IN the last year Mick Flannery has gone from part time stonemason to one of Ireland’s most sought after musicians. Since the release of his critically acclaimed album ‘White Lies’ he has played a string of sold out shows all over Ireland, including his first headline show at Vicar Street.
He was also nominated for the Choice album award, cited as ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ by Hotpress readers and won ‘Best Male’ at this year’s Meteor awards. Flannery is a refreshingly unassuming Artist, whose sole focus is on his craft, song-writing.
A Mick Flannery gig has a feeling of intimacy to it; Flannery’s stage presence exudes no superficial gimmicks, just a man sharing his songs with passion in an understated but powerful manner. His voice and musical style have so far been compared to Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits, and quite rightly so with Flannery definitely in a league of his own both vocally and as a Songwriter on an Irish scale. In 2005 Flannery won two categories in the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee for Best Song ‘In The Gutter’ and Best lyrics for ‘The Tender’.
This came from a panel of judges that boasted many prestigious songwriters including Tom Waits. Mick has had a hectic summer with a rollercoaster schedule of gigs now behind him including the Marquee in Cork in July and a nationwide tour and heads off to play his slot at the Electric Picnic this weekend following his Limerick gig on Friday September 4.
