Aran singer’s debut album reflects on his native place

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Launching a debut album in a time of pandemic is brave enough; launching it with a nationwide tour takes courage to a whole different level – but Galway singer Padraig Jack is not a man for the easy options. The Inis Mór folk artist is as capable of commanding a stage as a solo artist as he is driving the sound of his impressive backing band – and the singer-songwriter’s reputation has grown both at home and abroad on the back of a string of impressive singles and tours with the likes of Sharon Shannon.

And now, having teased it for longer than he’d planned, Padraig is set to release his highly anticipated debut album.

Making Sand, a ten-track LP that flits between acoustic balladry and melodic indie-rock, will be launched this Friday – several months after its initial April release date was postponed. The record is celebrated by the rarest of things in the current musical climate – a national tour.

Padraig concludes a series of headline shows around the country in Galway’s Róisín Dubh on October 9 before continuing in a supporting role alongside Damien Dempsey. The full list of dates, which kicked off in Westport on September 12, is available on his website.

“It went well,” Padraig says of the Westport gig. “It kind of hit me on Saturday that there was no support act and I had to entertain a crowd there in a big theatre doing a full, long set of my own music.

“But it went really well… People seemed to enjoy it and I’ll have to go back again at some point. I think [the socially distant format] actually does suit me. I’ve been trying to get into the club gigs for the last few years, between playing the Róisín and things like that and I love it, but I’m seeing it now that sit-down gigs with quieter audiences are my preferred thing.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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