Rolling Stone: New Noises, Volume 117: Summer Almost Gone

Biography

Aoife (pronounced EEF-ah) O’Donovan (born November 18, 1982 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an Irish-American singer and songwriter. As well as solo work, she is known for being the lead singer for the progressive bluegrass/string band Crooked Still and a member of the female folk-noir trio Sometymes Why. O’Donovan grew up in a musical family, immersed in folk music. She went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music in her hometown of Boston. Since her first...

Aoife (pronounced EEF-ah) O’Donovan (born November 18, 1982 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an Irish-American singer and songwriter. As well as solo work, she is known for being the lead singer for the progressive bluegrass/string band Crooked Still and a member of the female folk-noir trio Sometymes Why.

O’Donovan grew up in a musical family, immersed in folk music. She went on to study contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music in her hometown of Boston. Since her first professional engagement singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers, she has maintained a wide variety of side projects and collaborations. Most recently, she has performed and recorded with Ollabelle, Sometymes Why, Karan Casey and Seamus Egan, Jerry Douglas, Jim Lauderdale, Darol Anger, Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins, Christina Courtin, Noam Pikelny and Chris Thile (The Punch Brothers).

For the past 10 years, O’Donovan has been fronting the alt-bluegrass/string band Crooked Still, which she formed when she was 18. Despite her young age, Aoife has toured in ten different countries, performed with the Boston Pops and the Utah Symphony Orchestra and has appeared on countless radio and television programs.

Her natural talent for songwriting recently came to the attention of Alison Krauss, who recorded Aoife’s song Lay My Burden Down, which is included on Alison’s album Paper Airplane (2011 Rounder Records) and can also be heard in the film Get Low (2010 Sony Pictures). Aoife’s crystalline voice has also been heard on True Blood (HBO) and Private Practice (ABC).

In June 2010, Aoife released her first solo recording in the form of a limited edition 7” vinyl. Featuring two original tracks, it garnered rave reviews from audiophiles worldwide.

O’Donovan's project with Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan titled The Goat Rodeo Sessions was released in October 2011 (Sony Masterworks).

O’Donovan performs shows with her band, Robin MacMillan on drums, Jacob Silver on bass and Ryan Scott on guitar. Originally from Newton, Massachusettes, O’Donovan makes her home in the musical hotbed of Brooklyn, NY.

In 2014, O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins started I'm With Her. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.