What makes a great song – the lyric, the melody or something altogether more elusive? In this mini-series, Ireland’s songwriters step into the spotlight for an unplugged performance. On Sunday 19 May, we’re joined by Branwen, a songwriter, performance artist and puppeteer from the West of Ireland who is inspired by folklore, dada, poetry and theatre.

Led by a powerful imagination, Branwen’s art and music are usually fashioned into surreal and potent experiences which cross the threshold into bizarre and magical territory. They are an award nominated artist, have performed their compositions on Other Voices, The National Concert Hall, Glastonbury, RTE, BBC and much more. They are the songwriter for well known projects such as Twin Headed Wolf, Rufous Nightjar and their solo project, Branwen. They have taught on the Songwriting Masters programme in UL. Branwens’ shows include crankies, storytelling, puppetry and unusual objects employed as instruments, with absurd humour and the occasional on stage wedding their haunting and poetic music juxtaposed with the hilarious and surreal leaves a warm otherworldly impression on their audiences.

They have released 2 full length albums of their original compositions in 2024 with Twin Headed Wolf (Altarwise) and Rufous Nightjar (Songs for Three Voices). They released a solo Album in 2019 as Branwen (Hunted and Haunted) and a full length album of traditional songs recorded live in a Norwegian tomb in 2015 with Twin Headed Wolf (The Long Decay). They are in the process of completing their next solo Album to be released this year in 2024.