For such a highly regarded folk singer, Maggie Boyle performed solo comparatively rarely. Instead, Maggie, who has died of cancer aged 57, worked with many other musicians, from her former husband, Steve Tilston, to John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, formerly of Pentangle, and her fellow members of the trio Grace Notes. She had a melodic, ethereal voice, and her love of harmonising and her skill as a flautist led to a preference for collaboration.
Maggie was born in Battersea, south London, and grew up in the capitals Irish community: her father was a fiddle player, her mother a dancer. As a child, Maggie was surrounded by music, and, recognising his Maggies singing talents, her father asked the Co Monaghan singer Oliver Mulligan to tutor her. Through the Fulham, west London, branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an organisation that promotes Irish music and dance, Maggie won AllBritain singing competitions, and as a teenager performed with her brothers Kevin and Paul as The Boyle Family. It was through the overlapping folk club and Irish music scenes in London that she met Steve, a professional folk singer, and they married in 1984.
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