Aoife Clancy

(pronounced “Eefa”) brings a  refreshing  new voice to folk music, one that ranges from traditional Irish songs to ballads to the best work of contemporary songwriters.  Born in the small town of Carrick-On-Suir in CO Tiperary, it is no mystery as to why her musical career started at an early age.  Her father, Bobby Clancy, of the renowned Clancy Brothers, put a guitar in her hands at the age of ten and by fourteen  she was out playing and singing with him in nearby pubs. She then moved to Dublin where she studied drama at the Gaiety School of Acting. After a season at the Gaiety, Aoife was invited to do a tour of Australia.  There she performed at festivals and concerts sharing the stage with some of Ireland’s greatest performers, such as Christy Moore and the Furey Brothers.  She then went on to perform with the Clancy Brothers on a Caribbean cruise, the Milwaukee Irish Festival and a seven week tour of the United States with the renowned Paddy Noonan Show. In 1995,  

Aoife was asked to join the highly acclaimed group Cherish the Ladies  which is one of the most sought after Irish American groups in history.  For over four years Aoife has toured extensively doing no less than two hundred dates a year throughout the US and Europe.  She has been a featured soloist with orchestras such  as the Boston Pops and the Cincinnati Pops. While performing as the vocalist with Cherish the Ladies  she collaborated with the Boston Pops on their Grammy nominated Celtic Album.  

Aoife has done six recordings in the last eight years, three of which are with Cherish and are on  RCA   and she has released three solo projects.   The first Its About Time on Rego Records presents some traditional favorites such as “Factory Girl” and “Mrs. McGrath”,  but she also presents a sassy rendition of Leon Rosselson’s “Don’t Get Married Girls”.   As one reviewer remarked “She has the breath of styles that makes her concerts fascinating.  Her singing would melt packed ice with it’s warmth and richness”  Mike Jackson, Canberra Times.   The second, Soldiers and Dreams is on an Independent label.  Al Reiss wrote in Dirty Linen Magazine, “ Soldiers and Dreams has a contemporary meets traditional music on equal terms feel and Clancy’s smooth, expressive singing works both ways too, ensuring a successful merger of the two approaches and an enjoyable listening pleasure” Her latest Recording on Appleseed Recordings is Silvery Moon which has been a hit on folk radio since its release in 2002

Being a Clancy has had its advantages and disadvantages. Lots of doors open to the name but it is Aoife’s talent that has kept them open! People shouldn’t expect her to come bouncing out wearing a white sweater like her father and uncles.  She has every intention of continuing on her own path, mixing the music she was brought up with and loves with new wonderful songs and doing it with style and grace