"There is something in Rosemary Phelan's voice and songs that moves me to tears each time I hear her; even the happy songs. Her voice and words go straight to my heart, and my response to her work is involuntary - I simply surrender."    Ian Tamblyn

"Amidst an identity challenged folk music industry desperately enamoured with cuteness, nostalgia, and escapism, Rosemary Phelan reminds us the true folksinger's vocation: to sing out, with love and moral conscience, our happinesses and our sufferings."      Jon Brooks

Rosemary Phelan has run the gamut from calling square dances in the hills of northern Vermont to singing Mozart in the halls of the Royal Conservatory. Somewhere between the barn and the recital hall she found the music of her heart.

The grace and losses encountered during a tumultuous, nomadic childhood, time spent eking out a hard-won living in the bush, and her years as a community nurse in the urban core live in Rosemary's songs. She sincerely hopes the goodness she unearthed at the root of it all can be found there, too.

Rosemary performs solo, in a duo with multi-instrumentalist Jason LaPrade, and as a harmony vocalist for fellow artists. She'd like to mention that she wakes up and falls asleep counting her blessings, yet has never made it all the way to the end of the list. She wishes the same for you, with all her heart.

"... let her gorgeous voice wash over you..."  Sing Out! magazine
"... the performances cut to the bone..."  Bill Garrett, Borealis Records
"... full of heart and soul."   Mark Michaelis, Acoustic Harmony
"... a lovely voice... more powerful for being devoid of affectation."  The Guelph Mercury

                                                        
                                                          selected highlights

          :: 2011 release of full-length album, "Come Bright December", with Emilyn Stam
          :: 12-page feature piece published in Nov. 2011 issue of Ars Medica: A Journal of   
              Medicine, the Arts, and Humanities
          :: Finalist: 2010  Mountain Stage NewSong Contest
          :: Featured on "The Woodshed Sessions" (pls. see "links" page for video)
          :: Folk Alley's "DJ Picks" - #3 in the Top 10 of 2010 (Acoustic Planet)
          :: what sings in the blood  #1 on the earshot! chart (Nov., 2010)
          :: CIUT  2010 Golden Quill Award for Songwriting
          :: Feature interview for CBC's "Tapestry"; edition titled "Art and Soul"
                      (Dec 26, 2010; please see link below for podcast)
          :: "REDWING"   nominated for the  2010  Colleen Petersen Songwriting Award
          :: "THE TREES" chosen for 2010 Canadian Songwriter's Anthology "Songs of Canada"
          :: "A DEEPER WELL" Haiti Benefit at Hugh's Room raises over $4,000 for MSF
          :: Shortlisted for the 2009 Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award
          :: "FIREFLY Instrumental" chosen for Toronto Transit Commission memorial video
          :: SONG OF THE YEAR  2008  Porcupine Award  for "Hummingbird" (Avalanche Lily)
          :: 2008 - release of full-length album "Wake the Nightingale: Songs for Solace and Sleep"
          :: 2007 - release of full-length album, "Avalanche Lily"
          :: 2006 – Soundtrack commissioned for the successful U.S.- based play “Chemo Brain”

interviews

CBC's "TAPESTRY" w/ Mary Hynes. Episode: "Art and Soul" - LISTEN HERE

Roots Music Canada: The Woodshed Sessions - WATCH HERE

"Songwriter to Songwriter" w/ Jon Brooks  (click below)

2011 - COME BRIGHT DECEMBER
2010 ~ WHAT SINGS IN THE BLOOD
2008 ~ WAKE THE NIGHTINGALE ~ songs for solace and sleep
2007 ~ AVALANCHE LILY 
2006 ~ CHEMO BRAIN!   (original play soundtrack)
2003 ~  STARS AND STONES

compilations
2009 - ANTHOLOGY OF CANADIAN SONGWRITERS: Songs of Canada
by the Association of Artists for a Better World; Song: "The Trees"

Dave Clarke (2007)  Reunion
Asetha Power (2008)  Child of Rhyme
Rich Burnett (2009)  Not So Blue
David Fougere (2009)  Somewhere in the Milky Way
Ron & Liam Jones (2009)  Keeping Up With the Joneses
Marianne Girard (2009)  Pirate Days
Tom St. Louis (2009)  Little Maggie
Shawna Caspi (2012)  Skyline
Spencer Lewis (2012)  Unbounded: The Songs of Eric Anderson

Click below to hear Letters From Africa (from the album "Somewhere In the Milky Way" by David Fougere)

"When I first heard Rosemary's beautiful harmonies on 'Letters From Africa', I felt a surge of gratitude so strong it almost knocked me over. If you get a chance to work with this amazing musician be prepared for something wonderful to happen, (and make sure you've got your socks pulled up tight)."     DAVID FOUGERE


"You are a mensch and a true musician... your chops are so good. You really got into the spirit of the songs, you were right on key and on time, and the ideas you offered were perfect."    TOM ST. LOUIS

Click below to hear I'm Never Lonely (from the album "Little Maggie" by Tom St. Louis)