PREMIERE: Caoivín shares visuals for modern re-work of ‘Home By Bearna’

Caoivín adds some tasteful contemporary touches to traditional folk song ‘Home By Bearna’ in his re-work of the track. The Celtic fusion artist’s version includes soft trad instrumentation and the singer’s reverb-laden vocals as he delivers the beautiful melody.

Saidbh O’Donnell shot the video which was made in the Sliabh Luachra region of North Kerry. The hypnotic visuals show off the surrounding area including pubs, grassy roads and a Spailpín Fanach-inspired mural.

Sliabh Luachra is a historic area for trad aficionados and it’s a place the young Irish singer holds close to his heart. It also bears special significance for ‘Home By Bearna’:

“The song is set in the Sliabh Luachra region of North Kerry which is an area I hold close to my heart as it's where my grandmother is from,” he tells Hot Press.

Caoivín’s modern rework of ‘Home By Bearna’ was also inspired by Irish-American singer Cathie Ryan’s rendition of the song. “My Mam used to always play her cds when I was younger and I used to love them,” he says.

“I rediscovered her in the last few months and decided to chance my arm and do a version of the track after I heard her singing it again.”

The multi-talented artist laid down the instrumental tracks on the record himself and artfully sampled a Senagele woman singing to give the track a more contemporary feel. Not only did he lay down the tracks himself, he also produced the song himself.

Caoivín relishes the opportunity to have unfettered creative control of his music but is open to the notion of collaboration in the future. “I love having full creative control over what I'm doing as I can take a song to almost exactly the place I want it to go,” he explains.

“It probably takes me an awful lot more time to produce a track than more experienced producers out there but I'm learning all the time. I feel I'm getting better at it with each release. I am open to start collaborating with people in the future and I'm really looking forward to whenever that happens.”

Growing up in a trad family with aspirations of exploring contemporary music can be difficult and most have to settle for their parent’s tolerance of their decision rather than receive approval. It’s different for Caoivín and his family.

“They actually love it and are very supportive,” he says about his family’s outlook on his contemporary slant on traditional Irish folk. “

My Dad would usually be a tough enough man to please when it comes to music, especially when it comes to more contemporary forms of trad music but he's a big fan and thinks I'm coming at it with a unique approach. Maybe it's just because I'm his son but it's nice to get his approval all the same!”

Caoivín is keen to pump out as much of his music into the world as possible this year. He has an ambitious plan to release a song every two months but he’s working to build up his reputation before he releases a full length project.

“For the time being I'm just going to be releasing singles and EPs until more people know about me. I feel if I was to drop an album now nobody would really listen to it.”

“I love the way I can give each single an equal amount of airtime and get separate videos and artworks made for each of them. The plan for the year is to release something every 2 months so we'll see how we get on with that!” he says.

‘Home By Bearna’ is slated to drop on Wednesday (January 26). The new track will follow Caoivín’s last release ‘The Space Within’ which arrived in October 2021. He shared his fist single ‘Old Man Davey’ in March last year and followed it up with ‘Keep Her Lit’ in July.

Watch the video for ‘Home By Bearna’ below.