MFF2027: Barry Kerr

Part of Manchester Folk Festival 2027. This show will take place in Carole Nash Hall within the Stoller Hall building. Barry Kerr is riding a remarkable new wave of recognition, with his seventh studio album Curlew’s Cry being named Folk Album of the Year in March 2026. A celebrated composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist, Barry is known for work that captures the raw pulse and quiet poetry of Irish life. Originally from the southern shores of Lough Neagh and now rooted in the wild landscape of Connemara, he has carved out a distinctive voice over more than two decades of touring and recording—sharing stages with some of Ireland’s most revered performers. Barry recorded his debut album at just seventeen, launching an international career that has seen him collaborate with luminaries such as Steve Cooney, Cara Dillon, Julie Fowlis, Lumiere, and Dervish. His compositions have travelled even further, finding new life in the hands of artists including Karan Casey, Flook, Jiggy, Beoga, Brian Finnegan, Damian O’Kane, and Kate Rusby. An award-winning musician with a reputation for artistic fearlessness, Barry received the inaugural Liam O’Flynn Award from the National Concert Hall and the Arts Council in 2020. In 2023, he served as Traditional Musician in Residence at University College Cork. His creative curiosity continues to push boundaries—most notably in Fuascail, his meditative film exploring Ireland’s decade of centenaries, broadcast on TG4 in December 2022. At the heart of Barry’s recent work lies Curlew’s Cry: a haunting, luminous collection of original and traditional songs inspired by folklore, memory, and the natural world. Its shortlist for Folk Album of the Year marks a powerful moment in the evolution of an artist whose voice is as timeless as it is unmistakably his own.