duke special

Musical sensation Duke Special is an artist aptly named. Dynamic, artistically ambitious and bracingly eccentric, with his inimitable style and lush musicality, his self-confessed “hobo-chic” sound is awash with vaudevillian sensibilities, beautifully bruised romanticisms and addictive melodies. With dashes of Gershwin and orchestral swing, tinged with a Northern Irish lilt and poetic lyrics that could feature in a modern-day fairytale, Duke Special is the perfect balance of old and new.

His critically acclaimed 2006 album ‘Songs From the Deep Forest’ achieved platinum status in Ireland, and combined with his 2008 follow up ‘I Never Thought This Day Would Come’, led to Duke pursuing such creative avenues that the average artist can only dream of! He wrote the music for and appeared in Deborah Warner’s critically acclaimed 2009 production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her children at London’s National Theatre. This led to his release of ‘A Book, The Stage and The Silver Screen’ in 2010. His most recent project was a major collaboration with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for which he wrote and performed an entire collection of songs based on the gallery’s photography exhibition Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand.

Performing to sold-out shows across the world, he has also opened for artists such as Van Morrison and Snow Patrol. Tonight, he presents a feast of music from his new album ‘Oh Pioneer’, on which he says ” Wooden Fingers Puppet Theatre Company, The Bank of Ideas, a banned Iranian children’s book about a fish, a pirate who wants to retire, a bar man who hears people’s stories whether he likes it or not, the human condition and late night conversations with friends on the roof of the ‘Oh Yeah’ building about your dreams, are just a few of the ingredients to go into ‘Oh Pioneer’.

Tickets: £15 full/£13 concession