New Cara Line-Up!

After seven years of touring and recording together, Sandra and Claus have decided to leave the band to spend more time together as a family. They have had a hard time balancing touring and family life during the last few years – as you all know Sandra couldn’t be with us for the last three US tours – and, although this is a painful decision for us all, it is also quite understandable. We have had a fantastic time together and we’d like to say good luck and a big thank you to you both! They will certainly be appearing as guests with us for some special occasions in the future, so watch this space!

So this means it is time to move on and open a new chapter – Cara 2.0 if you will – and lift the curtain on a new line-up. It wasn’t an easy task to find worthy successors to follow in Claus’ and Sandra’s footsteps and we didn’t just look for replacement, but rather for musicians who would also add fresh and inspiring influences to the band sound. We were lucky to find the ideal people after only a short search and happier still, as they were both totally up for joining without hesitating which gave us the feeling that this was meant to happen!

Enough said, here they are:

Jeana Leslie from the beautiful island of Orkney was brought up surrounded by music. She sings in English, Scots and Gaelic and plays the piano and fiddle.
Jeana studied for a BA (Hons) in Scottish Music at the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2008 with her singing partner Siobhan Miller. Our friends from the Irish band Beoga met her at the Orkney Folk Festival 2009 and when asked for ideas for new Cara members, they said straight away, “This is who you need!” Thanks for that!

Ryan Murphy from Cork in the South of Ireland is one of the most talented young musicians to emerge on the vibrant Irish trad music scene. His main instrument is the uilleann pipes, but he also plays flute, whistles, and saxophone. He has won an impressive total of seven All-Ireland and two Oireachtas titles on the pipes. Apart from playing with Cara, he is also a founding member of the young Irish band and powerhouse that is Éalú. Ryan holds a Diploma in Traditional Irish Music Performance from the London College of Music and is currently studying at the Irish World Academy of Music in Limerick, Irish Music and Dance, under Dr. Michael O'Suilleabhán.

We spent four days together at the end of March rehearsing and putting together some material for a new CD, and it’s going to be very, very exciting! Recording starts at the end of May 2010 and we hope to have the CD ready for pre-release in August, just in time for the summer festivals in Europe and the USA. Official release will be in October 2010 promoted with a CD-release tour throughout Germany in October and November.

The new line-up will make its stage debut on the 30th of July and will be out touring from then onwards. We hope you will give Ryan and Jeana a warm welcome!!

Home again!

Ohh it's been a very busy US tour, and we truly enjoyed it! Thanks to everybody who supported us! 

Gudrun wrote a tour diary in German which can be found in the German section. There are also a few funny videos there, so even if you don't understand German, it might be worth a look. 

Right now we're getting ready to work on our next CD! Exciting times! We hope to get it ready for our next US tour in Summer when we're in Fort Collins, CO and Kansas City Irish Fest. See you there!

And the Winner is ... Cara!

This year's Irish Music Award in the category Best New Irish Artist goes to Cara!

Thank you all who voted for us! It's a great honour!

We've been nominated!

... for the Irish Music Awards in the category "Best New Irish Music Artist". How about that? If you like our music, please vote for us on the forum of the Irish Music Awards website. 

Here's an instruction how to vote.

Thank you!!! 

Update: The Free Members Forum for voting is now closed. Thank you for your votes!

Back from the US

Boys and Girls! Our 4th US-tour has just been fabulous! Thank you so much to everybody who came to see us on stage at the festivals, gigs and conference showcases, or at the hotel bars and thereabouts. You have just been great people! Gudrun has written a tour diary in German on our German site, if you're into that language... Some nice pics there too! 

Now fall and winter are getting closer, and we're already back on the road in Europe. Please check out our tourdates and see if we're near your place. 

We'll be back in the US in March 2010. To keep yourself up-to-date, please subscribe to our newsletter. Thank you!