Ireland’s folk music scene is in rude health. Established and new young performers, while looking to the past, offer vibrant re-interpretations of old songs. Alongside this, they also demonstrate an uncanny knack for creating contemporary originals that stay with you long after the final notes fade out. This year’s RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award nominees are a brilliant showcase of all that, and many of those that feature in this year’s shortlist have captured our hearts here on Folk Radio.
I’ve highlighted some of those we’ve covered below but rest assured, it’s a great list this year, so dig deep and explore those names which may be new to you.
In August, John Francis Flynn was our Artist of the Month with his debut album I Would Not Live Always. He has four nominations for Best Folk Singer, Best Folk Album, Best Emerging Artist, and Best Traditional Track. How can anyone possibly forget the song and video for My Son Tim (directed by Peadar ó Goill)? The best example of Flynn’s gift for crossing trad with wholly unusual outside influences.
In his review of the album, David Weir concludes, “Taking turns both tender and turbulent, I Would Not Live Always is bracing, unpredictable and without a doubt one of the most deeply affecting folk debuts of recent years.”
David later interviewed John; in his introduction, he touched on the influence of Ewan MacColl: It was thanks to a lullaby by Ewan MacColl that John Frances Flynn learnt how to sing. He calls the instant he first heard Luke Kelly’s version of Come My Little Son an awakening, which led to the then twenty-year-old Flynn performing it at every given opportunity.
He later adds: The next lightbulb moment for Flynn came whilst studying at university, after hearing The Watersons’ take on The Thirty-Foot Trailer (another MacColl composition) during a particularly memorable lecture. Recognising the Salford songwriter’s genius, as well as the power and potential of traditional song, he soon fell under the spell of artists like Kelly, Shirley & Dolly Collins and Dick Gaughan.
One thing which struck me about Flynn was his great respect for the songs and their interpretation: “I think about that very regularly when I’m singing these songs or playing traditional music. Because the songs will always outlast you, that’s the power of trad. The connection you have with the past and future, you are part of the journey those songs have come on and by singing those songs you’re connecting with someone else’s experience from the past. Then it could go on to inform something in the present. I think that’s quite a powerful thing, the fact that it’s all bigger than you.”
Another significant album we covered was the debut offering by Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin & Ultan O’Brien – Solas an Lae, which is up for Best Folk Album, Best Traditional Folk Track and Best Emerging Artist. In his review of the album, Richard Hollinghum concludes: So, if we were looking for a contemporary rendition of sean-nós, then I would suggest that there would be no better place to start than here. Solas an Lae is the complete package, the tune and the words and the presentation together encompassing the emotional tales of the tragedy of life. To me, this is what makes sean-nós what it is. And here it is being continued and continually worked on by young artists. The importance of the tradition is to recognise that it is not a static beast but one that keeps moving, branching, embracing—and singing about the issues that matter, great and small. Excellent.
Danni Larkin made quite a splash with her debut offering Notes for a Maiden Warrior, which she recently spoke about and performed on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She is also up for Best Emerging Artist, and that will come as no surprise to those that have heard the album. In the introduction to his review of the album, Bill Rough states: With a sound rich in the sounds of Irish traditional music and owning a powerful, formidable voice, Dani Larkin may be a new name on the folk scene, but she arrives prepared as a confident and stimulating artist. He concludes that the album is “a striking debut, effortlessly succeeding in captivating the heart, as well as the ear.” Here’s her latest single and video for Bloodthirsty:
On the weekly shows I put together, I think I’ve probably played every track from Laura Quirke & Joshua Burnside‘s In The Half Light, which we reviewed here and featured a track-by-track feature from the duo here. Mike Davies described it as a deeply enticing snapshot of how their two talents intermingle to form a single cohesive vision. Hopefully, this is a prelude to further collaboration, possibly exploring joint songwriting, and one to be eagerly anticipated.
One track that gets a lot of airplay in our house is Taking the Wheel, on which Laura shared with us:
During the first lockdown, I went home to my parent’s house and was rummaging through old notebooks while cleaning my room. I found lines that I had written when I was younger: ’sits in the passenger seat and ponders the thought of taking the wheel’ and ‘condensation closing in, makes it hard to see the road’. It sparked the feeling of being caught inside something without feeling in control – a situation – a relationship – that’s not necessarily good or bad but just feeling the need to break free from it, feeling the desire for an escape from the mundane. I suppose I resonated with those lines again at that time and so started weaving them into a song. I had been listening to a lot of John Prine. I love how he names people in his songs. He probably inspired the way I wrote the song, the thoughts in the heads of these two people inside a rainy car journey, a conversation in the unsaid. I finished the song without much of an ending so that people could give it their own soap opera ending.. What did Sarah actually say to David? We’ll never know.
Another duo whose appearance may come as no surprise is double platinum-selling Mick Flannery and Co. Clare singer songwriter Susan O’Neill. I mentioned before that O’Neill was something of a trailblazer…I loved the duo she with Clare Sands singing and also playing trumpet and congas…the energy of the performance was really something else.
That same energy is present on Chain Reaction, nominated for Best Orginal Folk Track and Best Album for In the Game. It was quite a powerhouse track on which Susan says, “This is the sweet one, the call and response. There is a feeling of love and balance here as both voices verbalise the same lyrics, thoughts and gratitude.”
Mick adds, “This song arrived at night/morning early in pandemic lockdowns. It was partly inspired by hopeful talk of a “reset” and/or environmental benefits to a great slowing of human activity.”
While Folk Radio favourites, sibling duo of Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn – best known as Ye Vagabonds, had their field day in 2019, picking up three awards, they did offer us a double A-side single in January this year with ‘I’m a Rover and The Bothy Lads’, the former is up for Best Traditional Folk Track. Although not the audio from the single, they did record a live version video – recorded in one take by Martin Lustenberger and René Reusser on Lake Brienz, Switzerland.
Of course, the list also includes Rhiannon Giddens and Francesca Turrisi, a reminder that they have both been living in their adopted home of Ireland. Their album, They’re Calling Me Home, was reviewed by Bob Fis here who opens: They’re Calling Me Home, [is] an album that reflects on what happens when a choice is no longer a choice. In an interview with NPR, Giddens made that clear, “When you move to somewhere else through choice, you look for the similarities in the new culture and your culture, and that’s how you build points of connection. When you can no longer go back home, even to visit, you start feeling the differences.”
He concludes that their album is unlike anything else you will experience this year. They’re Calling Me Home is a metaphor for our times. We all need to find our way home. Let this album serve as your guide.
Many of the albums I’ve mentioned have continued to reward repeat listens; one that I ended up buying on vinyl was Adrian Crowley’s The Watchful Eye of the Stars, for which he has picked up a nomination for Bread and Wine as Best Original Folk Track. In his review of the album, Bob Fish comments: Sighing strings of “Bread and Wine” set up a different scenario as Crowley talks about his new island life, “I found a halfway room in a seaside town / I’ll stay here for a while / Through my window I can hear the ship bells ring / And I wake to the smell of the brine.”…the music of The Watchful Eye of the Stars stays with you long after it ends, a testament to the vision of its author.
Lorcan MacMathúna has featured on Folk Radio many times; he has also been a guest author and wrote a lovely piece for us on Sean nós – the traditional unaccompanied style of singing in Irish that, in recent times, existed only in the furthest reaches of Ireland’s landscape. His track An Bhuatais is up for Best Traditional Folk Track. Richard Hollinghum reviewed An Bhuatais & The Meaning of Life here. Like much of Lorcan’s projects, once you start digging, you end up exploring far more than you originally envisioned, such is the depth of his projects. As Richard said: The range of songs exemplify the sean nós tradition and beautifully continues it along its path. The subject range is not just limited to the lament of Irish history. There is Cúcúín, a lullaby for a mother cuckoo’s chick and Michtam Daibhí (Pslam 16) that is simply stunning. You can also dig deeper, read about the songs, or travel further into musings about the myths, ‘the hope, longing and fire’. But first of all, enter the space and just listen. Excellent.
Brian Finnegan is up for Folk Instrumentalist of the year. Brian released a fantastic album this year titled ‘Hunger of the Skin’, a beautiful collaborative creation featuring top-class musicians and a rich blend of music and poetry.
Johnny Whalley reviewed the album here where he concludes:
Only Brian could say if, at the outset, he had any idea what sending out his raw material to musical friends might achieve, but without a doubt, he’s been delighted by the result. And not merely in musical terms, in what he describes as “extraordinary times of great reckoning”, it became a re-affirmation of the power of friendship and human interaction even if it was necessarily at a distance. With the closing lines of the final track, Dare, the sentiment is spelt out, “Put out your hand. Touch what you love.” For Brian, his fretful labours in the wee small hours of his lockdown nights brought him home to his music. With the release of Hunger of the Skin, we can all now enjoy the fruits of that journey.
In 2020, we reviewed Emma Langford’s Sowing Acorns. In 2021 she shared the album live on stage with growing audiences throughout Ireland, Austria and Germany, accompanied by a vibrant host of backing musicians. In his review of the album, David Pratt concludes: Whilst this album may well have been a cathartic process for Emma, for the listener, it is a strikingly good experience; her ability to weave musical magic shines throughout. This is a positive step on her journey; it would make sense to step aboard and enjoy not only this but the rides to come.
Another Folk Radio favourite is Lisa O’Neill, who has been nominated for the Best Traditional Folk Track alongside Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Earlier this year, they released a cover of ‘Peggy Gordon’, which featured on the compilation album In The Echo: Field Recordings from Earlsfort Terrace. In this version, Lisa O’Neill delivers the lyrics – about the despair of unrequited love – with poise and poignancy. Colm Mac Con Iomaire’s solo fiddle is elegant in its gentle understatement.
Saint Sister made a significant impact this year with their album Where I Should End, reviewed here. As Seuras said in his review: This record amazes. The blending of the acoustic and electronic has seldom come together so seamlessly, and certainly not with the precision displayed here. File under whatsoever you like; I guarantee it will stick fast in your consciousness.
The track Manchester Air still moves me whenever I hear it; I featured it in a special Lost in Transmission show which you can listen to here.
It seems as good a way as any to end this preview with a quote from one of the nominees. In a piece he wrote for us, Lorcan MacMathúna says:
If you ask any traditional musician where they got their music from you will most likely hear that they grew up surrounded by it, that it was part of their landscape growing up and that the gentle filial rub of its constant contact nurtured a love for it that progressed to complete immersion. Or perhaps immersion -the way you can get lost in the intimacy and pulse of tunes and songs played and sung within the parameters of our daily living just for pleasure- is the beginning of this cycle, a cycle that is the natural progression of tradition, the essence of a living heritage.
Good luck to you all.
It has also recently been announced that Christy Moore will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in Vicar Street, Dublin on Tuesday 16th November. Ride on Christy!
The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award shortlist of nominations
Best Original Folk Track
Almost – Susan O’Neill
Bread and Wine – Adrian Crowley
Chain Reaction – Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill
Patsy Cline – Jack O’Rourke
Taking the Wheel – Laura Quirke & Joshua Burnside
Best Traditional Folk Track
An Bhuatais – Lorcan MacMathúna
Cúirt Bhaile Nua – Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin & Ultan O’Brien
Easter Snow / Sally Gally – Ryan Molloy and Padraig McGovern
I’m a Rover – Ye Vagabonds
My Son Tim – John Francis Flynn
Peggy Gordon – Lisa O’Neill and Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Best Folk Singer
John Francis Flynn
Emma Langford
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Susan O’Neill
Declan O’Rourke
Best Folk Instrumentalist
Brian Finnegan
Martin Hayes
Ryan Molloy
Caoimhin O’Fearghaill
Alannah Thornburgh
Best Folk Group
Greenshine
Moxie
The Whileaways
Villagers
Ye Vagabonds
Best Folk Album
I Would Not Live Always – John Francis Flynn
They’re Calling Me Home – Rhiannon Giddens and Francesca Turrisi
In the Game – Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill
Solas an Lae – Eoghan O’Ceannabháin and Ultan O’Brien
Where I Should End – Saint Sister
Best Emerging Artist
Bridín
John Francis Flynn
Dani Larkin
Eoghan O’Ceannabháin and Ultan O’Brien
Alannah Thornburgh
The 2021 Irish Folk Awards ceremony takes place in Vicar Street on Tuesday 16th November – listen in live via RTÉ Radio 1 at 8 pm, with a television highlights programme on RTÉ One on Saturday 20th November.