Photo Credit: Tim Jarvis
Irish folk legends Dervish have released their new single, ‘The Town I Loved So Well,‘ featuring The Del McCoury Band. Written by Phil Coulter, one of Ireland’s most revered composers whose work spans everything from traditional airs to the Eurovision stage. It is the fourth single from Dervish’s forthcoming album, “The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers” which is set to release May 29, 2026 on Down the Road Records/Exceleration Music.
‘The Town I Loved So Well’ is one of the most enduring songs in the Irish canon, a meditation on Coulter’s hometown of Derry that has moved audiences for more than fifty years. In the hands of Dervish and The Del McCoury Band, it becomes something new: a transatlantic meeting of two traditions. McCoury, who joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1963, is as close to bluegrass royalty as it gets. He is a Grand Ole Opry member, two-time Grammy winner, and 31-time IBMA Award recipient whose music has never stopped reaching outward.
“The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers” marks the follow-up to Dervish’s acclaimed 2019 collaboration “The Great Irish Songbook”, which drew on the timeless canon of Irish traditional song. This sequel turns its gaze to the present: a collection of songs by contemporary Irish songwriters whose work is actively expanding the tradition, featuring material from Phil Coulter, Shane MacGowan, Sinéad O’Connor, Van Morrison, Ye Vagabonds, The Breath, and more.
True to the spirit of the first volume, “Poets & Storytellers” brings together an exceptional cast of guest artists from across the folk, country, and Americana worlds. Sarah Jarosz lends her voice to the longing “Blue Is the Eye;” Indigo Girls carry John Spillane’s “Passage West” into new emotional territory; The Del McCoury Band make the case that bluegrass and Irish music are kindred spirits; Glen Hansard performs his own “Leave the Light On;” Eddi Reader channels the Celtic soul of Van Morrison’s “One Irish Rover;” and Moya Brennan contributes the Irish-language celebration “Tobar an tSaoil.” Madeleine Peyroux, Aoife O’Donovan, and Iron & Wine round out a guest roster that reads like a who’s-who of contemporary roots music.
With “The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2 “, Dervish has delivered another testament to the living, breathing present tense of Irish music, proof that a tradition this vital doesn’t need protecting so much as it needs continuing.
Track listing for The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers:
“Passage West“ (by John Spillane) feat. Indigo Girls
“Jackie“ (by Sinéad O’Connor) feat. Aoife O’Donovan
“Rock the Machine“ (by Lisa O’Neill) feat. Iron & Wine
“Blue is the Eye“ (by Brian and Diarmuid Glynn) feat. Sarah Jarosz
“The Broad Majestic Shannon“ (by Shane MacGowan) feat. Cathy Jordan
“Land of My Other“ (by Rioghnach Sinead Connolly) feat. Sister Sadie
“One Irish Rover“ (by Van Morrison) feat. Eddi Reader
“Leave a Light On“ (by Glen Hansard) feat. Glen Hansard
“Tobar an tSaoil” (by Moya Brennan & Ashling Jarvis) feat. Moya Brennan
“As I Leave Behind Neidin“ (by Jimmy McCarthy) feat. Madeleine Peyroux
“The Town I Loved So Well“ (by Phil Coulter) feat. the Del McCoury Band
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