No Frontiers

SEAN KEANE tells a story that perfectly illustrates the difficulties he occasionally encounters in terms of his perception with the listening public.

“I did a concert in Roscommon once,” he relates. “After the show, this women came up to me and she said, ‘you know you have a great voice for country music, maybe you should consider including some country songs in your repertoire’. I tried to explain to her that I had just performed a set with quite a few American country songs in it but she still seemed to consider me as an Irish singer doing exclusively Irish songs.”

If she’s still not convinced, the woman in Roscommon would do well to listen to Keane’s new album, his major label debut No Stranger. Not only does it contain several straight country numbers like the Sonny Curtis/Ron Hellard song ‘No Stranger To The Rain’, Tim O’Brien’s ‘Like I Used To Do’ and a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’; but it was part recorded in Nashville at the studios of “Cowboy” Jack Clements and mixed at the famed Jack’s Tracks, home to Garth Brooks, among others.

Furthermore, No Stranger was produced by Jim Rooney, renowned for his work with a stellar list of American singer/songwriters including Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Iris DeMent and Townes Van Zandt. It was Rooney, incidentally, who introduced Hal Ketchum to Mick Hanley’s ‘Past The Point Of Rescue’, which became a huge hit for Ketchum in the States. That connection comes full circle on Keane’s new album as he opens it with Hanley’s decidedly countrified ballad, ‘Crooked Mile’.

But then Sean Keane is probably well used to confusion when it comes to attempts to pigeonhole his singing style. His family connection with the famous Caherlistrane, Co Galway family, which includes his sister Dolores and aunts Rita and Sarah, has him pegged squarely as a traditional singer in the minds of many. And while his earlier career, which included stints with Reel Union and Arcady, saw him concentrating on more traditional material, Keane himself has always been anxious to broaden his horizons.

On his 1993 solo debut All Heart No Roses (which won Q Magazine’s folk debut album of the year accolade) he included a Bob Dylan song ‘Abandoned Love’ while the follow up, Turn A Phrase, featured a stunning version of Richard Thompson’s ‘Galway To Graceland’. The new album also includes a surprising cover of Sting’s ethereal ballad ‘Fields of Gold’ – further proof, if it were needed, of Keane’s willingness to branch out artistically. It’s such a beautiful song,” he says. “That’s why I did it.”

This time around however the Nashville connection is more fully consolidated and Jim Rooney’s input is crucial in determining the overall sound of the album. When he brought Keane over to Music City for the final part of the recording he introduced him to musicians such as harmonica player Jelly Roll Johnson, fiddler Stuart Duncan and bluegrass star Tim O ‘Brien, who contributes mandolin as well as one of his own songs to the project.

“The musicians out there are just brilliant,” Keane says. “We were only a week there and we got it all down on tape – no messing about. And there was a tornado which nearly levelled the city to contend with – we were sitting outside the studio watching it go by destroying everything in its wake!”

Another song on the album, ‘Life Is A Bittersweet Waltz’, involved a little more research on Keane’s part, as he explains: “I heard it on the TV at home as I was passing through the living-room. It was on an American series called Life Goes On. There was this guy called T. K. Mosley sitting outside a theatre singing the song. It stopped me in my tracks and I rushed to get a videotape into the machine to record it but I couldn’t manage it in time. So I waited for the credits to come up at the end but, as it happened, T.K Mosley was a character in the series so I couldn’t get it in a record shop under that name.”

He eventually contacted Warners who made the series and they tracked down the actor who played the character who sang the song. His name was Chris Burke and, as it turned out, he came to Ireland quite regularly through his work with the Downs Syndrome Association.

“He sent me the words to the song, which was actually recorded by Leon Redbone,” Sean explains. “It took me two and a half years from the time I first heard it and I was almost afraid to go out and buy it. But it’s a beautiful song and it was worth all the trouble in the end.”

Meanwhile, Keane is quietly aware that No Stranger could be the one to catapult his career to new heights. He heads over to the US in September, returns for an Irish tour in October, crosses to the UK in November and hits Austria in December.

“I’m extremely happy with the way things are going,” he says. “The tours are in place, the record is out and it’s been well received so far. I was very lucky with the first two albums, I don’t think I’ve got a bad review anywhere and hopefully this one will do even better. The record company seems happy to give it as much time as it takes, so yeah, I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

• No Stranger is out now on Grapevine Records.