Taking her chance

Described as one of the finest talents in the folk world today, the supremely talented singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill will officially launch of ‘All Of This Is Chance’ on home soil later this week.

The completely sold-out shows at Cavan’s Townhall Theatre on Friday and Saturday, February 7-8, will be supported by Larry Beau and a host of other guests on the night. This is the Ballyhaise native’s fourth album since the self-released ‘Has An Album (2009)’ and already it has received widespread critical acclaim.

‘All Of This Is Chance’ follows on from the powerful ‘Pothole in the Sky (2016)’ and ‘Heard a Long Gone Song (2018)’, all released on Rough Trade’s sister later River Lea imprint.

More recently Lisa released ‘The Wren EP’, and a moving cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All the Tired Horses’ for the final scene of epic TV drama Peaky Blinders.

Local writer and playwright Pat McCabe describes Lisa’s music better than most: “Vertiginous, violet-they scroll across the sky, words with wings VVV, whether wrens or angels one cannot determine, perhaps an alternate universe fusion of both, up down, high, low-dizzy, still; at peace, at war: redemption dreams arise from the clay: soul's peace, as the bird in the bough its little eye closes slowly: all is chance, they say, indeed-save this, indisputably, O' Neill's Art's gentle triumph.”

Her current tour will see Lisa fly to Paris next week for an intimate show at L’Usine Springcourt, followed by more shows in Ireland and the UK in February and March.