phenomenon. I first had to take the risk to perform my music solo, face and experience all my self-doubts about sharing my heart on stage. Then gradually, I gathered wonderful musicians to play with me and now I have a dream lineup of inspiring and dedicated musicians who I love to work with. The Beauty Marks are Sean Wallace on guitar, Graham Spillman on drums, Axel Clarke on percussion, Andy Zacharias on bass, and myself on Celtic harp, cello, accordion, harmonium and vocals. We have recorded 4 studio albums together: “As in the Wilderness” (2008), “The Opium Wars or Love in Lieu of Laudanum” (2009), “The Black Madonna” (2010), and this December 2011, we release “Out of My Dreams and Into My Arms”.
I named my backing band “The Beauty Marks” from a phrase I wrote in my poetry years ago about
turning
my “scars into beauty marks.” That phrase embodies my philosophy about life and my music. I choose to turn my painful experiences into things of beauty, by learning and growing from them, making art out of them and helping others through the empathy gained from them. That- and the beauty mark on my face is an important part of my look.
I am first generation Irish American and still feel the deep connection to Ireland as my true home. My family had a tragic past there, with my grandmother being imprisoned and abused in one of Ireland’s “Magdelene Laundries.” These religiously-run institutions were designed to straighten out “fallen women.” My grandmother was sent there by her family to be punished for being pregnant out of wedlock as a young girl and, like many other women, she experienced sexual, physical and psychological abuse within the institution. My father was born and abused there as well. These institutions have since been closed due to what occurred within their walls, yet I know firsthand that the healing from these traumas still goes on to this day.
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