Folk musician Jimmy Crowley announces new single 'Haunted'

Irish folk musician Jimmy Crowley has announced a new single, 'Haunted', ahead of his next album.

'Haunted' is an examination of his once stable life and an the uncertainty of an unclear future.

The single is the first release from the balladeer’s upcoming record, Life. Set for release in April, the album is a retelling of his life and journey, informed by the experience of his marriage breaking up and his move to Florida in 2006.

Crowley, from Douglas, Cork, began his musical career in the 1960s with the formation of Stoker’s Lodge. He formed the group with Mick Murphy and Christy Twomey, and Johnny 'Fang' Murphy, joined shortly after by Eoin Ó Riabhaigh.

The group became popular through the 1970s and into the 1980s for collecting, performing and recording local Irish songs.

Stoker’s Lodge popularised many traditional Cork ballads, like ‘Salonika’ and ‘The Boys of Fairhill.’ They disbanded in the mid-1980s.

Following the end of Stoker’s Lodge, Crowley formed The Electric Band, whose reggae version of ‘The Boys of Fairhill’ was widely popular.

From the 1990s, the singer began performing as a solo act, continuing to collect and perform traditional Irish music. With an MA in Irish, Crowley has researched the history of Irish music, specifically songs from Cork, in his book Songs From The Beautiful City: Cork Urban Ballads.

Most recently, Crowley worked with Eve Telford to produce the album Hello! Child Ballads Learned From Irish Travellers. The record is a collection of ballads Crowley had learned from Irish Travellers decades earlier in London.

'Haunted' launches on February 28.