Preview – The Mary Wallopers open their winter tour in Bristol on November 9th at Trinity.

BC Records, released 13th October 2023, available on 12” vinyl, CD, cassette and everywhere digitally. Pre order the album here: https://fanlink.to/irishrnr

New single Wexford online everywhere now.

Theyre revitalising Irish trad for a new generation with rowdy reinterpretations of hand-me-down odes to sex, devilry and drink (mainly drink). Like the Dubliners, the Pogues and Jinx Lennon before them, they elevate the displaced and the downtrodden, sticking two fingers up to the establishment and, in doing so, yanking a thread that unites all rebel music from folk to punk and rapThe Guardian

The Mary Wallopers have announced details of their second album and a huge tour of the UK that runs from November through to Christmas this year.

Irish Rock nRoll is due for release on October 13th and follows last year’s hugely acclaimed self-titled debut (“these youngsters are all about presenting vibrancy, saltiness and edge via roots music from a bygone age, at a moment when such qualities are all but absent form contemporary pop” Mojo).

If every album an artist makes offers a snapshot of where they stand at that point, then the picture presented by Irish Rock nRoll is one of a band preparing to go stratospheric. It’s an album that manages to perfectly capture the chaos, humour and excitement of the band’s recent live shows whilst also showcasing the incredible emotional of the traditional ballads that they play (both in songs passed down from previous generations and – for the first time on this record – their own songs that promise to be passed down to future generations). One of those traditional ballads – Wexford – is the second single from the album following The Holy Ground and it’s online everywhere now.

The Mary Wallopers’ Andrew Hendy on Wexford:

“The song was written by Pecker Dunne, who was a travelling musician. He brought so many songs into circulation over the years he played, you’ll have heard the Dubliners playing a lot of his songs. He came from a line of travelling musicians. His father was a fiddle player and his mother was a tightrope walker, the whole family’s trade was entertainment. Wexford is one of the most beautiful songs in the ballad tradition. He wrote it about growing up in Wexford. It touches on his upbringing and on the grief that travellers suffer in Ireland which is something that’s not really talked about much. It’s an incredible, emotional song. We’ve always gravitated towards that side of folk music – the most accessible side of music, the kind you can just stand on the street singing. Pecker Dunne wrote so many funny songs, which makes it even more hard hitting when he’d sing a song like this.”

Irish Rock’n’Roll was recorded at Black Mountain Studios by David Noonan and features:

  1. The Bauld O Donoghue
  2. The Holy Ground
  3. Rakes of Poverty
  4. The Rich Man and the Poor Man
  5. The Idler
  6. Madam I’m A Darlin’
  7. Vultures of Christmas
  8. The Turfman from Ardee
  9. Hot Asphalt
  10. Wexford
  11. The Blarney Stone
  12. Rothsea O
  13. Gates of Heaven

Following a packed out Glastonbury performance last month (check the band’s BBC performance here), The Mary Wallopers will play sets at multiple festivals over the summer:

Fri 21 Jul                     Tramlines, Sheffield

Sat 22 Jul                    Latitude, Suffolk

Fri 28 Jul                     Belladrum Tartan Heart, Inverness-shire

Sat 29 Jul                    Kendal Calling. Lowther

Sun 30 Jul                   Deer Shed, Thirsk

Thu 10 Aug                 Boomtown, Winchester

Sat 12 Aug                  Guinness Irish Festival, Sion

Sun 13 Aug                 Winterthur Musikfestwochen, Switzerland

Tue 15 Aug                 Sziget Festival, Hungary

Fri 18 Aug                  Beautiful Days, Exeter

Fri 25 Aug                  Victorious, Portsmouth

Sat 26 Aug                  Tonder Festival

Fri 1 Sep                     End of the Road, Salisbury

Sat 2 Sep                     Moseley Folk & Arts Festival

Sun 3 Sep                    Electric Picnic, County Laois

Fri 8 Sep                     Rotown, Rotterdam,Netherlands

Sat 9 Sep                     Misty Fields, Netherlands

Sun 10 Sep                 Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Thu 14/Fri 15 Sep     by:larm, Norway

Sat 16 Sep                   Bar Brooklyn, Stockholm, Sweden

Sun 17 Sep                 Ideal Bar, Copenhagen, Denmark

Tue 19 Sep                 Cassiopeia, Berlin, Germany

Wed 20 Sep                Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Germany

Thu 21 Sep                 Trix Club, Antwerp, Belgium

Following the release of Irish Rock nRoll they will play an extensive UK tour beginning in the autumn:

Wed 8 Nov                  Southampton Engine Rooms

Thu 9 Nov                   Bristol Trinity

Fri 10 Nov                  London O2 Forum Kentish Town

Sat 11 Nov                  Manchester Academy

Sun 12 Nov                 Cardiff Tramshed

Wed 15 Nov               Folkestone Quarterhouse

Thu 16 Nov                Oxford The Bullingdon

Fri 17 Nov                  Brighton CHALK

Sat 18 Nov                  Liverpool O2 Academy Liverpool

Sun 19 Nov                 Norwich Epic Studios

Wed 22 Nov               Exeter Phoenix

Thu 23 Nov                Wolverhampton Wulfrun

Fri 24 Nov                  Northampton Roadmender

Sat 25 Nov                  Sheffield The Leadmill

Wed 13 Dec                Edinburgh The Liquid Room

Thu 14 Dec                 Dundee Fat Sams

Fri 15 Dec                   Aberdeen Lemon Tree

Sat 16 Dec                  Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom

Tickets go on sale on Friday 21st July at 9.30am; a fan pre-sale is open from Wednesday 19th July at 9.30 via SEE Tickets for anyone pre-ordering the album

The Mary Wallopers were formed by brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy and their friend Sean McKenna who began traveling the length and breadth of Ireland singing and collecting songs. During lockdown, they build up a huge online following playing livestreams from their home studio. In the years since, the band have expanded to a seven piece and built a fierce reputation as a live act. 

The Mary Wallopers are: Andrew Hendy – banjo; Charles Hendy – guitar; Sean McKenna – guitar; Seamas Hyland – accordion; Finian O’Connor – pipes/whistles; Roisin Barrett – bass;Ken Mooney – drums.

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