Barry Kirwan | |
---|---|
Born | Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland | 14 February 1986
Genres | Country, Country and Irish |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, drummer, guitarist |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels | Sharpe Music |
Website | barrykirwanmusic |
Barry Kirwan (born 14 February 1986 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish country singer and drummer. [1] He released his debut album New Beginnings with "Keep It in the Middle of the Road" as his debut single, followed by "Up the Jive". He is nominated as "Newcomer of the Year" for the 2016 RTÉ Irish Country Music Awards.
Kirwan comes from a very musical family being the long-standing Irish country singers Dominic Kirwan, Barry's father and the singer Colm Kirwan [2] and singer-songwriter Jonathan Kirwan [3] are his brothers. Very early on, he was a member of his school's choir and took part in school productions or singing competitions. At age of 5, he joined the Seamus Kerrigan School of Traditional Irish Dance where he stayed until the age of 18, at the same time taking part in a range of competitions, such as the All Ireland Dancing championships and Scór. He was also into acting particularly as a member of the Hazel Wand Drama School in his hometown of Omagh. At age 11, Barry started playing the drums, his passion. He studied in London at Drumtech college, part of the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) schools.
Shortly after college, Kirwan joined his father's band as a drummer and backing vocalist for 4 years. In September 2010 he joined his brother Colm Kirwan in Nashville and played drums for some shows by American country duo Joey & Rory. Returning home in 2011, he worked with Irish country singer Lisa McHugh before joining rising Country and Irish star Derek Ryan as drummer and backing vocalist until 2015 touring with him for 4 years all around Ireland, the U.K. and Australia.
In February 2016, he left the Derek Ryan band to pursue his own solo career. He again toured with his father Dominic Kirwan in the "Here For a Good Time Tour" throughout the UK and Ireland promoting his career. [4] On 6 May 2016, he released his first solo single "Keep It in the Middle of the Road", his debut single from his solo debut album New Beginnings on Sharpe Music released on 10 June 2016. He also formed his own Barry Kirwan Band on the occasion. [1] His follow-up single is "Up the Jive" co-written by Barry with his brother Colm and released on 21 June 2016. Both singles are accompanied by music videos.
Barry is the son of the long-standing Irish singer Dominic Kirwan. Barry has three brothers and a sister all involved in music and the arts. His Nashville based brother Colm has recorded his debut album. His brother Jonathan is a Glasgow-based singer-songwriter.
Year | Album | Peak positions | Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IRE Albums | IRE Indie Albums | UK Albums | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2016 | New Beginnings |
|
Year | Album | Peak positions | Notes | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IRE Albums | IRE Indie Albums | ||||||||||||||||||
2016 | It Takes All Kinds (jointly with Dominic Kirwan) |
| |||||||||||||||||
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
IRE | |||
2016 | "Keep It in the Middle of the Road" | – | New Beginnings |
"Up the Jive" | – | ||
2017 | "Husband and Wife" | – | |
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes and has existed in various incarnations. Now officially known as The Burrito Brothers the band continues to perform and record new albums.
EMF are an English alternative rock band from Cinderford, Gloucestershire, who came to prominence at the beginning of the 1990s. During their initial eight-year run, from 1989 to 1997, the band released three studio albums before a hiatus. Their first single, "Unbelievable", reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was a number 1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their debut album, Schubert Dip, went to number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. In April 2022, EMF released their first album of new material in 27 years, Go Go Sapiens.
Patrick James Carney is an American musician and producer best known as the drummer of the Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio.
Mama's Boys were a 1980s hard rock/heavy metal group from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The band includes the three McManus brothers Pat, a.k.a. "The Professor",, John, and Tommy (drums). Later in their career they became a four-piece, adding Rick Chase on vocals in 1986, who in turn was replaced by Keith Murrell in 1987 due to Rick's ill-health. Keith was later replaced with Connor McKeon in 1989 who was subsequently replaced with Mike Wilson in 1990.
Kíla is a 1987 Irish folk music group from the Irish language secondary school Coláiste Eóin in County Dublin.
Audley Freed is a guitarist from Burgaw, North Carolina.
Graham Hopkins is an Irish drummer. He was the drummer in The Swell Season, The Frames and rock band Therapy?.
Paul Anthony Noonan is a songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist from Lucan, County Dublin. He is best known as the frontman of the Irish group Bell X1 and as a solo artist and collaborator on various musical projects.
Stephen Thadeus Crompton Gibb is a British-American guitarist. He has been a member of numerous hard rock and metal bands including 58, Black Label Society, Crowbar, Kingdom of Sorrow, The Underbellys, SkilletHead, and Saigon Kick. He is the son of Barry Gibb and is currently playing guitar as part of his father's band.
John Archibold Dixon Swan, better known as Swanee, is an Australian rock singer.
Julie Christensen is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for its versatility, Christensen's music has been praised by critics. As a solo artist, Christensen has released five albums, and in January 2016 released the Franklin, Tennessee-recorded full-length The Cardinal with her Nashville, Tennessee band, Stone Cupid. Christensen had lived in Nashville since 2013, and her band included some of the city's most well-known musicians.
Lee Mulhern, now known as Lee Matthews, is a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland.
Celtic Thunder is an Irish singing group and stage show known for its eclectic, theatrical style show. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic set pieces, visual effects, and highly choreographed staging.
Christopher Alvin Stapleton is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, Kentucky. In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University but dropped out to pursue his career in music. Subsequently, Stapleton signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music.
Derek Ryan is an Irish singer. He is a former member of the Irish boy band D-Side (2001–2006). He has also established his own production house and label, Ryan Records.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Kollman is an American guitarist and occasional bassist from Toledo, Ohio, best known for his work with Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, Glenn Hughes, UFO offshoot Mogg/Way, progressive rock trio, Cosmosquad, and his 90s progressive metal band, Edwin Dare.
Old Dominion is a modern American country music band formed in Nashville. The band consists of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung, and Brad Tursi. Their music is contemporary country with rock instrumentation, and has pop overtones.
Colm Keegan is a singer, songwriter and teacher from Dublin, Ireland. He is currently a principal singer with Irish music group, Celtic Thunder. He also previously performed with the likes of Celtic Woman, The Priests, and Irish tenor Peter Corry. He released his first solo album "I'll Never Be Alone" in the fall of 2016.
Duane Betts is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He leads Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel, and is a co-founding member of The Allman Betts Band. He was also a guitarist and singer for Dickey Betts & Great Southern, led by his father, Dickey Betts. He was previously a member of several other groups, including Backbone69, Whitestarr, Brethren of the Coast, Dawes, Jamtown, and Duane Betts & the Pistoleers.
Rachel Reinert is an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician from Santa Ana, California. Reinert began her career as a recording artist in 2008 as a member of the country group Gloriana, contributing to gold and platinum singles and opening tours for Taylor Swift, Sheryl Crow, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, and Zac Brown Band. In 2016, she left Gloriana and began a career as a solo artist. Reinert signed to Nashville-based independent label Green Iris Records and released her debut solo album Into the Blue in March, 2020.