Our most played track this week is by Maurice McGrath, from an album we launched some time back called Winsome Ways. It's called Willie Clancy and the Pipes. Maurice sets out the background to this song stating that it tells the story of a man from Miltown Malbay, County Clare who, along with many thousands of Irishmen in the nineteen-fifties, emigrated to London to seek work as a labourer.  

“Life was rough for these men, with early starts, heavy work and harsh weather. Some of them married and had families, but some of them grew old on their own, still renting bedsits in places such as Kilburn High Road. I could see them still there in the early nineties when I was in London. Drinking was an escape from the harsh realities of labouring long hours on the new motorways. Irish music, then as now, reminded people of home. The wild sound of the pipes must have seemed exotic in 1950's London. Willy Clancy was a renowned Uilleann Piper from Clare who himself took the boat to London. He played in pubs such as The Crown in Cricklewood.”

The album is now on release and can be purchased from Maurice’s websitewww.mauricemcgrath.com and can be downloaded fromwww.mauricemcgrath.bandcamp.com