Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennitt is a Canadian musician, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist. Born in Morden, Manitoba, in 1957, she works in celtic, folk and new age music, and her recordings also draw on world music, Middle Eastern themes and Mediterranean sounds.

Career

McKennitt begins her recording career in 1985 with the album Elemental. She writes, records and performs her own material and runs her work through her own label, Quinlan Road, which she self-manages and self-produces. In the early years of the label, she operates it from her kitchen table, sells recordings by mail order and produces her own concert tours across Canada.

Style and instruments

Her music combines Celtic and folk traditions with a wider range of instrumentation and textures. Alongside guitar, drums and bass, she uses instruments including the harp, piano and accordion, as well as hurdy gurdy, kanoun, uilleann pipes, Turkish clarinet, bouzouki and nyckelharpa.

Releases and recognition

Her best-known record is The Book of Secrets, released in 1997. It includes the single The Mummers' Dance, which becomes a surprise hit on American Top 40 and alternative rock radio. Across a recording career spanning three decades, her music receives critical acclaim and earns gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in fifteen countries across four continents.

Other work

McKennitt moves to Stratford, Ontario, in 1981 and remains there. She also works with the Stratford Festival of Canada, acting and singing in productions and composing music for productions including The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice.

Label distribution

Quinlan Road’s catalogue is distributed internationally by Warner Music in the United States, Universal Music in Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain, and independent companies including Keltia Music in France and SPV in Germany.