Katie McMahon - Pioneer Press

ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Published Friday, October 15, 1999
WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS UNKNOWN SINGER LETS LOVE GUIDE HER WAY
by Jim Walsh, Music Critic

Most local singers haven't had the president of the United States tell them that he is a great fan of their work. Most local singers have never had U2's lead singer Bono tell them, "You have an amazing voice." Most local singers haven't been embraced by punk legends the Stranglers, or watched as an audience of Hollywood stars jig up and down to their music.

Katie McMahon isn't most local singers. In fact, even though the Dublin native now lives in South Minneapolis, it's probably a stretch to call her a "local singer" at this point. But it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to call her the world's most famous unknown singer, because literally millions have heard her sing, millions own her video or CD, yet few know her name.

As the lead vocalist for "Riverdance", which plays the Orpheum Theatre through Oct. 24, and former singer for the ethereal Irish music group Anuna, McMahon has toured the world over. So why did she end up in the Twin Cities? For the same reason so many local Irish musicians, from Paddy O'Brien to Daithi Sproule, came here and stayed: love.

When "Riverdance" made its second stop in the Twin Cities, in March 1998 at the Orpheum, McMahon met local rocker Ben Craig, who escorted some "Riverdance" cast members to Lee"s Liquor Lounge for a night of swing dancing, and another Trailer Trash romance was born.

"He's a great guy, and the fact that I'm Irish and he's American never was a thing. We hit it off right away," says McMahon, sitting in the living room of Craig's house, where she's staying during the current "Riverdance" run.

Since then, the two have carried on a long-distance relationship, as Craig busied himself with his band (A Stockcar Named Desire), and McMahon toured Australia and North America. They will be married in September in Ireland. The nuptials will coincide with McMahon's planned departure from "Riverdance", which she has been a part of since its inception in May 1994.

"At this point, it's been nearly five years, and I'm ready to move on and to something new," says McMahon, a classically trained harpist and singer who studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Trinity College in Dublin. "I really believe in doing something not just for the money, but to have a good time. When it's no longer fun, it's a drag.

"Riverdance" is gonna go strong for a long time. But it's also a personal thing. You know, how long can I keep on singing the same songs, night after night."

To that end, McMahon has already planted the seeds for her musical future, Her CD of last year, "After the Morning," is a gorgeous mix of traditional and sacred Celtic music that plays like a natural extension of her work with Anuna, the mystical new choir that helped forge a dark, medieval, faerie-like musical movement in Ireland.

"In 1991, Anuna was really changing. It had been a sort of classical choir, and after I joined, we just got kind of crazy and had great fun together," she says. "We had all sorts of ideas and started wearing black Gothic dresses, and performed a lot in churches, with candles and processionals. And it became a huge, trendy thing in Dublin."

Then "Riverdance" came along, and many members of Anuna were swept up in its gale. Since then, "Riverdance" has grossed more than $100 million, the Grammy-winning soundtrack went multiplatinum and the home video has sold more than 5 million copies. It would be tempting for any working musician to ride such a gravy train, but McMahon, 29, needs more. Even while performing in eight "Riverdance" shows a week, she's rehearsing songs for her new CD, which she plans to record with the help of some of the Twin Cities' best Irish players, including O'Brien, Sproule, and Todd Menton.

"I've never wanted to be a musical singer, whereas some people would kill for it," she says. "But "Riverdance" isn't really like any other musical. The music's good, and there's a lot of integrity to the show, so it's been a cool thing to do."

For the moment, McMahon is getting acclimated to her new town. She loves the brilliance of the Minnesota autumn, is wary of the looming Minnesota winter (she took up skiing last year) and is awed by the myriad Minnesota cultural opportunities. Most of all, she's busy with her sophomore CD, which will be released on her own label, Credo records (in Latin, "I believe"), next year.

What's more, she's preparing for her first solo gigs at 5.30 p.m Oct. 23 at Borders Brooks in Richfield and 7 p.m. Nov, 4 at Barnes & Nobel in Edina. It might seem like small potatoes for a singer who has played to packed houses for five years. But for the world's most famous unknown singer, it sounds just right.

"I don't want to be hugely famous because I've had a slight taste of it in "Riverdance", and I know that's not for me," she says. "I'd just like to go on and make records, meet people and have a good time."