Grammy nomination for Maura

ENNIS singer Maura O’Connell has been nominated for a prestigious Grammy Award for her latest album, Naked with Friends.

Having narrowly missed out on a Grammy some 18 years ago, Maura is delighted to have been given another chance to scoop an award.
Maura emigrated to the United States in 1986 and currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee but she regularly returns home to Ennis each year to tour and most recently, she played a gig in Glór this summer.
“No matter what they say, it’s true just to get the nomination is an honour in itself. I would like to win it this year though,” the singer said.
Although her album has been nominated in the Best Traditional Folk Album category, Maura has never tried to categorise her music or limit herself to one specific genre. That being said, she does feel that folk music largely supports her voice.
“Being a singer, I have always tried not to allow myself to be put in any box as to what kind of music I fall into. I do feel only folk music can support me. To me, folk music is anything that stands the test of time. The best songs of any time are the ones that stay within the realm of music,” Maura explained.
Having been a member of De Danann for a number of years, Maura went out on her own and left Ireland in the 1980s to bring her music and voice to a broader audience. Maura said she was very lucky to have met and worked with very many talented and recognised musicians. 
“I managed to meet up with some musicians who were really changing things, they were not concerned with categories. I lucked out. When I first came to the States, the notion of Irish music in the USA was, well what you imagine what it was. I didn’t want to be known as an Irish singer, because to the audience, Danny Boy would first come to mind, I do love that song but really what it was about was that I wanted to protect the audience from what I was going to sing,” Maura said.
Naked with Friends, is an album that is all about voices, it’s unaccompanied, all-singing album. The album features a number of well-known singers as well as one particular local name, Maura’s sister Áine Derrane.
“There’s a magic about sisters singing together. Áine is a much nicer harmony singer than I am,” Maura added.
Among the guest singers are Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Kate Rusby, Paul Brady, Mary Black, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Dugas, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Moya Brennan, Liam Bradley and Declan O’Rourke.
“On this album, I just wanted to capture the feeling of joy that comes from people singing together,” Maura explained.
Growing up in Ennis, Maura’s singing was often showcased as their mother Amby nee Costelloe was always known as a great singer in the locality. Maura explains, “We were often called to sing and music was very much a part of our lives”.
Maura is currently on tour with Jerry Douglas and John Oates in the USA and John has also been nominated in the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group (with vocals) category.
Her sister Áine also extended her best wishes, “We are all extremely proud of her and I’m proud to have sung with the album with her”.
The Grammy Awards will take place on January 31, 2010.