Taking to the singer's Instagram page, John Francis Flynn shared his latest announcement; that his new single 'Kitty' was out today. However, Flynn went on to detail the story of the single came to be, saying 'It's amazing how these songs travel through time and through people'.

Flynn shared the story of how a chance encounter with The Pogue's tin whistlist Spider Stacy, led him to unearth a dearth of material on the track.

"I was lucky enough to meet Spider Stacy earlier this year when I was supporting Lankum in Paris." Flynn write.

After the brief encounter Stacy sent Flynn a message about the song 'Kitty'. Flynn did not check his Twitter till a few days ago and discovered the message.

Stacy 'had asked Shane McGowan's sister Siobhan about the song and she said, ‘The only thing I know is the same as Shane that the song came from Mum who heard it at the Commons, sung by Uncle Mikey. (Uncle Mikey was our grandmother's brother). So, probably the song was being sung in farmhouses in Tipperary about 100 years ago or more (Uncle Mikey would have been born in the late 19th century!) but that's the only additional info I have’"

Flynn remarked that this is what drew his to traditional songs; "They'll outlive us all, but some part of us lives on with them as long as someone is singing. We're connecting with something much greater than ourselves when we sing".

 

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Flynn concluded with a series of thank yous- "Thanks to Spider Stacy for the message; to Shane McGowan and The Pogues for recording the song; to everyone who sings traditional songs".

Flynn's sophomore album 'Look Over the Wall, See the Sky', is our November 10th and is available for pre-oder here.

Tickets for John Francis Flynn's UK and Irish tour December 2023-January 2024 are available for sale here.