All human life for Galway singer living the dream

This week, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Galway native Dave Clancy celebrates the release of his second album, Live Our Own Dream. Several years in the making, this is an expansive folk record layered with woodwind and orchestral ornamentation.

As its title suggests, there is an overarching sense of hope and perseverance throughout, counterbalanced by some poignant, personal subject matter. Clancy plays Monroe’s Live for the Galway Folk Festival on June 4.

“It feels good,” he says of having the album out. “Initially, it’s a digital release and I’ll follow it up with vinyl and all of that. It feels good to have it out there and a little bit scary to be honest with you. There’s a lot of new music coming out and you’re kind of wondering whether it will just disappear among all that other music.

“I’m nervous but definitely looking forward to getting it out. It’s a complete piece of work. I thought about the track listing and how it all runs together. I suppose in this day and age, when it’s all 15-second Instagram reels, I don’t know how I fit into that, but I’m really looking forward to this and it’s a good few years of work gone into it.

“I’m really lucky to have people that I can call on, who I would consider friends but who are also exceptionally gifted instrumentalists and singers. To realise that vision of what you have in your head, and to get it out in a bigger arrangement, is brilliant.”

One song on the record – The Faltering Flame – is a cover of an effort from Paddy Houlihan, originally from Armagh but based in Galway. Though it is difficult to attach the rest to specific moments of inspiration, it is clear that many of the tracks on Live Our Own Dream sit very close to Clancy’s heart. The first listing, What is Love Meant to Be?, is particularly emblematic of the emotion he aims to capture.

“A lot of them are quite personal,” he says. “A lot of people ask what [a specific song] is about. I hope that they’re universal enough for people to find their own meaning in them.

Pictured: Dave Clancy...album out and Folk Festival gig on the horizon.