Dolores Keane’s nieces for national tribute concert

Over a dozen nieces of the late Dolores Keane, and her brother Sean, are to perpetuate the memory of her music with a national concert in Dublin later this year as well as with TV appearances and other regional concerts.

Sean Keane told The Tuam Herald that the idea germinated a few weeks ago when TG4 asked him to do a tribute to his late sister for one of the Fleadh programmes they were filming in Belfast.

“When TG4 phoned me about doing a tribute to Dolores they also asked if her niece Orlaith would sing on it, and I said that she would but there is also a whole gang of her nieces that might sing on the show.

“The TV people asked if I would ask the girls if they would take part and when I sent around a message to them, they were up for doing it.”

Sean spoke to us after rehearsals in Belfast for the filming of their slot at the Fleadh for TG4 and he said when the group of Dolores’ nieces were together their singing in unison was amazing.

“The strange thing about all this is that when they were all singing together the other night, and I recorded them you, would swear that Dolores was sitting in the middle of them.

“The combination of their voices is so very like hers that it’s uncanny whatever is going on and it’s so nice to hear,” added Sean. When shown on TG4 their appearance got rave reviews.

Singing in unison would be nothing new for the Keane family through the generations. The late Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, also a record and radio programme producer, explained to The Tuam Herald in an interview years ago about the uniqueness of the voices of the late Sarah and Rita Keane when singing together.

He said that of all the people whose records he had produced over the years, apart from two Inuit singers that he once recorded in the cold arctic of Canada nobody else could ever come near the unique singing in unison of Dolores’ aunts Sarah and Rita. He worked with them on records and was the producer of the Radio Eireann programme Ceili House in the late 1950s when Keane’s Ceili Band were special guests on several occasions.

Dolores also sang in unison with her aunts many times and it seems like a natural progression that the next generation Keane women should unite their voices in songs too, especially with Sean, who did many duets with his late sister over the years. There are also plans to record the current generation of Keane women according to Sean.“We need to record something in the next few weeks to promote the proposed National concert Hall gig in December if we are to do it. The plan is to do that concert late in December and we might do something similar in The Black Box or somewhere in Galway as well as a few more around the country.

“But initially our plan is to just do one and see how it goes. Some of them might not want to do more and others might just want to do it once a year in a few places. So, in the next few weeks we will probably do something like that. I’ll leave it up to them regarding doing more,” he added.

Recording the extended Keane family together is not new because back in 1985 Dolores and her six siblings as well as their parents Matt Snr and Bridie plus their aunts Sarah and Rita recorded Muintir Chathain.

The album was released on the Gael Linn label and recorded in Greenfield Studio, Headford with sound engineers Gerald O’Donoghue and Tony Maher. Sadly, since that time many of those featured on that album have passed away.

The planned concert show featuring the nieces of Dolores and her brother Sean will be called Be The Light which is a line taken from one of her most iconic songs You’ll Never Be the Sun.

Dolores, who passed away earlier this year at her home in Caherlistrane, was respected by her peers in the music business both here and internationally. Other world-famous singing stars to record with her included Emmylou Harris and the late Nanci Griffith. The latter once famously remarked that she “dare not call myself a singer while Dolores Keane is still around”.

The provisional date for the Dolores Keane Celebration concert is Wednesday December 30 at the National Concert Hall with Pat Egan promoting the event in association with the Keane Family.

Sean Keane continues touring with his band including playing residencies in the Town Hall Theatre, Westport every Wednesday night and the Bonnington Hotel, Dublin every Thursday night until mid-September.