Susan McKeown

Susan McKeown (born February 6, 1967) is an Irish songwriter, folk singer and producer.

Early years

Susan McKeown was born on February 6, 1967 to John Ryan and Jane Ann (Jeannie) McKeown in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. She was greatly influenced by her mother, an organist and composer who died in 1982. Susan briefly attended the Municipal College of Music, Chatham Row, Dublin – now incorporated into the Dublin Institute of Technology) – as a teenager before abandoning a potential career in opera order to sing folk and rock. Together with John Doyle, McKeown formed The Chanting House in 1989. Mainly performing as a duo, they toured Europe with Donogh Hennessy and other musicians, playing of original songs and traditional tunes. They released a cassette-only album called The Chanting House in 1990.

Immigration to New York City

Upon graduating from University College Dublin McKeown was awarded a scholarship to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan, so in 1990, with a bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland, she relocated to New York City. Doyle followed and they were soon to join forces with Seamus Egan and Eileen Ivers, with whom they recorded one live cassette and one track, "If I Were You", which they contributed to the album Straight Outta Ireland in 1993. McKeown's musical collaboration with Doyle ended with his departure in the summer of 1993.