New Dervish Release
The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers
Dervish Release
The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers
Featuring Iron & Wine, Glen Hansard, Sarah Jarosz, Indigo Girls, The Del McCoury Band, and more
Out on Down the Road Records/Exceleration Music
Dervish have today released their new album, The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers, on Down the Road Records/Exceleration Music. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2019 collection The Great Irish Songbook, the new record brings together Dervish with an exceptional cast of guests from across the folk, country, and Americana worlds to perform songs by Ireland’s most celebrated contemporary songwriters.
Where the first volume drew on the timeless canon of traditional Irish song, Poets & Storytellers turns its gaze to the present, gathering material from Phil Coulter, Shane MacGowan, Sinéad O’Connor, Van Morrison, Ye Vagabonds, The Breath, and others whose writing is actively expanding the tradition. The result is a collection that honors the past while insisting on the vitality of the now.
Sarah Jarosz lends her voice to the longing “Blue Is the Eye;” Indigo Girls carry John Spillane’s “Passage West” into new emotional territory; The Del McCoury Band make the case that bluegrass and Irish music are kindred spirits on the album’s closing track, Phil Coulter’s “The Town I Loved So Well;” Glen Hansard performs his own “Leave the Light On;” Eddi Reader channels the Celtic soul of Van Morrison’s “One Irish Rover;” and Moya Brennan contributes the Irish-language celebration “Tobar an tSaoil.” Madeleine Peyroux, Aoife O’Donovan, and Iron & Wine round out a guest roster that reads like a who’s-who of contemporary roots music.
The Del McCoury single “The Town I Loved So Well,” released earlier this month, drew immediate notice from the roots music press. Bluegrass Today praised it as “a memorable recording of a song with as many devotees in North America as there are in Ireland,” noting the transatlantic chemistry between the two bands.
With The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2, Dervish has delivered another testament to the living, breathing present tense of Irish music, proof that a tradition this vital doesn’t need protecting so much as it needs continuing.
Track listing for The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers:
"Passage West" (by John Spillane) feat. Indigo Girls
"Jackie" (by Sinéad O'Connor) feat. Aoife O’Donovan
"Rock the Machine" (by Lisa O'Neill) feat. Iron & Wine
"Blue is the Eye" (by Brian and Diarmuid Glynn) feat. Sarah Jarosz
"The Broad Majestic Shannon" (by Shane MacGowan) feat. Cathy Jordan
"Land of My Other" (by Rioghnach Sinead Connolly) feat. Sister Sadie
"One Irish Rover" (by Van Morrison) feat. Eddi Reader
"Leave a Light On" (by Glen Hansard) feat. Glen Hansard
"Tobar an tSaoil" (by Moya Brennan & Ashling Jarvis) feat. Moya Brennan
"As I Leave Behind Neidin" (by Jimmy McCarthy) feat. Madeleine Peyroux
"The Town I Loved So Well" (by Phil Coulter) feat. the Del McCoury Band
Dervish land major TV deal with American broadcaster PBS
THE GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK
Premieres on PBS Stations Beginning February 27, 2026
Celebrate the Powerful Irish Tradition of Song with Dervish, David Gray, Imelda May, Moya Brennan, Indigo Girls, Kate Rusby Brian Kennedy and More
Join internationally acclaimed Sligo-based band Dervish One of the world’s most renowned and imaginative interpreters of Irish folk music, Dervish have devoted the last three decades to gently reinventing the
traditional songs of their homeland. Featuring stunning footage of Ireland and filmed at theLondon Palladium, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, and more intimate venues like Leo’s Tavern in Donegal,
THE GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning Friday, February 27, 2026 (check local listings), and will be available for streaming with PBS Passport.
Reflecting the American experience for almost two centuries, Irish and American music are inextricably intertwined. In fact, the boundary is not always discernible, and the program includes “Boots of Spanish Leather,” a Bob Dylan song that is inherently in the Irish tradition. Through song and commentary from musicians throughout the program, the nature of Irish music is explored. “Irish music has always been there for Irish people
in very difficult times,” says Shane Mitchell, accordion player for Dervish. “It draws us back to who we really are as people.” Actor, singer and director Adrian Dunbar adds that Irish musicians “have held onto something that’s almost like DNA for the culture.” Highlights of THE GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK include “Passage West,” featuring Dervish with Indigo Girls, a song about emigration to America written by John Spillane, who joins in on the performance; Imelda May’s moving rendition of “Molly Malone”; and a bravura display of vocal artistry by five singers on “The Parting Glass.” The program also features the world premiere of “Tabor an tSaoil (The Well of the World).” Written by Clannad’s Moya Brennan and her daughter Aisling Jarvis, the song is performed for the first time in public at the legendary music mecca Leo’s Tavern, owned by Moya’s father and considered the launch pad for Clannad.
Below is a complete list of performances in THE GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK:
“Red Haired Mary” – Dervish
Written by Sean McCarthy, Arranged by Dervish
“The West Coast of Clare” – Dervish with David Gray
Written by Andy Irvine
“Passage West” – Dervish with Indigo Girls
Written by John Spillane
“The Bold Doherty” – Dervish
Traditional
“Down the Broom” / “The Gatehouse Maid” – Dervish and Kevin Burke
Traditional instrumental
“Molly Malone” – Dervish and Imelda May
Traditional
“The Parting Glass” – Dervish with Cara Dillon, Kate Rusby, Imelda May and
Brian Kennedy
Traditional
“The Rocky Road to Dublin” – Dervish
Traditional
“John Blessings” – Dervish
Traditional instrumental
“Boots of Spanish Leather” – Dervish
Written by Bob Dylan
“Tobar an tSaoil (The Well of the World)” – Dervish and Moya Brennan