Cara Dillon (born 21 July 1975 in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish folk singer. In 1995 she joined folk group Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. She collaborated with Sam Lakeman under the name Polar Star. In 2001, she released her first solo album titled Cara Dillon. The album contained traditional songs and original Dillon/Lakeman songs "Blue Mountain River" and "I Wish I Was". The opening track of the album is "Black is the Colour".
Her second album "Sweet Liberty" (2003) entered the Irish album charts and the UK indie album charts. Dillon received The Meteor Irish Music Award for Best Irish Female. Her third album, After the Morning, released 2006, had the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra playing on two tracks - "Garden Valley" and "The Snows They Melt The Soonest". Paul Brady sang on "The Streets Of Derry" and "Never In a Million Years" gained Radio 2 airplay. Dillon released her fourth album in 2009 the award winning Hill of Thieves on her own label Charcoal Records. In 2003, Dillon performed at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s Opening Ceremony with the Ulster Orchestra. In 2006 Dillon sang at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland. In 2012 Dillon performed two concerts with the Ulster Orchestra. The song "Hill Of Thieves" was voted by BBC listeners as one of the "Top 10" original songs to come out of Northern Ireland. She is the sister of Mary Dillon, formerly of Déanta. Dillon continues in 2012 to work with her husband Sam Lakeman who backs her on piano and guitar.
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