Many years prior, whilst honing her musical skills, Niamh Bury joined the ranks of musicians who made their living by busking on Dublin’s streets. She fondly reminiscences about an European escapade with her guitar accompanying her, busking in various prominent cities. In her memory, the most profitable city was Vienna – it greatly appreciated her folk-inspired melodies.
In lively conversation over comforting cups of tea in a central Dublin hotel, she confirms, “Vienna was fantastic for me,” gesturing towards her successful run there. “Maybe because it’s inherently a musical city. I entertained the crowds outside St Stephen’s Cathedral, made a handsome sum, and then a friend and I treated ourselves to the renowned Sachertorte at the legendary Sacher Hotel, an indulgence indeed.”
I jestingly point out how notably this veers from the typically experienced rock and roll lifestyle —where are the notorious late-night excessive parties and unbridled indulgence? “I chose folk music for precisely this reason,” she responds wittily. “I’ve always preferred coffee and cake over any hardcore alternative.”
A native of Portmarnock, a coastal town in North Dublin, Bury is steadily gaining prominence among emerging artists in Ireland’s thriving young folk music scene. However, tagging her as merely a “folk” artist doesn’t fully capture her style. The 32-year old’s anticipated first album, Yellow Roses, demonstrates this by blending folk with implied notions of jazz and traditional music.
She implies that she doesn’t necessarily reject being categorised, but she views genres as general guidelines for people, similar to labels on a package to give an idea of what lies within. She admits a certain classical influence, having collaborated with two incredible string musicians, and also acknowledges a trace of grunge and alt-rock from her youthful listening habits shaping her lyrics slightly. While fond of folk music, she clarifies it isn’t the solitary genre influencing her.
She has always had adoration for expressing her talent with others. It seemed inevitable for Bury to embark on a musical journey considering her upbringing. Her father, Terry, is a pub singer, and her sister Fiona, now a trained opera singer, previously sang professionally with an Australian group. Bury’s brother is a session guitarist who has performed with numerous Irish bands, while their mother Angela, a former classically trained pianist turned science tutor, used to supervise the school musicals.
Bury, who was a very shy kid, found performance came naturally. She was involved in local musicals from early on due to her family’s participation, although she was the background artist. She gradually discovered her skill as ‘the class singer’ and fondly remembers singing solo at communions and graduation masses. She cherished exhibiting her talent to others.
Some of this adorable shyness seems to have lingered with Bury into her adult years. While she is warm, she is somewhat a hesitant conversationalist and seems more comfortable letting her music speak on her behalf. Despite dismissing the notion of leading any school musicals, a post-interview Google exploration surprisingly revealed that she once played the lead role of Fantine in Les Mis, opposite Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s Jean Valjean, who was in the Eurovision contest representing Ireland as well as a reality television participant.
Bury, during her adolescent years, recalls experiencing a phase where those hearing her strong vocal prowess encouraged her to participate in reality programmes. “It seemed like the obvious choice to many, given their prominence during my teenage years,” she shares in a humble tone. She refrains from criticising such shows, acknowledging their entertaining appeal and their significance but confesses they didn’t align with her personal vision for musical creation. Before completing her thought, she halts, hunting for the right phrase. “Those who made successful careers from those platforms generally are more engaged in television hosting roles now, and while that’s commendable in its own right, I knew early on that I wanted to steer clear from that direction.”
[The enduring artist, Shane MacGowan – an inspiration for Taylor Swift’s producer, Jack Antonoff.]
Bury then recounts how in her early twenties she discovered a refreshing environment in the Dublin folk scene, a stark contrast to the reality shows. The local folk sessions didn’t merely focus on vocal perfection, rather it was the ability to captivate an audience and relay a story that carried more importance. She reflects fondly, “I believe that this subtle form of communication with others, devoid of any superficiality or pretence, is a truer form of human interaction.”
This perception likely contributes to her scepticism towards treating music as an academic pursuit. Following high school, she enrolled in a music degree – surprisingly the same one as Dermot Kennedy – at Maynooth but threw in the towel after the first year. Bury explains her predicament, “I was undergoing a performance-based degree where I was under continuous scrutiny regarding my voice, something I heavily detested.” She confesses she only wanted to preserve the undiluted quality of her voice. “Looking back, maybe it wouldn’t have been a bad idea, but back then I was too concerned about my unique sound and the critiques didn’t sit well with me. So, I decided to drop the music course and took up English instead, a subject that truly resonated with me – to the point where I even completed a Master’s in it.”
She further shares that an invitation to perform at the Inishowen Singing Festival, located in Donegal, during that phase in her life marked a significant turning point both personally and professionally.
Reflecting on her past with laughter, she recalls how she seemingly stumbled upon her music career. After an encounter with a stranger who heard her singing at a hotel in Donegal, she was urged to attend a festival. The event catered particularly to young vocalists, providing them with a unique opportunity to reside with other budding singers. Venturing there on a whim, she found herself surrounded by contemporaries who shared her passion for traditional music. The bonds formed back then still hold strong to this day.
For Bury, finding individuals who had similar inclinations was nothing short of a revelation. All through her school life, she had been the odd one out, with a taste in music that diverged from the mainstream. Although she appreciated modern musicians like Fiona Apple and Jeff Buckley, her frequently visiting the Willie Clancy Festival with her family demonstrated her love for vintage music. Discovering a group of people who appreciated antiquated music kindled excitement within her.
Today, Bury is actively involved in planning The Night Before Larry Got Stretched, a popular monthly event of traditional vocal performances that takes place at a renowned pub in Dublin. This event started under the auspices of well-known bands such as Lankum and Landless. According to her, there’s an innate satisfaction in witnessing the authenticity, sometimes flawed, of raw singing.
She recently welcomed a young singer named Eva Carroll, hailing from Feakle in Clare, who sings in both Irish and English. The event is a platform for individuals regardless of age, background, or social class. Shaking her head, she mentions the spontaneity of these meetings, citing the Italian Men’s Club’s enchanting five-part harmony rendition of Molly Malone. Her love for stage performances is evident, but she also enjoys returning to the basics, singing without embellishments. Hearing others engage in the same feeds her soul and serves as a source of great inspiration.
Following her period in Maynooth, Bury enrolled in a master’s programme in English at the University of East Anglia, located in the enchanting medieval city of Norwich. This city is famously known as the fictitious dwelling of the character DJ Alan Partridge, created by Steve Coogan. While there, Bury crisscrossed paths with her boyfriend, who, like her, has a knack for music, leading her to prolong her stay in Norwich out of affection. The two ignited a fleeting music night, imitating The Night Before Larry Got Stretched. However, in 2019, they relocated back to Dublin as Bury craved for the Dublin music atmosphere.
“Whilst I am a staunch fan of English folk music, especially the works of the Watersons, Wilson Family, and Martin Carthy, there’s indeed no comparison to the music sessions in Dublin,” Bury notes. She believes that the rise of youthful musicians leveraging the folk and traditional genre through their own lens could be due to multiple factors. Quite a number of these artists hail from Dublin’s northside, just like her, including Lankum and John Francis Flynn.
“Many would argue that our parents’ generation who were fans of Planxty, Mary Black, Van Morrison, might have influenced us,” she suggests. “Some assert that the start point was 2010, post-recession; an assertion I somewhat resonate with. During such tough economic times, one may not have needed any financial capacity to make music and entertain friends, bringing us back to the rudimentary concept of communal interaction and mutual entertainment. Regardless, I am not wholly convinced that there’s an existent ‘scene’, but I do not believe individuals should be bracketed by categories or labels. I can confidently say that I take immense pride in being a Dublin native, and knowing such talented individuals,” she concludes.
The musical skills of Bury shine unabated in her album, Yellow Roses, which Brían Mac Gloinn, one half of the renowned folk pair Ye Vagabonds, acted as the sound engineer and co-producer of. Bury brings exceptional skills to bear on the guitar and piano, nonetheless, she agrees that women are often simply categorised as “pleasant vocalists,” without recognising their technical abilities.
“I haven’t encountered it often, but I’ve certainly observed it among other female musicians,” she states, “People have a tendency to emphasise female voices. Growing up, Lisa Hannigan served as a significant figure for me, as she was not only penning her own tunes but also utilising her instrumentals; a rarity at the time. However, today we have artists like Anna Mieke, whose remarkable guitar abilities are often overshadowed by her voice.”
“Niamh Regan also falls into this category. I do see a shift occurring, as musicians like [Donegal’s] Muireann Bradley and Grace Bowers – a supremely talented, young American blues/rock guitarist – are emerging as phenomenal virtuosos. This is a fantastic development because we certainly require more female exemplars. Fortunately, this appears to be an increasingly less rare occurrence, which is promising.”
Bury’s Yellow Roses, while an assemblage of songs, some of which date back to 2015, centrally explores the various facets of womanhood. This is a theme that stirs unexpected emotions within her as she discusses it.
Looking back, she admits that many of the tracks were penned during her mid-twenties. Strangely, she identifies them as a means of comprehending her journey of womanhood and the sort of female figure she desired to become. Struggling to hide her emotions, she apologises, before explaining that it was a sensitive subject. Additionally, multiple songs were inspired by her family members.
The title piece, “Yellow Roses”, pays homage to her late grandmother. Despite her challenging life, she found peace in nature, animals, and beauty. Thus, this song encapsulates the album’s objective: To seek positivity in all aspects of life.
Having completed her first album, she is thrilled and already working on the next one steadily. The album was recorded in collaboration with Mac Gloinn at Black Mountain Recording Studios, overlooking Dundalk Bay, in the midst of the 2021 pandemic. It marked Bury’s debut in a professional studio, adding to the charm of “Yellow Roses”.
Such quality didn’t go unnoticed, resulting in Bury being enlisted by Claddagh Records, co-founded in 1959 by Garech Browne, the Guinness heir and arts benefactor. The recently revived label took Bury and doom-folk collective Øxn under their wing as their first signing in almost two decades. She originally planned to independently release the album, however, the label took over. Notwithstanding the opportunity to be signed by prestigious UK-based Rough Trade Records, Bury took delight in being signed to an Irish label. Considering the late purist and traditionalist Browne’s hypothetical reaction to “Yellow Roses” seems to amuse her.
With a chuckle, she reveals that he probably didn’t care much for the guitar. Considering it’s not a conventional instrument, he usually resisted including it in his tracks. Now, wherever he may be, she trusts he’s come to terms with this fresh detour. She expresses that there’s an impressive wealth of music around, and it’s a pleasing change to find it a place to call home. People are making strides in various ways, and exhibiting this and allowing it space to grow in Ireland is indispensable.
Given her nonchalant attitude towards her musical progress—following her instincts—she naturally looks forward to simply continuing her album-making journey. Now that she’s completed one, she can barely contain her eagerness to create the next one. She’s been steadily working at writing and has also cultivated an interest in production. With so many ways a song could be manipulated, she’s curious to see what the next album might bring.
She is clear that if her music career doesn’t take the desired trajectory, she’ll nonetheless continue doing what she loves. Resolute, she affirms, “I’ll never give up singing. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s professional or not.” Reminiscing about her early acts in school plays, she grins. Even though she wasn’t a professional singer for many years, it gave her joy. As long as it continues fulfilling her, there’s absolutely no cause for her to stop—irrespective of the size of her audience.
Her album, Yellow Roses, is set for release on March 29th, with Niamh Bury lined to tour nationwide in April.