Ye Vagabonds' Brían Mac Gloinn launches new contemporary folk show on RTÉ Lyric FM

Brían Mac Gloinn has launched a new contemporary folk show on RTÉ Lyric FM.

Airing Sundays at 6 pm, Songs to the Stranger presents contemporary folk and traditional music from Ireland and beyond.

"For me, folk music is the sound of inclusivity - an open-armed invitation that pulls you up to dance and find that familiar in a stranger's eyes, to recognise each other no matter what differences might appear on the surface or languages you might speak," said Mac Gloínn.

"On Songs to a Stranger I'll be searching for the new familiar in far-flung places and for fresh and exciting music closer to home."

The first episode aired yesterday and featured artists such as Canadian instrumentalist Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Irish folk group Lankum and Scottish piper Brìghde Chaimbeul.

Brian, along with his brother Diarmuid Mac Gloínn, form the Irish folk duo Ye Vagabonds. They began playing on the streets in their hometown in Carlow, before moving to Dublin to integrate into the city's folk and blues session scene.

The duo's latest album All Tied Together, released January 30 this year, through Rough Trade's River Lea label. Recorded in Galway, it marked their fourth studio album and the first to feature entirely original songwriting, reflecting personal themes of home, companionship, and memory.

Listen to the first episode of Songs to a Stranger here.