This was a time of collectively experimentation for the Dillon/Lakeman team, making their sound unique under the name Polar Star. However by 2000 they had parted company with Warner Bros. without releasing an album. During this time Cara performed several solo works including a solo on Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells III album which was released as a worldwide single to much critical acclaim.
Dillon & Lakeman released a new album Cara Dillon (2001) on the Rough Trade label. This contained traditional material and was recorded in the Lakemans’ house in Somerset and was soon hailed as an exceptional piece of musicianship. Sam’s deft piano playing and Cara’s vocals breathed new life into old material. It also established another force on the folk scene - Seth Lakeman who appeared on the album. This was followed by a series of tours of festivals in the UK, promoting the album and comparisons of Cara Dillon’s voice to Kate Bush and other exceptional female artists.
Cara started to receive many nominations for awards around this time. This included the BBC Folk awards; Best traditional track and Horizon award. Cara Dillon topped many women of the year awards including Irish Tatler and was nominated and won a range of music awards from Big Buzz Magazine and Meteor Music awards as well as being polled in many radio stations top listings.
Sweet Liberty (Rough Trade 2003) the second album, combined more traditional songs with many new creations by the Dillon/Lakeman duo and this was accepted as a wonderful beguiling album which truly showed Cara Dillon’s ability to reach the heart of human emotion in a song and convey it to the eagerly awaiting listeners.
This period of her development included touring of festivals worldwide most notably a tour of Japan which broadened her appeal and also allowed Dillon/Lakeman to develop their performing skills. A beguiling and captivating performer she outshines many. WOMAD played a huge part of her development during this period.
Her third album ’After the Morning’ (Rough Trade) was released in 2006. As with the first two it was produced by husband Sam and gave Cara her most successful radio hit to date with “Never In A Million Years” which featured on the BBC Radio 2 playlist for six weeks and was record of the week on BBC Ulster and RTÉ Radio One.
The album is a mix of original and traditional material and features several guest appearances such as acclaimed guitarist Martin Simpson, string members from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, traditional Irish musicians Martin O’Connor and Cathal Hayden and Paul Brady, who sang a duet with Cara on the album highlight ’The Streets Of Derry’. The album reinforced the considerable musical relationship that Cara and Sam have and saw them fulfil their contract with Rough Trade Records.
In 2008 she released The Redcastle Sessions DVD and she has now moved to her own label Charcoal Records.
Throughout her career she has taken part in many solo works and collaborations with other musicians other than Lakeman including John Smith, Mike Oldfield, John Reynolds, has sung on Billy Connelly’s British tour programme and in 2005 on the soundtrack for the British film ’Keeping Mum’. She has used her vocals on two dance tracks one for Judge Jules which became a major hit entering the charts 3rd and ’Black is the colour’ was released as a dance track by DJ Pete Devine. In 2009 Dillon sang on the Children in Need single ’All you Need is Love’
Cara’s has regularly performed to appreciative audiences at major festivals throughout Europe and had toured as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore. She had featured in a sell out tour of the USA with ’A Woman’s Heart’ with Mary Black, Sharon Shannon and Maura O’Connoll and had performed with the Ulster Orchestra for a BBC TV special.
