Brendan Quinn

Born to a blacksmith, Brendan Quinn exited formal education at fifteen intent on learning the welding trade, only to trade that path for life as a working musician. By nineteen he had signed on with Robin & the Breakaways, whose classic showband lineup—brass, drums, bass, guitar, piano, and lead vocalist—delivered current Top 20 material nightly across Irish bars and dancehalls. Within those gigs Quinn honed his own guitar and vocal abilities. He remained with the group until 1975, at which point he launched the Bluebirds, a unit shaped by American country music. The band maintained an unrelenting schedule of performances throughout Ireland, Britain, and North America until 1994, when Quinn returned to the honky-tonk and rock & roll sounds that had first captivated him as a boy in Magherafelt. He channeled that renewed focus through Kickin’ Mule, a bar band originally assembled for a single 1990 jam session. Joined by longtime associate Arty McGlynn of the Van Morrison Band, Quinn favored the intimate rooms that suited the group’s relaxed approach. His debut solo album, The Mystery, appeared in 1994; seven years later he issued Small Town on Deep Cove Records, the Magherafelt-based label in the town where he still lives.