descent, she currently lives in Paris where she relocated after receiving anonymous death threats in her home country. Those threats were apparently related to her participation in the Algerian rock band Atakor in the 1990s. Her musical influences always included Western style, and during her youth she immersed herself in American country and roots music. These styles influenced her later solo work, and her music has been compared favorably to American folk music. She sings in classical and Algerian Arabic, French, Berber and occasionally English and she while she incorporates elements such as rock, country and Portuguese fado into her music, she also has used some interesting instrumentation like the oud and African musical stylings. This song, Raoui, can be found on her 2002 album of the same name, and on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: Women of Africa. The song's title means "storyteller."

Grave Secrets: The Chieftains and Mick Jagger with "Long Black Veil"

The Chieftains bring us today's random tune, with a little help from The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger. The Chieftains are an Irish ensemble, formed in 1962 in Dublin, who helped introduced the wider world to Irish music. They made a new and unique sound for themselves by playing their music primarily around the distinctive sound of uileann pipes. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinead O'Connor and Roger Daltry. Mick Jagger, of course, is a singer, songwriter and actor and the lead singer for The Rolling Stones. You can find this song, Long Black Veil, on The Chieftains 1995 album of the same name. The song, written in 1959 by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, relates a saga where a man is falsely accused of murder and will be convicted because he refuses to provide an alibi - on the night in question he was having an affair with his best friend's wife and will go to the grave rather than betray her.