Twice winner of the meteor award in the best folk/trad category, John Spillane has toured the country and the world spreading joy with a mix of melodic tunes, entertaining stories and poetic lyrics.
Described as ‘one of the truest Irish voices of his generation’ by Irish music magazine, Spillane truly embodies the Celtic spirit.
Christmas 2009 brought us the follow up to Johns double platinum selling album ‘Irish Songs We Learned at School’ with a new collection ‘More Irish Songs We Learned at School’. This new collection features great Irish musicians Christy Moore and Séan Ó Sé and will get everyone singing the songs of their youth.
Not only that but last year saw Spillane release his first best of album ‘So Far So Good, Like’. This compiled some of his greatest works from the memorable anthems of ‘The Dance of the Cherry Trees’ and ‘Dunnes Stores Girl’ to songs from ‘The Gaelic Hit Factory’ and ‘Irish songs we learned at school’. A fantastic mix of songs, including two new tracks from one of Irelands much loved songwriters.
The only thing that’s for sure is that whether from the emotive tunes he whisks you on a journey with or his dynamic playful Cork wit, at the end of a John Spillane show there won’t be a dry eye in the house…
“ … funny, quirky, massively entertaining. John is a story teller, a shanachie.”Dan Regan, Founder, Kansas City Irish Festival.Nominated for “Cork Man of the Year”John also was awarded the Irish Music Association (USA) “Top Solo Performer in Concert” award 2009 www.irishmusicassociation.com“One of the great songwriters to emerge in the last 10 years is John Spillane”
Christy Moore “Other Voices” Feb ‘09
So far this year – Christy Moore has recorded one of John’s songs “Gortatagort” to be on his forthcoming album which Christy performed live on the TV show “Other Voices”
“… some of the most skillfully crafted, vividly realized songs anyone has written in Ireland over the past dozen years.”
Earle Hitchner, premier writer/reviewer for Irish Echo and The Wall Street Journal.
ENDA REILLY
Dublin singer-songwriter Enda Reilly writes in both English and Irish, and his Irish songs can be heard regularly on RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta since he won the Rónán Beo @ 3 Song Competition in 2009. 2010 saw Enda facilitating workshops with The Monaghan Song and Poetry Writers Group, culminating in production of their album “Hands Together”. Enda reaches out to younger generations through his Climate Change Songs Workshops initiative, introducing the art of songwriting and environmental issues into schools and other groups.
Enda also performs “Spoken Word Sung Verse” with hard-working poet Stephen James Smith, which is a unique mix of song and poetry performance featuring the poetry of Yeats and Kavanagh, as well as original works. They are currently working on an E.P. featuring Colm Ó’Snodaigh of Kila. Enda can often be found at gigs, open mikes and sessions around Dublin especially with the fun-loving collective known as The Lazy Band. His self-produced debut album “Oxygen 21” is available on iTunes and can be heard at www.endareilly.com.
