This is the 2nd song-cycle, following ‘The Girl with the Beret’, in a series called ‘Songs from A Witness Statement’ from Donegal based Singer/songwriter Kate O’Callaghan. Small Behaviours was recorded Live at Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal in collaboration with Seamus Devenny and Donegal Camerata String Quintet. Supported by Donegal County Council, Creative Ireland and the Arts Council of Ireland.
Comprised of a series of songs and spoken word tracks, which flow seamlessly from one into the other, Kate O’Callaghan weaves the story of her great-grand aunt Catherine Rooney (known as Katie Byrne before she got married) and her involvement in the War of Independence, after the events of the Rising in 1916. Inspired by first-hand accounts in her Witness Statement, logged with the Bureau of Military History, the aim of this project was to delve into the more personal and intimate details of her report, to imagine her experiences and pay tribute
to the vital roles played by so many women and girls at that time, which ultimately shaped the social position of women today.
A fusion of alternative folk, popular ballad and classical strings.
Kate O’Callaghan is a folk singer/songwriter based in Co. Donegal, Ireland. To date she has recorded & released an EP and two albums, received National & International Radio Play and toured in Ireland, UK, Germany and the US. ‘Small Behaviours’ will be her 3rd album.
PREVIOUS ALBUM REVIEWS:
“From County Donegal, Ireland, comes the poetic and nuanced sounds of Kate O’Callaghan, crafting highly intelligent, self aware, emotionally evocative tales that explore the profound in the everyday and the every day in the profound. Here are songs that expound on experience, create commonality, telling those big and small stories, simultaneously historical and personal, that are the gift of a music which carries the load of paying attention by sharing the world with us in new and unexpected ways” – Anti-Heroine Chic (New York, US)
“Absolutely stunning” – Myles Dungan, RTE Radio 1 (IRL)
“Haunting melody…beautiful lyrics, made all the more so knowing the story is real. Kate O’Callaghan pays a great tribute to her
aunt in this small but powerful collection, tinged with sadness, admiration, and love” – Irish America (USA)
“A beautiful recording, a concept album in the best sense. It combines family memories, historic events and movingly personal
reflections. It is impossible not to love this album” – Fatea (UK)
“Subliminal, understated and simply glorious” – Fatea Magazine (UK)
“Powerful..deeply atmospheric..genuinely lovely” – R2 (UK)
“Intelligent, meaningful and extraordinary listening experience” – Fanrealm (USA)
“A talented singer/songwriter with a great voice..” Shire Folk Magazine (UK)
“A lovely debut album..” – John Creedon, RTE Radio 1 (IRL)
“Warm, inviting, charming and delicate. A stunning debut album” – 2 U I Bestow (IRL)
“An accomplished songwriter” – GoldenPlec (IRL)
