Very much an unknown quantity as a performer on this side of the Atlantic, roots artist Beth Nielsen Chapman is the writer behind number one country hits for Tanya Tucker, Willie Nelson, and Faith Hill. She has also had her songs recorded by jazz artist Ute Lemper and blues-rocker Bonnie Raitt, and sung by Elton John (who chose the title song of her 1997 album, Sand and Water, to sing at his concerts in memory of Princess Diana and Gianni Versace). Chapman's own thoughtful, considered albums have been top 10 hits in the Billboard Adult Contemporary field, but she rightly despises categories.
Inevitably, she doesn't see herself as a country act, either, but more as a contemporary folk songwriter for hire and pleasure. She plays Dublin's Vicar Street next Wednesday.
