Fionn Regan

Last updated

Fionn Regan
FionnRegan.jpg
Regan performing live in 2007.
Background information
Born1981 (age 41–42)
Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Genres Folk, folk rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, percussion
Years active2000 (2000)–present
LabelsTsuneni Ai (Abbey Records), Anvil, Bella Union, Lost Highway, Heavenly
Website fionnregan.com

Fionn Regan (born 1981) is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, The End of History in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for six years on independent record labels prior to the album's release. Regan's second studio album, The Shadow of an Empire was released in 2010 to positive reviews and his third studio album, 100 Acres of Sycamore , was released in 2011. His fourth studio album, The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo , was released in 2012.

Contents

Among the accolades Regan has received nominations for the Choice Music Prize in Ireland, the Mercury Prize in the United Kingdom and the Shortlist Music Prize in the United States. Regan has cited Bob Dylan and Neil Young as influences on his music and has been referred to by Lucinda Williams as "his generation's answer to Bob Dylan".

Career

Regan's early releases included the single "Little Miss Drunk", a 7", and two EPs titled Hotel Room and Reservoir , which were released on a small indie label, Anvil Records. He also self-released a 'tour only' EP called Campaign Button . Following these releases, in 2006 Regan signed to former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde's independent record label, Bella Union in the UK, resulting in Regan's debut album The End of History being released on 7 August 2006 to major critical acclaim. Regan was hailed as a leader of the new 'Brit' folk movement, The Guardian saying "Folk has a new Pied Piper." [1]

Following his UK success, Regan was subsequently signed by the American label Lost Highway Records. The End of History was released in the US on 10 July 2007. The End of History was produced by Regan himself (mixing the album with Simon Raymonde). Mojo magazine gave the album four stars in a review that dubbed the disc "a debut that oozes rare confidence, startling maturity and originality".[ citation needed ] The album received a slew of 4 and 5 star reviews from publications including The Times and The Guardian. [2] [3]

Regan has toured worldwide and played many festivals around the world including the Glastonbury Festival, XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, New Jersey, Electric Picnic (Ireland), Summercase and Benicassim (Spain), Bestival (Isle of Wight) ACL (Austin, Texas) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (San Francisco) and Laneways Festival Australia. He was invited to perform with Lucinda Williams on her 2007 tour, Williams saying at the Irving Plaza NY concert that Fionn is "his generation's answer to Bob Dylan". [4] Around this time, Regan was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazine's prestigious music portfolio. [5]

In July 2008, Regan was invited to perform as part of a filmed live concert, "Liam Clancy: Live The Bitter End". During this concert in honour of Liam Clancy, he shared the stage with Clancy, Tom Paxton, Shane MacGowan and Odetta. This was Odetta's last filmed performance before her death. This was also Liam Clancy's final filmed concert. Clancy had first risen to fame as part of The Clancy Brothers, the group which first sparked the Irish folk revival of the 1960s. [6]

In 2008 Regan recorded a follow-up album to The End of History with producer Ethan Johns (son of the legendary 60's producer Glyn Johns) for the Lost Highway label, who refused to release it. The album remains unreleased and Regan has referred to this album as The Red Tapes. [7] [8] The following year (2009) Regan retreated to County Wicklow, Ireland to record what would become The Shadow of an Empire without any record label involvement or intrusion. Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Records was one of the first to hear the completed album and quickly signed him up. [9] Regan released the album to critical acclaim on 8 February 2010, [10] achieving several four-star reviews from several publications, including Mojo, Uncut , Q , Hot Press , Financial Times , The Daily Telegraph , The Guardian and The Independent . [11]

In 2010, Regan gave a special performance in Dylan Thomas' boathouse in Laugharne, Wales. [12] The following year in August, Regan released his third studio album, 100 Acres of Sycamore , with the track "Dogwood Blossom" featuring prominently in Shane Meadows' TV drama This Is England '88 . Regan performed at the Eurosonic Festival in 2012 when Ireland was the "Spotlight Country". [13]

On 17 August 2012, Hot Press announced that Regan had completed his fourth studio album, The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo . The album was released on 7 September and Regan described the album by saying: "you can call it folk but I feel in a lot of ways it's like an Irish punk album, in that it's pure, it's stripped down." The album's themes range from the Irish Sea ("Mizen to Malin") to "the hallucinatory" ("St. Anthony's Fire"). [14]

In April 2017, Regan released his fifth studio album The Meetings of the Waters via independent label Abbey Records under his imprint 'Tsuneni Ai'. The album maintains Regan's traditional folk influences but explores a theme of electronica. "His first album for five years is still a folk record at heart, but one swathed in electronic orchestrations". [15] Perceived by many to be the "Regan's best work since his award winning debut", the album received numerous four-star reviews including: The Guardian , Irish Times, Thank Folk for That, and was nominated for the RTÉ Music Choice Award in 2018. To support the lead single, also titled "The Meetings of the Waters", Regan released a music video starring actor Cillian Murphy.

His single "Be Good or Be Gone" has been used in the television dramas Grey's Anatomy , Nearly Famous , and Skins and "Dogwood Blossom" featured in hit series' This Is England '88 and Normal People . His song "Put A Penny In The Slot" has been offered as an iTunes Free Download of the Week. The Welsh actor Rhys Ifans has a tattoo of Regans' lyrics "Be good or be gone". [8] Ellie Goulding and Andrea Corr have been quoted in the press saying they are fans of Regan's music. [16] [17]

Regan's song "Put a Penny in the Slot" was selected to be included on a special compilation album created by IASCA and FMC in partnership with Culture Ireland to present the gift of music from Ireland to dignitaries the Queen and President Obama and their international press corps travelling with them during their individual visits to Ireland in 2011. [18]

Bon Iver's track "00000 Million" on their album "22, A Million", features a sample of the line "The days have no numbers" from Regan's track "Abacus".

Awards and honours

Regan was nominated for two Meteor Music Awards (Best Male and Best Newcomer) in 2006 [ citation needed ] and The End of History was nominated for Irish Album of the Year at the Choice Music Prize, [19] and was one of the twelve shortlisted albums for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize. [20] He was nominated for the 2008 Shortlist Prize, the US equivalent of the Mercury Prize. [21]

In 2009, Regan was invited to speak and made an honorary member of the Trinity College Literary Society, the chairman saying "In his music, Mr. Regan has done more than many artists to erode the boundaries between music and literature, with his lyrics always possessing the most beautiful poetry." [22]

Discography

Regan at Summer Sundae in 2010. FionnReganSSW.jpg
Regan at Summer Sundae in 2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Clancy Brothers</span> Irish band

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland, contributing to an Irish folk boom with groups like the Dubliners and the Wolfe Tones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddy Clancy</span> Irish singer (1922–1998)

Patrick Michael Clancy, usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy played the harmonica with the group, which is widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalizing it in Ireland. He also started and ran the folk music label Tradition Records, which recorded many of the key figures of the American folk music revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Clancy</span> Irish folk singer (1935–2009)

Liam Clancy was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achieved global sales of millions and appeared in sold-out concerts at such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Makem</span> Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller (1932-2007)

Thomas Makem was an Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, low whistle, guitar, bodhrán and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" and "The Godfather of Irish Music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Union</span> British record label

Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Clayton (singer)</span> American musician

Paul Clayton was an American folksinger and folklorist who was prominent in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.

Makem and Clancy was an Irish folk duo popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The group consisted of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, who had originally achieved fame as a part of the trailblazing folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s. Makem and Clancy sang a combination of traditional Irish music, folks songs from a variety of countries, and newly written pieces, including compositions that Tommy Makem himself wrote. One reporter described their music as "more polished and varied than that used by the Clancy Brothers."

<i>The End of History</i> (album) 2006 studio album by Fionn Regan

The End of History is the debut studio album by the Irish folk musician Fionn Regan, released on 7 August 2006 on Bella Union. The album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize, and was also named Best Irish Album of 2006 by the Irish Independent.

Tradition Records was an American record label from 1955 to 1966 that specialized in folk music. The label was founded and financed by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon to join his brothers Liam and Tom Clancy and Tommy Makem, as part of the new Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Liam Clancy designed the company's maple leaf logo. Columbia University Professor of Folklore Kenneth Goldstein was also involved in the early creation of the company, which operated out of Greenwich Village, New York, United States.

Diane Hamilton was the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim, an American mining heiress, folksong patron and founder of Tradition Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Clancy</span> Irish singer and musician

Robert Joseph 'Bobby' Clancy Jr was an Irish singer and musician best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers, one of the most successful and influential Irish folk groups. He accompanied his songs on five-string banjo, guitar, bodhrán, and harmonica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Be Good or Be Gone</span> 2006 single by Fionn Regan

"Be Good or Be Gone" is a song by the Irish folk musician Fionn Regan. It is the opening track and lead single from Regan's debut studio album, The End of History, and was released on 5 February 2006 on Bella Union.

<i>The Shadow of an Empire</i> 2010 studio album by Fionn Regan

The Shadow of an Empire is the second studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released on 8 February 2010 on Heavenly Records and Universal Music Ireland. The album's aesthetic differs from Regan's previous album, The End of History, featuring more electric guitar-based rock songs. Regarding this change in musical direction, Regan stated, "This album's lyrically quite fast, with lots of word changes and phrase changes, and it asked for a different kind of coat." In October 2009 the first single, "Protection Racket" was released as a free download.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colum Sands</span> Irish singer songwriter (born 1951)

Colum Sands is an Irish singer songwriter who made his first performances and recordings with The Sands Family of County Down. Between his extensive solo appearances he continues to record and perform with his brothers Tommy and Ben and his sister Anne in the family band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie O'Connell</span> Irish singer-songwriter

Robbie O'Connell is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded with The Clancy Brothers, being their nephew. For over 20 years, he has conducted small cultural tours to Ireland with Celtica Music & Tours and, for more than ten years, WGBH Learning Tours. Married with four grown children, he now spends his time between Bristol, Rhode Island and Waterford.

<i>100 Acres of Sycamore</i> 2011 studio album by Fionn Regan

100 Acres of Sycamore is the third studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released on 8 August 2011 on Heavenly Records. Unlike Regan's previous album, The Shadow of an Empire, which featured mostly rock and roll songs, the album foregrounds an acoustic aesthetic, similar to that of his debut, The End of History (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fionn Regan discography</span>

The discography of Fionn Regan, an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter, consists of five studio albums, five extended plays and seven singles.

<i>The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo</i> 2012 studio album by Fionn Regan

The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo is the fourth studio album by the Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, released on 7 September 2012 on Universal Music.

<i>The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem</i> (album) 1961 studio album by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem is a collection of traditional Irish songs performed by The Clancy Brothers with frequent collaborator Tommy Makem. It was their third album and their final one for Tradition Records, the small label that the eldest Clancy brother Paddy Clancy ran. After this, the group recorded exclusively for Columbia Records until 1970. This was the first album for which they used the group name, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Their prior recordings had simply listed their individual names on the cover.

<i>Older But No Wiser</i> 1995 studio album by The Clancy Brothers and Robbie OConnell

Older But No Wiser is a 1995 album by the Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell. This was the Clancy Brothers' final album, released almost four decades after the group's first album, The Rising of the Moon. It was also their third album for Vanguard Records. The songs on Older But No Wiser are notable for their thicker musical accompaniment than was typical of Clancy recordings, as well their first use of female back-up singers.

References

  1. ↑ Clarke, Betty (4 August 2006). "CD: Fionn Regan, The End of History". The Guardian. London.
  2. ↑ Cairns, Dan (6 August 2006). "Fionn Regan: The End of History". Times Online. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Clarke, Betty (4 August 2006). "Fionn Regan, The End of History". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "Fionn Regan Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza Review on Kevchino". Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". www.losthighwayrecords.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "- Productions All – LIAM CLANCY & FRIENDS: LIVE AT THE BITTER END, NYC". Ctlfilms.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Page Not Found". GoldenPlec.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  8. 1 2 Sweeney, Eamon (12 August 2011). "Fionn Regan: The Bray Wanderer returns". Irish Independent.
  9. ↑ Tyaransen, Olaf (29 July 2011). "100 Acres of Sycamore". Hot Press. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Fionn on his way to the Electric Picnic". The Irish News Online. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "FIONN REGAN". Fionnregan.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Fionn Regan and Dylan Thomas' Celtic connection is sheer poetry". The Independent. London. 16 April 2010.
  13. ↑ "RTÉ 2fm gearing up for EuroSonic". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Fionn Regan's fourth album on the way". Hot Press . 17 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Fionn Regan: The Meeting of the Waters review – experimental, ambient folk". the Guardian. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Ellie Reveals the Soundtrack to Her Life « Ellie Goulding". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  17. ↑ [ dead link ]
  18. ↑ "MFI CD". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  19. ↑ "Shortlist". Choice Music Prize.
  20. ↑ "Shortlist". Nationwide Mercury Music Prize. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
  21. ↑ "Fionn Regan and The Thrills Nominated for Shortlist Prize". Hot Press. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  22. ↑ heavenlyrecordings.com https://heavenlyrecordings.com/100-acres-of-sycamore-by-fionn-regan-%E2%98%85-10th-anniversary-vinyl-reissue/ . Retrieved 10 July 2022.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.