Claire Roche Music
I am a singer and accompany myself with Irish harp, antique concert harps and grand piano. I write and perform my own songs, that usually have a gothic, mysterious, otherworld and even bluesy edge.
Of course, being an Irish girl I have a repertoire of favourite traditional Irish songs and tunes, especially O'Carolan tunes that I now mingle amongst some songs.
I also like to arrange poems of classic Irish poets to music. My compilation of W.B. Yeats poems to music, "Dancing In The Wind", has been an excellent seller for me for several years now.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
I'll come back to this later
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
Oh yes! I thrive on live performance. I do regular tours through North America and Australia, sometimes New Zealand. In Ireland I share an annual concert called "Singing Harps" at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
I also do several performances in Ireland with my partner John of Celtic Ways for his special tours and folk drama theatre events.
I think I am a bit fussy about where I perform. I believe it is unfair to the audience if I am booked into the wrong venue. I love performing grand theatres, as I have done in the past, even opening for The Chieftains and The Fureys. In future, with the type of songs I am now recording I hope we will try out some grand productions.
However, I thoroughly enjoy small intimate concerts in houses, old preserved houses, small chapels, small arts theatres, and I've even done lovely concerts in caves. What I love about these performances is not needing sound equipment and mics. Also contact and communication with the audience is priceless.
Your musical influences
Perhaps best to answer this with who people say I sound like or remind them of, Loreena McKennitt, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Eartha Kitt, Bjork and when I sing with piano, Nina Simone
What equipment do you use?
As little as possible. I really do not like mics, but will wear subtle wireless mics if I have to.
