|
From the minute she begins to sing, Debra Cowan grabs her audience and doesn’t let go . Her ability to communicate the story within the song is rare. Her rich voice conjures images of stony grey Celtic castles, green and rolling English landscapes, and humorous American urban scenes. Just as the audience is left spellbound after Debra presents a woeful traditional ballad of love gone wrong, she immediately brings laughter with an outrageous comic song. Her love of songs from the British Isles has led her to search out the connections with their North American ancestors and her desire to be true to the song brought her to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1997.
While there, Debra studied the performances of that country's finest singers. She was chosen to be a resident musician at Edinburgh's premier folk music pub,Sandy Bell’s Bar, following in the footsteps of Scottish musicians such as Dick Gaughan, Aly Bain, the late Tony Cuffe and the Wrigley Sisters. Almost ten years later and based near Worcester, Massachusetts, Debra tours extensively in the USA and United Kingdom.
Debra's release of her recording "Dad's Dinner Pail and Other Songs From the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection", on the Falling Mountain Music recording label has brought her praise from both the USA and United Kingdom. In their Spring 2006 issue, Sing Out! Magazine published Debra's version of the "Walloping Window Blind", a song from "Dad's Dinner Pail". Also in 2006, Debra was included in the Free-Reed Records box set, "RT-The Life and Times of Richard Thompson" with her version of Thompson's "Has He Got a Friend For Me". She was selected as a 2002 Formal Showcase Artist at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) delighting an audience of industry professionals. This showcase earned her a performance on WFMT Radio's "Folkstage", an internationally syndicated live concert radio show hosted by Rich Warren. In 2001, she released her first solo CD, “The Long Grey Line” which enjoyed world-wide airplay on folk music radio and has been praised throughout the folk music community. Also that year, she was selected as a Showcase Artist in the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. She has appeared at numerous concert venues and on radio programs throughout the United States and the United Kingdom where her clear vocals and beautifully rendered songs have been described as “stunning”. Her festival appearances include the Greater New Bedford Summerfest (MA), Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival (CT), Champlain Valley Folk Festival, Lancaster Maritime Festival (UK), Edinburgh Festival (UK) and the Chico World Music Festival (CA).
“What makes Debra good is not her superb voice, nor her skillful guitar playing, nor her varied repertoire, nor her extensive knowledge of her music, it is, plain and simple, the fact that she loves singing, and her passion for her music is there in every note she utters.”
-Nigel Schofield, Producer, Free Reed Records, UK
|
