Black Gold

Singer Mary Black Celebrates 25 Years/25 Songs with U.S. Tour

By John Mooney

Born into a musical family in which her father was a fiddler and her mother a singer, Mary Black began singing traditional Irish songs at age eight.

As she grew older, she began to perform with siblings Shay, Michael and Martin, The Black Brothers, in small clubs around Dublin.

She eventually achieved international stardom as a solo act and has been a major presence in Irish music for the last quarter-century.

On Saturday, November 6th at City Winery, she returns to New York for the first time in three years to perform selections from her compilation CD, 25 Years, 25 Songs, featuring re-mastered material and new works.

"I am so excited to get back to America. It has been three years, since I toured the U.S.; I used to come every year," said Black in a telephone interview from Dublin. "My compilation 25 Years, 25 Songs did surprisingly well in Ireland, and I wanted to celebrate this milestone with my fans in America. A lot of the songs are re-mastered; we wanted to bring them into the 21st century. Although some people enjoy the original sound, there is so much more you can do now. There are also a couple of live recordings and two new songs."

An award-winning interpreter of folk and contemporary material, Black's repertoire spans Irish ballads to country-tinged hits.

Her unique vocal interpretations have resulted in platinum-selling albums, such as No Frontiers (1989), which spent more than a year in the Irish Top 30.

She has recorded and performed with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Van Morrison, as well as other Irish artists including her siblings."It was such a great start to be born into a musical family. My father came from the rural coast of Antrim and loved traditional songs; my mother was from inner city. She loved the songs of her day," Black said. "They weren't stage parents; encouraged music in a casual and a fun way. They instilled passion and love."

Mary first gained attention in the late 1970's as a member of the group General Humbert.

In 1982, she teamed with guitarist/producer Declan Sinnott and released her self-named solo album, which went gold.

It won her the Irish Independent Arts Award for Music, the first of many honors. While most artists who achieve solo success continue along that path, Mary Black took a different route and joined the legendary De Danann, with whom she recorded Anthem, which won the Irish Album of the Year award.

"I was extremely flattered to join the group. My solo album had done well, but it was a first step," the singer explained. "I had success in Ireland, but it's a relatively small place. I was still a bit green around the gills."

"De Dannan had toured America and Europe. The group taught me about life on the road, how impress an audience, and how to make my presence felt vocally. I never regretted it," Black said about her three years with the band.

During her time with De Dannan, Black continued her solo releases with Collected (1984), Without The Fanfare (1985), and her first multi-platinum album, By the Time it Gets Dark (1987).

Based on the success of these releases, the Irish Recorded Music Awards (IRMA) named her Entertainer of the Year in 1986 and Best Female Artist in both 1987 and 1988.

Mary Black was a household name by the time she released No Frontiers in 1989. It generated triple-platinum sales, and her reputation began spreading far beyond her native Ireland to Europe, Australia, Japan and America.

In 1991, Babes in the Wood hit #1 on the Irish charts and was followed by sold out shows at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

In 1992, Mary Black joined forces with five of Ireland's most talented female artists (her sister Frances Black, Eleanor McEvoy, Dolores Keane, Sharon Shannon and Maura O'Connell) on the 12-track compilation A Woman's Heart.

It became the best selling album in Irish history and spawned a successful follow-up CD.

Not surprisingly, her next release, The Holy Ground in 1993, went platinum on the day of its release, followed by five sold-out shows at the Point Theatre in Dublin. Her next album, Circus, entered the British top 20 album charts.

In 2002, she filmed Mary Black Live on the final night of a week-long run at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

In 2005, Mary recorded her first studio album in six years, Full Tide. Most recently, she marked the quarter century since the release her first solo album with a compilation double CD, 25 Years/25 Songs.

It features hand-picked gems re-arranged for the retrospective and two new songs. The album went straight to No. 1 in the Irish charts, where it remained for five weeks.

The upcoming U.S. tour will bring Mary Black to New York, Albany, Princeton, Alexandria, VA, Boston, and San Francisco. She will introduce some new songs and polish off her classics.

"It will be a trip down memory lane. People who come know what they are going to get," Black explained.

"Song for Ireland is very popular among American audiences, Bright Blue Rose is requested everywhere. Columbus, Katie, No Frontiers - those are the songs people want to hear. I want them to go away happy."

Married to Joe O'Reilly of Dara Records, Mary Black has three grown children: Conor, Danny, and Róisín. She is proudest of being a successful artist alongside being a mother.

While her touring and recording schedule has slowed in recent years, she has no plans to rest on her laurels.

There are plans for A Woman's Heart: Then and Now, a CD that will feature tracks from each of the original six artists, as well as songs from new talents. She has also recorded a couple of songs and is experimenting with writing.

"I love music too much to retire. I'm able to dip in and out," Black concluded. "I'm enjoying life."