It’s been a whirlwind for Daoirí (‘Derry’) Farrell over the last three years. In January 2016 he launched his solo career with a low-key show at Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. In January 2019 he will return to the festival, this time to lead an all-star line-up in one of the festival’s biggest venues.
So how the meteoric rise? Simply a word-of-mouth excitement about what Dónal Lunny has described as, ‘one of the most important traditional singers to emerge out of Ireland in the last decade.’ A run of small dates across the UK in May 2016 was preceded by a live session on the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe and suddenly everyone was talking about Daoirí. A few festival performances in summer 2016 was followed by a longer UK tour that autumn and the release of a new album ‘True Born Irishman’, nine years after he had quietly released his debut ‘The First Turn’.
‘Farrell has created quite a buzz in Ireland…it’s easy to hear why. His powerfully unadorned vocals might be from any era, variously recalling Paul Brady and Andy Irvine…it’s a powerful statement.’**** Mojo – review of True Born Irishman
What followed the release of ‘True Born Irishman’ has been a catapulting of a career so far forward that Daoirí is now a name to conjure with in folk music circles, at home and abroad. He was invited to play Other Voices in November ’16, toured Australia in Dec/Jan ’17 and in February ‘17 he received three nominations in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, leading to him being invited to play at the awards ceremony at The Royal Albert Hall in London, where he won the awards for best traditional track and the Horizon Award best newcomer.
Daoirí Farrell’s much anticipated third album ‘A Lifetime Of Happiness’ will be released 15thFebruary 2019.
In Daoirí’s own words: ‘This is my third solo album and it feels different, somehow more grown up. That for me is partly down to the song choice. Each song was very carefully chosen and each is beautiful in its own way. I really enjoyed the process of searching each one out and arranging them all. And I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to have recorded it with some of my favourite musicians.’
