Singer and bouzouki player Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) Farrell has established himself at the forefront of Irish folk music in the last two years.
A former electrician whose direction in life changed after he saw a performance of Christy Moore on Irish TV, has been attracting attention across the world since his performance at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January 2016, while the press have repeatedly compared him to some of the biggest names in Irish music. In October 2016 he released the album True Born Irishman.
‘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
The following April he won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in a ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Since then Daoirí has travelled across the globe, clocking up performances at some of the biggest folk events in the world including the National Folk Festival of Australia, Cambridge Folk Festival, Vancouver Island Festival in Canada, Folk Alliance International in the USA, Tønder Festival in Denmark, Dranouter Festival in Belgium and more.
In February 2018 he toured major venues in the UK in the all-star line-up of Transatlantic Sessions.
Meanwhile Daoirí’s video performance of Creggan White Hare has to date achieved over 500,000 hits on Youtube.
Daoirí is currently recording the follow-up to True Born Irishman with Dónal Lunny producing and Manus Lunny engineering. The album is due for release in October 2018.
Catch him live if you can at one of the following venues:
May 2018 tour dates
Weds 9th The Music Room, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
0151 709 3789 / liverpoolphil.com
Thurs 10th The Witham, Barnard Castle
01833 631107 / thewitham.org.uk
Fri 11th Folk At The Grove, Leeds
info@folkatthegrove.co.uk / folkatthegrove.co.uk
Sat 12th The Guildhall Theatre, Derby
01332 255800 / derbylive.co.uk / Ticket Hotline 01773 853428
Sun 13th Selby Town Hall
01757 708449 / selbytownhall.co.uk
Mon 14th The Bell Inn, Driffield
moonbeamsevents.co.uk
Tues 15th Galeri Caernarfon
01286 685222 / alericaernarfon.com
Wed 16th Burnett’s Hill Chapel, Martletwy, Pembrokeshire
01646 621530 / 01646 651725 / burnettshill.co.uk
Fri 18th Downend Folk Club, Bristol
07837 881941 / website downendfolkclub.co.uk
Sat 19th St. Cadoc’s Church, Caerleon
Box office no 01633 420 404 / website address caerleon-arts.org
Sun 20th Devoran Village Hall, Cornwall
01872 262 466 / hallforcornwall.co.uk
Wed 23rd The Irish Cultural Centre, London
0208 5638232 / www.irishculturalcentre.co.uk
Thurs 24th South Street Arts Centre, Reading
0118 960 6060 / readingarts.com/south-street
‘Effortless, instinctive, natural…the real deal.‘ Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2 Folk Show
For more information visit http://www.daoiri.com
Main pic by M Quinn
