Press Kit

FULL BIO

A collaboration between two long-standing musicians – originating from different continents but sharing a Celtic heritage – setting out to create original, unusual and innovative adult-oriented pop music on the west coast of Canada.

When vocalist/pianist Siobhan Monaghan and songwriter Andy Dawson Reid joined forces in 2019, they brought to this collaboration their many years of varied musical experience. Seeking to create something fresh and musically satisfying, they found their connection based on a love of classic pop songs and shared musical ambitions. Siobhan and Andy were joined in the Fall of 2023 by experienced vocalist, Adrienne Dyer.

Siobhan is a singer and pianist who enjoyed growing up in a musical family on the prairies of Alberta. The daughter of Irish immigrants, she began singing and playing piano at an early age. Celtic music was a constant presence in her home. Her early musical exposure to her father’s traditional fiddle music and her parents singing traditional songs together nurtured her ability to improvise and play by ear. She also studied piano through the Toronto Conservatory of Music and the University of Lethbridge.

Music has always been a central part of Siobhan’s life. In her youth she enjoyed musical theatre, playing at local hall dances, singing and playing at weddings and performing with her family. Later on, she specialized in providing dance music for Irish dancing competitions (Feiseanna/Oireachtas) and performing in a Scottish Country Dance trio. She travelled to Normandy and toured as an accompanist for the Saskatchewan dance troupe 'Les Danseurs de la riviere La Vielle'. In 1996, she released her first solo piano album called "Common Ground".

For the past 15 years she has been a member of the Victoria based trio 'Trilogy' playing at farmer’s markets, private venues and parties.

Andy’s formative years in London (UK) coincided with the musical revolution of the sixties. Hugely influenced thereby he wrote his first song at the age of sixteen and has continued the pursuit of the perfect track ever since.

Throughout the 70s and 80s Andy was the principal writer and bass player for a succession of bands in and around London. During this period he was also introduced to the world of theatre; going on to write six musicals for youth and fringe theatre companies, as well as incidental music scores for a number of plays and contemporary dance productions. He was musical director for a series of productions that toured to the Edinburgh Fringe and to the Jersey Opera House.

Working in education gave Andy the opportunity to teach drama at two of the best-known schools in England, as well as to write, direct or musically direct a further healthy portfolio of productions. On leaving the world of full-time work in 2015 Andy and his Canadian wife - Kate - relocated to her home town of Victoria.

Adrienne has been singing almost as long as she can remember. Raised in a musical family with three equally musical siblings, she spent her childhood both in Idaho and in Northern British Columbia. When she wasn’t dressing up and belting out 1950s/60s tunes along with her siblings or performing in school plays and choirs, she could be found in her room writing romantic adventure stories or running a little wild in the woods and lake near her home.

After graduating from highschool in 1992, Adrienne moved to Vancouver Island to study literature at the University of Victoria. Here, she found her true home next to the ocean where she’d always longed to be. In 2006 after the birth of her first child, she fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a professional writer.

Music remains central to the life Adrienne now shares with her two teenage children, Ariel and Graham. She has been a soloist with the The Peninsula Singers since 2007, and performed in Dublin with the internationally acclaimed Irish ensemble, ANÚNA, as an International Summer School delegate in 2015 and 2017. Joining Anam Danu in 2023 brings her the opportunity to collaborate with fellow artists, who, like her, continue to explore a lifelong musical journey.

Anam Danu released an initial collection of seven original tracks, "Winds of Change", in 2019. This was followed a year later by a second album, "Winter Blue and Evergreen", which was recorded remotely across the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Anam Danu finished their third album, "Soul Making", during 2022 and it was released at the end of August. This collection of 10 new songs is available for streaming and for download.

The single - "Perfect" - was released in January 2023, followed by another - "The Journey Home" - in June.