Conchúr White, a singer-songwriter from County Armagh in Northern Ireland, was on his way to a show in Cork on Ireland’s south coast this August, when he and his fiance made a stop in Kilkenny to record a session for The Influences. In Kilkenny Castle’s tower, he played covers of Big Thief’s Shark Smile and Nirvana’s Come As You Are followed by his own single I Did Good Today.

It was his single Atonia that made me instantly fall for Conchúr White’s music, and guess what, it won’t even be on his debut album Swirling Violets, due out on Bella Union January 19th 2024. (pre-order here) I Did Good Today will be, and based on our encounter in the castle, and his previous releases like the Dreamers EP from 2021, I feel comfortable saying it will be one of my favourite records of next year – while only having heard one song so far. Conchúr White works with the same management as Villagers, which will probably guide you somewhat in the right direction for what you can expect White to sound like, while at the same time producing songs that are very much his own.

Ninety miles down the road of a dead end dream.

When asked to record this session, White thought it would be nice to pick one older influence and one newer. “Big Thief are probably the most recent band and artist whom I would consider among my favourites. Adrianne Lenker is an incredible writer and the whole band are extremely talented.” 

“Come As You Are was the first track I remember falling in love with.”

Conchúr White remembers Nirvana being the reason whe started learning guitar. “I was obsessed with their music as a teenager. And I still know their discography inside out including everything on With The Lights Out. Come As You Are while one of the more known tracks was the first one I remember falling in love with.”

Conchúr White is on tour. Go see him.

Over the course of this coming month, Conchúr White will be travelling through Europe, probably playing a lot of songs from his upcoming debut album Swirling Violets. He’ll play Spain, London Calling festival in Amsterdam, Haldern Pop Bar, Belgium and several Scandinavian countries. Going to see him play if he’s near is highly recommended. By me.

Photos

Keep watching

Thank you for watching and enjoying this session. You’ll probably like some other sessions from The Influences’ archive too, like these earlier ones by Big Thief guitarist Buck Meek.