Claire Watts

Claire Watts grew up in the parish of Lackagh, Turloughmore Co. Galway Ireland.
At the age of 17 she moved to the UK. A keen Irish traditional flute and tin-whistle player, Claire´s music became crucial to expressing her Irish identity. As well as playing in various folk sessions and with different bands in the Bath and Somerset area, Claire also developed her writing and singing style through an apprenticeship of busking the night shift on the streets of Bath in the late '80s and early '90's trying out her new songs on passing late night crowds.
School Days.
In the mid nineties, Claire returned to full-time education and undertook a BA in Ethnomusicology and Social Anthropology at Queens University Belfast. Her thesis, involving a field study in Chicago, Illinois, was based on the commoditisation of the Irish traditional music session.
In 2008 Claire completed a Masters in Irish Traditional Music Performance at the University of Limerick under the supervision of Dr Niall Keegan.
In 2010, Claire attended a songwriting workshop as part of Listowel Writer's week and it was here that the seed for “Angel's Roost”, one of the tracks from her EP, was planted after meeting and being greatly inspired by traditional singer songwriter Mickey Mc Connell.
Following this, in 2012, Claire completed a Diploma in songwriting with the London Song Company and her new EP “Dreaming Out Loud” is the culmination of work initiated during that year. This EP is due for release in February 2015.Studio Time
After settling in Miltown Malbay Co Clare in 2002, Claire recorded her debut album Elusive Butterfly, with Henry Sears in Bath in 2003/04 in Bath.
In 2005 Claire won an Irish music composition competition run by the Clare Arts office, with two reels that she had composed. These two reels later featured on her next recording, an Irish traditional instrumental recording, Off She Goes, recorded in 2006 at Malbay Studios with her husband Gerry Hegarty.
Down To Business.
Claire owns and manages a music school teaching Irish Traditional music on tin whistle, fiddle and flute and classical music on piano.
In the early years of teaching, Claire realised there was a lack of places for teenage musicians to play, and responded to a call for Clare Arts Office initiatives by devising, in liaison with the Arts Office, a project called “Trad 4 Teens”. This involved creating a space in Glor, a local music theatre, where teenagers could come and play Irish music in a traditional session environment. Claire then developed the project further by introducing master classes in music and dance which were contributed to by such luminaries in Irish Traditional Music as Kevin Crawford of Lunasa and Mick Moloney of The Chieftains. Claire also co hosts a daily open music session in the Central Hotel during Willie Clancy summer school, an annual week long music festival in Miltown Malbay which takes place in July and celebrates the music of the late Willie Clancy a renowned uillean piper.
Claire is also delighted to be involved in the Embrace project. In 2002 the Arts Office of Clare County Council introduced this Arts and Disability Project as a pilot, available to all organisations working specifically with disabled people throughout the county. Claire is currently working with three different groups within this scheme.
Claire has played concert flute with The Lackagh Ceili Band and has also participated for the last number of years in the Laichtin Naofa Comhaltas “seisiun” group performing her own songs and playing flute and fiddle.
Claire is a regular flute tutor during the Bath Folk Festival which takes place every August in Bath, Somerset, UK. She has performed several times at the Bath folk festival both in her capacity as a traditional musician and in concert performing her song repertoire.