Discography

Links

Cara Dillon

Cara Dillon had quite a serious CV before embarking on her solo career; Born in '75 in Dunvigen County Derry she won the All Ireland Traditional Singing Trophy at just 14. At 15 she was singing in the band Oige, after that De Dannan and then onto Equation.

At this point she probably drew breath, and promptly fell for Sam Lakeman who was the one of the driving forces of Equation. A difficult period for Equation led to Sam and Cara departing to work as a duo.

It took time working with other producers to realise that they were probably better off doing it under their own steam. The first fruits of Cara's vocals, at one moment as fragile as glass and the next as strong as an ocean, allied with Sam's piano and production skills was the album 'Cara Dillon', a multi award winner. The songs were mostly trad arrangements, but what superb arrangements...

Cara was one of the acts instrumental in the crossover of trad folk to the mainstream, not least due to the fact that her voice is of a quality that makes you stop what you are doing and pay attention. She toured extensively before following up with another album in '03 'Sweet Liberty', recorde in Somerset where they now live. Again it was highly successful. Billy Connoly had asked Cara to record a track for his TV series about Britain, a track about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Unusually political for Cara, her performance underscored it's sad and poignant power.

Her third album After The Morning was released in March 2006, expectations were high for anything that Cara and Sam produce, It has exceeded expectations across the board. Encompassing the mainstream it still manages to pack in many traditional arrangements.

In November 2006 Cara gave birth to their twin boys Noah and Colm, who were born extremely premature and subsequently spent a great deal of time in hospital. The resulting year saw very little professional work, but highlights included their appearance on the 'Transatlantic Sessions 3 ' with Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain and a club remix of 'Black Is The Colour' (Cara Dillon vs 2Devine) which was voted #1 Trance Track 2006 in Mixmag. Cara also sang the single, 'Ordinary Day' which entered the UK dance chart at No 3!

With her latest album, Hill Of Thieves, Cara comes full circle and records an album of trad songs closer in feeling to her first two albums. A thoroughly acoustic album that places Cara's captivating voice firmly to the fore. Her partner Sam Lakeman produces, and it is released on their own label, Charcoal Records.