Southland Festival of the Arts: Mary Coughlan

Featuring Tom Rainey, Richie Pickard, Dan Kennedy and Harry Harrison. Mary Coughlan is a rare talent, and without doubt, Ireland’s premier jazz & blues singer.

During a career spanning 20 years, she has been likened to legends such as Billy Holiday, Peggy Lee and Marianne Faithful, and has collaborated with music greats such as Tom Waits, Jimmy McCarthy and Elvis Costello.

Mary Coughlan sings from experience, with her performance conveying her struggle with drink, drugs, and bad management. Through it all, she shows the resilience of the human spirit, bringing an intensity and raw, honest emotion to her shows.

Audiences may have heard her on the popular recording "A Woman’s Heart", which has become one of the best-selling Celtic music albums ever.

Coughlan has gathered a large fan base since her recent successful tours to Australia and NZ, and now makes her way further south to our festival.

For this concert she is joined by acclaimed NZ musicians, guaranteeing a night out that will resonate with you long after the last note has sounded.

Mary Coughlan sings with a hard intelligence which binds spells. (Q Magazine)

Event listed by Angela Newell

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