Mick Flannery

His debut album Evening Train resulted from his time spent studying music and management at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork. It featured tracks which had previously won Flannery two categories at the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the first Irish musician to win in this event. In 2019 this album premiered as a musical by the same name.

However, he is keen to express his fondness for stonemasonry and its position alongside his music: "I wasn't going to sit in a room and write songs seven days a week and live on bread and beans. I liked doing stonemasonry as well". He still does it on an occasional basis: "We wouldn’t be carving gravestones or anything. We’d do the fronts of houses, entrance walls, stuff like that".

June 2019, as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival, The Everyman and Rosa Productions presented the world premiere of Evening Train, a new musical inspired by Mick Flannery's acclaimed concept album of the same name.

On July 5, 2019, Mick Flannery's most recent album was released. Mick touches on loose themes of ambition and the search for a meaningful life in the context of a musician’s sometimes feckless and dysfunctional lifestyle. This self titled album was mainly recorded in LA with Australian producer Tony Buchen between July and November 2018. This featured two co-writes with ESCQ of his songs Come Find Me and Fool. This record has debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Charts This made him the first independent Irish artist to reach the top since January 2018, and the third homegrown Irish act to hit the helm of the Top 50 this year, following Picture This' MDRN LV and Hozier's Wasteland, Baby!.

In 2018 Mick Flannery released a charity single for a women's support agency. All proceeds from the single ‘Rosaleen’ went to the National Women’s Council of Ireland. ‘Rosaleen’ was premiered in May when Flannery performed the track live on RTE Radio One’s ‘Ray D’Arcy Show’. He was accompanied by his Aunt Evelyn for this performance.

Mickmas Volume 1 was a four track EP that was Flannery's first independently released album. All songs on this EP were written by Mick Flannery, Except 'I have a darkness' written by Casey Black. All songs recorded and mixed by Christian Best at Monique Studios. 150 copies were made available to purchase online, with the remainder only available at live shows throughout December 2018. A donation from the sale of this EP was made to Pieta House.

The fifth installment from Mick Flannery was released on 14 October 2016. The album is described as having '50% more social awareness' than his previous album

Flannery lost to Jape, though he was mentioned in the acceptance speech, as frontman Richie Egan mentioned what his mother had told him before the award: “They all deserve the award – sure my mother even told me that Mick Flannery was going to win, she said you're good, Ritchie [sic], but he's gorgeous”.

Flannery released his third studio album, Red to Blue, on 30 March 2012. It spent three weeks at number one in the Irish Albums Chart and singles "Gone Forever" and "No Way To Live" enjoyed a lot of airplay. The Red to Blue tour was a major success for Flannery, featuring sold-out shows all over Ireland, most notably the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, one of Flannery's biggest venues to date. The tour finished with two sold-out shows at the Róisín Dubh in Galway

The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009. Also that year Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Influences include Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.

Flannery's largest headlining performance in Dublin at this stage occurred at Vicar Street on 25 May 2009. He performed alongside John Spillane at Live at the Marquee in Cork on 9 July 2009. Flannery said being asked to perform there was "daunting [...] In many ways I have drifted into this career and still have to pinch myself regularly to make sure I am not imagining it all". He also performed at the Bloom Festival as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of The Rose of Tralee in 2009. He made an appearance on the Crawdaddy Stage at Electric Picnic 2009. On 31 December 2009, he performed a date at the Cork Opera House as part of celebrations marking the end of the decade. He has sold out several other venues around Ireland and has also toured the UK.

The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009, commenting on his album White Lies: "With this stunning exhibition of the gravel-voiced musician's abilities, Flannery turned his hand to mournful piano ballads and catchy guitar tunes with a flair that far surpasses his 25 years".

Flannery was Hot Press' s Most Promising Act in its 2009 Reader's Poll.

Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards. The result was unexpected as beforehand the winner was anticipated to be Duke Special or Jape.

In 2009, Flannery was nominated for the Choice Music Prize. He was one of seven of the ten nominated acts to perform at the award ceremony in Vicar Street on 4 March.

Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008, achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart. It later went platinum and was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.

Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008, achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart and later going platinum in Ireland. On the day of the album's release Flannery performed "Tomorrow's Papers" on The Late Late Show. The song contributed to the increasing popularity of the singer-songwriter. entertainment.ie's Lauren Murphy said: "White Lies may not be a perfect album, but it's certainly a promising step forward for a real talent". RTÉ reviewer Harry Guerin commented: "If you're adamant that Ireland may sink with another singer-songwriter on tour, then this is a record to seek out; you won't notice the time passing and the nation will remain afloat".

Flannery began a tour of Ireland after the release of White Lies. He performed a duet of "Christmas Past" with Lisa Hannigan in December 2008 after Today FM's Tony Fenton paired them together for a radio show broadcast from a rooftop. He joined Hannigan at a show in Vicar Street to perform the same duet that month. "Tomorrow's Paper" was translated into the Irish language for a CD titled Ceol '09, an annual compilation released by Seachtain na Gaeilge. The Irish version was recorded in forty minutes at a studio in Dublin's Merrion Square. Flannery performed a cover version of "The River" on The Ray D'Arcy Show' s Discover Ireland Feel Good Tour stopover in Carlingford and Cooley Peninsula in March 2009. A deluxe edition of White Lies, which featured a duet of the song "Christmas Past" with Kate Walsh, was released in 2009.

Flannery composes original lyrics and music. Among the topics he has written about is the subject of heartbreak, for which he has drawn on past experiences. He read the literary works of Charles Bukowski, Jonathan Miller and John Steinbeck from a young age. His biggest musical influences are Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, once sending a letter to Waits but receiving no reply. Flannery attended shows by Cohen at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and Waits in the Phoenix Park when they came to Ireland in 2008. He is also fond of current music and likes the lyrics of Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys.

Flannery signed with EMI Records in 2007. That same year he was the subject of a programme called Mytunes, broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on 29 November. He performed on RTÉ Two's Other Voices television programme in 2008. This appearance led to increased interest in Flannery's music in Ireland.

Mick Flannery (born 28 November 1983) is an Irish singer and songwriter.