Black to play The Oakwood Arms

ONCE described by Nanci Griffith as being the owner of “the sweetest voice of Ireland” Frances Black will be in concert at The Oakwood Arms in Shannon on February 11.

She says she wants the night to be something memorable for her audience. “I try to tap into different emotions, to make people laugh and cry and sing. I want gigs to be a heart-warming experience.”
Frances has been one of the country’s most enduring artists since the 1980s with a number of bestselling albums and awards under her belt.
Her singing career began in earnest when she joined four siblings to form the Black family, when she was 17.
She would go on to join Arcady in 1988 and she also embarked on a collaboration with Kieran Goss, with whom she released an album.
In 1992, she achieved great success as two of her songs, Wall of Tears (with Kieran Goss) and After the Ball appeared on the album A Woman’s Heart. The album also featured Eleanor McEvoy, Dolore Keane, Mary Black, Sharon Shannon and Maura O’Connell and it would be the biggest-selling album ever in Ireland.
Following on from this success, Frances signed with DARA, recorded and released her first solo album, Talk to Me, which went to number one and stayed there for ten weeks.
She also had a major hit single with All the Lies that you told me, which was written by the late Christy Hennessy.
Since then, she has had another six bestselling solo albums, The Sky Road, The Smile on your face, How High the Moon, The Best of Frances Black and This Love Will Carry.
In Shannon, she will play the songs she is best known for, among others. “It will be kind of broken into two. In the first half, there will be some of the less well-known songs an d in the second songs like Wall of Tears, When You Say Nothing At All and When the Ball is Over which goes back years. Often people say to me afterwards that those songs remind them of a time or a moment or a feeling and they can find it emotional. It can be very nostalgic for them.”
Of course, the music industry is completely different compared to when she started out and she feels she received supports that aren’t available any more.
“I feel I was really lucky to achieve what I did and to do it today would be a lot more difficult. It’s hard to get radio play and one time, there would have been a lot of support. I was very privileged and it changed my life dramatically. I’d wonder about the role of X Factor and these talent competitions, with them it’s not just about the music, it’s about the whole package but I think it always has to be about the music really.”
Away from music, she founded the Rise Foundation, which helps families understand the nature of addiction and the impact of addiction on relationships. This subject is close to her heart as she went back to college to study to be an addiction counsellor and she now works with people who are trying to move into recovery. Regarding Rise, she says there is a lot to do. “It’s very busy and it’s an ongoing struggle to get funding but I enjoy the work and I love working with the families.”
Frances has twice been the recipient of one of the highest honours in Irish music, the Irish Recorded Music Associations (IRMA) Best Irish Female Award and she was also winner of a National Entertainment Personality of the Year award.
In addition, her live performances were recognised when she took the gongs for Best Solo Artist and Overall Winner at the Celtic Fusion Festival Awards, which were held in conjunction with Irish Music Magazine.