“...once you hear his voice, you’re unlikely to forget it” — Folk Radio UK
Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His musical roots are in sean-nós singing - the style of his father - and he grew up listening to the likes of Sorcha Ní Ghuairim, Seán ‘ac Dhonncha, Colm Ó Caoidheáin, and other greats from the tradition. He is also influenced by folk singers from the English language tradition such as Liam Weldon, Luke Kelly, Anne Briggs, Margaret Barry, and Thomas McCarthy.
Eoghan is a member of the band Skipper’s Alley, he has worked with Mary Ann Kennedy from Scotland, and Ruth Keggin from the Isle of Man on their Aon Teanga: Un Chengey album (2015). He has performed with folk/electronica band Jiggy, and has featured on both their albums, Translate (2017) and Hypernova (2020). He also collaborates with Clare fiddle and viola player Ultan O’Brien, their debut album Solas an Lae won best album at the RTÉ Folk Awards in 2021.
Over the past few years Eoghan has come into his own as a solo artist and songwriter. His songs - written in both English and Irish - build on his sean-nós singing foundations but combine hard-hitting lyrics with other musical influences to create a rich, contemporary sound. His debut solo album, The Deepest Breath was released in November 2022.
“(Eoghan has) a creative streak on par with some of this country's greatest ever songwriters. The lyrics of The Deepest Breath are proof and testament to that. Incredibly powerful words which not unlike the great Liam Weldon, are words that belong to and represent the working people. Words of hope for the overlooked and hard done by.” — Myles O’Reilly
“Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin has a wondrously sonorous voice” — Irish News
Sally in the Woods was brought into being by Liverpool-born singer and mandola player Sophie Bostock in Spring 2022 after spending the lockdown living on a narrowboat on the canals and rivers of south west England. Sophie spent the previous year in Dublin studying traditional Irish music and honing her singing skills. The return to the river provided the perfect place to delve deeply into traditional music archives.
Sally in the Woods both lends its name from and is ideologically inspired by Sally Gibson, a herbalist who squatted a cabin in the woods near Bath in the late 1700s. Due to this worthy woman’s healing abilities and feisty independence, she was dubbed a witch, and lived alone in the cabin until she was almost 100 years old. The songs are a radical retelling of stories passed down through the English, Scottish, Irish and American folk traditions, focussing on the strong women that have carried us to where we are now.
Sophie is accompanied by a band of skilled musicians including; Jess Collins (Percussive Dance, Fiddle), Rhona Dalling (Fiddle, Banjo), Alice Cade (Percussive Dance, Flute, Whistles), Jessica Styles (Concertina, Whistles).