BARRY KERR - MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST

Barry Kerr hails from County Armagh in Northern Ireland and currently lives in Belfast (when he is not on tour). Barry is recognized as one of Ireland’s most accomplished traditional musicians. As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and painter he is extremely prolific in his creative output.

Having recorded his first solo album at age seventeen, he has gone on to tour the world as both a solo performer and in the company of artists such as Cara Dillon, Phil Coulter, Dan Tyminskii, Lumiere, Dervish, At First Light…the list goes on. His songs and compositions have been recorded by the likes of Karan Casey, Flook, Beoga, Brian Finnegan, Damian O’Kane and Kate Rusby.

As a painter he is fast becoming an important figure in contemporary Irish Art, exhibiting at home and abroad to high critical acclaim.

Barry recently released his second CD entitled “Boy In A Boat”. His new self-released album Boy In A Boat has been a long time coming. It’s been eight years since The World Looks Away, his first album as a singer and songwriter and, as he says, “I’ve seen a lot of the world in between, often from a tour bus window, and I’ve wound up back in the country, living on the shores of Lough Neagh, older and hopefully wiser, immersed in nature and with the space for quiet contemplation.” As frustrating as the delay must have been, it’s also allowed him to focus on making the music that truly moved him and the result is a record which captures the essence of his sound while retaining its accessibility.

It’s been a long time coming, but Boy In A Boat combines literate songwriting and top class musicianship with high production values and painstaking attention to detail. The result is an album of which Barry Kerr can be justifiably proud; one which more than holds its own with the big names of the contemporary Celtic music scene.