Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she studied piano then took music at University College Dublin in 1987. Having learned to copy Ella Fitzgerald's scat singing, she performed in a Dublin bistro several nights per week while still a student. At the Royal Irish Academy of Music she studied classical music and sang in a jazz band, then a folk-ballad band, then another jazz band. She also fell under the influence of Dublin folk singer Frank Harte. During this time she also formed her own band, called Dorothy.
In 1993 Karan moved to New York City. There she studied jazz at Long Island University. When she encountered Irish traditional music sessions in New York she started singing Irish traditional music again. During this time she mostly sang in bars and locals. For most of 1994 she sang with a group called Atlantic Bridge. At the end of the year she joined Seamus Egan and others in Solas. She sang five songs on their first album in 1996. In the same year she sang in Tramps club in Manhattan, accompanied only by a percussionist. They mixed jazz and folk. In 1997 she recorded a solo album, Songlines, inspired by the novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin. It was produced by Seamus Egan and included several members of Solas. There were a few traditional songs and some contemporary folk songs.
In 2000 Karan collaborated with several other singers on "Seal Maiden - A Celtic Musical". It was a musical version of the film "The Secret of Roan Inish", designed for children. It concerns the mythical creature called the selkie - a seal-woman. Since then Karan has recorded three further solo albums released in 2001, 2003 and 2005. In a salute to her Celtic roots, several tracks were recorded in her native Irish tongue. She also features on the DVD "Solas Live".
Her 2005 album Chasing the Sun includes a number of songs Casey wrote herself. Her records are released by Shanachie Records in the United States and Vertical Records in Europe.
Karan is now living in County Cork, and is married to Niall Vallely, a composer and player of traditional Irish music.
Solo albums
* Songlines (1997)
* Seal Maiden (2000)
* The Winds Begin To Sing (2001)
* Distant Shore (2003)
* Chasing The Sun (2005)
Recordings with Solas
* Solas (1996)
* Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers (1997)
* The Words That Remain (1998)
* Reunion: A Decade of Solas (2006, CD and DVD)
As session musician
* Dancing at Lughnasa (film) (1998)
* Waking Ned Devine (film) (1999)
* "Celtic Solstice" by Paul Winter
The Curra Road
Karan Casey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Way down to the river down the Curra road
There’s a blue sky we’ll walk under
Listen to the humming bees and on we’ll go
We won’t worry about the traffic
Worry about the way to go
Worry about the phone
In the summer we’ll go walking
Past the cattle at their grazing
Through the woods of hazel, holly, birch and oak
Past the robin on the gatepost
Singing to the bluebells, sunlight is their host
We won’t worry about the winter
Worry about it raining
Worry about the snow
In the summer we’ll go laughing
Way down to the river down the dusty road
There is music in the river
Listen to it dancing underneath the bridge
The wind is hardly breathing
Words onto the willow branches overhead
We won’t worry about the government
Worry about the way to go
Worry about the hay
In the summer we’ll go walking
Hand in hand together down the dusty way
The lyrics of Karan Casey's "The Curra Road" paints a fully immersive picture of a beautiful, peaceful and carefree summer day. The song describes the singer and a companion taking a walk down the Curra road, a route that leads to a river. The vivid description of how they will walk under a blue sky, listen to the humming bees and marvel at the beauty of the woods with hazel, holly, birch and oak, immediately situates the listener in the scenery.
Line by Line Meaning
In the summer we’ll go walking
During the summer season, we will enjoy a walk together.
Way down to the river down the Curra road
We will go for a walk to the river via the Curra road.
There’s a blue sky we’ll walk under
We will stroll below the beautiful blue sky above us.
Listen to the humming bees and on we’ll go
We'll take pleasure in listening to the buzzing bees as we continue our walk.
We won’t worry about the traffic
We won't concern ourselves with vehicular traffic during our walk.
Worry about the way to go
We won't worry about finding the correct path to follow.
Worry about the phone
We won't get anxious about phone calls during our walk.
Past the cattle at their grazing
We will walk past the grazing cattle on the way.
Through the woods of hazel, holly, birch and oak
As we continue, we'll trek through forests containing a variety of trees like hazel, holly, birch, and oak.
Past the robin on the gatepost
We'll pass by a robin bird situated on a gatepost.
Singing to the bluebells, sunlight is their host
The robin bird is singing to the bluebells, as they bask in the warm sunlight.
We won’t worry about the winter
We won't be concerned about the winter season.
Worry about it raining
We won't be anxious about the possibility of rain during the walk.
Worry about the snow
There's no need to worry about snow during our summertime walk.
In the summer we’ll go laughing
We'll be joyfully laughing during our summer walk.
Way down to the river down the dusty road
We'll travel down the dusty road to the river.
There is music in the river
We'll hear the sweet sound of music emanating from the river.
Listen to it dancing underneath the bridge
We'll hear the sound of the river as it dances gracefully beneath the bridge.
The wind is hardly breathing
The wind is blowing very lightly.
Words onto the willow branches overhead
The gentle wind is causing the willow branches to sway and rustle, creating a calming sound.
We won’t worry about the government
We won't be fearful of the government or its actions during our walk.
Worry about the way to go
We won't be anxious about choosing the correct path to follow.
Worry about the hay
We won't worry about the potential hay on the path during our walk.
In the summer we’ll go walking
We'll enjoy a summer walk together.
Hand in hand together down the dusty way
We'll walk together, hand in hand, down the dusty path.
Contributed by Lauren L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.