Spotlight On: AOIFE O’DONOVAN

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Chances are, it was something quite different than where your interests are now. But for Aoife O’Donovan, she knew from a young age that what she wanted was to be a singer. And as the child of two folk musicians in Boston, it was a natural path to take. Her first band Crooked Still was born out of friendships made at the New England Conservatory of Music, and had great success in the early 2000s as part of a new folk revival that included bands like Nickel Creek, who she now shares a band member with in the GRAMMY Award winning trio I’m With Her, namely Sarah Watkins, along with GRAMMY winning singer songwriter Sarah Jarosz. Aoife put out her first proper solo album Fossils in 2013, and In The Magic Hour followed in 2016, while I'm With Her was beginning to come together. Their full length debut Call My Name arrived in 2018, earning an Americana Music Award as Duo/Group of the Year that same year. And in that same timeline, Aoife recorded with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile in their GRAMMY winning project The Goat Rodeo Sessions. She has also worked with several orchestras including the Boston Pops. Now, Aoife is back with her third solo album produced by Joe Henry, Age of Apathy, and we celebrate its arrival and welcome Aoife O’Donovan as this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.

Our playlist includes new music from Florence + The Machine, Dehd, Ibibio Sound Machine, Tank & The Bangas and Regina Spektor. 

SHERO BIRTHDAYS: We celebrate the SHERO birthdays of Miriam Makeba AKA Mama Africa who would have been 90 on 3/4, and Mary Wilson, founding member of the Supremes who would have been 78 on 3/6 and who passed away almost exactly a year ago. Happy Birthday to Neneh Cherry on 3/10 as well!