Lisa O'Neill

Lisa O'Neill

Lisa O'Neill is an Irish folk singer-songwriter from Ballyhaise, County Cavan, born in 1982. She starts writing songs and music at an early age, and moves to Dublin at 18 to study music full-time. In the city, she becomes part of the folk and traditional circuit in pubs and venues, where her distinctive voice, witty lyrics and observations on modern Irish life help establish her reputation.

Recording career

O'Neill releases her debut album, Has an Album, independently in 2009. It sells out across Ireland, extending her audience beyond Dublin. Her second album, Same Cloth Or Not, appears on Song Seeds Records in 2013. It is recorded in a rented cottage in Wicklow during the winter, with David Kitt producing and Karl Oldum engineering.

Same Cloth Or Not and collaborators

The album includes contributions from her band Stina Sandstrom on vocals and Mossy Nolan on bouzouki, as well as string parts from the London-based duo Geese, made up of Emma Smith and Vincent Sipprell. After its release, she tours with Glen Hansard in Ireland and then with Scottish folk singer James Yorkston in the UK.

Tours and later releases

O'Neill continues to tour in North America, Canada, Europe, Scotland and the UK. She opens for artists including David Gray, Mick Flannery, Angel Olsen, Glen Hansard and Sixto Rodriguez. In 2016 she releases Pothole in the Sky. Her 2018 album Heard a Long Gone Song is nominated for the Choice Music Prize, as Same Cloth Or Not is before it.