Emotional folk impact - interview with folk artist Aoife O'Donovan

With her stunning voice and heartfelt lyrics, Aoife O’Donovan is among America’s finest folk musicians. But there’s nothing twee or bucolic about her music.

Boston-born from Irish stock, her rich brand of Americana shimmers with the Celtic heritage she shares with so many in New England’s largest city. Indeed, it was back in the ‘Old country’ where Aoife (pronounced ‘Ee-fa’) experienced her musical awakening, while spending school holidays with relatives.

“I try to avoid putting typical labels on my music, as it's hard to do so without alienating someone,” she says, talking from New York City before preparing to cross the Atlantic for a tour which reaches Oxford next Thursday.

“That being said, I think of this music as folk music, first and foremost; music of the people. Some might call it Americana, some might call it indie-country, some might call it singer-songwriter, but the bigger umbrella is definitely folk.

“My Irish roots can be heard in my singing, I like to think. I’m very influenced by some traditional Irish singers, such as Karan Casey and Cathie Jordan. My time spent in Ireland as a child wasn’t at all in the trad scene, but my entire family would sing songs together every night – old folk songs by Dylan and James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. It was in Ireland that I probably got hooked on harmony singing with my family.”

Being hooked on music, Aoife went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music.

“I studied in the jazz department,” she says. “It was a traditional music school environment, so I read music, and know about classical harmony and music history, and all of those skills come in handy from time to time. I think if I’m a perfectionist, I was definitely that way long before any formal training.”

While there she met fellow Conservatory student Corey DiMario and other local musicians Rushad Eggleston and Gregory Liszt. Calling themselves Crooked Still, and with Aoife as lead singer, they acquired a reputation first in the bars of Boston, then across the States, releasing five albums and an EP over the course of a decade.

At the same time Aoife became involved in alternative folk supergroup Sometymes Why, who went on to record two studio albums, and she fronted another folk group, The Wayfaring Strangers.

But it is a solo artist that she is flourishing. Her song Lay My Burden Down was recorded by Alison Krauss and her music has been used in films and TV soundtracks, including cult vampire series True Blood.

Last year she released her debut Fossils, recorded with her own band, and has since toured with Californian indie folk duo The Milk Carton Kids, Colorado roots quintet Elephant Revival, appears on The Goat Rodeo Sessions alongside mandolin player Chris Thile, and has starred on author Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion show — a popular radio variety show featuring goings-on in the fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon.

So which artists have provided the biggest inspiration? “I can’t really put some ahead of others here,” she says. “It’s been amazing to work with such a variety of musicians over the last few years.

“I’ll say that working with Chris Thile has been hugely inspiring, because of his sheer mastery of his instrument and the way he thinks about music. He’s pretty incredible. Working with Garrison Keillor was also an eye-opening experience in the way he relates to his audience and delivers stories. I took mental notes the entire time.”

Playing live has also thrown up its share of amusing incidents, she says. “I was in Boston once, singing a cover version of Love Letter from Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of TIme album. I was being backed up by a sick band, with pedal steel, drums, bass and electric guitar. It was our encore and we were going for it so hard. When we got off stage, a woman came up to me and said ‘I’m Bonnie Hayes, I wrote Love Letter for Bonnie Raitt!’ And sure enough, it was true. We got a good laugh out of that one.”

While proud of her folk roots, she admits her music is far from traditional. “Folk music delves into the darkness more often than you think,” she says. “The whole murder ballad tradition – of men killing their wives, and so on, is pretty crazy. For me, the darkness comes from pure human emotions — including the uglier ones, like jealousy and infatuation — the sides of ourselves we try to hide.”

That darker side comes out in songs such as Briar Rose, which is based on a poem by Anne Sexton, in which she retells the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty.

“I tried to take her reimagining and put it in the folk song format,” she says. “The song is sung from the perspective of the prince, trying to rescue Aurora from an abusive relationship with her father.”

Other songs, she says, are more personal and autobiographical. “It’s hard to separate my own experiences from the characters in my songs, but that’s what keeps the mystery alive, right?

“I’m attempting to take feelings that are relatable, and turn them into music, with lyrics, melody, and harmony all having an equal say.”

So what can we expect from her show, at The Art Bar, the venue formerly, and still better known, as The Bullingdon? “I’ll be totally solo – just me and my guitar,” she says. “I’ll be playing music from Fossils, but also folk songs and original music from my back catalogue as well as a few covers thrown in for good measure.

“I can’t wait to be back in the UK. I played a London show back in November and it was a blast. I’ve never been to Oxford, but have heard wonderful things. I’ll be travelling by train, so hopefully the schedules will allow for some exploration of the city!”

And if you do meet her before the show – just try to get her name right. “It’d be silly to get annoyed by mispronunciation, as Aoife is in another language,” she says. “People tend to struggle with it before they meet me – but then it’s usually fine!”

LIVE
Aoife O’Donovan plays The Art Bar, Cowley Road, Oxford, next Thursday. Tickets are £10 in advance from wegottickets.com