Paul Brady

Paul Brady plays Vicar Street, Dublin, on 18 June 2026. A singer, songwriter and multi‑instrumentalist from Northern Ireland, he came up through rhythm and blues, folk and Irish traditional music before opening his writing to pop and rock. After early spells with Dublin bands, he joined The Johnstons in 1967 for a run that took him through London and New York, then returned to Ireland to slot into Planxty and, in 1976, record a defining duo album with Andy Irvine. His solo path began with Welcome Here Kind Stranger (1978), rooted in the traditional repertoire, before Hard Station (1981) marked a turn towards contemporary songwriting, a thread he pulled through True for You, Back to the Centre, Primitive Dance and Trick or Treat. Along the way he has worked with players like Tommy Peoples, Matt Molloy, Bonnie Raitt and Richard Thompson, and seen his songs picked up by other voices. Recent albums Unfinished Business (2017) and Maybe So (2022) show the same balance of acoustic craft and electric textures that runs through his catalogue, a range he now brings to the stage at Vicar Street.