• Stream: Pat Dam Smyth – Dancing

    April 1, 2019 - By 

    When we last spoke to him, back in March of 2016, we reasoned that London-based Northern Irish troubadour Pat Dam Smyth stood tall as one of the country’s most distinctive and vital songwriting voices. Three years on, that theory needs underlining. Having recently signed to Belfast’s Quiet Arch, Smyth is back with a new single – the first for a forthcoming album – called ‘Dancing’. Reflecting on his life as a teenager in Belfast, it’s a pensive, full-band affair, bursting with pathos and Smyth’s singular melodic knack. Stream it below. Smyth’s second album is out in July 2019.

  • Stream: Pat Dam Smyth – Goodbye Berlin

    August 11, 2017 - By 

    The follow-up to the masterfully mournful ‘Juliette’ – a single relaying the tale of a woman attempting to escape an abusive relationship released back in April – ‘Goodbye Berlin’ by Belfast’s Pat Dam Smyth is a song that tackles “being a kid and disappearing down the rock and roll rabbit hole”. Bounding with the raconteur’s inimitable words of wanderlust and genre-bending brand of incisive indie-folk, it’s a sweet tale that “recalls a time where music had pushed him to the brink, defining his relationship with both his past and his future, and the dominant force that songs have always played in…

  • Help Musicians NI Partner with Stendhal Festival for Henry McCullough Stage, Announce New Acts

    July 27, 2017 - By 

    To honour the life and career of outstanding guitarist Henry McCullough, who sadly passed away last year, Limavady’s Stendhal Festival – August 11th & 12th – have announced a Henry McCullough Stage, and new partnership charity Help Musicians Northern Ireland. HMNI curate the stage on Friday night, as well as the Oh Yeah Centre stage, and have announced the first wave of acts for their bill. As well as a distinguished solo career, McCullough was best-known for his time with Wings, and was famously the only Irishman to play Woodstock, where he played with Joe Cocker in one of the all-time great live performances.…

  • Stream: Pat Dam Smyth – Juliette

    April 12, 2017 - By 

    Ask a selection of the country’s most well-regarded and successful singer-songwriters who their own favourite Irish songsmith is and there’s a very strong chance that Pat Dam Smyth will crop up. An artist whose candour, lyricism and musicianship leaves affectation and hubris at the door, his long-awaited new single ‘Juliette’ is a masterfully mournful cut, concisely relaying the tale of a woman attempting to escape an abusive relationship. Cut from the same cloth of Nick Cave and John Grant, the full-band effort also conjures Dark Side-era Pink Floyd in its braying brass and portentous, swaggering pop élan. The first single to be taken from…

  • Beyond The Divide: An Interview with Pat Dam Smyth

    March 29, 2016 - By 

    There are few more inimitable and instantly engaging songsmiths than London-based, Northern Irish troubadour Pat Dam Smyth. Five years on from the release of his stellar debut album, The Great Divide, Smyth is currently crowdfunding for its forthcoming follow-up via Pledge Music, a release that will surely doubly confirm his standing as one of the country’s most distinctive and vital voices. Ahead of shows at Belfast’s The MAC on Friday, April 1 and Rathfriland’s Bronte Church on April 2, Smyth chats to Brian Coney about his pledge campaign, touring across Europe and finally feeling he belongs to the current era.…

  • Liverpool Sound City 2015

    May 29, 2015 - By 

    Thanks to the likes of Emerald Armada, Raglans, Pat Dam Smyth (above), The Clameens, His New Atlas and others, there was yet another strong Irish presence at this year’s Liverpool Sound City. Photos by Christopher Flack. Thanks to the generous, becoming chaps at Getintothis.