John Francis Flynn is an Irish singer and multi-instrumentalist blending traditional folk with post-punk, electronica, and contemporary influences. A founding member of Skippers’ Alley, his 2021 solo debut I Would Not Live Always was named Folk Album of the Year by The Guardian and reached #8 on the UK Folk Albums Chart. His 2023 follow-up, Look Over the Wall, See the Sky, received widespread acclaim, Flynn won Best Folk Singer and Best Emerging Artist in 2021.
Dani Larkin is a songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Belfast. Her debut album, Notes For A Maiden Warrior (2021), received widespread critical acclaim and catapulted Larkin to the international stage with performances at SXSW and WOMEX as well as tours with Snow Patrol, Lisa O'Neill, Glen Hansard, and Rufus Wainright. Larkin has since collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra and RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released Walking With Natives (2023) which saw her tour Austral
Violin virtuose duo Lucia Mac Partlin and Maria Ryan, also known as “Lucia and Maria” met while studying in Cork and quickly realized their shared passion for folk music. While they both have been studying Classical Music on the violin from an early age, the pair have also been deeply immersed in the world of Traditional Irish Music, among other genres, and now draw on all of these influences in their music to stunning effect.
While embedded in Irish and Folk roots, Lemoncello’s sound embraces the freedom of carving out its own song structures, entwined with a love of off-kilter Indie Pop, Jazz extemporisation and Romantic and Contemporary Classical music. A vital voice in the thriving alternative folk scene in Ireland, Lemoncello have been nominated for Best Folk Song and Best Emerging Folk Act at the RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards and opened for and collaborated with many esteemed artists.
Brian Finnegan is a celebrated composer, collaborator and producer and has toured and recorded with artistes as diverse as KAN, Cara Dillon, Boris Grebenshikov, Anoushka Shankar, Bebel Gilberto, Ed Sheeran and Sam Gellaitry. In March/April 2020, he created his most expansive and ambitious collection of work to date. Featuring a genre crossing cast of 24 musicians, and recorded remotely in home studios around the world; 'Flow, In The Year Of Wu Wei' was the first single from 'Hunger Of The Skin'
Fionn Regan (born 1981) is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, The End of History in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for six years on independent record labels prior to the album's release. Among the accolades Regan has received nominations for the Choice Music Prize in Ireland, the Mercury Prize in the United Kingdom and the Shortlist Music Prize in the United States.
Winners of Album of the Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards (2022, 2017) and Live Act of the Year (2018), Elephant Sessions fuse trad, funk, and electronica into a bold, progressive sound. Hailing from the Scottish Highlands, they've performed globally at Glastonbury, Byron Bay Bluesfest, and Celtic Connections. Their critically acclaimed albums, including For The Night, have received international airplay and charted at #3 on the Official Folk Album Chart.
In 2020, Gemma Hayes returned to her native West Cork, reigniting her songwriting spark and creating her sixth studio album, Blind Faith. Released in September 2024 to critical acclaim, Mojo Magazine called it “the album of her career.” The album blends lyrical intimacy with bold sonic textures, showcasing nine captivating tracks produced by Hayes with Karl Odlum, David Odlum, and Brian Casey.
Nadine Landry and Stephen “Sammy” Lind play traditional fiddle music that has been passed on for hundreds of years, classics of the south west Louisiana Cajun dance halls and songs that could have filled a 50s smoky bar jukebox.
Frankie Gavin, master of fiddle, flute, and whistle, co-founded De Dannan and has had a celebrated global career. A child prodigy from Galway, he’s performed with legends like Grappelli and The Rolling Stones, and for four U.S. Presidents. His latest project is a duo with pianist Catherine McHugh.
The Young'uns are an English folk group from Stockton, County Durham, England, who won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Best Group" award in 2015 and 2016 and "Best Album" for Strangers in 2018.[1][2][3][4] They specialise in singing unaccompanied, performing traditional folk songs and sea shanties, contemporary folk songs.
Penguin Cafe is a band originally conceived by Arthur Jeffes, son of Simon Jeffes and Emily Young, as a continuation of his father's project, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The group is distinct from the original Penguin Cafe Orchestra, despite the similarities in genre, name, and even repertoire (Penguin Cafe often plays PCO pieces in concert.) There are no members of the original PCO in Penguin Cafe. Penguin Cafe's current ten-person line-up[1] was originally brought together in 2009,[2] featuri
The Bow Brothers comprises of six distinguised Cathal Hayden, Jim Higgins, Seamie O'Dowd and Brian McGrath each of whom has made a significant contribution to the world of Irish Music both as sole performers and as part of Iconic bands
18-year-old blues prodigy Muireann Bradley, from Ballybofey, Donegal, has signed a transatlantic deal with Decca Records/Verve Forecast. Her acclaimed debut I Kept These Old Blues will be re-released on 28th February 2025. Praised by Clash and The Guardian, the album features live, one-take recordings showcasing Bradley’s virtuosic guitar and vocals. The remastered release includes the unreleased track When The Levee Breaks.
Piping Heaven/Piping Hell started in spring of 2015 when Blackie O’Connell, Cyril O’Donoghue, and Pat Broderick gathered for a tune in Dan O’Connell’s pub on a Friday afternoon. What began as an afternoon session for tourists,has since matured into a world-renowned weekly gathering of pipers from all corners of the globe. Each week, Blackie O’Connell hosts the session with an invited special guest piper.