A master storyteller, NIALL CONNOLLY is the kind of guy you want to find yourself sitting next to at a pub, a wedding, or even a funeral.
On The Patience of Trees, Connolly’s 9th album, his songs are slow-simmered, rich with family histories, and woven with a golden thread of dark Irish humor. “I’ve got a willingness to see the fun alongside the suffering,” he says. “But I’ve always got one eye on the party.”
Connolly, who splits his time between New York City and the Catskills, writes lyrical folk in the tradition of his fellow Irishman and occasional collaborator Glen Hansard, Leonard Cohen, and Wilco.
In the big, breathtaking build of his new album’s opening track, “It’s a Beautiful Life,” Connolly uses a simple refrain to convey the magnificence and misery of being alive. “When I sing, ‘It’s a beautiful life, most of the time,’ I mean it,” he says. “I mean both parts.”
Though he’s known as one of the busiest live musicians around—“I used to play 150 to 200 gigs per year for years and years,” he says—Connolly was forced to pause when the world shut down in 2020. As he gradually gathered songs for The Patience of Trees, he skipped stones with his young daughter and tried to summon serenity and forbearance from the forest that surrounded his Catskill Mountain home: “I was reading about how trees can communicate with each other and send out distress signals to warn and support each other within the forest. That felt like a metaphor for what everyone had to do during the pandemic.”
“Terrific. Disarming and beautifully crafted folk-pop. Connolly is a witty storyteller and not-to-be-missed songsmith.”- Chicago Tribune
“Connolly’s songs are both sad and uplifting. They’re real. They speak to the goodness in people, that need to do something to make the world just a little better.” – Budapest Times
“Amongst the most vibrant, poignant, and authentic indie folk artists in New York City.” – No Depression
Support from CORMAC NAGLE: Cormac Nagle is an Americana songwriter from Bournemouth, now based in Glasgow. He blends an understated vocal drawl with timeworn melodies, uplifted by a singular, surrealistic lyrical voice.
He has played shows across the UK, supporting international touring artists such as John Wesley Harding, Dylan Earl, Julianna Riolino, and Jerry Leger. He has also garnered airplay on BBC Introducing and Ricky Ross from Deacon Blue’s Another Country show on BBC Radio Scotland.
2024 has seen him join acclaimed Canadian songwriter Slow Leaves on a brief UK tour and play a run of Scottish dates with Wesley Stace. He is currently working on a new batch of songs to be released later in the year.
Doors open 7pm. Music starts 8pm. The venue is mixed seated and standing. Tables are limited and available on a first come first served basis so, if you’d like a seat, we recommend arriving early!
