Meeting Muireann Bradley

It’s September 18, 2024, at California’s Bornemann Theatre and blues guitarist Muireann Bradley has won a standing ovation at her first-ever US show. She’s had quite a year.

Muireann, who specialises in the ragtime country blues of the 1920s and 1930s made famous by the likes of Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Blake, was still an Irish schoolgirl when she made her breakthrough appearance on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny 2023. Her debut album, I Kept These Old Blues, from that year, had been largely ignored, and her live gigs seldom strayed beyond the pubs of her native County Donegal. Now here she was, playing Rev Gary Davis’ ‘Candyman’ for a national TV audience before being sandwiched between Ruby Turner and Rod Stewart for the show’s finale. Just 16 at the time, she had to be spirited away from the studio before the cast and crew’s post-recording party began.

Twelve months on, and Muireann’s speaking from a tour stop in Hawaii, where she’s been playing festivals, doing daytime TV shows and filming for Jeff Bridges’ upcoming documentary on the island’s guitar styles. Soon, she’ll be embarking on a European tour.

“Getting to do the Hootenanny was such a crazy thing,” she says. “I’d only played a few gigs before that, and it was such a big thing to get to do. I was so nervous being around all those famous people. Ruby Turner was nice to me though – she really took me under her wing.” ‘Candyman’ is now the number she uses to open almost all her shows. “People shout for it otherwise,” explains her dad, John, who’s in Hawaii with her to ensure all goes smoothly.

John’s an accomplished guitarist himself, and it’s him we must thank for his daughter’s unlikely mastery of a century-old genre not known for its appeal to teenagers. She performs these songs by pre-war Black bluesmen – and blueswomen; she covers two Elizabeth Cotten songs on her debut – with a skill and authority many experienced guitarists would envy, but how did she adopt their work in the first place?

“My dad was a stay-at-home dad for a good few years when we were younger, so we spent pretty much all our time with him when we were at home,” Muireann replies. “Anytime he would collect us from school or take us out to the park, he’d have Blind Blake and Robert Johnson playing in the car. I’ve always been obsessed with this music… I started playing when I was nine. It’s just the music that I love.”

As well as touring, a major label reissue of Muireann’s debut is in the pipeline. There’ll be bonus tracks too, perhaps including one of the Hank Williams or John Fahey covers she’s started slipping into her live set. 2025 could be another fine year for the young guitarist.

I’ve Kept These Old Blues is out now on Tompkins Square. Muireann Bradley’s UK tour starts in Glasgow on November 26

This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today