Soundhouse: Daoirí Farrell

‘His powerfully unadorned vocals might be from any era, variously recalling Paul Brady and Andy Irvine…it’s a powerful statement.’**** Mojo

Singer and bouzouki player Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) Farrell is described by some of the biggest names in Irish folk music as one of most important singers to come out of Ireland in recent years. Six months after releasing the album True Born Irishman Daoirí won two prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 for Best Newcomer and Best Traditional Track, and performed live at the awards ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Since then he has toured the UK, and played at festivals in Australia, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Denmark and more. In February 2018 he toured with the all-star Transatlantic Sessionsin major venues across the UK. Daoirí released his new album A Lifetime Of Happiness,produced by Dónal Lunny, in February 2019. In autumn 2019 he was also nominated for three RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards 2019 for best singer, best traditional track and best album for A Lifetime Of Happiness.

From March 2020 he attracted up to 85,000 viewers for his run of twenty-five weekly livestreamed concerts every Sunday night at 10pm, which led to him performing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and co-hosting the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe.

Daoirí is currently recording a new album with Trevor Hutchinson fromLúnasa/The Waterboys with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland.

Explore more Soundhouse events

The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, and has received additional support from the Scottish Government's Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund and Creative Scotland’s Recovery Fund for Cultural Organisations.