Brendan Quinn

New Brendan Quinn album marks 50 years Irish singing great Brendan Quinn is marking 50 years of music releases with a new studio album called ‘Hubbin’ It Quinn, whose recording career goes back to 1972, is bringing out the Gtle song of the new album as a single this month. The album release will follow at the end of the summer. As usual, he has gathered some top musicians for this recording, including two of the best-known tradiGonal players around, ex-Altan members Dermot Byrne on accordion and Ciarån Tourish on fiddle. The line-up also features Pat Crowley (keys), Nicky ScoS (bass), Kevin Malone (drums), Jimmy Smith (guitar) and Peadar Coll (guitar). Now in his sevenGes, Brendan Quinn is originally from Magherafelt. He has been living on the Fanad peninsula in north Donegal since 2014. He kept busy during the lockdown, at one point performing 100 concerts online on 100 consecuGve days. He also brought out a single and an album. A[er more than 60 years on the road, Quinn is one of the best-known singers in the country. His band, Brendan Quinn and the Bluebirds, was one of the big aSracGons of the showband era. He later toured with Kicking Mule. He says he’s delighted with the latest album. “I suppose you have to be enthusiasGc about every new release but I think the 11 tracks on this one sound really fresh. It’s a mix of strong original material and some great songs I’ve come across along the way. “It was basically recorded live over two days in Billy Robinson’s studio in Ramelton. We just had a few overdubs to finish it off.” Those adding the extra touches were Percy Robinson (steel), Sean McCarron (sax) and Jonathan Smeaton (backing vocals). ‘That’s What I Do’ is a new song put together by two well-known Donegal musicians, Jody Gallagher from Killybegs and guitar ace Patsy Gallagher from Raphoe. Jody has also contributed another song, ‘Back to Galilee’. Brendan Quinn’s songwriGng skills have come to the fore in recent years, and he’s as topical as ever with his original song on the album, ‘Post-Truth World’. A[er that Quinn pulls on material from a selecGon of songwriGng legends. These include Bob Wills, generally regarded as the founder of Western Swing; Bob Dylan, represented by a lesser-heard waltz called ‘Winterlude’ from his ‘New Morning’ album of 1970; and ‘Evangelina’ from the remarkable Hoyt Axton