MUSIC Mick Flannery plays Westport this weekend

Mick Flannery plays for Westport Arts Festival


Henry McGlade

Music fans in Westport are holding their collective breath in anticipation of one of the highlights of this year’s gem-laden Arts Festival: the Mick Flannery gig in The Castlecourt Hotel this Friday.
Over the last couple of years, Flannery has morphed from being a part-time stonemason to one of Ireland’s most sought after musicians.
Currently writing his third album, a follow-up to the hugely praised ‘White Lies’, he has played a string of sold out shows all over Ireland, one of the most notable being a double headline show at The Marquee Cork with John Spillane.
Last year, he was nominated for the Choice album awards; was cited as ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ by Hotpress readers (also making it into their 250 best irish albums); and was named Best Male Singer at the Meteor Awards.
Flannery has been hailed as “a singing and songwriting force to be reckoned with” (SiobhΡn Long, Irish Times); “A songwriter of the first order … His voice is pained, gravelly and powerful. Recorded or live, it carries through and stops you in your tracks” (Urban Folk, New York).
This Friday night’s seated concert takes place in the Castlecourt Hotel’s Dome Suite. Doors open at 9:30pm; show starts at 10pm.