Music
30 Aug 21

Track of the Day: Martin Leahy - 'Brian'

Martin Leahy's third single is a heartfelt tribute to his school friend Brian Meade, who died in 2004.

Cork singer-songwriter Martin Leahy has shared his third solo single in the form of 'Brian', an emotional track dedicated to the musician's late childhood friend Brian Meade.

The recording features beautiful harmony vocals by Aisling Urwin and gorgeous strings played by Áine O'Gorman, with Martin on vocals and remaining instruments. The stunning video accompanying the song was edited from footage that was originally shot by Martin’s uncle in the '70s. Creating a powerful and eerie sequence from nostalgia, the clip is the ideal accompaniment to the poignant 'Brian'.

Available to buy on Bandcamp from this Friday, September 3rd, all of the proceeds will go towards Pieta House. ‘Brian’ is released to coincide with the lead up to World Suicide Awareness Day on September 10th.

Martin’s debut single 'Song For Kirsty MacColl' was released last December, and received immense airplay, locally and nationally. Follow up single 'The Wolves In The Valley' garnered even more attention. In the short nine months since his first solo release, Leahy has released three-track EP Merengal (under SomeRiseSomeFall) for the charity A Lust For Life. The Cork native also reached the finals of The USA International Songwriting Competition out of 26,000 entries, and played his first solo livestream gig in The First Fruits Arts Theatre.

Having performed on the Irish music scene for roughly 20 years, Leahy has worked extensively with some of Irelands greatest songwriters and musicians of all time. The list of collaborators includes the likes of John Spillane, Christy Moore (on No.1 album Listen), Cormac O'Caoimh, Ger Wolfe, Jimmy McCarthy, Greenshine, Noel Brazil, Declan Sinnott, among many others.

An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Leahy has produced many albums, including Cormac O'Caoimh's recent Swim Crawl Walk Run. He also produced Ger Wolfe’s acclaimed album I Have Been Loved.

Other productions include Leah Sohotra, Victoria Keating, Áine O'Gorman, SomeRiseSomeFall and John Neville. As a member of traditional Irish group North Cregg, Martin has toured the world playing major festivals in Glastonbury, Cambridge and Milwaukee. As a songwriter, he has teamed up with John Neville, Mary Greene and Cormac O'Caoimh on 2020's hugely successful single ‘Building My Ark’.

Listen to the melody-rich 'Brian' below: