Dublin singer songwriter, Ken O’Duffy will release a new single on Friday, May 12 th entitled The Willow Tree , It is the third single to be taken from Ken’s new album Sing the Songs which was released on April 14th with a sold-out launch show at Whelans, Dublin. The song features ex-Saville/Pugwash drummer Joe Fitzgerald, and was recorded by Mark Healy (Skanger, The Josephs) at his Sound Yard Studios in Dublin. Sing The Songs was written and recorded during lockdown and is the follow up to Ken’s 2019 critically acclaimed debut solo album The Last Night At The Gentlemen’s Club . The Willow Tree is available from Bandcamp, and all streaming platforms from this Friday, May 12 th .
“My first musical memory is of Ronnie Drew singing ‘Weile Weile Waile’ and The ‘Willow Tree’ is in the tradition of a story song with a beginning, middle and end. I wrote three different endings for the song including a murder ballad dénouement, but this less melodramatic version sees the lovers in the song using the knife to scratch their names in the Willow Tree”. Ken O’Duffy
Along with the likes of Bren Tallon Ger Eaton , and Waterford’s now sadly defunct O Emperor , Ken is a part of a coterie of Irish pop classicalists who’ve kept the nation safe for the sanctity of the song. Alan Corr
Ken has been making music with various bands (including The Experiment and a stint in Light a Big Fire) since the mid-1980s. In the noughties Ken released three critically acclaimed albums with Dublin band Saville, the last two being released on the legendary Reekus Records label. In 2014 and 2016 he released Songs of Absolution and The Autumn House with The Citizens (featuring Tosh Flood of The Divine Comedy/Pugwash).
Over the past five years Ken has been playing solo acoustic gigs, and in August 2019 released his first solo album entitled The Last Night at the Gentlemen’s Club . The album made album of the week on RTE Radio 1 and received favourable reviews from various publications upon its release.
