The Per Cent for Art scheme has been responsible for some visual eyesores and the odd bit of passable public art. The problem is that, in the vast majority of cases, councils and other public bodies take the tried and tested route of commissioning a piece of sculpture. So it’s refreshing to see Per Cent for Art being approached with a degree of originality by Clare County Council, which has used the scheme to fund a project aimed at creating new songs in the traditional idiom.

Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association and Clare County Council’s Arts Office have commissioned traditional singer John Tunney to work with the clients and residents of Kilmaley Daycare Centre to compose new songs in a trad style, inspired by the people and place of Kilmaley. John Tunney has been living in Ennis for the last eight years but hails from Co. Donegal, where his family were steeped in traditional song, music and storytelling.
His father Paddy was a much-loved singer who himself composed a significant repertoire, most of which can be heard sung at sessions and Fleadhs around the country. In this project, John has been working as Artist-in-Residence, or in this case Songwriter-in-Residence, at the Day Care Centre since September last.
During this time, he and the clients have been singing songs and learning songs from each other’s repertoire, working closely with the staff and clients of the Daycare Centre to create new and unique material. Well-known photographer and accordion player Christy McNamara was also commissioned to work with clients of Kilmaley to capture the final month of the unique process in photographic images.
To a lot of people one of the iconic pairings in Irish folk music was that of Paul Brady and Andy Irvine – in particular their classic album Andy Irvine and Paul Brady. Since then their paths have diverged and the duo have applied their prodigous creative energies in different fashions. Reuniting for a concert in Glasgow last year there seemed to be a light still burning. Now, Paul Brady has revealed that his latest album will pit him and Irvine against a yet to be revealed traditional song. We’ll have to wait until late summer for the album, provisionally entitled The Winner’s Ball, which is also set to feature 11 new Paul Brady compositions, plus a Lennon – McCartney tune for good measure. As he gets ready to start the mixes, he has also announced a series of gigs that stretch from here to the end of the summer.
By his own admission Brady has largely confined his touring to the larger urban areas of late. But with the emergence recently of many medium-sized venues around the country, he is taking the opportunity to tour every corner of Ireland.
The first of the shows are in March when he plays the West County Hotel in Ennis on Saturday March 14 and in Belfast’s Ulster Hall. This is one of the few occasions where he’ll be joined by a band, on Sunday March 29. Early April features shows in the Theatre Royal, Castlebar on Friday April 3 and in Killarney’s INEC on the following evening. In May the proceedings pick up true tour momentum, starting with dates at the Excel Theatre in Tipperary on Saturday May 16 and the Everyman Theatre in Cork on Sunday May 17. Two nights in Letterkenny’s An Grianan Theatre, effectively hometown gigs for the Strabane native, follow on Thursday and Friday May 21 and 22, before he cuts down to Sligo for a show in the Hawkswell Theatre on Saturday May 23. June sees him continue to criss cross from coast to heartland with shows at the Wexford Opera House on Friday June 5, Limerick’s Institute of Technology on Saturday Junes 6, Galway Town Hall on Sunday June 7, the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan on Thursday June 11, Athone’s Dean Crowe Theatre on Friday June 12, the Iontas in Castleblayney on Saturday June 13, Mullingar Arts Centre on Friday June 26, The Forum in Waterford on Saturday June 27 and Kilkenny’s Watergate Theatre on Sunday June 28. With a date in Kinsale mapped out for the Charles Fort Festival on Saturday July 11 and dates in Dublin – as part of the Beo Festival – on Sunday August 23 and Roscommon Castle on Sunday August 30, he should have warmed the entire country up nicely for that album launch.
Also busy gigging in the lead up to an album launch, fellow Northeners the Four of Us unleash a live album on the world on March 17. The band have put a preview of ‘Sunlight’ up on their website and the album also features ‘Gospel Choir’, ‘Maybe It’s You’, ‘Sunlight’, ‘Someday Soon’, ‘One More Shot’, ‘Free Spirit’, ‘Voice On The Radio’, ‘She Hits Me’, ‘Mary’, ‘Drag My Bad Name Down’, ‘I Have Dreamed’ and ‘Washington Down’.
Currently back in the studio working on their next release, the Murphy brothers have hinted at some more live acoustic shows during May when we’ll have a chance to check out some of the new songs.