A multi-national band with Irish, Scottish and German members, CARA tour worldwide with unique interpretations of Celtic music, firmly rooted in the Irish and Scottish tradition, presenting innovative arrangements of traditional material alongside critically acclaimed original compositions.
Fronted by two female lead singers, CARA combine vocals, piano, fiddle, flute, guitar, uilleann pipes and accordion with a dry-witted and charismatic stage presence. They have headlined some of the largest Irish music festivals and brought audiences to their feet across the USA, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark.
The band celebrated their 15 year anniversary in 2018, with the release of a new live album to critical acclaim:
„Cara affirms its well-deserved reputation as an outstanding concert band, and the collective energy is prodigious.“
Boston Irish Reporter (USA)
„Nach 15 Jahren haben Cara nicht nur eine technische Reife erreicht, die ihres gleichen sucht, sondern auch einen selbstbewussten eigenen Stil entwickelt, der Einflüsse von beiden Seiten des Atlantik organisch verbindet.“
Celtic-Rock.de (Deutschland)
„German/Scots aggregation Cara work best in the live arena, their amphidexterous [sic] abilities and musical knowhow working to their advantage. The epic ballad Little Musgrave hangs on emotional dexterity while the tune sets blend pastorality and uplift in proportion. Great.”
fRoots (UK)
With two Irish Music Awards (Best New Irish Artist 2010, and Top Group 2011), the “Freiburger Leiter” 2018 award, the „Kaarster Stern“ 2020 (cultural award of the German city Kaarst), six studio and two live albums as well as countless performances under their belts, CARA effortlessly navigate the spaces between trad, singer/songwriter, “nu-folk” and acoustic pop. They sound so blithe and full of verve, hard-core traditional music fans unite with lovers of acoustic music, and in the end they all end up dancing and singing together. Forced by unforeseen events to pause an otherwise extremely active touring life, CARA have responded to the global pandemic with a thoughtful, philosophical and life-affirming emotional testimony to some big questions in their new 2021 album, “Grounded”.
Since January 2022 CARA perform in a new line-up: Simon Pfisterer is the new man on uilleann pipes. Aimée Farrell Courtney joins with her bodhrán whenever they play as a five piece band.
Gudrun Walther
Gudrun grew up in a musical family with German, Irish and French folk music, and began playing folk music on the violin at the age of 6. At the age of 17 she decided to embark on a career as a professional folk musician in Germany; two years later she won the German Folk Promotion Prize. In the meantime she tours as a front woman with her bands CARA and Deitsch, as well as in a duo with Jürgen Treyz through Europe, the USA and Australia and has already released 19 albums of her own music. In addition, she can look back on successful engagements as a studio and guest musician in numerous CD recordings and concerts with bands and orchestras (Le Concert Spirituel (F), El Houssaine Kili Band, State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate and many more). In the last few years Gudrun has noticeably gained a reputation as a songwriter and composer – some of her songs and tunes have already been covered and recorded by folk bands in the USA and Europe. In 2016 she stood in for the well-known Sligo fiddler Oisín MacDiarmada in his band Téada – which is equivalent to an accolade from Ireland. Her latest duo album “Conversations” (2023) with accordion maestro Andy Cutting was awarded 5 out of 5 stars by Songlines (UK), Concerto (A), Folk London Magazine (UK) and Folk Wales (UK), among others, Songlines described them as “one of the finest musicians on the European trad scene.”
“… blazing, beacon-like fiddling with exemplary command of phrasing”
The Living Tradition (UK)
“Her energy and stage presence was a joy to watch and she led the band through a set of tunes and songs that were just fantastic. It was a truly magic set. The festival stars of this year.“
Ceol Cholasa, Colonsay Folk Festival (UK)
Kim Edgar
Kim is from Edinburgh, Scotland and her career as a solo artist has earned her the title “Scotland’s very own Tori Amos” (Sunday Herald). Her songs reflect her enthusiasm for horror, myths and fairy tales, feminism and social history – all topics that she dealt with during her studies of English Language and Literature. She lays the foundation of her songs on the piano, on which she enjoyed classical training. Kim’s debut album “Butterflies and Broken Glass” was awarded five stars by Scotland on Sunday. Her second album “The Ornate Lie” reached 11th place in the Sunday Herald’s Top Scottish Albums of 2012 and was nominated for Best Album 2012 by Spiral Earth. She has been named “Songwriter Of The Week” on BBC Radio Scotland. Kim was also a member of The Burns Unit, with whom she performed at Cambridge Folk Festival, and on Later With Jools Holland. Kim has also performed for HRH the Queen at the opening of the Scottish Parliament’s fourth session. Her 2020 album “Held” was recorded and released during the pandemic, and her latest songwriting collaboration album, “Consequences”, including collaborations with Ron Sexsmith, Boo Hewerdine and Rachel Sermanni was launched at Celtic Connections 2023 and has received excellent reviews.
“Kim Edgar is probably one of the best songwriters in Britain today!“
(Spiral Earth)
Simon Pfisterer
Simon studied Uilleann Pipes at the University of Limerick and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Irish Traditional Music and Dance (first class honours). As a professional musician, he currently lives half in Ireland and half in his native Bavaria. He was on tour with CARA from July 2021 as a replacement for Hendrik Morgenbrodt, who was out due to an injury, and could already look back on an impressive 27 concerts by the end of the year. Simon has officially been part of CARA’s regular cast since January 2022. He also plays in “3 on the Bund” and in a duo with Susan Coleman. His double solo album “Half Way There” and “Another Way to Go” was released in 2022 and catapulted him to the top of the young generation of Irish musicians. Irish Music Magazine wrote: “sizzles with a wild youthful burst of energy,” and the NPU (Irish Society for Uilleann Pipes) officially added Simon to their online archive of live videos of important contemporary pipers in 2023!
Jürgen Treyz
Jürgen studied guitar at MGI Munich, but was also intensively involved with traditional and medieval music. In 1993 he founded the Artes Recording Studio in Esslingen, which specializes in folk and acoustic music. As a guitarist, composer and arranger of music for radio plays, TV and theatre, he has so far published more than 90 CDs of his own music and has received several prizes and awards for the audibly folk-influenced productions. In 2006 Jürgen started the German folk music project “Deitsch” together with Gudrun. Their first CD “Königskinder” was highly praised by the critics and celebrated as an important part of the preservation of German folk music culture. The second album “Heimat” was awarded the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. Jürgen Treyz and Gudrun Walther released the double album “DUO” in 2017, which received top international reviews, and in 2019 the new Deitsch album “Mittsommer-Sessions”, which was named “The Special” by the specialist magazine Folker. Since 2008 Walther & Treyz have also played in the quartet “LITHA” with the Scottish musicians Claire Mann and Aaron Jones, and since 2016 in the project “Fiddles & Feet” with Oisín MacDiarmada (IRL) and Samantha Harvey (USA). In 2018 Jürgen published a guitar textbook with CD in the publishing house of Acoustic Music, for which he prepared German dance pieces from old manuscripts for fingerstyle guitar.
„Cara’s adroitness in arrangements (Treyz in particular) is much in evidence here.“
Boston Irish Reporter (USA)
„Treyz hits the high mark though, with his complicated compositional arrangement on Odd Rhythms.“
Eileen McCabe, Irish Music Magazine (Irland)
Gudrun Walther
Gudrun grew up in a musical family with German, Irish and French folk music, and began playing folk music on the violin at the age of 6. At the age of 17 she decided to embark on a career as a professional folk musician in Germany; two years later she won the German Folk Promotion Prize. In the meantime she tours as a front woman with her bands CARA and Deitsch, as well as in a duo with Jürgen Treyz through Europe, the USA and Australia and has already released 19 albums of her own music. In addition, she can look back on successful engagements as a studio and guest musician in numerous CD recordings and concerts with bands and orchestras (Le Concert Spirituel (F), El Houssaine Kili Band, State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate and many more). In the last few years Gudrun has noticeably gained a reputation as a songwriter and composer – some of her songs and tunes have already been covered and recorded by folk bands in the USA and Europe. In 2016 she stood in for the well-known Sligo fiddler Oisín MacDiarmada in his band Téada – which is equivalent to an accolade from Ireland.
In December 2020, classical star violinist Daniel Hope invited Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz to an Irish Fiddle Special in his “Hope @ Home” series in Berlin, and the “Living Room Concert” was broadcast live across Europe on ARTE concert.
“Gudrun Walther could certainly hold her own in any Irish musical setting.”
(Dirty Linen Magazine)
“Her energy and stage presence was a joy to watch and she led the band through a set of tunes and songs that were just fantastic. It was a truly magic set. The festival stars of this year”
(Ceol Cholasa, Colonsay Folk Festival)
Kim Edgar
Kim is from Edinburgh, Scotland and her career as a solo artist has earned her the title “Scotland’s very own Tori Amos” (Sunday Herald). Her songs reflect her enthusiasm for horror, myths and fairy tales, feminism and social history – all topics that she dealt with during her studies of English Language and Literature. She lays the foundation of her songs on the piano, on which she enjoyed classical training. Kim’s debut album “Butterflies and Broken Glass” was awarded five stars by Scotland on Sunday. Her second album “The Ornate Lie” reached 11th place in the Sunday Herald’s Top Scottish Albums of 2012 and was nominated for Best Album 2012 by Spiral Earth. She has been named “Songwriter Of The Week” on BBC Radio Scotland. Kim was also a member of The Burns Unit, with whom she performed at Cambridge Folk Festival, and on Later With Jools Holland. Kim has also performed for HRH the Queen at the opening of the Scottish Parliament’s fourth session. Her 2020 album “Held” was recorded and released during the pandemic, and her latest songwriting collaboration album, “Consequences”, including collaborations with Ron Sexsmith, Boo Hewerdine and Rachel Sermanni was launched at Celtic Connections 2023 and has received excellent reviews.
“Kim Edgar is probably one of the best songwriters in Britain today!“
(Spiral Earth)
Simon Pfisterer
Simon stepped in in 2021 when former piper Hendrik Morgenbrodt injured his hand, thus had to learn the full concert repertoire at very short notice – having never played with the band before – and did an amazing job!
Originally from Bavaria in Germany, he started to play various kinds of different bagpipes at the age of 8 and finally found his love for Irish music and especially the uilleann pipes in 2011. Simon recently completed the BA programme in Irish Traditional Music and Dance at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick. During his studies, Simon attended classes under the tuition of Blackie O’Connell and various guest tutors. Simon has been performing with his bands, projects and as a solo artist at festivals and concerts all across Europe, in China and the United States.
„The album (Live) is full of Cara’s standout performances,
for me the high point is the slow air (…),
which draws every last ounce of emotion from the pipes.“
(Séan Laffey, Irish Music Magazine)
Jürgen Treyz
Jürgen studied guitar at MGI Munich, but was also intensively involved with traditional and medieval music. In 1993 he founded the Artes Recording Studio in Esslingen, which specializes in folk and acoustic music. As a guitarist, composer and arranger of music for radio plays, TV and theatre, he has so far published more than 90 CDs of his own music and has received several prizes and awards for the audibly folk-influenced productions. In 2006 Jürgen started the German folk music project “Deitsch” together with Gudrun. Their first CD “Königskinder” was highly praised by the critics and celebrated as an important part of the preservation of German folk music culture. The second album “Heimat” was awarded the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. Jürgen Treyz and Gudrun Walther released the double album “DUO” in 2017, which received top international reviews, and in 2019 the new Deitsch album “Mittsommer-Sessions”, which was named “The Special” by the specialist magazine Folker. Since 2008 Walther & Treyz have also played in the quartet “LITHA” with the Scottish musicians Claire Mann and Aaron Jones, and since 2016 in the project “Fiddles & Feet” with Oisín MacDiarmada (IRL) and Samantha Harvey (USA). In 2018 Jürgen published a guitar textbook with CD in the publishing house of Acoustic Music, for which he prepared German dance pieces from old manuscripts for fingerstyle guitar.
“Cara’s adroitness in arrangements (Treyz in particular) is much in evidence here ”
(Boston Irish Reporter)
“Treyz hits the high mark though, with his complicated compositional arrangement on Odd Rhythms”
(Eileen McCabe, Irish Music Magazine)
„Cara have proven once again that they are the gold standard of Continental Celtic Music, original and respectful in equal measure, at home with tunes and songs both old and new and are now surely part of our living tradition.“
„(…)there’s a real sense of togetherness and non-competitive authority about the playing, key features being Kim’s masterful and forthright yet elegant piano work, Gudrun’s blazing, beacon-like fiddling with its exemplary command of phrasing, and the relaxed chameleon-like instrumental talents of Hendrik and Jürgen – elements all faultlessly executed and brilliantly coordinated with a strong feel for complementary textures. At the same time, both Kim and Gudrun once again prove themselves to be outstanding song interpreters. You can’t lose with this band.“
„(They) combine to make an album of sheer quality, each note soars, each response to another’s insight is cast with opportunity, philosophical ingenuity and spirit; a vast and incredible feat in a world that always is on the edge of jealousy and rivalry.
In their eighth studio album, Cara have reached a pinnacle of performance, whether that is down to the circumstances that have been around us for the last 18 months, or because they gel so well that they, as a unique form, can triumph with solemnity is not for others to chat over, instead it is just to be accepted that they hold decorum in their hand and deliver an album of worth, of sublime interpretation.“
„A whole festival wrapped up in one band“
„Cara affirms its well-deserved reputation as an outstanding concert band, and the collective energy is prodigious.“
„Cara klingen wie Cara – es kann keine bessere Empfehlung geben!“
„Nach 15 Jahren haben Cara nicht nur eine technische Reife erreicht, die ihres gleichen sucht, sondern auch einen selbstbewussten eigenen Stil entwickelt, der Einflüsse von beiden Seiten des Atlantik organisch verbindet.“
„Irish/German/Scots aggregation Cara work best in the live arena, their amphidexterous [sic] abilities and musical know how working to their advantage. The epic ballad Little Musgrave hangs on emotional dexterity while the tune sets blend pastorality and uplift in proportion. Great.“
„A world class band in top form.“
„They boldly go where others fear to tread“
„a musical force to be reckoned with…they can really fly“
„Great musicianship, great production and total respect for the material. Wonderful, what a great band.“
„They’ve been achieving wonders on the Celtic circuit. Look out for them!“
„Décoiffant en tous points“
„Cara have joined the ranks of Solas, Dervish and Altan, big tunes, big ideas and superb playing, what more would you want?“