Mick Hanly

Born in Limerick, Eire, singer-songwriter Hanly first drew inspiration from mid-1950s rock ‘n’ roll, only later cultivating a deeper interest in folk during the 1960s. He devoted his free hours to performing Woody Guthrie songs before redirecting his focus, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, toward the Irish traditional music of his youth. Alongside Michael O’Domhnaill he formed Monroe, which supported Planxty throughout their 1973 tour and went on to release Folk Weave, until O’Domhnaill departed for the Bothy Band in 1975. Hanly then spent two years in France; upon returning to Ireland he cut two acclaimed solo albums in the company of Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Declan Sinnott. He next toured Ireland and Europe with Irvine, who had only recently left Planxty. In 1981 Hanly became a vocalist with Moving Hearts and supplied several of his own songs to Live Hearts. After that innovative and highly successful Irish traditional band dissolved in 1985, he resumed his solo path and shifted toward country music. His material was later interpreted by Christy Moore, Mary Black and the country singer Hal Ketchum, who carried Hanly’s “Past The Point Of Rescue” into the Top 10 of the US country chart in 1993.