Muireann Bradley told David Hennessy about a ‘whirlwind’ of a year that included Jools Holland, the Late Late and playing Vicar Street.
Muireann Bradley is a young lady who sings the blues, but has very little to be blue about with such a bright 2025 and career in front of her.
While many girls her age might have Paul Mescal posters on their wall, she has joined him and his co- star Andrew Scott on the Late Late Show.
It was just last year that a then 17- year- old Muireann Bradley from Ballybofey, Co. Donegal came to prominence with her performance on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny.
Appearing alongside Rod Stewart, Raye and Joss Stone, Muireann was given a standing ovation for her performance of Rev Gary Davis’s 1961 song, Candyman.
Muireann, who just turned 18 last month, is known for singing and playing country blues and ragtime guitar from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s in the fingerpicking style of the original artists.
Following her appearance on the BBC New Year show, Muireann’s album I Kept These Old Blues entered the top ten of the UK Albums Download Chart.
Clash Magazine said of Muireann: “A softly assured trailblazer who enraptures all who come across her work”.
The Guardian added: “Bradley’s bright, limber vocals are clear and inviting, and when she leaps to higher intervals, there’s a thrill in hearing her land back in lower registers with acrobatic effortlessness.”
She has since signed to Decca Records and the company is planning to release a remastered version of I Kept These Old Blues in February.
After starting to learn to play at the age of 9, Muireann has come a long way since playing in her bedroom and is now set for her global breakout.
Muireann said: “Signing with Decca & Verve Forecast is a dream come true for me. I get such an incredible thrill when I think about my debut album being re-released on such historic and iconic labels which are so synonymous with legends like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Ella Fitzgerald, as well as amazing contemporary artists like Melody Gardot and Jon Batiste.”
The album displays the talent that has earned Muireann a loyal fanbase of listeners. The first pressing sold out everywhere and is already regarded as a collectible among in-the-know music fans – truly remarkable given Bradley was just 15 years old when she recorded it.
Following a packed headline show in Dublin in November at the iconic Vicar Street venue, Muireann came to the UK for a string of live dates including shows in York, Bristol, Liverpool and Brighton, she played London’s EartH Theatre in Hackney last month.
It was then that the Irish World caught up with Muireann.
How has it been? It was around the last New Year that you did Jools Holland and everything really kicked off. Has it all been a whirlwind since then?
“Yeah, it really does feel like it’s been a whirlwind.
“It’s been crazy and so much has happened in a year.
“It’s been mad.”
The crazy thing is that that was one of your first live performances, what was it like to play on that stage so early in your career?
“I think I had only played about two gigs before that and then other times I did busking in the street and stuff.
“So that was a really big step up from the things that I had done beforehand.
“It was really nerve racking at the time but it was an amazing experience as well. It was class getting to go on to the set and all and meet everyone. It was just amazing.
“It was like a dream, honestly.
“When we came back to the hotel after everything, after it all happened, it just didn’t feel real.
“It just didn’t feel like it actually happened.
“It felt like a dream but it was crazy that I got to go and experience something like that, and me being so inexperienced in performing and all.
“It was crazy getting to meet all the big stars and getting to meet Jools Holland himself.
“It was just amazing.”
You say it was nerve racking, do you get nervous because you really don’t seem it at all when I have seen you on Jools or the Late Late?
“Oh yeah, I do. I definitely do feel nervous.
“I think it would be weird if I didn’t get nervous.”
You got the standing ovation. You were the only act out of everyone who played that night..
“Yeah, it was crazy.
“At the time I actually didn’t know that I had gotten a standing ovation because I was facing away from the audience so I didn’t actually know that they stood up.
“I thought they were just clapping and I saw it afterwards and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh’. I was shocked.”
Where did your love of the blues come from?
I know it comes from your father, have you always had this passion for music? Has it always been in the house?
“Yeah, it always has.
“Blues and country blues and ragtime, just blues in general, has just been in the house all my life.
“I don’t remember it ever not being there.
“It’s the first music I remember hearing so I just kind of grew up surrounded by it.
“It’s just always been there.
“My dad was a stay at home dad when we were very young so we would have heard the music quite a lot.
“There’s loads of memories of him picking us up from school and Brian Blake or Blind Lemon Jefferson blasting from the car.
“It was really there in our house, blues.”
Your father introduced you to the music but who were your big musical inspirations?
“Mainly just all the old musicians like Mississippi John Hurt, Brian Blake and Reverend Gary Davis, all the original blues women and men.
“And there’s some more modern players like Stefan Grossman and Roy Book Binder and a guy called Ari Eisinger as well.
“They definitely would have influenced my playing quite a lot as well.
“They’re probably my main ones.”
You mentioned Stefan Grossman there.
He’s the one who said he can retire, right? He can pass the pass the torch on to you. What’s it like to see him say that?
“It was amazing.
“Me and my dad have been big fans of Stefan Grossman all my life as well.
“He’s an amazing player and it’s really cool to get to hear him saying something like that about me.”
Obviously not everyone, especially in your age group, knows too much about this type of music. Does it feel good like to be keeping it alive or giving it a new life? “Yeah, it really does.
“I mean, most people that are into this old music are older, they’re over the age of 40 so it’s really nice when I’m at my gigs and I see some people that are around my own age.
“I would really love to spread it to people my own age and bring it to a new audience.
“It would be really cool.”
Is it right to say that it was lockdown that really played a part in you focusing on your playing?
When you couldn’t do some of your other activities, you really focused on music, is that how it happened?
“Yeah, it is. I started playing when I was about nine and then I got into boxing and jiu- jitsu. I got really into that and I trained that for a good few years.
“And then when lockdown hit, all that was shut down so I decided to go back to the guitar and start playing again.
“But even when I’d stopped playing the guitar, I was always really into old blues and country blues music but I just had stopped playing because I didn’t have the time for it.
“So when lockdown hit, I decided to just start playing again because I was bored.
“I came to my dad and I told him that I had a wee list of songs that I wanted to learn.
“Candyman and Police Dog Blues were the two top ones on my list.
“I really wanted to learn them.
“I started learning again and put videos up on YouTube.
“I didn’t really think anything would come of it.
“We just decided to make a channel and put them up on YouTube just for fun.
“Then when it had gotten so much attention, it was very shocking.
“We didn’t think we would have any views or any likes or anything but it got so much attention and we were so shocked when that happened.
“It was crazy.”
So it wasn’t such a so much a serious thing at the beginning..
“No, it was just for fun.”
You had no expectations at all and look where it’s gone…
“Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s come from just a bit of fun to this.”
You were just 13 or 14 when you were offered the record deal but wasn’t it the case that your parents weren’t even sure at that stage because you were still so young..
“Yeah. Well, I had just turned 14 at the time when I got offered the record deal.
“Yeah, they were kind of slow to agree to it at first because they didn’t want me to be stuck in any kind of contract.
“They wanted me to just have as much freedom as I could have, and then we managed to get a really good deal.
“I had loads of freedom and loads of time and there was no pressure under me to record all the time.
“The album took a really long time to record because it was during lockdown that I actually started recording and lockdown was on and off between so it took a period of two years to record the album.
“I started when I was 14 and I think I had just turned 16 when I recorded the last song.”
You must be delighted to be re-releasing the album with Decca…
“Yeah, it’s amazing to get it out there again, re-released and remastered and all, and there’s going to be an extra track on it too.
“It’s really exciting.
“It’s amazing to be signed with such an amazing record label like Decca.
“It’s just really cool.”
That extra track is When the Levee Breaks.
Of course that is the song you played on the Late Late, how was that?
“That was a really amazing experience as well.
“I got to meet Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.
“It was really cool to get to meet them as well.
“And it was really good just being on the Late Late Show because so many people, so many legends over the years have been on it.”
Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott were really blown away and complimentary about the music as well, weren’t they?
“Yeah, they were really nice about it and I think they actually enjoyed it.”
Did you get a picture with Paul? Because, I mean, I bet your friends would be impressed if you did…
“No, I didn’t get any selfies with him.
“We just got a wee picture at the end of the show.
“There wasn’t much time but my friends were all jealous anyway because I got to meet him.”
How does it feel to be gaining celebrity fans like that? Rod Stewart has also been very complimentary. What has been the highlight there?
“I would say the Hootenanny was probably the highlight so far, the biggest thing and the most amazing thing that I’ve done so far.
“Rod Stewart was really nice and everyone I met that night was so nice.
“When I met Ruby Turner, I was really excited to meet her because I’ve watched the Hootenanny every year since I was really small and she’s on it nearly every year so it was really cool to meet her as well.
“She’s such a nice woman. She was so lovely and she kind of really took me under her wing on the day because I was so nervous and she kind of made me feel like I was supposed to be there and like I was at home there. She was lovely.”
What else has been a real highlight for you?
“Probably November this year.
“I played Vicar Street so that was definitely a highlight.
“One of my biggest gigs I’ve done so far.
“It was a great experience and the crowd were absolutely amazing.
“They were such a good crowd.
“They were so enthusiastic and they were great.
“It was so cool to get to play in Vicar Street because there’s been so many big names that have played on that stage over the years.
“It was amazing.”
You’re still only 17 (Muireann has turned 18 since our chat) so does that mean you still have the leaving cert to contend with? Was it a case of you did Jools Holland and were back in school a couple of weeks later?
“Yeah, I did Jools Holland over the Christmas holidays and then once they were over, I went straight back to school and started studying again.
“I should be doing my leaving cert this year but me and my parents just kind of decided that it was too much for me to do the two things at once so I decided to take a year out just focus on this for a year and see how things go.”
You mentioned busking, was that helpful to you in terms of learning your craft?
“Yeah, it definitely did help me prepare for performing. It definitely did.”
It seems we have an exciting group of young Irish performers with yourself and the likes of Allie Sherlock and Saibh Skelly. Are you aware of this rich talent that is just about to burst through?
“Yeah, I am.
“I’m definitely aware of loads of young talent from Ireland.
“Yeah, there’s loads of amazing musicians, young musicians around my age as well.
“I am, yeah. Definitely.
“I never met Allie Sherlock or anyone like that but I have seen them all on YouTube and stuff.
“They’re all really great.”
What’s the plans now? Obviously there’s the re-release of this debut album but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s already plans for a follow up album. Are you already looking ahead to the next one?
“Yeah, I’m definitely thinking of the next album.
“They’re not putting too much pressure on me to start recording or anything anytime soon but I will be recording the new album sometime in the new year after the first album is remastered and released.
“Yeah, I’m definitely building up new material and all for the new album.
“It would be a couple of originals on the new album as well.”
Yes, the plan is to write your own material in the same style, isn’t it?
“Yeah, definitely.”
Do you think you’ll experiment with more styles further down the line as well, or are you just focused on this blues sound that you’re getting known for?
“Yeah, I definitely will stick with blues but later on, I think I will definitely experiment with new genres of music and different styles of playing.
“I love listening to any kind of guitar music.”
You couldn’t have expected where it would take you when you started strumming, could you?
“No, I definitely didn’t expect it to come this far when I started playing and when I started learning again during lockdown.
“I definitely had no idea it would come anywhere near this far.
“I just kind of started back playing just for fun and just for something to do.
“And it’s amazing that it’s come this far so quickly.
“It’s been great.”
Muireann Bradley releases her debut album I Kept These Old Blues on 28 February.
The remastered single Candyman is out now.
For more information, click here.