Dee Reilly Biography

Read what Fred Kewley, one of Nashville's foremost agents to celebrities such as Chet Atkins, Harry Chapin and Earl Klugh, has to say about artist, Deirdre Reilly:

"Over my thirty years as a personal manager in the music business I have learned there are few rules of thumb that consistently work. But one, which usually works, is somewhat surprising: you can often tell who musicians really are as private people when you listen to their music or watch them perform. 

Harry Chapin, my first client, was a ball of fire in concert and a real go-getter in his private life.  His music was high energy and so was he. 

Client Earl Klugh’s guitar music is generally sweet and quiet, exactly like the man’s personal demeanor (somewhat deceiving, but not much!) 

Chet Atkins, more aggressive than Earl Klugh, was able to be a record company executive and an innovative guitarist at the same time.  This all shows up in his music, which, while often smooth and sweet, has an edge, an energy that says, “listen to me”.

Deirdre Reilly’s music says to me:  “I love what I’m doing, I love these songs, I love to watch you enjoy what I do, I want to move you and make you happy.”  If you know her personally, that’s exactly who she is.  Deirdre is a loving, good person who is also a world-class talent, a great musician, a natural beauty, and an Artist whose performances have inspired audiences and made so many fans around the world.  Deirdre Reilly has “it” - everything it takes to earn a singular place on the world’s musical stage.

Deirdre’s love of what she does shows all through her process of being a professional musician.  She carefully selects only the most important, moving songs, as you can hear on this recording.  She hires only the best musicians to record her albums and perform with her in concerts around the world.  She is totally professional on stage and off, always exuding that “star quality” she was born with, always totally prepared, always willing to take the time to meet her fans personally after even the most demanding concerts.  The concert promoters and agents she works with always want her back for more, not just because she is a great Artist their audiences love, but because she treats them, and everyone, with care and respect.

When one of the major record companies does the smart thing and signs Deirdre Reilly, that company will immediately be able to cash in on all the good will and the thousands of adoring fans Deirdre has established around the world. I trust that recording deal is imminent!  In the meantime I will be happy to have this wonderful CD in my collection to be able to listen to, and be moved by, a talented lady I truly love.".....Fred Kewley

Deirdre Reilly’s Performance Highlights  

Australia

United States

Since the age of 17, Deirdre has been performing all over the U.S. and Canada at venues such as the ones listed below:

The Westbury Music Fair (New York), The Ruth Eckard Auditorium (Clearwater, FL.), The Downey Theater (Downey, CA.), The John Hancock Hall (Boston, MA.), The Berklee Theater (Boston, MA.), The Grand Theater (Waussau, Wisconsin) and The Rosemary Clooney Theater (Detroit, Michigan) and The Peterborough Festival Of Lights (Ontario, Canada) . 

US Television-  Deirdre was a special guest of the legendary Chet Atkin’s on TNN’s “Music City Tonight” with Crook and Chase.  She was a featured guest artist on “Prime Time Country” many times with different hosts such as:  Joe Bonsall (The Oak Ridge Boys), Gary Morris and Bob EUbanks.

Ireland/UK

  Deirdre tours Ireland/UK regularly with her own show and very often teams up with some of her most admired Irish entertainers.

Van Morrisson-  TNN’s “Live From Ireland On St. Patrick’s Day” (a live televised broadcast from Dublin, Ireland on March 17, 1994).  It was hosted by Ireland’s Paddy Reilly and the featured performers were  Country Music’s Hal Ketchum, Irish songwriter Mick Hanley who penned “Past The Point Of Rescue” (for artists- Mary Black and Hal Ketchum), Deirdre Reilly and Van Morrisson.  Each artist performed solos and then all joined together for the finale led by Van- “Will You Go Lassie Go” 

Ireland-  Clontarf Castle- One of Ireland’s most prestigious entertainment venues  (frequent appearances since 1992).  

Irish Television-  RTE (National Network) Shows including:

“Live At Three”, “The Bibi Show”, and “The Big Top”.

Northern Ireland Television-  UTV’s “The Kelly Show” and BBC’s “The Anderson Show”.

Irish Radio-  RTE- Ireland and BBC- Northern Ireland as well as the majority of local radio programs throughout the North  and South.

Performances in England-  While on tour with Susan McCann:  London’s Famous Galtymore Ballroom, Yovil’s The Octagon Theater, Birmingham-  (The Birmingham Irish Center), Tiverton Theater and Manchester.

Biography

Deirdre Reilly beautifully personifies the dramatic influence that Irish music has had on today’s American Country scene.  Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts to a mother from County Cork and a father from County Mayo, Ireland, Deirdre began performing at age five.  As a teenager she sang with her step-father’s show band and traveled around New England and parts of New York with her own band.  Deirdre’s talents were revealed on a national level at age eighteen when she toured the United States with Paddy Noonan’s Irish Variety Show.  In 1989 Deirdre auditioned at the Berkeley School Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts for talent scouts from the Opryland Show Park in Nashville, Tennessee.  After hearing Deirdre sing, there was little deliberation among the scouts about offering her a contract to perform in their most popular show “COUNTRY MUSIC USA” for the coming summer season.  Deirdre eagerly accepted that contract and was well on her way to exploring a world of music that she innately was destined to pursue.  That summer led to three consecutive seasons at Opryland Show Park where she quickly began to open many doors in the music industry. 

In-between her stints at Opryland, Deirdre continued to work the Irish scene in the United States and exposed herself to an ever growing audience that shared her musical tastes.  “I have always maintained that the roots of Country music are Irish and it would only stand to reason that Irish audiences would embrace Country music the same way that I do.  My story is not complicated.  I was born in America to Irish parents who love Country music.  I grew up in a house full of music.  At that time the most popular music among the age group of my parents who are immigrants from Ireland was the music of Hank Williams Sr., Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Kitty Wells, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Johnny Horton, Lorreta Lynn, Patsy Cline…and the list goes on…

That was the genre of “popular” music that they as teenagers grew up with in Ireland and then came to share with so many of their Irish and American friends when they moved here.  My parents, being away from home… so many miles away from their home, began to embrace again the music that they grew up with-the music that was so much a part of who they are-and that was Irish traditional music.  With their new found appreciation for Irish traditional music and their deep passion for Country music I, unknowingly benefited from their experiences, their musical journeys and their love for both Irish and Country music.  I have so much to be thankful for!”  (Deirdre Reilly)

Deirdre Reilly’s warm, engaging style, powerful voice and dynamic stage presence have made her one of the top entertainers in Irish music today.  With fans from Los Angeles to Dublin, Deirdre is a hit with audiences of all ages no matter where she goes.  “Deirdre’s love of what she does shows all through her process of being a professional musician.  She is totally professional on stage and off, always exuding that “star quality” she was born with, always totally prepared and always willing to take the time to meet her fans even after the most demanding concerts.” (quote from former manager Fred Kewley-Nashville, Tennessee)

Deirdre Reilly has seven albums to her credit:  “20 of My Favorite Nashville Songs”, “A Toast to the Irish Colleens”, “A Country Collection” ,  “Unpredictable Stuff”, Nothin' Right, Nothin' Left  and an album with Rory Daniels called "Sweet Memories" .   Deirdre’s "Unpredictable Stuff" contains mostly original material hand selected by Deirdre herself.  And since the release of the album in November 2000, it is already gaining international attention.  She was recently quoted as saying, “While I am very proud of all of my recordings to date my favorite is my latest release “Unpredictable Stuff”!”  “I love it because for the first time in my career I was able to record an album that is 100% me!  I picked the songs and though I didn’t write them, I  feel the songs that I selected!”  

The single from the new release is track number six “Silence Of The Stars”.  The song written by Nashville songwriter Cathy Majeski which is about something that everyone can relate to-a personal loss is sure to become a global favorite.

“Deirdre Reilly’s music says to me:  “I love what I’m doing, I love these songs, I love to watch you enjoy what I do, I want to move you and make you happy!  If you know her personally, that is exactly who she is.  Deirdre is a loving, good person who is also a world-class talent, a great musician, a natural beauty, and an artist whose performances have inspired audiences and made so many fans around the world .  Deirdre Reilly has “it”- everything it takes to earn a singular place on the world’s musical stage.”  (Fred Kewley)

Anyone who has the pleasure of hearing and/or seeing Deirdre Reilly perform will not be disappointed.  “She selects only the most important, moving songs, she hires only the best musicians to record her albums and perform with her in concerts around the world”.  (Fred Kewley)  She demands lovingly “the best” from all who surround her so that she can deliver the best that she can for those who experience her.  Of the self chosen title of her new album “Unpredictable Stuff”, the only thing predictable about Deirdre Reilly and her new album is “EXCELLENCE”!