UK Tour from Breakthrough Artist Ciaran Lavery

Fri 16 Oct 2015 Nice N Sleazy Glasgow, UK Tickets

Sat 17 Oct 2015 The Cluny 2 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Tickets

Sun 18 Oct 2015 Games Room, Brudenell Social Club Leeds, UK Tickets

Mon 19 Oct 2015 Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK Tickets

Tue 20 Oct 2015 The Kitchen Garden Cafe Birmingham, UK Tickets

Wed 21 Oct 2015 The Islington London, UK Tickets

Thu 22 Oct 2015 The Hope & Ruin Brighton, UK Tickets

Fri 23 Oct 2015 The Louisiana Bristol, UK Tickets

Sat 24 Oct 2015 Four Bars at Dempsey's Cardiff, UK Tickets

Sun 25 Oct 2015 Castle Hotel Manchester, UK

Scratch the skin of any Irish singer-songwriter these days and you discover a sensibility that aches with sadness just as it proffers hope. A cultural legacy, maybe – the refusal to be overwhelmed by suffering, the invocation of a blessing among the despair. You might even call it the deep soul impulse. , Damien Rice and James Vincent McMorrow are some of those at the vanguard of this movement. Now add to that the name of Ciaran Lavery.

A native of Aghagallon in County Antrim, Lavery has been mapping the diverse trajectory of the human heart since his debut album, Not Nearly Dark, in 2013. He writes the kind of universal truths about love, loss and redemption that resonate with people: lots of people. After all, more than twenty two million listeners on Spotify can’t be wrong. The song ‘Shame’ has had over 9 million plays alone, while ‘Left For America’, from last

year’s critically lauded EP, Kosher, is at around 6 million and counting.

Lavery sings from the inside out in a voice that augments the candour of his words over predominantly acoustic templates channelling the sonic spirit of America. Think , Tom Waits and, however incongruous the assimilation of influences, hip hop. Small wonder that Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody has used superlatives such as “stunning” and “magical” to describe him.

He cut his teeth in his teens on the local music scene as frontman of seven-piece alt-folk outfit Captain Kennedy.

“We had many great times and were lucky enough to meet a lot of great people and bands during our six-year trip” Lavery recalls fondly.

When the band split up, he found the transition to solo artist, “a bit strange, but I’ve grown into it over time. It suits my introverted style as a person.”

Lavery credits Aghagallon with informing the approach to his craft.

“You could literally drive through it in thirty seconds, but it’s jam packed full of characters and real, genuine people. It’s the type of place where, if you’re being an idiot, someone will tell you. That’s just how the environment was. I guess that sort of honesty comes out in my music.”

It’s an openness that Lavery himself finds therapeutic, not least because in revealing his inner emotions, he is concomitantly releasing them.

“Once I’ve let someone in to hear them, they aren’t my songs any more. People come up to me and say the strangest things like, ‘This song meant a lot to me’, or they tell me what they think the song is about. And maybe it’s not, but their version is usually better than mine, so I usually agree with them.”

Ciaran’s Official Website Here: http://www.ciaranlaverymusic.com/

MILESTONES ( Notes For Editors )

1. SPOTIFY - Racked up an incredible 20 million so far… and counting!

2. AMERICANA FEST / UKTI SONGWRITERS MISSION 2014 – Performed, Nashville TN

4. THE GREAT ESCAPE 2015 in Brighton (where Irish blogger Nialler9 named him amongst the top 10 new artists.)

5. ARTIST IN RESIDENCE - Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 2015, Belfast where he supported , Villagers and Stu Larsen.

7. Front Page of Ireland’s premier music magazine. Won a competition for All Ireland’s best newcomer.

8. 2015 UK TOUR announced ~ Communion, DHP, DMF etc. promoting.

9. 2015 GERMAN TOUR announced with ZArt promoting.

10. 2015 SWISS DATES announced Groningen Sessions.

11. BPI & UKTI FUNDED - Named amongst top twenty acts in the UK and received funding from UKTI and BPI to pursue a career in Europe with the Music Export Growth scheme among such acts as Soak and Lapsley

12. 2015 FESTIVALS - Many performances incl. Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Camp Bestival, Dranouter, etc

RECORDINGS

NOT NEARLY DARK (Full Album - at different stages of release in different territories)

KOSHER (EP - at different stages of release in different territories)

QUOTES

"It’s the sound of a songwriter who is very very in touch with his own ability and comfortable in his own skin." – Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1

“Lavery has the kind of voice that draws you in to the song and the emotional honesty of the music” – Huffington Post

“Lavery’s songwriting is nothing short of remarkable. His most recent EP is his best yet, bursting with can’t-be-faked honesty and emotion" – Hot Press

“strong, crafted, hugely engaging songwriting" – Jim Carroll, Irish Times

"One To Watch" – Irish Independent

"it remains a fact: Lavery is very easily in the top three greatest songsmiths in the country, if not the most naturally- gifted Northern Irish voices of his generation" – The Thin Air