Free musical performances in Waterford this summer
Niall McCabe will perform on August 9 at Garter Lane's Courtyard Sounds.
The popular Courtyard Sounds returns to Garter Lane this summer, starting on July 26 and running until August 9.
Courtyard Sounds is a series of free Friday evening musical events that are being held in the covered courtyard at Garter Lane Arts Centre, between the hours of 5pm and 7pm.
The line-up this summer includes Krea on July 26, Paddy Dennehy on August 2 and Niall McCabe on August 9.
Krea, also known as Karen Cowley, is an artist from Bray, who is no stranger to the Irish music scene having released two Number One albums as one third of indie band Wyvern Lingo.
Karen is a vocalist, pianist and novice harpist, who has collaborated with household Irish names, such as Denise Chaila and Hozier on his debut album duet, ‘In A Week’.
Paddy Dennehy says his first real sense of feeling a connection to music was listening to Mick Flannery perform ‘Evening Train’ on the ‘Late Late Show’. From here he was led to Tom Waits. Tom Waits led him to Randy Newman who would lead on to Nick Cave. Other influences would surface in later years but Flannery, Waits, Newman and Cave have formed the bedrock of Paddy’s music.
When he started writing his second album, Paddy lived alone on his father’s small farm in County Limerick. It was a long way from anywhere and afforded him plenty of time to think, write and play with everything on full volume. He says it was both cathartic and challenging.
Paddy's first album 'Little Light' was released in 2020 and his second album 'Love and Be Brave' was released in 2023.
Having earned a reputation as one of Ireland’s finest singers and songwriters, McCabe has performed extensively with his folk-soul group The Niall McCabe Band over the past decade.
Born on Clare Island, Co. Mayo, McCabe grew up in the family-run pub awash with strong musical influences from traditional Irish and folk to rock and soul. It is here that Niall discovered his musical appetite and developed a style and voice that are unquestionably his own.
As well as becoming an accomplished finger-style guitar player, more recently Niall has been lending his voice to Irish trad-fusion band Beoga touring Ireland, Europe and the USA, while also playing support for Ed Sheeran, Foy Vance and Johnny Swim.
McCabe’s eagerly anticipated ‘Rituals’ album was release in February 2023 to critical acclaim and featured as RTÉ Album of the Week, while the song Rituals topped the RTÉ Radio airplay charts for five consecutive weeks.
