Here are Frances' plans for January:

• January 3rd and 4th: Frances goes in to a studio to record a song about Rathlin Island for the Black Family album due out this year. Frances wrote this song with Don Mescall in London last month.
• January 8th Frances goes on Carribean cruise with Black Family performing with other Irish Artistes. Ship calls at Puerto Rico Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
• January 25th Frances takes part in a T.V. Special with other artistes from Woman's Heart in Derry.
• Some extra concerts in Ireland (see Concert page).
• There are plans for a Woman's Heart tour in March/April 2003. When more information becomes available about this, the information will be put online here.
  

During the Dutch Irish Unplugged Tour in February, Frances will be accompanied by:

• Pat Fitzpatrick on Piano/Keyboards
• Conor Brady on Guitar
• Eoghan Scott on Bass Guitar

The Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" has interviewed Frances last week and they will publish the article about Frances on thursday 6 February 2003.

Frances' new album is currently scheduled to be released in September 2003.

Last wednesday in Utrecht (The Netherlands), video recordings have been made of the Irish Unplugged concert. There are plans to release a DVD of this concert with Frances, Kieran Goss and Dave Munnelly & friends. Frances sang the following songs that evening:

• The Sky Road
• Wall of Tears
• Rachrai Island (the new song she co-wrote with Don Mescal about Raithlin Island)
• Send Him A Letter
• This Love Will Carry
• All the Lies That You Told Me
• Legal Illegal (unaccompanied)
• Somewhere over the Rainbow
• The Smile On Your Face

In the finalle of the gig, she also sang Sonny together with all other musicians. When more information about the release of the DVD becomes available, I will put it here on the website.

Frances informed me that she is currently working on the new album, which is going very well. She is very pleased with it so far. She also told me that she is talking with the BBC about making a documentary about Rathlin Island. When more details about either the album of the documentary becomes available, I will post it here on the website.

For several years now, Frances, Mary and the Black Brothers go on an Irish Festival cruise in the Carribean in January. Many other Irish artists also participate on this cruise. The whole Black Family will be part again of the cruise in January 2004. More details, including how to take part on this cruise, can be found on the website of the Irish Festival Cruise: http://www.irishtours.com/cruise.html

Frances' new album is progressing well. It is now scheduled for a release at the end of September or early October. Frances' sister, Mary, will do back vocals on some tracks.

Unfortunately, the planned concert of Frances in the Olympia on 12 December has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict at the Olympia.

Frances will give a concert in the Olympia in Dublin on 16 November 2003. The concert that was originally planned on that day in Macroom has been rescheduled to the 30 November. See the concert page for Frances' full tour schedule.

Frances new album "How High The Moon" will be released on 3 October 2003. More details about the album will follow soon.

With the release of the new album How High The Moon a promo will also be released and send to radio stations (not for sale) called Magdalen Laundry. You might hear this song on the radio soon, especially if you live in Ireland.

The Irish Independent will be doing a special giveaway to mark the launch of Frances' new album. They will be giving away a free CD of eight tracks already recorded on Frances' previous albums. This CD will be given away free with the newspaper of 18 October. The Irish Independent is a newspaper which is sold to 280,000 people in Ireland. They will advertise this giveaway on TV , radio and in their other publications. Frances will also be on the cover of their weekend magazine.

The concert in the Olympia in Dublin had to be rescheduled again, as it appeared that the Olympia made a double booking on the original night. The concert is now scheduled on Wednesday 5 November 2003.

Frances will be on "Today with Pat Kenny" on RTE Radio 1 tomorrow (6 October) from 10:00 till 12:00. The show can also be heard live online at http://www.rte.ie/radio/index.html or be accessed for a week via http://www.radio1.ie/morning/patkenny

Our mother, Patty, died peacefully Saturday night at 9:45. She just slipped away with no struggle and it was quite beautiful. She lived to be eighty-seven, worked hard all her life, and had a most generous and compassionate soul. We will miss her deeply.

Frances and family

Frances regrets that due to the death of her beloved mother Patty she has decided to postpone her concert at The Olympia Theatre on 5th November. Sorry for any inconvenience and hopefully you will all come along to the rescheduled concert.

Frances' Olympia concert in Dublin has been rescheduled for 15 January 2003.

A limited edition 3CD boxset called A Woman's Heart Trilogy has been released.

Also a Special Christmas Promotion has started: We will give you a free full colour signed photograph of Frances with every order from the website shop from now till Christmas.

A new book has just been released in Ireland, which includes an interview with Frances, called From the Cradle to the Stage. The book is written by Alan Swan and is specially written for an Irish charity called "Fighting Blindness". Many artists feature in the book including Frances. Alan Swan interviewed Frances last year and in the book she talks about when she was younger and what influenced her to become a singer. For more details about the book and how and where to purchase it, please go to the Discography section of this website.

Frances UK tour for February 2004 is now listed on the concert page.