Cian Finn & DMac Burns – fri June 9th –

His 2015 debut album This Applies featured a performance alongside Max Romeo, amongst other reggae royalty. 

Before releasing his first solo album, Cian fronted the band Intinn, an Irish dub and dancehall collective that made a big enough impression to earn them spots on the same stages as The Wailers, The Skatalites and UB40.

One could be forgiven for associating Cian mostly with Jamaican influenced sounds, but his roots are spread wider than that, and they are steeped deep in traditional and folk music.     

In 2018 Cian released an album that he recorded with his father, not long before his father passed. The album is simply titled Alec and Cian Finn. Alec was a founding member of the massively influential group De Dannan, and one of many places that Alec’s legacy can be felt is in the work of his son. Cian’s traditional roots show strong on this emotionally charged recording.    

Cian’s life in music moves like a river, the streams feeding that river are folk, reggae, trad, dub, hip-hop, dancehall, electronica and soul. The river follows its own course, taking bends that some may find unexpected, but it always follows the natural and engaging flow that has long been a hallmark of Cian’s work. “I see myself primarily as a songwriter” is how Cian responds to questions about style and genre. Cian’s music and what he has to say is more important than how his work might be classified. On his latest tracks, all Cian’s experiences and influences have swirled together to form a unique and powerful body of work.          

Although the sweep of Cian’s life in music has brought him around the world, performing in clubs and festivals in The Philippines, China, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, India and Kenya, he has recently settled in his hometown in the west of Ireland overlooking the windswept and wild waters of Galway Bay. This is also where he’s based his record label, Emerald Isle Records, and where he’s been recording the tracks for his latest album.

Stick the headphones on, sit back, relax, and let the words and music of Cian Finn wash over you, carry you away, and rest assured that no matter where his flow takes you, he’s always going to bring it home.

Look out for Cian‘s new album “What’s Next” releasing in Q3 of 2023, encapsulating many aspects of Cians artistry that will be familiar to his current supporters, and a number of new avenues that are guaranteed to excite both regular & new listeners alike.

 

Singer-songwriter DMac Burns combines elements of r&b, indie rock and reggae into heartfelt lyrically rich songs. Spending his early childhood in Queens, and then growing up in The Bronx, DMac was shaped by the wide array of culture that New York City has to offer. He cut his teeth playing in highschool punk bands at classic venues such as CBGB’s and The Knitting factory before refining his style in reggae outfit, Rocky and The Pressers. Since then he continued to surge through NYC’s competitive music scene as a solo act, or joined by bandmates, Rocky Russo and Seth Nicholson. He released his debut self-titled EP in 2020 featuring collaborations from industry veterans Marc Campbell of MisterWives, and Jesse Blum of Twenty One Pilots.

While recording his latest EP with producer Julian Giaimo in early 2022, DMac learned he would become a father, prompting a radical change. Between dropping the singles, “Views” and “Hope” he relocated from New York to rural Ireland so that he and his wife could experience a home birth surrounded by her family. Surprisingly enough, this city kid found himself at home raising his tiny daughter amongst the fuchsia and the ferns. Currently based in West Cork, DMac has begun gigging with keyboardist / dub-specialist, Matias Saldivia who hails from Buenos Aires. The new EP, The Longest Night comes out in June 2023 and will be celebrated with a show at the legendary West Cork venue, Connolly’s of Leap. The album is inspired by the concept of the dark night of the soul. It focuses on themes of hustling and working towards a potentially hollow dream amidst the dark shadow that capitalism casts over us all.