Cathie ryan biography

Cathie grew up in Detroit to Irish immigrant parents from Kerry and Tipperary.
For over thirty-five years, including multiple studio recordings, musical collaborations, and awards, Cathie Ryan has been in the vanguard of Irish music.
Cathie Ryan is an Irish American singer-songwriter, who has released five CDs and tours steadily with her band performing at festivals, folk clubs, performing arts centers and with symphony orchestras.

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CATHIE RYAN

Biography

Biography (Courtesy of the Artist�s site, 2005).

Irish American Cathie Ryan, with her crystalline vocals and insightful songwriting, is an original and distinctive voice in Celtic music. Since her acclaimed seven year tenure as lead singer of Cherish the Ladies, the Detroit born Ryan has established herself as one of Celtic Music�s most popular and enduring singer-songwriters. The Boston Globe recently wrote, "Cathie Ryan is a thrilling traditional vocalist whose honey-pure soprano is equally at home on probing original ballads about a woman's place in the modern world."

Cathie has released 4 critically acclaimed CDs on Shanachie Records: Cathie Ryan, The Music of What Happens, Somewhere Along the Road, and her latest The Farthest Wave. She is featured on more than forty compilations of Celtic Music.

Cathie is a captivating and deeply affecting performer. �There is nothing like a live show, being with an audience, sharing the music. That is the best part of being a singer and writing songs,� she says. She has built a loyal following throughout Europe

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Background

Cathie grew up in Detroit to Irish immigrant parents from Kerry and Tipperary. Her mother, Mary Ryan (ní Rice, Co. Kerry), loved music and kept the turntable stacked with albums by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Johnny Cash, Mario Lanza, Jim Reeves, Hank Williams and her favorite Irish singers and musicians. Cathie maintains her mother was a musician at heart and used the music of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem to stave off the longing for home – and to help lighten the chores around the house.

Cathie’s father was a singer and Cathie maintains he was the finest tenor she ever heard (and she did once share the stage at Radio City Music Hall with Frank Patterson, and interviewed Ronan Tynan, Finbar Wright and Anthony Kearns for PBS and heard them sing live in the studio!) Tim Ryan (Co Tipperary) was instrumental in teaching his daughter how to interpret and honor a song. He carefully explained every song he taught her, taking her through why the song was made, its historical context, and into the heart of the characters within it. He taught her that the

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Cathie Ryan

“One of the leading voices in Celtic Music.”
— The L.A. Times

For over thirty-five years, including multiple studio recordings, musical collaborations, and awards, Cathie Ryan has been in the vanguard of Irish music. She sings with luminous clarity and has a gift for unearthing gems from the Irish and American song traditions, as well as crafting originals that fit perfectly along side them.

Cathie is a captivating performer whose shows are renowned for their intimacy and power – and a typically Irish sprinkling of storytelling. “There is nothing like a live show. I love the energy, the give and take, of being with an audience. And I love to have fun up there!” she says. Cathie happily shares the stage, and the show, with her award-winning band. Featuring Patsy O’Brien on guitar, Matt Mancuso on fiddle, and Brian Melick on percussion, the band weaves subtle arrangements and harmonies around Cathie’s vocals and raises the rafters with sets of traditional tunes.

Cathie has built a loyal following by touring internationally and singing “songs of the heart” at