Karan Casey Trio. Thursday 19th November

Karan Casey Trio

Raheen House Hotel Clonmel

Thursday 19th November 2026

Clonmel World Music is delighted to welcome back one of the best Folk/Traditional singers in Ireland to Clonmel, for her fourth show with us. For this special show, Karan Casey is joined by two world-class virtuoso musicians to create an ensemble sound that fuses deep Irish roots with global musicality. The Karan Casey trio performed at The Cobh Tradfest in July, to great acclaim.

The two other members of the trio are:

• Niall Vallely: An Armagh-born concertina virtuoso and composer who has “reinvented” the instrument. Known for his technical brilliance and a “genius for improvisation,” Niall has contributed to over 80 albums and performed globally with legends ranging from Paddy Keenan to jazz icon Cassandra Wilson, as well as trad supergroup Buille. Niall will be the recipient of The Gradam Ceoil TG4 2026 composer award.
• Niwel Tsumbu: A Congolese-born, Ireland-based guitar master whose exhilarating style blends jazz, classical, and rumba. A Grammy Award-winning contributor, Niwel is a “citizen of the universe” whose intricate finger-picking and thrilling improvisations create a sophisticated global fusion.

Karan Casey is originally from BallyDuff Lower, near Kilmeaden Co Waterford, and has long been one of the most innovative voices in Irish traditional and folk music.

Karan’s career has spanned 37 years from the early days as a jazz performer in Dublin to her heady days in New York with the band Solas, to her now well established solo career. Karan has sold over half a million records. Karan released her first album with the group Solas, which quickly became the most celebrated Irish band in the U.S., and her four years with the group were pivotal. Since embarking on her solo career

Karan has released 7 solo albums, a duo album (with John Doyle), an album for children and numerous contributions to other artists’ projects – appearing on more than 50 albums in total.

She has toured constantly throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing solo, with her own band and with many other diverse artists. Recent years have seen Karan appearing with Folk legends James Taylor, Liam Clancy, Peggy Seeger, Mick Moloney and the Dubliners and Imelda May as well as performances with Solas, Lunasa, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and Tim O’Brien.

Karan has won awards for “Best Folk Album” and “Best Folk Female” from Irish Music Magazine and been nominated for the BBC Folk Awards and the Danish Grammys and was a key member of Paul Winter’s Grammy-award winning “Celtic Solstice”.

She has appeared at major festivals in Europe and the US such as WOMAD USA, the Cambridge Folk Festival, Celtic Connections, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Festival Cornouaille, Festival Interceltique Lorient, Milwaukee Irishfest and Merlefest as well as appearing at many prestigious venues including the Kennedy Centre (Washington DC), New York’s Symphony Space, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the Hollywood Bowl, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and many others.

She has made many TV and radio appearances on both sides of the Atlantic and has been a frequent guest on nationally syndicated US radio and TV shows such as Garrison Keillor’s ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ and NPR’s “Mountain Stage”.

Reviews:

“Karan Casey is the most soulful singer to emerge in Irish traditional music in the past decade.” – The Glasgow Herald

“ the Irish equivalent of Emmylou Harris.” WASHINGTON POST

”Karan Casey’s voice is among the loveliest in folk music and she’s a wonderful interpreter of both contemporary and traditional material.” BOSTON GLOBE

“Setting her clear voice in arrangements that mix traditional and modern instruments, she maintains the taut, quivering ornamentation of old ballad style, singing tales of love, war and murder with a gentle gravity.” NEW YORK TIMES

“Casey has the unique ability to make every song sound true and impassioned.” GLOBAL RHYTHM

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My favourite Karan Casey video !