Sarah McQuaid
Sarah McQuaid is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has recorded five solo albums: When Two Lovers Meet (self-released, 1997), I Won't Go Home ’Til Morning (self-released, 2008), The Plum Tree And The Rose (Waterbug Records, 2012), Walking into White (Waterbug Records, 2015), and If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous (Shovel and a Spade Records, 2018).[1] Three songs on McQuaid's Walking into White album were inspired by the Swallows and Amazons books by English author Arthur Ransome.[2] After recording her first three albums in Ireland with producer Gerry O'Beirne (Sharon Shannon), McQuaid enlisted her cousin, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade) to serve as producer for Walking into White.[3] Her fifth album, If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous, was produced by veteran English guitarist and singer-songwriter, Michael Chapman. Under the band name Mama, she and Zoë Pollock (writer and performer of hit single "Sunshine on a Rainy Day") recorded Crow Coyote Buffalo (2009), an album of songs co-written by the pair.[4] McQuaid has also guested on albums by Clodagh Simonds, Wendy Arrowsmith, Colin Harper and the Cafe Orchestra amongst others.
Sarah McQuaid | |
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McQuaid with two guitars | |
Background information | |
Born | Madrid, Spain | May 19, 1966
Genres | Singer-songwriter, folk, Americana, roots |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, piano, percussion |
Years active | 1997–present |
Labels | Waterbug Records, Shovel and a Spade Records |
Website | sarahmcquaid |
McQuaid's work has been likened to classic 1970s British folk singers such as Sandy Denny and Nick Drake,[5] and her diverse work has also explored three-part round singing (with Niamh Parsons and Tom Barry).[6] All of McQuaid's albums are distributed in the U.K. by Proper Music Distribution. She is one of several artists who have covered Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," which appears on McQuaid's Walking into White album (2015).
McQuaid is the author of The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book (Ossian Publications/Music Sales Ltd, 1995).
Born in Spain to American art critic Jane Addams Allen (founder and editor of the New Art Examiner) and Spanish artist José Paredes Jardiel,[7] McQuaid grew up in the USA, lived for 13 years in Ireland and now resides in Cornwall, England.[8] McQuaid's great-great-great aunt, prominent pacifist and activist for women's suffrage Jane Addams, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in the settlement house movement.[9] McQuaid is married to artist Feargal Shiels and they have two children.
References
- "Sarah McQuaid". mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "Sarah McQuaid Tours and Enchants With Her Brilliant New Album, Walking into White". HuffPost. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "Sarah's new sound – The Irish World". theirishworld.com. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "Music interview: Sarah McQuaid". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "On new album, Sarah McQuaid turns folk tradition inside out". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "Sarah McQuaid". The Irish Times. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "The long way to happiness". The Irish Independent. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "From Cornwall, UK to Cornwall, USA | The Cornishman". cornishman.co.uk. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- "Interview: Sarah McQuaid talks folk and country". irishpost.co.uk. Retrieved March 18, 2016.