Music
13 Apr 23

With 'The Old Songs,' Ultan Conlon announces new, upcoming album The Starlight Ballroom

With 'The Old Songs,' Ultan Conlon announces new, upcoming album <i> The Starlight Ballroom</i>

Ultan Conlon at The Great Beyond 2021, Photos by Shane J Horan

Ultan Conlon releases the new single 'The Old Songs' and its music video with the announcement of his fifth album, The Starlight Ballroom

In a new music video, Ultan Conlon walks into a pub, instrument in hand, and regales a lively, enthusiastic audience in for his single, 'The Old Songs.' The single also features the Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader, a key piece to the track and the video's bar scene with her theatrical voice and "brogue, feisty character."

Who's gonna to sing the old songs / Who's gonna dance the old steps / And who's gonna sing along?

'The Old Songs' comes off of the Galway-born artist's new, upcoming album, The Starlight Ballroom, set for release this autumn on September 13th. The music video for the single was filmed in Banagher by Gerald, Michael, and John Houghs.

Crafted in Los Angeles, California with David Garza, a Grammy Award-winning producer, it will be his fifth album after the 2020 There's a Waltz, the 2018 Last Days of the Night Owl, the 2016 Songs of Love so Cruel, and 2009's Bless Your Heart.

Born from a first meeting in a nightclub, the beginnings of The Starlight Ballroom started back in 2017 when Conlon and Garza performed together.

“When I met David and we played some songs together I saw his unbridled energy and talent and knew I wanted to work with him,” Ultan Conlon recalls, thinking back to their shows together at Largo in LA.

The name The Starlight Ballroom is taken from a since-closed ballroom in Westport, Co. Mayo which opened in the early 60s. A hub of culture, it hosted local Irish showbands and international acts alike before it closed in 1981.

The album's self-titled track, 'The Starlight Ballroom,' recalls the prominence of the location and imagines the memory of Roy Orbison playing there back in 1969.

On the album, Conlon is joined by Garza, a co-writer, on multiple instruments, Amy Wood on drums, Sebastian Steinberg on double bass, and Dave Curtis on strings and programming. The album is mixed by John Would.

Ultan Conlon is currently touring through Ireland. While his show for The Studio Café in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin is sold out, there are still tickets available for his other shows.

Find tickets for Ultan Conlon here:

Check out upcoming tour dates for Ultan Conlon here:

Thursday, April 20th - The Studio Café, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. (SOLD OUT)

Friday, April 21st - Dooley’s, Rathcormac, Co Cork (LOW TICKETS)

Friday, April 28th - The Bastion Kitchen, Athlone, Co Westmeath (LOW TICKETS)

Saturday, April 29th - The Bastion Kitchen, Castlerea, Co Roscommon

Saturday, May 6th - Kilcash Community Center, Kilcash, Co Tipperary

Friday, May 12th - Fore Abbey Cafe, Fore, Co Westmeath

Friday, May 19th - The Corner Stone, Woodford, Co Galway

Thursday, May 27th - Lizzy’s Little Kitchen, Listowel, Co Kerry

Saturday, June 3rd - The Roisin Dubh, Galway, Co Galway

Saturday, June 17th - Ark Storytelling Festival, Valencia, Co Kerry