Ora Cogan was born and raised Salt Spring Island, B.C. Her house was in equal parts a home, recording studio, dark room and a haven for travelers and Musicians.
Ora began to write her own songs at the age of 12 and in her adolescence taught herself to play Guitar, Violin, Piano and Dulcimer.

Over the past few years Ora has become a darling of the independent music scene. touring worldwide and collaborating with Folk and Experimental artists including: Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, The Be Good Tanyas, Rio en Medio, Daniel Lercher and Anni Rossi. Ora also co-founded Cornerstone, an A’cappella gospel quartet with Frazey Ford, Matt Anderson and Khari McClelland and Her Jazz Noise Collective in Vancouver.

Ora has released an album a year as well as appearing on a smattering of underground tapes and compilations and shared the stage with the likes of Hope Sandoval and while touring extensively throughout Europe & North America. She will embark on a worldwide tour in early 2010 in support of her new record “The Quarry,” released on Isolated Now Waves/Borne Recordings.

Discography

2004 "Sparrow"
2006 "Tatter"
2007 "Peep Creek"
2008 "Harbouring" - Borne Recs.
2009 "Leaves of Life" - Borne Recs.
2009 "Beautiful Star" Odetta Tribute Comp.
2009 "The Boggy Mire" Isolated Now Waves
2010 "The Quarry" - Isolated Now Waves/Borne Recordings

The Vancouver Sun
Performance

For those who dropped by early (to The Be Good Tanyas show at The Commodore), local folk singer Ora Cogan also delivered a stunning, if brief set. Looking to get on board with the next hometown-girl-made-good? Cogan may just be your woman.”

Only Magazine
Album: Tatter
by Cameron Reed

“Most folk artists face the difficult task of distinguishing themselves from the dime-a-dozen singer-songwriters and the bedroom floor recording-types. The former may not want to distinguish themselves at all, however. Folk is, after all, a tradition of reworking and reinterpreting existing songs. The latter is generally more precious, fragile and complete disposable bullshit. Ora plays true folk, the kind that is strong and tells stories with a sense of urgency, be it heartbreak or revolution. This album is gorgeous, bitter sweet, and incredibly powerful.”

Rough Trade U.K.
Album: sparrow

“A stunning mini-album from American singer Ora Cogan. Wonderously accomplished, Miss Cogan is blessed with a beautiful sultry, jazzy and bluesy voice and wraps her songs with simple but highly effective arrangements; her own guitar plus brushed drums, irish flute and upright bass. It’s a lovely little 7 tracker that brings to mind Rickie Lee Jones, Joanna Newsom and Jolie Holland.”

Aquarius Records
Album: Tatter

“While on the road Canadian indie songstress Ms Ora Cogan came strolling into our shop with these cd-rs charmingly hand-packaged in cut up old flea market record sleeves. On first glance of the varied decontextualized artworks, you might expect her music to be along the earthy experimental lines of the Bay Area's Jewelled Antler and Jyrk Collectives, but she's definitely coming from a different place -- Salt Spring Island, BC, haha! Seriously though, she's been making good ol' down home, twilight porch swing tunes for the past seven years. Her vocal delivery bears more than a passing resemblance to Ms Jolie Holland's. It possesses that haunting, soulful quality that seems like its source is coming from deep deep within or beyond. Like a mysterious transplant from decades past, it's as though she opens her mouth and a lilting voice from the '20s comes drifting out. It's beautiful in its simplicity, just her and her guitar and a few banjo and back-up vocal additions. Cogan is part of a close knit Canadian folksy sisterhood which includes the Begood Tanyas and Carolyn Mark. If you've a fondness for those ladies (and Ms Holland too), don't wait another second. This is totally for you!”

Songs: Illinois
Album: Tatter
Craig Bonnell

“Folk and jazz mixed together in odd allotments is just about one of my favorite things. As you know doubt may have guessed if it sounds like it's been recorded in a speakeasy in Chicago in 1929 then it'll be featured on Songs:Illinois. Ora Cogan has a record that's ready to go called Tatter but is without a label at the moment. This Canadian artist/singer-songwriter has travelled all over the world performing her music, dance or creating art.
All of these experiences have no doubt affected this new album, Tatter, which contains songs that are as world weary as they are wise.”

Americana, UK
Album: Tatter

“Delicate guitar and a voice that could melt butter combine to give an album that sounds like it was recorded in the middle of a cornfield.”

Wears The Trousers Magazine - January 15 2010
The Quarry
[Borne! Recordings / Isolated Now Waves]

The dramatic cover shot, snapped in the stairwell of a hotel in Castelló, Spain, captures a lot of the mystery that runs thick throughout Ora Cogan’s latest album. Something of a departure from the Vancouver native’s clear, sparse, traditional style, The Quarry is big on atmosphere, submerging Ora’s already heady vocals in a deep well of reverb to give them an even more haunting quality. Recorded and co-produced with Jesse Taylor of Twin Crystals, Ora plays every instrument, including electric guitar, violin, dulcimer, drones and drums (except on two songs, where Kenton Loewen of The Crackling steps in). Divided into two ’sides’ (vinyl collectors can drop the quote marks) of six songs each, the album includes covers of Sam Cooke’s ‘Troubled Mind’ and traditional number ‘Down To The River’ plus two instrumentals, ‘Lily’ and ‘Nite Prison’ (named after the studio where the album was recorded).

Ora also has a new, limited edition covers album, The Boggy Mire, for sale through Isolated Now Waves, a cassette-only release featuring her takes on songs by Rio En Medio, Elizabeth Cotten, Bonnie Raitt, Irma Thomas and more.

HEAVE MEDIA - December 12 2009

Girls Are Rad: Ora Cogan
Ora Cogan continues to make Vancouver look good with The Quarry
By: Leah Urbom

“Cogan co-founded two radically different groups: Her Jazz Noise Collective, an experimental, trans-inclusive music network for women that encourages females to play more noise and experimental music, and Cornerstone, an a capella gospel quartet (not to be confused with the metal group of the same name—isn’t there always a metal group with the same name?). She is still affiliated with Her Jazz Noise Collective, which puts on semi-annual “Women’s Studies” that feature female artists, many of them debuts, and welcomes Cogan as part of the performance series.

Next up came Tatter (2007), a melodic nod toward traditional folk, which Cogan recorded and toured Canada behind with the down-home, finger-pickin’ help of The Be Good Tanyas. Tatter also featured a cover of “Motherless Child,” which was recently included on the compilation Beautiful Star: The Songs of Odetta.”

“Cogan’s upcoming release is entitled The Quarry and steps slightly away from the traditional sound she’s focused on in her past releases to incorporate more experimentation and some lo-fi fuzz.”

The Discorder - September 4 2009

“here is something so very unique about Ora Cogan both in stage presence and in the rich butterscotch-smooth quality of her voice. She took the stage like perfectly turbulent weather and proceeded to haunt the small crowd gathered at the foot of the stage, taking us on private little journeys through music, just her and a drummer bathed in stage lights.”