| Mick Flannery | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Date: | 1983 11, df=yes[1] |
| Origin: | Blarney, County Cork, Ireland |
| Occupation: | Singer–songwriter, stonemason |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Label: | EMI Records, Universal Records, Warner Music Ireland, Starhouse Collective |
Mick Flannery (born 28 November 1983) is an Irish singer and songwriter.
His debut album Evening Train resulted from his time spent studying music and management at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork. It featured tracks which had previously won Flannery two categories at the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the first Irish musician to win in this event. In 2019 this album premiered as a musical by the same name.
Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008, achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart. It later went platinum and was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.
The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009. Also that year Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Influences include Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.
Flannery grew up outside Blarney, County Cork.[2]
Coming from a family with a keen musical interest, Flannery was introduced to folk and blues music at a young age.
Flannery cites an encounter with the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana as a direct influence on his desire to become a musician. Seeing Cobain perform "The Man Who Sold the World" on MTV Unplugged he promptly purchased a copy of MTV Unplugged in New York. He soon bought the album Blonde on Blonde as well. Flannery claims to have written his first song at the age of fifteen. His first completed song was called "Mad Man's Road", a tale of a murder which took place on the road in which he lived. He has been dismissive of his earlier material, referring to it as "tripe".
However, he is keen to express his fondness for stonemasonry and its position alongside his music: "I wasn't going to sit in a room and write songs seven days a week and live on bread and beans. I liked doing stonemasonry as well". He still does it on an occasional basis: "We wouldn’t be carving gravestones or anything. We’d do the fronts of houses, entrance walls, stuff like that".[3]
While undergoing a music and management course at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork, Flannery commenced writing the album that would become Evening Train, an eleven-track concept album about the exploits of two brothers. His original intention had been to write a musical but this endeavour proved unsuccessful.
Before its release Flannery and a friend who worked alongside him in the stonemasonry business embarked on a three-month trip to the United States, living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[4] Flannery spent his time performing in New York. His sister was present for one of the months and assisted him with organising his performances.
Evening Train was received positively by critics in Ireland and the United States. Reviewers noted its "astute and sophisticated lyrics", its "strong, imaginative melodies", its Tom Waits sound. The RTÉ Guide later said, "His voice was like Tom Waits meets the howling of a grizzled freight train hobo".[5] entertainment.ie reviewer Lauren Murphy described it as "an album dripping with maturity, poise and potential" and that "the most astounding thing" was his age of 21 years.
Flannery signed with EMI Records in 2007. That same year he was the subject of a programme called Mytunes, broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on 29 November.[6] He performed on RTÉ Two's Other Voices television programme in 2008.[7] This appearance led to increased interest in Flannery's music in Ireland.
In June 2019, as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival, The Everyman and Rosa Productions presented the world premiere of Evening Train, a new musical inspired by Mick Flannery's acclaimed concept album of the same name.[8] Flannery’s album, written from different character perspectives, suggests the main figures: two divided brothers, Frank and Luther, and a spirited, forlorn young woman, Grace, all dreaming of some form of escape from dusty realities and unpromising futures in a small town of gamblers and strivers. Playwright Rani Sarma developed this theme into a love triangle saddled with questions of debt and fate, where parents are either haunting absences or demanding presences, and a younger generation stews in fragile promises and ruinous addiction.[9] Gambling being a focus of the musical, the game of bluffs and tells, requires working out characters within a strict economy of expression. The cast of Irish actors consisted of Charlie Bonner, Brian Doherty, Deirdre Donnelly, Ger Kelly, Ian Lloyd Anderson, John McCarthy, Kate Stanley Brennan, with a live band accompanying them consisting of Mick himself.[10]
See main article: White Lies (Mick Flannery album).
Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008,[11] achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart and later going platinum in Ireland.[12] [13] On the day of the album's release Flannery performed "Tomorrow's Papers" on The Late Late Show.[14] [15] The song contributed to the increasing popularity of the singer-songwriter. entertainment.ie's Lauren Murphy said: "White Lies may not be a perfect album, but it's certainly a promising step forward for a real talent".[16] RTÉ reviewer Harry Guerin commented: "If you're adamant that Ireland may sink with another singer-songwriter on tour, then this is a record to seek out; you won't notice the time passing and the nation will remain afloat".[17]
Flannery began a tour of Ireland after the release of White Lies.[18] He performed a duet of "Christmas Past" with Lisa Hannigan in December 2008 after Today FM's Tony Fenton paired them together for a radio show broadcast from a rooftop.[19] He joined Hannigan at a show in Vicar Street to perform the same duet that month.[20] "Tomorrow's Paper" was translated into the Irish language for a CD titled Ceol '09, an annual compilation released by Seachtain na Gaeilge.[21] The Irish version was recorded in forty minutes at a studio in Dublin's Merrion Square. Flannery performed a cover version of "The River" on The Ray D'Arcy Shows Discover Ireland Feel Good Tour stopover in Carlingford and Cooley Peninsula in March 2009.[22] A deluxe edition of White Lies, which featured a duet of the song "Christmas Past" with Kate Walsh, was released in 2009.[23]
Flannery's largest headlining performance in Dublin at this stage occurred at Vicar Street on 25 May 2009.[24] He performed alongside John Spillane at Live at the Marquee in Cork on 9 July 2009.[25] [26] [27] [28] Flannery said being asked to perform there was "daunting [...] In many ways I have drifted into this career and still have to pinch myself regularly to make sure I am not imagining it all".[29] He also performed at the Bloom Festival as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of The Rose of Tralee in 2009.[30] He made an appearance on the Crawdaddy Stage at Electric Picnic 2009.[31] [32] [33] On 31 December 2009, he performed a date at the Cork Opera House as part of celebrations marking the end of the decade.[34] [35] He has sold out several other venues around Ireland and has also toured the UK.[36]
Flannery released his third studio album, Red to Blue, on 30 March 2012. It spent three weeks at number one in the Irish Albums Chart and singles "Gone Forever" and "No Way To Live" enjoyed a lot of airplay. His song Up The Hill was covered by Shawn Colvin and Emmylou Harris.[37]
The Red to Blue tour was a major success for Flannery, featuring sold-out shows all over Ireland, most notably the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, one of Flannery's biggest venues to date. The tour finished with two sold-out shows at the Róisín Dubh in Galway.
By The Rule
Flannery's fourth album reached number one in the Irish Album Charts.
The fifth instalment from Mick Flannery was released on 14 October 2016. The album is described as having '50% more social awareness' than his previous album.[38]
The title track "I Own You" was featured in "Tin Star" featuring Tim Roth in season 2 episode 1 Prairie Gothic.[39]
Game of Thrones' Aidan Gillen starred in the music video of Mick Flannery's song Cameo.
In 2018 Mick Flannery released a charity single for a women's support agency. All proceeds from the single 'Rosaleen' went to the National Women’s Council of Ireland. 'Rosaleen' was premiered in May when Flannery performed the track live on RTE Radio One’s 'Ray D'Arcy Show'.[40] He was accompanied by his Aunt Yvonne for this performance.[41]
Mickmas Volume 1 was a four track EP that was Flannery's first independently released album. All songs on this EP were written by Mick Flannery, Except 'I have a darkness' written by Casey Black. All songs recorded and mixed by Christian Best at Monique Studios.[42] 150 copies were made available to purchase online, with the remainder only available at live shows throughout December 2018.
A donation from the sale of this EP was made to Pieta House.
On 5 July 2019, Mick Flannery's self titled album was released. Mick touches on loose themes of ambition and the search for a meaningful life in the context of a musician’s sometimes feckless and dysfunctional lifestyle.[43] This self titled album was mainly recorded in LA with Australian producer Tony Buchen between July and November 2018.[44] This featured two co-writes with ESCQ of his songs Come Find Me and Fool.[45] This record has debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Charts.[46] This made him the first independent Irish artist to reach the top since January 2018, and the third homegrown Irish act to hit the helm of the Top 50 this year, following Picture This' MDRN LV and Hozier's Wasteland, Baby!.[47]
December 2019 saw the second addition to Flannery's four track Christmas EP. Mickmas Volume 2 included the titles Somebody else, Just like me, Rising tide and Lisadell.
A donation from the sale of this EP was made to Cool Earth.
In May 2020, Mick Flannery teamed up with New York-based director Samantha Scaffidi to collaborate on Run a Mile, a new song and video to raise funds Women’s Aid, a national frontline organisation helping victims of domestic abuse.[48] By re-contextualising Scaffidi's short film 'BOUND' accompanied by Flannery's song, they made effort to raise awareness of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown.[49] Flannery says ""This song was written as an attempt to empathise with a woman who has lived with disappointing men all her life, from her own father to the father of her child, to subsequent relationships."
Mick Flannery's seventh album, 'Alive - Cork Opera House', was released on 24 July 2020.[50] This project, a lot less premeditated than normal, is a reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic’s decimation of the live music sector.[51] This fully independent release sees all proceeds shared among Flannery's band and crew.[52] Capturing the magic combination of raw talent, nervous energy, and deadpan, self-deprecating humour that makes his gigs so special, the album serves not only as a celebration of the joy of live music, as well as support in the fallout of lockdown. The album is a compilation of 17 tracks ranging from his earliest work in Evening Train to his most recent self titled album. This album joined many of his past ones in going straight to No. 1 in the Irish Independent Charts.[53]
December 2020 saw the addition to Flannery's Christmas EP, Mickmas Volume 3. The single "Minnesota" on this album saw a collaboration between Mick and Anaïs Mitchell. All proceeds from this went to Fair Fight in aid of voting rights. Anaïs describes Mick Flannery as one of her "very favourite writers in the world."[54]
A collaboration album with up and coming artist Susan O'Neill, and following the success of their song Baby Talk, the pair released this full album of duets. Recorded during the lockdowns of 2020 remotely with producer Tony Buchen, it reached No. 2 on the official album chart in Ireland. After a closely fought battle for the top spot with Drake, the pair knocked Metallica out of the No. 2 spot and charted ahead of Kanye West's Donda and Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour'. In The Game received numerous accolades from the press on both sides of the pond with American Songwriter calling it, 'A sorrowful Masterpiece', Irish Times proclaiming, 'Two Stars are Reborn', and UK Publication The Line of Best Fit saying, 'Every song on in the Game takes you on a journey, each player has their moment, each instrument sharing the weight of the record’s gloriously heavy sentiment'. The pair toured the record in the U.S. directly after it was released sharing dates with Kathleen Edwards, appearing at the Americana Festival in Nashville, and were also invited to open for Phoebe Bridgers at her Philadelphia show at the Mann Center. Mick and Pheobe are mutual fans of each others work, Bridgers said about in the Game, 'I love this fucking record'.In The Game was nominated for Best Folk Album at the RTÉ Folk Awards, Chain Reaction the album's lead single was also nominated for and won 'Best Original Song'. It was also on the shortlist for the 2021 Choice Music Awards.In The Game although only releasing towards the latter part of 2021 has racked up the most independent sales of an Irish record in Ireland for 2021.
In February 2022 Mick released A Night at the Opera,[55] an album depicting some of history's most famous chess games. The songs on the album are structured by following the moves of these games, each piece having a corresponding musical cord. The lyrics of the songs deal primarily with the often complex lives of the grandmasters. 20% of all profits go to effective altruism.[56] This album was accompanied by an NFT minted on 22 February. These consisted of videos illustrating how these chess matches formed the songs.[57]
Flannery's sister Sarah Flannery is a past winner of the Esat Young Scientist Exhibition.[58] His mother's family live in Coolroe near Killarney.
Flannery is left-handed.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRL [60] | |||||
| 2007 | Evening Train | 84 | |||
| 2008 | White Lies
| 6 | |||
| 2012 | Red to Blue
| 1 | |||
| 2014 | By the Rule
| 1 | |||
| 2016 | I Own You
| 3 | |||
| 2019 | Mick Flannery
| 1 | |||
| 2020 | Alive – Cork Opera House
| 3 | |||
| 2021 | In the Game
| 2 [61] | |||
| 2022 | Night at the Opera
| — | |||
| 2023 | Goodtime Charlie
| 2 [62] | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||
The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009,[64] commenting on his album White Lies: "With this stunning exhibition of the gravel-voiced musician's abilities, Flannery turned his hand to mournful piano ballads and catchy guitar tunes with a flair that far surpasses his 25 years".[65]
Flannery won in two categories in the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee: "In the Gutter" in the category of Folk Singer-Songwriter and "The Tender" in the category of Lyrics Only. This came from a panel of judges which featured several renowned songwriters, including Flannery's idol, Tom Waits. He was the first Irish musician to win in this competition. The two songs featured on the album Evening Train.
|-| 2004 || "In the Gutter" || Folk Singer-Songwriter || |-| 2004 || "The Tender" || Lyrics Only || |-
Flannery was Hot Presss Most Promising Act in its 2009 Reader's Poll.
|-| 2009 || Mick Flannery || Most Promising Act || |-
Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards.[66] The result was unexpected as beforehand the winner was anticipated to be Duke Special or Jape.[67]
|-| 2009 || Mick Flannery || Best Irish Male || |-
In 2009, Flannery was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.[68] [69] [70] He was one of seven of the ten nominated acts to perform at the award ceremony in Vicar Street on 4 March.[71]
Flannery lost to Jape, though he was mentioned in the acceptance speech, as frontman Richie Egan mentioned what his mother had told him before the award: "They all deserve the award – sure my mother even told me that Mick Flannery was going to win, she said you're good, Ritchie, but he's gorgeous".[72]
In The Game, Flannery's album with Susan O'Neill was nominated for the Choice Music Prize Album of the Year.[73] [74] |-| 2009 || White Lies || Irish Album of the Year 2008 || |-| 2020 || Mick Flannery || Irish Album of the Year 2019 || |-| 2021 || In The Game || Irish Album of the Year Shortlist 2021 || |-
Flannery has twice won the Best Original Folk Track award at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, duetting with Susan O'Neill on both occasions.[75] [76]
|-| 2018 || "Rosaleen" || Best Original Folk Track || |-| 2020 || "Baby Talk" || Best Original Folk Track || |-| 2020 || Mick Flannery || Best Folk Singer|| |-| 2021 || "Chain Reaction" || Best Original Folk Track || |-| 2021 || "In the Game" || Best Folk Album|| |-