Pauline Scanlon

Pauline Scanlon’s voice is truly unique. Red Colour Sun, her stunning debut album, produced by John Reynolds in 2004, announced an original artist immersed in tradition, yet completely aware of the edgier developments within the folk world. Signed to Sony in 2009 as part of the duo LUMIERE, Scanlon and fellow West Kerry singer Éilís Kennedy released their self-titled debut in September 2009 to widespread critical acclaim, leading to performances from folk clubs and festivals all over the world to London’s Barbican Theatre and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Her latest release, The Unquiet, is a piece of art possessed of an old soul, but thoroughly modern and of its time.

Pauline is a constant and generous collaborator. Working with artists such as Damien Dempsey and Sinéad O’Connor, she has featured as harmony vocalist on countless albums. Bird on the Wire, her collaboration with The Whileaways exploring the songs of Leonard Cohen, has led to sell out performances in venues across the UK and Ireland while her pairing with John Spillane has delighted audiences around Ireland. As a founding member of Fair Plé, the role of women in the arts is central to her creative path and something she is very vocal about and dedicated to. As a presenter she has fronted several music-based television programmes for both the BBC and TG4,including Ceol Ón gCroí, a documentary featuring the songs of the 1916 rising, TG4’s live music series Bosca Ceol, and a BBC documentary based on her collaboration with NOTIFY, An tÁmhrán Gaeilge.