Fire Draw Near

Fire Draw Near Monthly rummages through the forgotten strange wilderness on the edge/centre of the Irish Tradition.
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I have just finished a bonus episode on the traditional song that people like to refer to as the Cuckoo. It is a longer ...
15/11/2025

I have just finished a bonus episode on the traditional song that people like to refer to as the Cuckoo. It is a longer episode at about 1 hour and 22 minutes and just by simply listening to it you can find out all about floating verses, folklore surrounding the cuckoo bird and why it is associated with infidelity, where various verses for the song might have come from, how manky I think sucking eggs is and much more. You can also hear many different versions of the song, from the well known to the obscure, stemming from Ireland, England and the USA. For the moment you have to be signed up the the FDN Patreon to hear it, but it will be made available to all and sundry in about 6 months time. Illustration from The Book of Nursery Rhymes Complete, 1846. X https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear

New Bonus Episode on the way! So this is an interesting one, essentially a conglomeration of floating ballads that has c...
06/11/2025

New Bonus Episode on the way! So this is an interesting one, essentially a conglomeration of floating ballads that has crystallised into a few different recognisable versions. This one should be out next week!

I'm delighted to announce that Episode LXIII is finally finished and online for your enjoyment and responsible consumpti...
16/09/2025

I'm delighted to announce that Episode LXIII is finally finished and online for your enjoyment and responsible consumption. This one is a focused look at Shape Note singing in the United States and is based around two interviews I conducted this year with Howe Pears and Sasha Ixin Hsuczyk It looks at the history and evolution of shape note singing in North America, as well as various cultural and social aspects of the tradition. I took a different kind of approach with this one, let me know what you think of it! https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear X

11/09/2025

Episode LXII is live as of yesterday evening! I have just recently gotten my vinyl and CD collections back from where they were stored for 6 months (thanks Mark Christie !), an event that definitely makes itself felt in this episode. If there is a theme then it's something to do with pipers, fighters, outlaws, thieves and revolutionaries. Jason Rouse Seán Mckeon Tealeaf Martin Carthy Daoirí Farrell Jerry O'Reilly Ruth Hazleton Luke Cheevers Francy Devine Beau James Wilding Liam Weldon and more....Art by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear X

10/09/2025

Fiadh has the pleasure of releasing a North American tape edition of One Leg One Eye’s ...And Take the Black Worm With Me.

Founded by Ian Lynch of Dublin experimental folk group LANKUM (and one of my favorite Irish black metal projects Sodb), One Leg One Eye is the magic that happens when these various influences, including noise and field recordings, are allowed to interact in special spaces with unique instrumentation by a leading expert in storytelling.

Fans of Lankum and black metal alike are encouraged to dive into this special album, originally released by Leitrim’s Nyahh Records. Cassettes available from us on Friday, & UK friends can pick up tapes directly from the artist at Supersonic Festival in Birmingham this weekend!

Vinyl is still available through Nyahh, where you can also purchase the album digitally:
nyahhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-take-the-black-worm-with-me

Support Ian’s incredible podcast: Fire Draw Near

Are you interested in the song of child chimney-sweep cm highwayman Sam Hall? I never was until I researched it's origi...
25/07/2025

Are you interested in the song of child chimney-sweep cm highwayman Sam Hall? I never was until I researched it's origins and veracity as a true story, found some amazing older versions and learned about about how it transformed in London the 1850s to become a blasphemous American cowboy song! The results are all in Bonus Episode 44 coming out today for all Patreon subscribers! https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear X

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