Junior Brother recorded one of his early low-fi records in his kitchen in Kerry. A couple of years and many gigs later, he talks to Martin Cook about his evolution as an experimental folk singer.
Ronan Kealy, known to fans as Junior Brother, took his stage name from a play by Thomas Middleton called The Revenger’s Tragedy. It suited the time period his songs are drawn from, he says. “But it’s also quite mad and experimental.”
The folk singer brings together acoustic guitar and a rhythmic foot tambourine. He sings in his Kerry accent, thanks to the influence of his uncle, who said he should have a listen to Damien Dempsey, who sings in his own Dublin voice, and made Kealy realise that “I can just sing in my own accent and it’s grand.”
Kealy was in Dublin recently to perform some of his songs at Marrowbone Books in The Coombe, including the popular “Hungover at Mass” and “No Snitch”. Before the gig, he talked to Martin Cook about all this and more. Have a listen.
And, they’re clearly having fun with it.
This is “a relatable, moving and hopeful portrait of a group that disintegrated in a very un-rock ‘n’ roll way”. And then gets another chance.
Both Francie Conway and Hugh Buckley have been teaching at the legendary institute since its opening chords in 1989.
It's a reminder not just of the power of letting go, but also of listening. “I kind of genuinely think that listening is an ethical act,” says Damien Lennon, of Zeropunkt.
