| Stretched on your Grave presents.... |
| Loreena Mckennitt |
| Loreena Mckennitt, a singer/harpist, was born in rural Manitoba, Canada in 1957. The daughter of a livestock dealer, Loreena grew up playing piano, performing in local theatre and taking lessons in voice. Coming from an Irish heritage definately inspired Loreena's fascination with Celtic history and Irish folk songs. Loreena took up the Harp in 1983, and went on the first of her many trips to Ireland. In 1985 Loreena recorded her debut album, 'Elemental', released on her own label Quinlan Road. She garnered a repution for being literate, intelligent and extremely talented by playing in coffee houses and busking etc, whilst selling cassettes of 'Elemental' out of her car. One of the tracks on 'Elemental' called 'Stolen Child', is a musical daptation of the poem by Yeats of the same name, arranged and adapted by Loreena. She started up a mailing list for people who admire her music. Her next album, 'To Drive the Cold Winter Aaway', was mainly recorded in Ireland and was released on her 'Quinlan Road (named after a dirt road that passed by her family's farmhouse) label, and was released in 1987. 'To Drive the Cold Winter Away', is a collection, mostly forgotten, traditional winter and Christmas songs, such as 'Balulalow', 'The King', 'In Praise of Christmas', and others. Another album in 1989, 'Parallel Dreams', included self written songs aswell as traditional and obscure Irish songs such as 'Annachie Gordon'. It was another success and included such self-written songs as 'Dickens' Dublin (the Palace)', 'Breaking the silence' etc. That song 'Breaking the silence', was written as a tribute to Amnesty International and stands out on the album, which is comprised mostly of Celtic flavoured tunes, as are all her albums. In 1992, the unthinkable happaned, Loreena broke the big time, with her next album 'The Visit'. 'The Visit' went Gold almost immediately, it was around that time that Loreena decided she needed to check out a major label deal. She signed a unique deal with Warner Brothers music while also staying with her own one-artist label, Quinlan Road. 'The Visit', brought Loreena Mckennitts Celtic/eclectic music to the public in a more accessible way. It included musically adapted poetry ('Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shallott'), self written songs (Courtyard lullaby), and the traditionals ('Greensleeves'). 'Greensleeves', a beautiful ballad, the lyrics penned by Henry VIII, was reworked and released by Loreena on 'The Visit'. As Loreena travelled more and more she discovered that the Celts were not just some 'mad anarchists' from the British Isles, but were also from such places as Indonesia, Spain, Asia, and were thought to have originated from the Russian Steppes. Thus, her next album, 1994's 'The Mask and Mirror', has a more Spanish and Middle Eastern feel to it as well as a traditionally Celtic sound. Sound hard to imagine? Jjust listen to 'The Mask and Mirror', you'll understand perfectly. A wonderful album, and a huge success. Such standout tracks include, 'The Bonny Swans', 'Full Circle', 'The Mask and Mirror' and others. In 1995, Loreena released an EP of five songs for the Winter seaons, it was titled, 'A Winter Garden, Five Songs for the Season'. In 1997, Loreena produced her most recent album to date, 'The Book of Secrets', which produced a hit single, a remix of'The Mummers Dance', was a british top ten! 'The Book of Secrets' was an unspurising success. In 1999 Loreena wrote the musical score to a production of 'The Merchant of Venice', aswell as releasing a double CD live album, 'Live in Paris and Toronto', recorded on the 'Book of Secrets' world tour, the proceedings of which, ten dollars of album sold, went to a foundation set up by Loreena, in aid of water safety, her fiance had drowned in a boating when Loreena was mixing the live album. The foundation is called, 'The Cook-Rees Memorial Foundation'. Loreena is currently gathering research for a forth-coming album. |
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