When you think of Blues music you probably don’t think of an 18-year-old girl from Donegal.
Meet Muireann Bradley, who got a record deal at the tender age of 15. She fell in love with Blues music as a child and knew that if she was going to work as a musician, she knew this was the only music she wanted to play.
She’s performed on The Late Late Show (in front of Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott) and Jools Holland where she met Rod Stewart.
VIP Magazine got to speak with Muireann as she plans to make 2025 her year.
Hey Muireann, how are you? Tell us a bit about your album, I Kept These Old Blues.
The album was actually made during lockdown, so it’s being re-released with extra tracks added to it, like When the Levee Breaks. That’s a new one so that was recorded earlier last year. When I got the offer to do the record deal I had only learned a couple of songs, I used to put videos up on YouTube and then they got loads of attention, then I got offered the record deal from Tompkins Square Records. I actually had to learn the songs as I went along to record them because I didn’t have enough songs in my repertoire to actually record an album! All the songs are from the 1920s and 30s. Most of the tracks that I used on the album are from the first or second take I wanted to do the way they would’ve back then. It was recorded down in Bally Music Studios in Ballybofey here in Donegal.
We can’t imagine a lot of teenagers are into Blues music. So tell us how you fell in love with this genre of music.
I got really into it through my dad actually, I grew up listening to it. He’s always been obsessed with it and he would just play it in the house all the time. He plays guitar himself, so I would’ve heard him playing blues music and playing the guitar. He was always playing loads of records like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake and all them old Blues guys so I would’ve heard all that growing up.
Muireann, you’ve been on The Late Late Show and Jools Holland. People dream about being on those stages, what was it like?
It’s crazy that I’ve done them things, it’s mad! Jools Holland was a really great experience, I just couldn’t believe it when I got the offer to do that. I’ve been such a fan of Jools Holland myself and I watch Hootenanny every single year, our whole family watches it and we watch the Later Show. It was a class experience, everyone on there was so nice the cast and crew took such good care of me. Meeting Rod Stewart and Raye was just amazing as well. I was really excited to meet Ruby Turner actually because I watched her on Hootenanny, she’s on Hootenanny most years. I got to meet Rod Stewart and I got to chat to him a little bit and he was lovely, that was class. Being on the Late Late Show as well was just really really cool as well. I watched the Late Late Toy Show every year, it was amazing and getting to meet like Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott was so cool as well.
You’re first album is covers, would you like to write your own songs?
At the minute I’ve started writing and I think the next album there will definitely be a few original songs in there. For me, I always want to have a few of them old Blues classics in an album because I’m so influenced by them. No one else is recording them or has done really any covers of them and I think they should be brought back to life and should be recorded. If I can somehow bring them to younger people or bring them to my age it would be really nice. I think I’ll always have a few of them classical ones on it by the greats. But yeah, my next album I think I’ll definitely have some original stuff on there and I’m writing at the minute!
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Mostly from all them old Blues guys like Blind Blake, people like that, I suppose I listen to a lot of folk music as well I listen to Bob Dylan and Nick Drake and you know people like that so I got inspiration from that as well I suppose. But I mainly write in that old country Blues style.
Did you always want to be a musician?
I’ve always loved playing the guitar but I never thought that I’d be a musician because of the music that I play like all that old stuff from the 1920s and 30s. I didn’t think anyone would have an interest in listening to that except for me. I didn’t think there would be any market for it or that anyone would want to listen to me playing that. So, I never really dreamed of being a musician. It’s good that I didn’t have to do that and it’s crazy that it’s actually come this far.
Tell us a bit about getting the record deal. Were you discovered through social media?
Yeah, during lockdown I started playing guitar and learning again, I learned a little when I was younger but I kind of stopped for a while. I went back to it and just started putting up videos on YouTube. I didn’t think anything would come of it at all I just put them up for fun and once they were up there they started to get loads of attention, a lot more than I had expected. Tompkins Square Records got in contact through the comment. He and my dad exchanged emails and he offered me the record deal then.
Growing up what artists were you listening to?
I was just listening to people Blind Blake, I love Reverend Gary Davis. I really like Bob Dylan too. I was actually really into the Beatles when I was younger too, I used to love the Beatles! It’s funny I always remember when I was in school and all my friends would be obsessed with One Direction and they’d all be walking around with One Direction lunch boxes and I had a Beatles lunch box a Yellow Submarine lunchbox so I was really into them for ages.
Who is your biggest musical inspiration?
It would be hard to pick just one, to be honest. I have so many people that I’m influenced by, I don’t know if I could say just one to be honest.
What was your first concert?
I’ve actually not been to many concerts, I think one of the first ones I actually went with my dad. It was the local theatre in Ballybofey and it was to see a guitarist called Remi Harris, I was about 10 or 11. I haven’t been to that many gigs at all to be honest because we’re so far away from Dublin up here and that’s where all the stuff is!
Speaking of, do you think being from Donegal has inspired your music?
Maybe a little bit! Probably with influences like Rory Gallagher I think mostly my influence just came from growing up in a house full of music from my dad. He was a stay-at-home dad for a good few years, when me and my siblings were younger kids we were just completely submerged in music all the time.
Are you proud to walk in the footsteps of so many iconic Irish musicians?
Definitely yeah. There are some amazing Irish musicians and even nowadays. There’s a girl that I really love called Molly O’Mahony, she plays mainly folk music I think she’s so good and she’s a great guitarist and songwriter. I think she’s gonna be massive so yeah it is an honour yeah.
What is an album that made you?
I think the White album by The Beatles. I had that album when I was really young and when I got my first CD player, I used to play that album all the time in my room. I used to open up you know the artwork that was inside the cover, and I loved the little book that came with it. I have so many memories of listening to that in my room and I loved all the songs on that album as well. There’s loads of songs on it that a kid would like that have a deeper meaning that I wouldn’t have understood when I was a wean. I just have really strong memories of that album growing up.
Who is someone you would love to collaborate with?
There’s a blues player from the states that’s called Roy Book Binder I’d really love to meet him and play a few tunes with him. He toured with Reverend Gary Davis and learned from him, so I’d love to meet him, and he’s met loads of old blues guys when they’re still living in the 60’s so it’d be really good for me to meet him. There’s another guy called Stefan Grossman he also toured with Reverend Gary Davis, and he learned from him as well.
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What is your biggest achievement so far?
I think probably Jools Holland. Or maybe getting the chance to play Vicar Street that was amazing, it was probably the biggest crowd that I’ve played for so far so that was a bit of a step up for me from what I did before, that was back in November.
Is there a song you’ll never get sick of?
There’s a song by Reverend Gary Davis, I just never get sick of it. It’s more of a Gospel type of song thought it’s called I Belong to the Band. It makes me really emotional when I listen to it and I just love it.
Do you hope to record music in Nashville?
I would love to go over to the States, even just like tour and visit where all that music came from like down in Nashville, Mississippi and North Carolina and South Carolina. It’d be really cool to just go down there and see where it all came from like.
Tell us, what’s on your bucket list?
I think tour the world, I really love traveling so I think just go everywhere, visit places like Japan and yeah record loads of albums I suppose and be successful.
Muireann Bradley’s album I Kept These Old Blues is out now
