Claire Sproule (born 9 April 1984) is a singer-songwriter from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland. She was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, into a musical family; her uncle is

Dáithí Sproule Dáithí Sproule (born 23 May 1950) is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music. He is the grandson of Frank Carney and uncle of singer Claire Sproule. Biography Born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, at the age of 18 he moved t ...

of Altan. After playing the clarinet for some time, she showed an interest in guitar, having been brought up listening to

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

in Derry and Donegal. At the age of 14 she started writing her own songs. After leaving school, she began by performing

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, Folk music, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her f ...

songs in local pubs in Donegal, before starting to sing her own songs. She made a rough demo tape which was sent to both the

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

and

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

record labels, who jointly offered her a recording deal within a week — Parlophone publishing in Europe and Blue Note in the United States. Her self-titled debut album, ''Claire Sproule'' was released on Parlophone on 10 October 2005. The album was produced by Stewart Levine, and included top musicians such as

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

. The album consists of tracks which Sproule wrote between the ages of 17 and 19, and attracted widespread attention. Following the release of her first album, Sproule played numerous Irish television and radio shows, including the BBC Northern Ireland's ''An Stuif Ceart'', and RTÉ's '' Other Voices'' and '' The Late Late Show''. Her second album, entitled ''Shades of Night'', was released in May 2009. Sproule toured with Paulo Nutini on his first album UK tour and has supported the likes of Al Green, playing in the Royal Albert Hall, and Irish artist Mary Black.

Discography

Albums * ''Claire Sproule'' (10 October 2005) * ''Shades of Night'' (May 2009) Singles *"Wondering" (13 March 2006) *"Flame (31 July 2006)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sproule, Claire 1985 births Living people Women singer-songwriters from Northern Ireland Musicians from County Donegal 21st-century Irish women singers Musicians from Derry (city) 21st-century singer-songwriters from Northern Ireland