DAOIRÍ FARRELL TRIO
‘The Wedding Above In Glencree’ Album Launch

Mon 20th Feb 2023
Whelan’s Main Venue

‘Daoirí Farrell is singlehandedly spearheading a resurgence of the authentic in Irish folk music…he is rightly in demand all over the world.’ – Irish Music

‘Sonny’s Dream’ is the first single to emerge from his upcoming fourth album, ‘The Wedding Above In Glencree’, due for release on 24th February. The track is a perfect example of the focus on the song – voice, words and the art of storytelling – which is at the core of the album.

Written in 1976 by Ron Hynes from St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, the song tells of the hopes and dreams of a young boy whose lot in life is to work the family farm and support a lonely and ailing mother while an absent father remains at sea. Perhaps a parallel to be drawn with the familial and enforced ties that bind many of us in contemporary society.

“I first heard Ron’s version of the song five or six years ago from Dublin guitarist Tony Byrne,” says Daoirí of a song which sees him on his signature bouzouki and vocals, accompanied by Manus Lunny (guitar), Pat Daly (fiddle and harmonium), Trevor Hutchinson (upright bass) with a tastefully warm cameo from one of the world’s greatest bluegrass dobro players, Jerry Douglas.

“I first heard Ron’s version of the song five or six years ago from Dublin guitarist Tony Byrne,” says Daoirí of a song which sees him on his signature bouzouki and vocals, accompanied by Manus Lunny (guitar), Pat Daly (fiddle and harmonium), Trevor Hutchinson (upright bass) with a tastefully warm cameo from one of the world’s greatest bluegrass dobro players, Jerry Douglas.

The album is drenched with a powerful and evocative sense of place, set squarely in the country of Daoirí’s birth. ‘Young Emmet’ tells of Irish Republican Robert Emmet, while the 1798 rebellion is at the heart of ‘Father Murphy’, while the nine-verse extravaganza title track is described by Daoirí as, “recounting the tale of a chaotic wedding, celebrated to excess, that may well have been held in the Glencree valley…”

Not without its light-hearted moments – along with the ring of his bouzouki and his unmatched vocal, a signature feature of a Daoirí Farrell album is ‘a song about a dog’, in this case the cautionary tale for betting folk ‘Murphy’s Running Dog’, whilst ‘Clasped To The Pig’ comes complete with a chorus that will surely be a bring-the-house-down moment when played live

Daoirí performs unaccompanied on ‘Slieve Gallion Braes’ and ‘Murphy’s Running Dog’, respecting and continuing the tradition of social singing and harking back to 2013 and his coveted prize as All Ireland Champion Singer. ‘The Wedding Above In Glencree’ truly bears the fruits of everything Daoirí Farrell has absorbed to date.

Daoirí is joined on the album by a stellar cast of musicians that includes Manus Lunny (guitar, bouzouki and bass bouzouki), Paddy Kiernan (5-string banjo), Mark Redmond (uilleann pipes and whistles), Pat Daly (fiddle and harmonium), Trevor Hutchinson (upright bass), Robbie Walsh (hand pan and bodhran), Alan Doherty (whistles), Geoff Kinsella (tenor banjo)and a special guest appearance on ‘Sonny’s Dream’ by internationally renowned bluegrass dobro player, Jerry Douglas.