Womad

Cara Dillon

Angelic-voiced siren offers the sweetest folk sounds

If ever a person's voice suited their looks, it's Cara Dillon. Blonde, petite and elfin, the girl from Dungiven sings in the most natural of styles - the cover of 2003's Sweet Liberty, with Cara standing in a field of stunning flowers, looking every inch a part of the organic landscape, summed up her overall aesthetic quite beautifully. A pure-voiced delight, she won the All-Ireland Singing Trophy at age 14 before becoming part of the Irish folk 'supergroup' Equation alongside Seth and Sam Lakeman, the latter would go on to become both her husband and her musical partner. Her solo career, on the indie-cool Rough Trade label, quickly gathered plaudits, taking home two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002 and becoming one of the standard bearers for folk's younger generation. Most recently - aside from raising her young twin boys - Cara's just released The Redcastle Sessions, a fabulously atmospheric DVD recorded live back in her homeland. It's utterly representative of her as an artist - mixing traditional fare with her own compositions while offering the sweetest shade of the folk spectrum, underscored by a rare ethereal loveliness.

www.caradillon.co.uk

Biog by Rob Williams