Seamus Begley - The Bold Kerryman

Brand new studio album by the Irish Trad legend Seamus Begley.Singer, accordionist and storyteller S�amus Begley comes from the Dingle, Co. Kerry. A member of the renowned musical family from Baile na bPoc, Ballydavid, he has been singing and playing accordion from an early age.In 1972 he recorded his first album, An Ciarra�och Mallaithe with his sister M�ire. They made a second album, Planxta� Bhaile na bPoc for Gael Linn in 1989, introducing for the first time, the Australian guitarist Steve Cooney.His 2001 album Ragairne, recorded with guitarist Jim Murray, was voted 2001 'Traditional Album of the Year' in both Hot Press Magazine and The Irish Times. He was awarded a TG 4 Gradam Cheoil Singer of the Year in 2013.UK record producer John Reynolds of New Air Music Studios in London (who has worked with Damien Dempsey, Indigo Girls, U2, Sinead O'Connor, Peter Gabriel, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Kirsty MacColl, Cara Dillon, Simply Red, Bj�rk, Sharon Shannon and U2 among others), persuaded S�amus to record an entire album of songs.Reynolds first met Seamus nine years ago and was captivated by his singing: I picked him up from Paddington station and for the next 4 days, he sang from the morning until very late in the night; songs he'd had in his head for years, songs that meant so much to him. His knowledge of the traditional song is enormous; he could make 100 albums with the songs and I wanted to try and capture that moment in this album. We started with just the voice, no music, no click, no fuss, just a drone for tuning and it's quintessential Begley.He is a huge strong man but his voice is the most tender I have ever heard. This is a beautiful album of the songs Begley loves, sung as if he were singing into your ear.