'Vocally he sounds like Robert Plant on occasion and the floating quality
of The Mad Magicians Daughter recalls the pastoral shades of Led
Zeppelin’s acoustic moments.' - John O'Regan - Irish Music Magazine
Dave Flynn - Singer/Songwriter
Whilst Dave Flynn has
gained international renown as a composer of instrumental music, his
roots are in the Dublin singer-songwriter scene of the mid 1990's. Dave taught himself music from an early age, composing his first song ‘The Guitar Man’ at the age of 10. His first musical obsession was heavy metal and as a
teenager he developed virtuoso guitar skills by teaching himself all the
great metal riffs and solos. By the time he was 18 he had opened his
horizons and began taking in influences from almost all
musical styles. He started taking song-writing
seriously and wrote his first songs of real quality.
Dave has been a performing songwriter ever since 1995 when he made his live debut aged 18 at the legendary International Bar Songwriters Nights run by Dave Murphy in Dublin. Over the next few years Dave shared a stage there and elsewhere with some of Ireland’s greatest singer-songwriters including Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom, Declan O’Rourke, Damien Rice and Damien Dempsey.
As he was developing his song-writing skills, Dave played lead guitar in the Dublin band ‘Maize’ with whom he played many gigs, including support slots to top Irish acts like The Frames and Mundy. Alas, Maize broke up in the late 90’s, so Dave concentrated on his solo career.
Dave is not your usual ‘I want to slit my wrists’ songwriter, so his songs provide a refreshing change from the norm. Indeed some of his songs are marked by a biting satirical humour. A prime example of which is ‘Ducks’, an ironic look at how the life of the ducks on the grand canal in Dublin is a lot like the life of many humans who walk by them every day!
Dave is no novelty act however and the songs he has written with the Poet/Lyricist Pádraic Ó Beírn demonstrate how easily Dave can move from ironic humour to ethereal beauty. Their song ‘Lullaby’ is one of the most haunting lullabies you will ever hear.
The year 2000 was vital in Dave’s development as a songwriter because in the summer of that year he met Pádraic at a songwriter’s convention organised by IMRO. They decided to write together and something clicked. Within a few minutes Dave had composed music to Pádraic’s beautiful poem ‘Woodlands’, and this song remains one of the finest songs in Dave’s repertoire.
They’ve since written some more gems together, five of which were recorded on Dave’s debut album ‘Draíocht’.
Dave has been patiently working on an album of his songs for a number of years with the help of percussionists Aidan Dunphy and Cion O'Callaghan, guitarist Ciarán Swift and bassist Brian O'Toole.
Recent high profile events in which Dave has featured as a singer-songwriter include the Trad Connections tour of Ireland (2008), The Secret Festival, Sweden with Vyvienne Long (2010), Africa Day, Dublin with Niwel Tsumbu (2010) and recent support slots on Vyvienne Long's 2011 October Irish Tour during which he joined Vyvienne as a guest on her song 'Seahorses' and her cover of The Cure's 'Lullaby'.
Dave has been a performing songwriter ever since 1995 when he made his live debut aged 18 at the legendary International Bar Songwriters Nights run by Dave Murphy in Dublin. Over the next few years Dave shared a stage there and elsewhere with some of Ireland’s greatest singer-songwriters including Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom, Declan O’Rourke, Damien Rice and Damien Dempsey.
As he was developing his song-writing skills, Dave played lead guitar in the Dublin band ‘Maize’ with whom he played many gigs, including support slots to top Irish acts like The Frames and Mundy. Alas, Maize broke up in the late 90’s, so Dave concentrated on his solo career.
Dave is not your usual ‘I want to slit my wrists’ songwriter, so his songs provide a refreshing change from the norm. Indeed some of his songs are marked by a biting satirical humour. A prime example of which is ‘Ducks’, an ironic look at how the life of the ducks on the grand canal in Dublin is a lot like the life of many humans who walk by them every day!
Dave is no novelty act however and the songs he has written with the Poet/Lyricist Pádraic Ó Beírn demonstrate how easily Dave can move from ironic humour to ethereal beauty. Their song ‘Lullaby’ is one of the most haunting lullabies you will ever hear.
The year 2000 was vital in Dave’s development as a songwriter because in the summer of that year he met Pádraic at a songwriter’s convention organised by IMRO. They decided to write together and something clicked. Within a few minutes Dave had composed music to Pádraic’s beautiful poem ‘Woodlands’, and this song remains one of the finest songs in Dave’s repertoire.
They’ve since written some more gems together, five of which were recorded on Dave’s debut album ‘Draíocht’.
Dave has been patiently working on an album of his songs for a number of years with the help of percussionists Aidan Dunphy and Cion O'Callaghan, guitarist Ciarán Swift and bassist Brian O'Toole.
Recent high profile events in which Dave has featured as a singer-songwriter include the Trad Connections tour of Ireland (2008), The Secret Festival, Sweden with Vyvienne Long (2010), Africa Day, Dublin with Niwel Tsumbu (2010) and recent support slots on Vyvienne Long's 2011 October Irish Tour during which he joined Vyvienne as a guest on her song 'Seahorses' and her cover of The Cure's 'Lullaby'.
