Leannan Sidhe is a fey Cascadian singer/songwriter with a lovely shimmering soprano voice, gypsy feet and an overwhelming fondness for bittersweet fairytale folk music. Her primary companion is the Prince of Cats, her trusted adviser is a clever gypsy boy, and her favorite musicians to play with are a band of Tricky Pixies.
Currently she is working on her new album, Mine to Love, a mix of dark fairy tales and passion, wrapped in a labyrinth, sprinkled with enchantment and served with a side of whimsy. Once again she will be joined by Alexander James Adams and Betsy Tinney, along with other special guests yet to be announced. The album artwork is being painted by the very talented Rob Carlos as he perfectly combines elements from her songs with inspirations drawn directly from life and transformed into something utterly enchanting.
Also in the works:
A soundtrack album for the Faerie Blood books written by Angela Korra’ti, to which Leannan Sidhe will be contributing vocals.
A live-in-studio album titled Roses and Ruin, featuring Trad, out of copyright and open source music. Temporarily on hold, she will resume posting a song a month soon.
Leannan Sidhe has been writing music she considers to be worth sharing since 1999 and “scribbles” long before that. Originally dreaming of performing in touring Broadway productions, she got sidetracked when she discovered bardic at the Society for Creative Anachronism and Filk circles at conventions, where she felt like she’d come home.
2011 marked the debut of her first album Fragile Dreams which owes its existence in part to the wonders of crowd-sourcing. For its creation Leannan Sidhe was able to work with several of the musicians she admires most to create music that turned out exactly the way she hoped it would. It is a testament to the power of dreams and in not having to make compromises about the things that matter most. If what you’re looking for is well written lyrics sung by a shimmering soprano and lovingly supported by guitar, harp, and a tasty combination of cello, violin, and fiddle, with a bit of percussion for spice and mandolin and flute for flavor, then this is the album for you.
2011 also marked her first steps along the path of being a professional paid performer. 2012 shows just how far that’s taken her as she has been hired to perform at both traditional venues on stage, and at Renaissance faires; and is a welcome guest at several conventions for 2012 and 2013. She is flexible in who she performs with, but one thing you can expect from all of the musicians she works with is talent and a feel for what her music wants to be.
Some of Leannan Sidhe’s notable musical influences over the years include Enya, Loreena McKennett, Rumors of the Big Wave, Tania Opland, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Heather Alexander, Cecelia Eng, Alexander James Adams, S.J. Tucker, Vixy and Tony, and a rather large collection of music from the 80′s. For all of that, her musical style and voice are distinctly her own, helped along by some words of wisdom along the way…
The world doesn’t need another Loreena McKennett, Sarah Brightman or Heather Alexander, it already has them. What the world needs and doesn’t have is one of you.