Cormac Begley is a renowned concertina player from west Kerry. He played It Takes a Village festival in Trabolgan earlier this year - this interview was recorded by the beach the following afternoon from his raucous/informative set. We chat about touring in his van Beauty, trad music in general, the magic of the session, the effort of playing concertinas, and lots more. 

Happy new year!
Intro music: Cormac Begley - 'O'Neill's March (live at Other Voices Courage 2020)

TPOE 225: Cormac Begley

Galway-based singer/songwriter Brigid Mae Power released her fourth studio album Dream from the Deep Well on June 30. Here, she talks through the album track by track, as well as discussing her previous album Head Above the Water, released during the pandemic in 2020, the art of covering songs by the greats, and her album-making process.

Brigid Mae Power Irish tour dates:
October 5: Whelan's, Dublin
October 6: The Chapel at Griffith College, Cork
October 22: Roisin Dubh, Galway

Buy the album: https://brigidmaepower.bandcamp.com/album/dream-from-the-deep-well

TPOE 274 Brigid Mae Power

Maija Sofia released her second album True Love on September 1 via Tulle Records. I talked with her in Maureen's in Shandon as part of Cork Podcast Festival in August - it's a track by track of True Love, going through the songwriting process, inspirations, saints and influences that make up the record. You can get it at https://maijasofia.bandcamp.com/album/true-love

Maija launches the album at Whelan's, Dublin on September 28. Tickets: https://singularartists.ie/show/maijia-sofia/

TPOE 275: Maija Sofia

Andy Connolly is the host body of Naive Ted, the DJ/producer/project/character/experience who is hanging up his mask with a final show at Haunted Dancehall at Dublin's NCH on November 4. Andy talks about Naive Ted's first appearances and development as well as his own journey, from helping launch the Community Skratch Games in Galway's Bierhaus to coming to Limerick, DJing and making music with the likes of Flying Buttresses and Deviant along the way, as well as now working with Music Generation Limerick.

Buy Naive Ted's music at https://unscenemusic.bandcamp.com/

TPOE 282: Andy Connolly (Naive Ted)

ØXN are Radie Peat, Katie Kim, John 'Spud' Murphy, and Ellie Myler, who have just released their debut album CYRM via Claddagh Records. A collection of six songs, there's old folk/trad tracks like 'Cruel Mother' and 'The Trees They Do Grow High', Katie Kim originals reworked, such as 'The Feast', and covers of Maija Sofia's 'The Wife of Michael Cleary' and Scott Walker's 'Farmer in the City'. On today's podcast, the band talk through the album track by track and discuss how they got together (with a little help from Islander/Quiet Lights' Jon Pearson). 

Buy ØXN - CYRM at https://oxnmusic.com

Subscribe to the TPOE newsletter: TPOE.substack.com

TPOE 283: ØXN

Rachael Lavelle released her long-awaited debut album Big Dreams  on November 10. A brilliant collection of 10 tracks, the press release says: Big Dreams is an existential coming-of-age album that chronicles the journey of a young woman searching for direction and meaning in a very strange world. Inspired by sounds of everyday life and an intriguing obsession with YouTube self-help videos, the album explores romance, directionlessness, ambition and the expectations of the unsatisfied digital native. Recorded in various locations including an artists studio in Lisbon, the album is the result of years of experimentation and destruction. Written and produced by Lavelle, it was created alongside long-time collaborator, multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Ryan Hargadon and engineer and co-producer Alex Borwick. Throughout, the album features the voice of the Luas, Doireann Ní Bhriain, who narrates the inner monologue of the millennial mind; the ever-wondering, ever-doubting, the contradicting and the aspiring.

On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Rachael talks us through Big Dreams track by track, as well as her features with Villagers, Crash Ensemble and others, influences, sleep, CMAT, and dreaming.

Buy Rachael Lavelle - Big Dreams: https://rachaellavelle.bandcamp.com/album/big-dreams-2

Rachael Lavelle tour dates:
November 23: The Black Box, Belfast
November 24: Project Arts Centre, Dublin
November 30: Mick Lally Theatre, Galway
December 1: The Record Room, Limerick
December 6: Prims Bookshop, Kinsale
December 7: Coughlan’s, Cork
December 8: Connollys of Leap, Cork
December 9: St Michael’s Church, Waterville, Kerry

TPOE 286: Rachael Lavelle

John Francis Flynn released his second album Look Over the Wall, See the Sky on November 10, receiving rave reviews from the likes of the Quietus, which called it "an album full of generosity and insight, songs that show us to ourselves in the way perhaps only folk music can", and Stereogum, Ryan Leas hailing it as "a stunning level-up from an already fascinating artist". We talked on a cold November morning about the making of Look Over the Wall, See the Sky, influences, trad and the idea of genre, the state of Dublin,  Paddywhackery, and creme de menthe. 

John Francis Flynn tour dates:
December 1 – Set Theatre, Kilkenny
December 2 – Vicar St, Dublin
December 8 – Roisin Dubh, Galway
December 9 – St Luke’s, Cork
December 10 – De Barras, Clonakilty
December 14 – Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
January 12 – Out To Lunch Festival, Ulster Sports Club, Belfast
February 22 – Theatre Royal, Waterford

Buy John Francis Flynn - Look Over the Wall, See the Sky: https://riverlea.bandcamp.com/album/look-over-the-wall-see-the-sky

TPOE 287: John Francis Flynn

Super Extra Bonus Party (Gavin Elsted, Gary Clarke, Cormac Brady, Stephen Fahey) released their long-awaited third album Late Nite 99 in September, about 14 years after second record Night Horses. We talk through the album track by track, from how a mate's post-five-a-side ice-cream inspired the title to their friendship and collaborations with Nina Hynes. We talk about singing vs instrumentals and putting yourself in a vulnerable position to put yourself out there, the music industry, and lots more.

Buy Late Nite 99: https://superextrabonusparty.bandcamp.com/album/late-nite-99

TPOE 288: Super Extra Bonus Party

The Scratch, a four-piece from Dublin born from a shared love of metal and trad music, released their second studio album Mind Yourself on November 3. Dock, Lango and Jordo talk through the nine songs track by track today, talking along the way about where they fit in the trad scene, the themes across the album, including alcoholism and begrudgery, and what it was like working with co-producer James Vincent McMorrow. They also talk about covering the Pogues' 'Sally MacLennane' for Ireland 100: An Old Song Re-sung, playing 'Dirty Bastard' on the Late Late Show, and lots more.

Buy The Scratch - Mind Yourself: https://thescratch.lnk.to/MindYourself

The Scratch tour dates:
December 22: Set Theatre ,Kilkenny
December 29: Crescent Concert Hall, Drogheda
December 30: Cork City Hall
New Year's Eve: Collins Barracks, Dublin

TPOE 289: The Scratch

It's a special bumper festive edition of the TPOE podcast as a host of friends help us wrap up the year in music, via interviews in person, over Zoom and through voicenotes. They talk about how the year was for them in general and what they've been up to, their favourite albums, songs, and gigs, favourite Christmas song, and what we can expect from them in 2024. 

Running order:
4.17: Clare Sands
8.27: The Cope
22.32: Daniel Luke
27.04: Honas
35.33: Ruth Mac
48.10: David Hedderman
56.05: Julie Havvk
1.08.07: Morgana
1.19.08: Winter Aid
1.31.28: Silverbacks
1.38.48: Sinéad White
1.45.32: Ro Yourell

TPOE 290: Best Music Of 2023

Dublin composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist RF Chaney released his debut solo album Tropism at the end of November 2023. He says it reveals his unique ‘chamber-electronic’ compositional approach that strives to tastefully combine rich textures of synthesisers and electronic instruments with Nordic jazz inspired acoustic instrumentation of saxophones, clarinets and double bass. Tropism was composed and recorded by Chaney, who played all instruments including synthesisers, guitar, piano and drums among others. Field recordings play a subtle but central role throughout the album, giving a sense of place and ambience of where it was recorded, in Dublin and Stockholm. 

As well as his solo work, Chaney has collaborated with a host of musicians, perhaps most notably for this chat, John Francis Flynn - indeed Chaney was playing drums with his former schoolmate at his debut outing. We talk about his work fusing the worlds of jazz and trad. We also talk about Chaney's journey through music. 

RF Chaney launches Tropism at the Cobblestone, Dublin, on January 11. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/rf-chaney-tropism-album-launch-the-cobblestone-tickets-779454889557

Buy Tropism: https://rfchaney.bandcamp.com/album/tropism

TPOE 291: RF Chaney

Brian Dillon, one part of Meltybrains, released his second solo album under the moniker The Line on November 1, 2023. Entitled Red Blood Cells and Righteousness, it's an album full of collaborations, featuring Lullahush, Fehdah and Loah, Sarah Corcoran (Pillow Queens), Sorcha Richardson, Talos, God Knows and Murli, and lots more. On this episode, we talk through all the tracks on the album and discuss the making of it. 

Brian says: “This is an album built on personal relationships and communication, dedicated to playing a small but significant role as a part of a world so much bigger than any of us are willing to admit. After all, maybe we’re all just blood cells, swimming through the veins of the earth, serving a much higher function.”

On January 25 at The Horse Gallery, Dorset Street, Dublin, the exhibition White Blood Cells is opening, a sister piece to the album. A series of immersive soundscapes by   Brian Dillon in collaboration with photographer Mark McGuinness. The audio-visual work explores the role and effect of supply chains in today’s global world. From the press release: One of the key topics highlighted by the audio work is immigration and refuge. In 2024 global migration is taking place on a level never seen before. The work explores the West’s reluctance to give shelter to people who have been driven from their homes due to economic factors which are heavily influenced by western consumer demands. If Dillon’s soundscapes pose questions for the future of society, industry, and migration, McGuinness’ images act as accompanying notes on our present. The images are all taken from the ongoing project, I Hope I’m Wrong, which documents the impact human activity is having on the environment. All of the images are taken in locations in Ireland which are predicted to be heavily impacted by sea level rise within the next decade.

A live performance will take place on the opening night by a music group made up of migrants and asylum seekers. They will perform a short set of songs from their home countries at 6pm, Thursday 25th January 2024. Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend.

You can buy Red Blood Cells and Righteousness at TheLine2.bandcamp.com

TPOE 292: The Line

The Cope aka Joe Furlong and David Anthony Curley released their debut album Dancer on December 8, 2023. The genesis of DANCER traces back to the isolating lockdown period, when global communities yearned for physical connection, and dance floors lay dormant. Sensing an opportune moment, the duo embarked on a creative journey to craft a musical opus that encapsulates the collective longing for communal celebration. Their aim was to provide the quintessential soundtrack for the eagerly awaited resurgence of nightlife, beckoning the return to vibrant club scenes and festival arenas.

"We had two goals in mind. Firstly, we wanted to create music that we ourselves would want to hear when people could finally return to the dance floor. Secondly, we wanted to craft the kind of music that compels people to dance, creating an immersive experience that captures the diverse moods of a night out.” 

On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Joe and David talk us through all the tracks on Dancer, the creative process, and the guest vocalists across the songs.

Buy Dancer: https://thecope636.bandcamp.com/album/dancer
Watch the short film, The Cope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4DI7Luafzw
Outro music: The Cope - Back on My Bullshit

TPOE 293: The Cope

Dublin-based artist Naoise Roo released her second album Emotionally Magnificent on October 27 and brings the curtain down on the project with 'The Last Headline Show Ever Probably' at the Workman's Club on Friday, February 2, featuring special guests Paddy Hanna and Clara Tracey and support from Danny Carroll. On this episode, Naoise talks about some of the reasons why the project is coming to an end and we talk through Emotionally Magnificent track by track.

Buy the album: https://naoiseroo.bandcamp.com/merch/emotionally-magnificent-vinyl-special-edition

Sign up to the TPOE newsletter (free): https://tpoe.substack.com/
---
Naoise Roo's Instagram message about 'The Last Headline Show Ever Probably': Years ago, I remember seeing an update on Simple Kid’s website that included a picture of him and the words "Simple Kid is working out what he wants to do with the rest of his life" or some similar sentiment. I've thought about that a lot over the years.

I think its time to explore some other things. There is never a time that seems easy to stop; it always feels like sustainable creative success is just around the corner, that you are waiting on a bus to speed you towards a new destination. However, those of us who have been in this game a long time are often faced with the realisation that the destination doesn't really exist — or when it does, no one knows how long it will last. I think I'd like to switch gears and take a paddleboat somewhere, nowhere in particular.

I don't really care about success in the traditional sense. I do, however, care about peace, and trying to be the best version of my creative self. Over the last few years, I have realised that the aspects of this work I value the most involve being in the studio, being with people I love and trust, and making something magic. I am far more suited to this cocoon, rather than the emerging butterfly stage of this vocation. Experiencing major losses last year reminded me how emotionally exhausting this industry can be. Being solo is lonely, even though it obviously takes a village to make things happen and I've been privileged to have support across many things. I could conceivably have a hiatus and not make such a boundary, but truthfully I think I want to create space in my life for other things, ideas, projects and also just to be.

I've loved making this music and playing this music. I am so intensely grateful that people have written about my music, shared it with other people or have supported me by coming to the shows and buying records and merch. I am also endlessly grateful to all the people I made music with.

It would mean a lot if yall would come on Feb 2nd and we see this thing out in style in Workmans.
---
From the press release: Released via North Carolina label Schoolkids Records, Emotionally Magnificent is offered as the culmination of a chapter of a journey that takes in both Lilith and Naoise Roo’s 2020 Sick Girlfriend EP, whose four tracks are incorporated here. Combined, it honours the full, sprawling majesty of Naoise Roo as a singular artist.
 
Rather than some throwaway snapshot, released as a mere means to an end, Emotionally Magnificent is a slow focus triumph of reflection and resolve. “The Sick Girlfriend EP had a lot to do with my mental health and how I felt about navigating the music industry,” says Naoise Roo. “‘Falling Stars,’ for example, is about watching all these talented people around me hitting the wall and leaving music because it’s just too hard to keep going. ‘Sick Girlfriend’ itself is basically about the trope of the manic pixie dream girl and how that’s exploited, sexualized or slandered.”

TPOE 294: Naoise Roo

Cork-based artist Elaine Malone released her debut album Pyrrhic on September 8, 2023. On this episode, Elaine talks through each of its nine tracks, discussing working with Cathal MacGabhainn, who recorded it; her band (Ruairi Dale, Sam Clague, James Christie), the Cork scene, supporting the likes of Mary Wallopers, Protomartyr, and Bob Mould, the problem with the term 'singer songwriter', confidence, her other bands such as Pot-Pot, and lots more. Elaine Malone plays the Metronome concert series at the NCH on March 21, with RF Chaney, while Pot-Pot play Crane Lane in Cork on February 8, and Bello Bar in Dublin on February 10, with Search Results

Buy Elaine Malone - Pyrrhic: https://elainemalone.bandcamp.com/album/pyrrhic

TPOE 295: Elaine Malone

Berlin-based Dublin artist David Hedderman released his debut album Pulling at the Briars on February 9, 2024, and talks through all of it in this track-by-track interview.

From the press release:
Written over a 15-year period, Pulling at the Briars captures a transitional period for Hedderman during which he relocated to Berlin, Germany from Dublin, Ireland in the mid-2000s. The initial months and years were shaped by intensive periods creating art whilst cultivating a community of like-minded creatives in Berlin. With regards to the latter, Hedderman engaged in regular music sessions, eventually inviting musicians to his Kreuzberg studio to play together. This ritual not only served as an invigorating social outlet but through playing music, Hedderman was able to process several informative events that occurred throughout his twenties and thirties. 

Recorded live over five days with Brendan Jenkinson (Aoife Nessa Frances, John Francis Flynn, Villagers) in Sonic Studios, Dublin, Ireland, Pulling At The Briars was produced by Conor O’Brien (Villagers), Hedderman’s close childhood friend and former bandmate in The Immediate. The atmosphere conjured during the recording sessions was amplified by the potent cast of collaborators featuring Peter Broderick, David A. Tapley (Tandem Felix), Corey Blair, and Aidan Gorman, each of whom add rich flourishes to the expansive material. 

Hedderman explains of the title: “It came from a trip I made to the West coast of Ireland making portraits of people. I was also doing some work outdoors with my friend and we were told we had to pull briars out of some walls in the lashing rain. Afterwards, I remember it being a very heightened memory after that trip of it being very cathartic and symbolic. The act was quite literally doing something in the pursuit of clearing, unclogging. I’ve often seen that as how I’ve treated music in a cathartic way, as a form of therapy. Holding the guitar and singing is my way of getting things out. The album’s title is a lyric in one of the songs and I think it nicely umbrellas the whole album in how it addresses the ways that I try to untangle life.”

Buy Pulling at the Briars on vinyl: https://www.groenland.com/en/product/david-hedderman-pulling-at-the-briars-lp/

TPOE 296: David Hedderman

To mark season 22 of Other Voices, which begins on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player on February 29, one of the hottest bands in the country, Gurriers, who played St James' Church in Dingle for the show in December, and host Maykay join the TPOE podcast. 

Gurriers started in January 2020 and have released a string of excellent singes since, including latest track 'Des Goblin'. Frontman Dan Hoff talks about how they got started, feeling inspired - for good or bad - by social media, playing SXSW in March, what it's like to be part of the hype cycle, and their plans for the rest of the year. 

A little bonus in the middle of the show: The photographer Rich Gilligan heads to Other Voices every year. He talks about why it's so special to shoot and some of the memorable acts he's experienced in Dingle over the years. 

Then Fight Like Apes frontwoman Maykay looks back to the Dublin music scene of the mid-00s and how they fitted in, talking FLApes rise, a little about the fall, and their reunion at the Olympia Theatre in 2023. They're returning for a final show there on April 6, 2024 - tickets are running low, FYI. Maykay also talks her solo plans and what it's like hanging out with fellow Other Voices hosts Huw Stephens and Annie Mac in Dingle.

The six-part season 22 of Other Voices will showcase some of the most thrilling Irish and international artists on the music scene; with exclusive intimate performances by Griff, Kae Tempest, The Murder Capital, Villagers, BC Camplight, Catrin Finch & Aoife Ní Bhriain, CMAT, ØXN, Gurriers, Mick Flannery, Julie Byrne, The Joy, KhakiKid, Niamh Bury, Qbanaa and Lucy McWilliams.

TPOE 297: Gurriers, MayKay

It's the annual Choice Music Prize Preview Special with John Barker (Tilt - https://twitter.com/JohnBarkerTilt) as we run through each of the acts nominated for Irish album of the year 2023 and try to predict who will win the prize on March 7. 

The 10 acts nominated for the prize (and who we discuss in this order) are:
Grian Chatten – Chaos For The Fly  (Partisan Records)
CMAT – Crazymad, For Me  (CMATBABY/AWAL)
John Francis Flynn – Look Over The Wall, See The Sky  (River Lea)
Kojaque – PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS  (Soft Boy Records)
Lankum – False Lankum  (Rough Trade Records)
Rachael Lavelle – Big Dreams  (Rest Energy)
Soda Blonde – Dream Big  (Overbite Records)
The Murder Capital – Gigi’s Recovery  (Human Season Records)
The Scratch – Mind Yourself  (Perrystown Music Limited)
Ezra Williams – Supernumeraries  (Ezra Williams/AWAL)

TPOE 298: Choice Prize Preview with Tilt's John Barker

Neil O'Connor aka Ordnance Survey released his latest album Turas (Journey) on December 1 and talks through the tracks and creative process in this interview. 

He says Turas (Journey) is the most ambitious Ordnance Survey record to date. The field recordings used on Turas were captured with both analog and digital devices at passage and wedge tombs across Meath, West Cork, Wicklow, Connemara and Roscommon. To make use of the tombs' acoustics, elements like percussion were recorded in the tombs and through the process of re-amplification (playing pre-recorded material back in the tombs), this 3000-year-old reverberation became a major part of the sound world that the listener experience. Turas is an electronically mediated journey that allows these historical sites to become an important collaborative factor in the creative process. Guest collaborators include Roger Doyle (Piano), Gareth Quinn Redmond (Violin), and Billy Mag Fhloinn (Yaybahar).

Also known as Somadrone, all of Neil's work can be found and purchased at https://scintillarecordings.bandcamp.com/music

TPOE 299: Ordnance Survey

It's the 300th episode of the TPOE podcast!!! To celebrate, we asked some friends of the show to pick their favourite moment/gig/song/album of the past nine years or so since the show began (summer 2015, since you ask). Thanks to everybody who's listened to TPOE, thanks to all the guests over the years, and thanks to Irish music!

You'll hear from:
13.45: Niamh Regan
16.01: Swimmers Jackson
20.55: God Knows
25.10: Brian Coney
29.50: Ailbhe Reddy
33.25: Steve Ryan
35.25: Stevie G
40.45: Jack O'Rourke
43.40: Brian Brannigan (A Lazarus Soul)
50.38: Lankum Choice Prize acceptance speech

TPOE 300

Driven Snow aka husband and wife Kieran and Emily released their debut album A Kind of Dreaming on February 9. An intimate collection of nine songs, it's a glance into a relationship, friendship, and all that that entails, with loss and doubt and worries along the way. But there's also hope - like they sing on closing track 'Nothing as Hard as Love': "Life calls me to breathe,  calls me to breathe for us. Time makes me believe."

On this episode, Kieran and Emily talk through all the tracks that comprise A Kind of Dreaming, how they started and developed,  their lyrics, and inspiration. First they take us back 20 years to when and how they met - and their bands Delorentos and Republic of Loose. 

Driven Snow tour dates:
March 22: Winthrop Avenue, Cork
March 23: Kasbah @ Dolan's, Limerick
April 6: Roisin Dubh, Galway

TPOE 301: Driven Snow

Willie Stewart runs Nyahh Records from his home in Co Leitrim. After releasing the brilliant I Am Kurdish by Mohammad Syfkhan in February, Willie talks about how that album came together and talks about Mohammad's story and musical output. Then he talks through other releases on the label, like Natalia Beylis' collaboration with Eimear Reidy, Ian Lynch's solo debut, and the two compilations from 2023: A Collection of Songs in the Traditional & Sean​-​N​ó​s Style and Under the Island: Experimental Music in Ireland 1960-1994.

Nyahh Records discography on Bandcamp: https://nyahhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-island-experimental-music-in-ireland-1960-1994

Ley Lines: https://daily.bandcamp.com/ley-lines/ley-lines-february-2024

Mohammad Syfkhan tour dates:
March 28:  Record Room, Limerick
March 29: Bello Bar, Dublin
April 4: Vicar Street (Gig for Gaza, w/ ØXN, Junior Brother, Pretty Happy)

Mohammad Syfkhan is a Kurdish/Syrian Singer and Bouzouki player. He began playing music in 1980 while he was in college studying nursing. When he got his degree in 1983, Mohammad moved to the city of Raqqa, Syria where he began working as a professional singer and started his own band, The Al-Rabie Band which played concerts, parties, weddings and festivals all over Syria. The Al-Rabie Band were a much sought-after group. Their live sets included Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and some Western songs as well as Mohammad’s own original material.

Mohammad continued to play with his band while also working as a surgical nurse until the war broke out in 2011. This unfortunately brought tragedy to Mohammad’s family when one of his sons was killed by Isis thus threatening the lives of the rest of his family. His family had no choice but to leave their home and seek safety in Europe. Three of Mohammad’s sons were resettled in Germany while Mohammad, his young daughter and wife were taken in by Ireland. Mohammad has spoken at length of his confusion and despair with fundamentalists and how their message is a far cry from the teachings of love and understanding that he considers the true message of Islam.

Since arriving in Ireland, Mohammad has used the language of music to integrate into the local community by playing at private parties and concerts. He regularly plays at weddings and events for the Kurdish and Syrian communities all over Ireland and in Germany. He has collaborated with such Irish artists as Martin Hayes, Cormac Begley, Eimear Reidy, Cathal Roche and Vincent Woods. In 2023 he opened for Lankum at the Cork Opera House and received huge applause from the packed out room.

Mohammad’s own brand of ecstatic music takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. The songs on ‘I am Kurdish’ have been recorded and mixed with the view to make them to suitable for listening to at a small get together or to be played on a big rig at night clubs. Either way, it is a record that will make people dance.

Three of the tracks on the album feature accompaniment by two fellow Leitrim-based musicians: composer, improviser, sound artist and saxophonist Cathal Roche and composer, improviser and cellist Eimear Reidy.

Mohammad says: “I thank everyone who has stood with me and supported me. And I especially thank the Irish people who have engaged with my music in such a wonderful way. I consider myself lucky to have come to this wonderful country that has welcomed me and all refugees. I thank God for everything, and now, thanks to this wonderful country, I am a musician and have a safe home. Thank you to the Irish government and people for giving me the honour of calling this country my home.”

TPOE 302: Nyahh Records

Singer-songwriter Niamh Bury released her debut solo album Yellow Roses on March 29 via Claddagh Records. Produced by Brían Mac Gloinn (Ye Vagabonds), it features Caimin Gilmore and Kate Ellis (Crash Ensemble) and Ryan Hargodan (Rachael Lavelle), but it is Bury's amazing voice that stands out as she weaves tales about travel, mysticism, and domesticity, with a theme of female empowerment coming through, particularly when she sings of her mother on one song and her grandmother on the title track. Comprising nine original tracks and one interpretation of an older song ('Lovely Adam'), Niamh Bury talks through Yellow Roses on this episode of the TPOE podcast. 

Niamh Bury tour dates:
April 12: American Bar, Belfast
April 21: Róisín Dubh, Galway
April 24: Upstairs at Dolan's, Limerick
April 25: Cleere's, Kilkenny
April 26: Winthrop Avenue, Cork
April 28: Whelan's, Dublin

Buy Yellow Roses: https://www.niamhbury.com/

TPOE 303: Niamh Bury

Dublin singer-songwrriter Danny Carroll released his debut solo album I am the Cheese on March 1. He talks through the nine tracks on this TPOE 304.
---
Press release: Part of the Dublin music scene for years, Danny Carroll is co-curator of A Litany Of Failures compilation series showcasing independent artists from across Ireland.  Having gigged in various projects, he’s opened for kindred spirits such as Jeffrey Lewis and Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs before the time came to work on his debut solo album. Enlisting the help of Belfast based producer Chris W. Ryan (New Dad, Just Mustard, Robocobra Quartet), the two developed songs with a playful, anything goes approach, with Carroll’s songs likened to softer touchstones of indie rock - Silver Jews, Jonathan Richman, and Lee Hazlewood.
---
Danny explains: I Am The Cheese is an album I initially recorded with Chris W. Ryan in a week in June 2021. We did this in a terraced house in East Belfast - visited by Carl Eccles on two occasions to play guitar and sing some backing vocals. In the months that followed, Finn McCarthy emailed me bass parts, and I added various bells and whistles to the songs from a flat on North Circular Road in Dublin 7. Laura Ryder also contributed piano to the song Cheesemonger. The drums were performed and recorded by Chris on one day in January 2022 in Start Together Studios. He then mixed the album, and eventually I got it mastered by the late, great John Davis (Blur, The XX, Careerist) who passed away in September 2023.

I've sat on the album a long time, in part down due to vinyl pressing, in part due to personal reasons. The mental fortitude it takes to independently 'emerge' and 'unleash' is not always forthcoming. At this point the album feels like a distant document. Nevertheless, it's still something I'm happy to have made for myself.

The title is taken from the 1977 Robert Cormier YA novel, which haunted my adolescence. The final lines of the novel refer back to the folk song 'The Farmer In The Dell':
"The cheese stands alone.
The cheese stands alone.
Hi-ho, the derry-o!
The cheese stands alone"

For a number of reasons it felt fitting to lift that title. 
credits

TPOE 304: Danny Carroll

Singer/bassist Julie Hough and guitarist Matthew Harris from Dublin-based pop-punk trio Havvk talk through all the tracks on their third album To Fall Asleep, released on Veta Records.

Julie's battles with insomnia are one of the influences on the album. She says: “I was waking up with an unshakable feeling of urgency, like I was forgetting something and then letting my thoughts spiral for hours. Sleep was something I had always taken for granted, so at first this felt like a huge betrayal from my body. But it wasn’t really. Actually, it was my body trying to tell me something. I had to really listen to it, and  examine how honestly I was living my life, and how much energy I was giving to things that I didn’t have the capacity for."

To Fall Asleep tracklisting:
1. Daylight Robbery
2. Expiry
3. Strong Possibility
4. You Say You Won’t (played in intro)
5. White Noise
6. To Fall Asleep
7. Take It From Me
8. Keep It to Myself
9. City Creep
10. Waste of Time
11. Nobody Told You (outro music)

Buy To Fall Asleep on Bandcamp: https://havvk.bandcamp.com/album/to-fall-asleep

TPOE 305: Havvk

Anamoe Drive is the solo project of Thumper frontman and guitarist Oisín Leahy Furlong. He released his debut album Breakfast in Bed via Faction Records on March 8 and talks through it track by track on this episode of the TPOE podcast.

Oisin says Breakfast in Bed is a breakup album told in three parts. The non-linear narrative flits between the throes of heartbreak to the bliss of new love, from the depths of loneliness, to the slow dissipating of these feelings in the rearview mirror. The album’s title reflects different meanings depending on which song you view it through - from a kind gesture, to a lonely act, to the masticating of these themes in solitude. It also doubles as the place where most of these songs were written - perched on a bed, the morning after the night before, recapping these events in song. He says influences range from Sparklehorse to The Microphones, Bright Eyes to The Beach Boys, and Big Thief to Real Estate.

Buy Breakfast in Bed: https://anamoedrive.bandcamp.com/

Tracklisting
1. The Same Asylum
2. Goodbye & Goodluck
3. Out Like a Light
4. Bulb
5. The Finder's Keeper
6. Long Time Coming
7. Procrastination
8. NYC
9. Holiday Song
10. Don't Walk the Wrong One Home

TPOE 306: Anamoe Drive

Kieran McFeely aka Simple Kid released two acclaimed albums in the noughties before seeming to disappear around 2008. He sold his guitar and packed away his gear. A decade would pass before he went looking for the boxes in his attic. Simple Kid released third album Simple Kid 3: Health & Safety in 2022, and played a show at Whelan's in April 2023.

Now, Simple Kid plays the Grand Social in Dublin on Saturday, May 4, and Cyprus Avenue, Cork, on Sunday, May 5, presented by Singular Artists. From Cork, it will be his first hometown show in 17 years. Ahead of the shows, he talks on the TPOE podcast about his journey, how he came back to the Simple Kid project after 10 years not thinking about it. We talk about his old band the V Necks/The Young Offenders, and how that led to his solo project in the early 2000s. Acclaim, charting, and an appearance on 'Later with Jools Holland' all followed.

Buy tickets for Simple Kid live at the Grand Social and Cyprus Avenue: https://singularartists.ie/show/simple-kid-2024/
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Press release:
Once upon a time, back in 2003, a young hopeful by the name of Simple Kid emerged with his first solo album, Simple Kid 1: full of optimism and arrogance, he was sure of his place in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. He garnered some awards nominations, some high profile tours, some good times, some bad. Like many before and since, he was ‘the next big thing’ with a UK Top 40, appearances on ‘Later With Jools’, Glastonbury slots and prestigious touring. 

In 2008, he followed this up with Simple Kid 2: not so many awards, not so much TV, lots of touring but running out of money, hair receding, girlfriend pregnant.

Then along came ‘life’. And life said that Simple Kid needed to change the chapter in his book, to move on. So Simple Kid became Kieran and started to do things like: get a job, get tired, raise children, have financial struggles. Still some good times, some bad. But secretly in 2018, Kieran bought a guitar, a microphone and some speakers and started recording quietly in his loft. He didn’t tell anyone, not even his family. 

He started uploading songs to YouTube and eventually released 13 of these songs as an album called ‘Simple Kid 3: Health & Safety’ in 2022. Kieran has now changed his name back to Simple Kid and decided to come out to play again. He imagines there will be some good times, some bad.

TPOE 307: Simple Kid

'Waves Make Foam' is the first single from Sam Clague's debut EP Balloons, which is released at the  Clonakilty International Guitar Festival. He plays the Emmet Hotel at 9pm on Saturday, September 19.  Entry is free

Sam Clague - Waves Make Foam

Cian Ó Cíobháin marks 20 years of An Taobh Tuathail this week. Broadcast on Raidio na Gaeltachta, Monday to Friday, 10pm to midnight, the show runs the gamut of genres, from ambient, folk and soundscape, to indie, techno and dance. It's a voyage of discovery. Over a 45-minute interview, Cian discusses how he got involved in radio, how his love of music developed, what listeners can expect from his show this week to mark the anniversary, and lots more.

TPOE 130: Cian Ó Cíobháin (An Taobh Tuathail)

Ian Lynch discusses Lankum's year, from playing sold-out shows at Vicar Street to winning the Choice Prize to touring the US... and then having to use a big chunk of the €10,000 Choice winnings to get back to Ireland when Covid-19 hit. The lockdown helped him delve deeper into his Fire Draw Near podcast, which explored the world of folk and trad music. He's in the midst of a three-part podcast on The Wild Rover. We talk about all this and more in this interview.

You can support Ian and Fire Draw Near at patreon.com/firedrawnear

TPOE 188: Ian Lynch (Lankum/Fire Draw Near)

The Point Of Everything is a podcast based out of Cork that tackles the biggest issues in the music world, near and far, every week. Expect chat, music, and interviews every week

The Point Of Everything

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