Susan McKeown (born February 6, 1967) is an Irish-American folk singer, songwriter, and producer. Dubbed the "Celtic High Priestess," she has contributed to more than seventy albums over a career spanning upwards of three decades. She won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album for Wonder Wheel with The Klezmatics.
Since 1989, she has served as the front woman of Susan McKeown & the Chanting House. Their 1996 album Bones garnered international recognition, with Time magazine remarking, "this is the kind of music that will link Ireland’s musical past with its future." Her 2004 album Sweet Liberty—a blend of Celtic folk with elements of Mexican mariachi and Malian Tuareg music—was nominated at the 2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. McKeown’s 2012 album Belong was a critical and commercial success, and its lead single, "Everything We Had Was Good," reached No. 1 on the U.S. Folk Singles Chart.
Throughout her career, McKeown has performed at numerous venues including the Glastonbury Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Hollywood Bowl, and the National Concert Hall. Her music has been featured on PBS, NPR, PRI, BBC, and RTÉ, as well as in ad campaigns for Audi, Jaguar, and Olay.
Alongside poet Paul Muldoon, she serves as co-artistic director of Feis Teamhra, an annual festival of poetry and music held at the Hill of Tara, an ancient ceremonial site in County Meath, Ireland.
Early life and education Susan McKeown was born on February 6, 1967, in Dublin, Ireland. The youngest of five children, she grew up in a musical household: her father worked as a food scientist, while her mother was a pianist and composer who fostered McKeown’s early interest in music. McKeown would later recall, “I was singing before I could speak because my mom had a Hammond organ at home and we were always surrounded by music."
At age fifteen, McKeown began studying classical voice with noted Irish soprano Veronica Dunne. While still in secondary school, she chose to forgo a potential career in opera in favour of folk music. She then began busking on Grafton Street performing with friends, including future Academy Award-winner Glen Hansard. McKeown matriculated to University College Dublin, earning a joint honours degree in English and Philosophy. During her studies she spent a summer in New York on a J-1 visa and became enamored with the East Village music scene.
Susan McKeown & the Chanting House
Together with John Doyle, McKeown co-founded the Chanting House in 1989. Initially performing as a duo, the band toured Europe with Donogh Hennessy and other musicians, playing original songs as well as traditional Irish music. The Chanting House released a self-titled debut mixtape in 1990, and were invited to perform on The Late Late Show and Nighthawks.
Later that same year, McKeown was awarded a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland, as well as a scholarship to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. McKeown then immigrated to the United States, with Doyle following suit shortly thereafter. The pair later joined forces with Seamus Egan and Eileen Ivers, rebranding as Susan McKeown & the Chanting House.
In the early 1990s, the band performed around New York's East Village, headlining numerous storied venues including Sin-é, Mercury Lounge, CBGB, The Bottom Line and the Bowery Ballroom. According to Colin Larkin, author of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Susan McKeown & the Chanting House completed a record-setting run of more than 30 sold-out performances at Club Fez during this period. In 1992 the band recorded a second self-released mixtape, The Chanting House: LIVE, and contributed the track "If I Were You" to the 1993 album Straight Outta Ireland for Scotti Brothers Records. Other band members from this period included Chris Cunningham, Michelle Kinney, Lindsey Horner and Joe Trump.
The Chanting House garnered further attention after signing with the indie record label 1-800-Prime-CD in the mid-1990s. The band released their debut studio album Bones on September 17, 1996 to widespread critical acclaim. The album features original songs inspired by the ancient Irish tradition of caoineadh (keening) as well as an original arrangement of Robert Burns' poem "Westlin' Winds", that was later covered by English rock band Fairport Convention on their 1999 album The Wood and the Wire. The song "Jericho" was subsequently included in the 1997 compilation album Women Of The World: Celtic II from Putumayo World Music, and featured in the 1999 BBC documentary series The Irish Empire. When commenting on the albums' genre in an interview with Billboard, McKeown noted “on Bones, I write songs using the rhythms of jigs and reels, but at the same time they are unmistakably rock songs. Traditional music is dear to me, but it’s up to the new generation to see how it’s carried down.”
Bones was lauded by music critics, with particular praise for McKeown’s vocals, songwriting, and experimentation with genre. British publication Rhythm named Bones "one of the best releases of 1996," observing, "McKeown comes on the scene like a force of nature: a tide of incantory verse and a voice that slays demons... there’s a stateliness in her delivery that suggests she’s in midnight communion with the long-departed spirit of Sandy Denny." Rick Anderson, in a review for AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars, writing, "Susan McKeown has one of those voices that takes you by surprise-murmuring and indistinct one moment, then suddenly shuddering to a full-throated, quavering howl that manages always to teeter on the right side of pretty without ever letting you relax completely and get inattentive." Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times was equally enthusiastic, noting, "A soulful singing feminist, McKeown blends progressive Irish folk music with a harder-edged, pop-rock sensibility. Her album Bones is a stirring work of intense soul-searching."The Boston Globe wrote “equal parts folk-flavored songwriter and alternative rock chanteuse, Susan McKeown’s debut album Bones is arrestingly original.” While Michael Paulson of the New York Daily News noted "(Bones) intimate folk-rock songs, entwined with Irish instrumentation, have an earthy potency."
After touring on and off for six years, the band released their sophomore studio album Prophecy via Sheila-na-Gig Music on March 4, 2002. Much like its predecessor, the album garnered critical acclaim, with Siobhan Long of The Irish Times awarding the album 4 stars, noting, "McKeown exhibits damn fine, renaissance musicianship... Challenging and cerebral, Prophecys 10 gemstone tracks will tap at your subconscious long after your first listen." Sarah McQuaid, in a review for Hot Press, offered similar praise, writing
"Because I could not stop for Death" was subsequently listed in the "Top 20 Songs of Fate & Destiny" by The Guardian.MacInnes, Paul. "Readers Recommend: Songs about Fate and Destiny", The Guardian, September 16, 2010, accessed November 24, 2025 "River" was later covered by Irish band Gráda on their 2007 album Cloudy Day Navigation.
Solo career Following the success of Bones, McKeown released a Christmas album, Through the Bitter Frost and Snow, with 1-800-Prime-CD and Broadcast Music, Inc. on October 14, 1997. Collaborating with primarily with American jazz double-bassist Lindsey Horner, the album features guest appearances from Jeff Berman, Michelle Kinney, Pete McCann, and Carol Sharar. Through the Bitter Frost & Snow was met with critical acclaim from various media outlets, including AllMusic, Rhythm, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, among others. While promoting the album, McKeown and Horner performed their version of Auld Lang Syne on the New Year’s Eve broadcast of NPR’s All Things Considered.
Later that same year McKeown released Snakes, her debut solo EP with 1-800 Prime CD. Featuring songs from her previous collaborative projects, Bones with the Chanting House and Through the Bitter Frost and Snow with Lindsey Horner,McKeown, Susan. Snakes (Compact disc). Discogs. Accessed November 20, 2025. Snakes was released on November 1, 1997. Produced by McKeown, Horner, and Jimi Zhivago, the EP contains four tracks: "Snakes/Mná na hÉireann" (radio version), "Winter King", "Daddy's Little Girl", and "Snakes/Mná na hÉireann" (album version). Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times deemed the EP's titular track a "Rosanne Cash-style folk-pop anthem." The following month McKeown contributed two tracks to The Soul of Christmas: A Celtic Music Celebration, a compilation holiday album with Tommy Boy Records. Produced by New York Times bestselling author Thomas Moore, the album also features appearances from Cathie Ryan, Johnny Cunningham, Mary Fahl, and Kathy Mattea. Upon its release, the album was accompanied by a PBS Pledge Week Christmas Special of the same name. Hosted by Martin Sheen, and featuring the album's primary vocalists, the special aired daily from December 6–14, 1997.The Soul of Christmas: A Celtic Music Celebration was subsequently released for purchase on VHS via GlobalVision.
McKeown released Bushes & Briars, her first solo album of Celtic music, on February 3, 1998 with Alula Records. Produced by McKeown, Jamshied Sharifi, and Akira Satake, Bushes & Briars features guest appearances from Andy Irvine, Chris Speed, Greg Anderson, Jerry O'Sullivan, Skúli Sverrisson, and Séamus Egan. Buhses & Briars was lauded by critics. Rick Anderson, in a review for AllMusic awarded the album 4.5 stars, writing:
Norman Weinstein, in a review for The Christian Science Monitor, was equally effusive, noting, "The most strikingly original contemporary woman singer working this Celtic vein is Susan McKeown. Her new CD on the Alula label, Bushes & Briars, is a triumph." Bushes & Briars received the 1998 Best Celtic Album Award from Crossroads Magazine. Upon hearing the record, American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant invited McKeown to perform two duets on the PBS television series Sessions at West 54th. McKeown subsequently joined Merchant as a support act on 1999 tour, and appeared in the concert film Natalie Merchant: Live in Concert, recorded at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway.
McKeown released her second album-length collaboration with Lindsey Horner, Mighty Rain through Depth of Field on October 20, 1998. Produced by Bobby Previte, McKeown and Horner, Mighty Rain features a mixture of original compositions, covers, and traditional folk songs. Retroactively deemed an "overlooked gem in the output of these two genre-spanning artists." On this album, every sound heard is played by either McKeown or Horner, spanning acoustic bass, bass guitar, piano, whistles, bass clarinet, bodhrán, and shakers. The album features covers of two Bob Dylan songs, "If Not for You" and "Dark Eyes," as well as a musical adaptation of the Lucille Clifton poem "Let there be new flowering." That same year, McKeown contributed tracks three compilation albums: Celtic Heartbeat: A Winter's Tale with Celtic Music, Colors Of The World - Celtic with Alula Records, and The Song Poets with 1-800 Prime CD. In November 1998, McKeown appeared in a tribute concert for Sandy Denny, lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. The lineup included Darius Rucker, Robyn Hitchcock, and Mike Mills. Reporting on the concert, New York Newsday observed that "McKeown nearly walked away with her stunning rendition; the effect was electric," while Rolling Stone wrote that "McKeown grabbed both song and audience by the throat, dragged them through heaven and hell and back again, and left the stage to the loudest applause heard all evening."