Carefully pushing the boundaries of what modern Irish folk can look and sound like, Junior Brother is an idiosyncratic, challenging and richly lyrical singer/ songwriter from Co. Kerry, Ireland.
Born Ronan Kealy, Junior Brother’s debut album “Pull The Right Rope” earned a Choice Music Prize nomination for Irish Album of the Year, and similarly lauded sophomore LP “The Great Irish Famine” claimed another Album of the Year nomination at the RTÉ Folk Music Awards, along with glowing press from The Guardian, MOJO Magazine and The Irish Times to name just a few.
Building upon a debut album described as “Raw and stark – but very beautiful” (Hot Press Magazine), and the “Truly unforgettable” (MOJO Magazine) second, “The Great Irish Famine”, Junior Brother has whipped up a dedicated following, thanks to unmissable live shows, and music both excitingly forward-looking and anciently evocative. Thrilling appearances in iconic venues worldwide have left crowds spellbound, from the East Coast of the U.S. to Eastern Europe. He has played support for a variety of like-minded acts such as The Proclaimers (U.K. & IE), The Murder Capital (Europe) and Glen Hansard, the latter personally choosing Junior as the opening act for his 2019 US Tour.
Following the “wry songs of anxiety and frustration” (The Guardian) of “The Great Irish Famine”, Junior is currently at work on album number three, with famed producer John “Spud” Murphy (black midi, Lankum) at the helm. Junior Brother “makes mincemeat out of every other structured singer-songwriter you can think of” (The Irish Times) – and his incredible journey has only just begun.
“[An] unfiltered acoustic mix of neuroses, loss of innocence and religious oppression… Truly unforgettable.”
MOJO Magazine
“He thinks in ways that not only make him extraordinarily different but also virtually everything on ‘The Great Irish Famine’ remarkable.”
Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times
“Junior Brother has all but single-handedly upended the conception of experimental folk on these shores”
Brian Coney, The Thin Air
