folk holidays

THE IRISH GUITAR WONDER

A GUITAR BLUESWOMAN FROM DONEGAL

New Year’s Eve 2023. The highly watched British TV show Jools Holland's Hootenanny had just ended, and Muireann Bradley performed the song Candyman to thunderous applause. While the rest of the crowd went off to celebrate, she had to head home — or maybe grab a quick lemonade at best. After all, she was only seventeen. And by the time she woke up the next morning, she had become Ireland’s guitar prodigy.
You may have seen this in movies: parents driving their kids to school, singing along to pop hits blaring from the radio. But Muireann’s father, obsessed with American country blues and ragtime, had a different idea. He insisted on playing Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Robert Wilkins, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Elizabeth Cotten. Not exactly typical listening for a nine-year-old girl — but she loved it. And at home, her dad played nothing else on the guitar either.
During the COVID lockdowns, she dedicated herself fully to the guitar. Her father soon realized that her extraordinary virtuosity was something special. Wanting her to recognize what she was capable of at such a young age, he uploaded a few recordings to YouTube. That caught the attention of Josh Rosenthal from the Tompkins Square label, who offered her a chance to record an album. The young blues sensation quickly garnered widespread acclaim: the legendary Decca Records signed her, and the album was re-released this year in a remastered version with several bonus tracks, including one by Hank Williams.