Charlie O' Brien

I make Irish folk music, sounds that straddle the land between innovation and tradition. The songs I write are sometimes personal, sometimes they explore social histories. Having created "Trouble or Fortune Records/Films" back in 2016, five albums and three music inspired films were brought out under that name since. The soundtrack to the documentary feature "A Captain Unafraid" (2017) was composed by myself and William Kemp. As director of Captain Unafraid, and presenter of Saol John Riley (for Irish Gaelic T.V.) I followed the histories entailed in songs I'd written. "Pa' los Del San Patricio" from "Songs from an Outpost" (2007), and "Marine Mambí" from "Hy Brasil, Songs Of The Irish In Latin America" (2019) were the inspiration for those particular films. The album "Where Splendour Falls" was released in 2016-poems old and new, my own and of others, set to song. Macalla Chill Áirne (2021) was my first foray into fiction film, this period short explores the phenomenon of the Killarney echo, tracing the Victorian tour of the lake district of Killarney in sound and dramatic political allegory. It’s soundtrack was released in August 2021. I've spent the past two years in Argentina exploring the little known tradition of Irish Argentine balladry, culminating with the release of "The Trackless Wild, Irish Song of the Pampa" in August 2024.