Today we’d like to introduce you to Kitty Donohoe.
Hi Kitty, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a large family in Royal Oak – a Detroit suburb – into a highly creative family. Our mother had studied operatic singing and piano before marrying my Dad (and subsequently having 8 kids!) and our father was creative more in the electrician vein, although he also puttered around in his basement workshop with various inventions. From both of our parents all of the Donohoe children experimented quite early with drawing, music and writing. And it didn’t hurt that our father tossed our TV out when I was in upper elementary school and I”m sure that had a lot to do with our keeping ourselves busy with creative play.
I gravitated toward piano quite early on and also had a knack for being able to rhyme on the spot, and then putting those little rhymes to simple tunes – so I think I was kind of ‘born to it’ as far as songwriting goes. In high school I started playing my brother’s guitar when he joined the Navy, and once I got started on that I never looked back. I did a couple of my own songs at the school talent shows, plus sang in the church choir (that I loved) and joined a Madrigal Choir at that time as well. After graduating, while all of my pals went to college, I instead spent some time on the road (this was the 60’s after all and it wasn’t so strange then!), including spending some time in Nova Scotia. I bounced back and forth between Michigan and Canada for a couple of years, some of that time being in bands, but always as the vocalist, not playing guitar. By my mid-twenties those two things began to synch and I worked quite a bit as a solo folk artist, cutting my teeth as a performer in the Lansing and Detroit areas. There was an incredible live music scene in Detroit at that time and it was the best way to learn the chops of playing in public, talking to an audience and workshopping some new originals by sliding them into sets of cover tunes.
I got married about then and started a family, still playing out quite a bit and balancing Mom chores with gigs. In 1986 and 1987 I put out my first two albums. ‘Bunyan and Banjoes’ is a collection of original Michigan and Great Lakes songs (that had me doing elementary school performances at two schools a day, five days a week for a few years),and ‘Farmer in Florida’ an all-out folk music album where I was able to record my ‘serious’ songs for the first time, often drawing on my proximity to farmers and traditional music for my inspiration. Since then I’ve released five more projects – ‘As Sparks Fly Upward’, ‘This Road Tonight’, ‘Northern Border’, ‘The Irishman’s Daughter’ and my latest, ‘A Murder of Crows.’ ‘Crows’ is an all instrumental compilation, most of them having appeared on earlier recordings. Unlike many songwriters I also write melodies – ‘tunes’ – and I think that sets me apart a bit from many other writers.
In 2001 I moved from East Lansing to Ann Arbor at the beginning of September, and on the 11th our world was rocked to the core by the terrorist attacks. I had been trying to mail the master CD of ‘This Road Tonight’ to New York City for duplication and by about noon I realized it wouldn’t be going anywhere for awhile. I went back to my box-filled apartment and wrote ‘There Are No Words’ as my own response to the nightmare that was unfolding that day. A couple of nights later I joined a bunch of musicians gathering to sing and to try to make some sense of what had happened. I sang ‘There Are No Words’ that night and I don’t think it’s too much to say that changed my life. At the urging of the audience I went back into the studio where a bunch of us recorded it and sent it out into the world. That led to it’s use in an independent film called ‘A Nation Remebers – the Story of the Pentagon Memorial.’, which in turn led to an invitation to sing it at the dedication of the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial – quite an honor, as one would expect – and got me quite a bit of attention as the writer of the song. I also received a Michigan Emmy as composer of “There Are No Words.’
I’m still a working songwriter with no real plans to retire (because I’m already doing what many of my friends want to do when they retire!) although I’m looking more these days into synching my music with film and TV shows. I’ve always wanted to score a film so I guess that’s on the docket as well.
Musically I draw a lot from Irish music as that’s my background historically and I have always loved the sound of fiddles, pipes and so on. A lot of my songs factor that sound in, even though they may not be
Irish in subject.
Way back when I remember thinking how one of the things I liked about being in the folk genre is the
longevity factor. As opposed to a one-hit wonder that many deserving artists are able to attain while fading away soon after, you can be a folk artist for an entire life. That means a lot to me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a musician has always been a struggle, dealing with everything from staying on top of booking,
touring beyond a comfort level, maintaining a mailing list, always having photos taken, meeting deadlines for various clubs, etc. and of course, trying to make a decent living at it. It’s never been easy and most of us don’t have management to take some of the load off of us, so we continue. In some ways the internet has been a boon to being a musician, as it’s possible to get your name and song out to the entire world in a day or so – the downside is that there are SO many artists trying to gain public attention at the same time.
No one ever said being an artist isn’t easy. Except my Dad, who used to tell me that all the time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a songwriter, and having been one for over 50 years, it’s always exciting when a new song comes together they way you want it to. I really like recording in the studio with other musicians because there’s often a magic that happens when you let them take the lead and try what they hear. Many special moments have popped up in my records due to the visions of the other players.
As stated earlier I’m known for writing tunes as well as songs, having a pretty strong 3-octave voice and writing really good songs, if I can say that myself. I’m also a solid instrumentalist and in addition to guitar and piano I play the cittern, a 10-string mandolin type thing that I love. It has a rich and unusual quality that is different than guitar and I write differently on it than on other things. I’m proud of some awards I’ve gotten for my work, including the 2024 Michigan Heritage Award for my Michigan project; Outstanding Songwriter for a couple of songs from a big organization; and a Lantern Bearer Award for having done this for so many years.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Like most known artists I live a regular life. I garden, hang out with my neighbors, cook – that kind of thing. Sometimes I feel folks are a bit surprised at my ‘normal’ life. Although travel is a part of what I do I love being home as well.
Since 2015 I’ve led tours to Ireland, then added Scotland four years ago, and in addition to sightseeing all the usual great things in those countries we get to hear live music of that region almost every night. I find these often unkown artists to be inspiring and also very normal people.
In addition to music I’m an author, with my first book ‘Henny and Benny Bunyan and the Maple Syrup Adventure’ under my belt. Working on the second book in that series.
I’m also an ongoing faculty member of Lost Voices, a wonderful program that brings songwriters together with at-risk kids (mostly teens) to help them write songs based on their own words. It’s very powerful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kittydonohoe.com & www.gypsiebird.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=kitty%20donohoe%20music
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kittydonohoeofficial
- Other: https://www.lostvoices.org
