LISA CANNY
BIOGRAPHY
"Best of Sofar Sounds" & "One to Watch" 2022 (Spin Radio), Alternative-folk artist Lisa Canny grew up in Co.Mayo on the West coast of Ireland. Immersed in the Irish traditional music scene from age 5 Canny went on to win 7 All-Ireland titles on harp & banjo player, before spending 6 years touring the States with Celtic Crossroads and The Young Irelanders. After completing a MA Ethnomusicology she moving to London to explore her own original mix of trad, pop, RnB and electronica.
For the last 5 years Canny has been honing in on her unique sound and songwriting craft - working with artists, writers and producers including MuniLong, Ella Henderson, Kneecap and Toddla T, whilst steadily building her fanbase via live performances. In the last 2 years alone she has sold out 3 headline European tours, London venues Jazz Cafe & Hoxton Hall and completed her first US tour, including playing to festival crowds of 10k+ at Milwaukee Folk Fest. She regularly collaborates with Guinness, Rolex, TedX and Jameson and has a residency with MINI lined-up for 2024.
Canny was awarded ACE funding in 2022 to complete a multi-disciplinary project called FOLK+ which went on to win her 6 film awards and a spot on an Amazon Prime programme. She has 2x albums worth of material written and is currently exploring co-producer options for her first official release.
Listen to some live demos here...
HIGHLIGHTS
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Sold over 9,000 tickets across 39 headline shows so far this year in UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and the US (without yet releasing any official body of work)
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25 tour dates left this year, 14 sold out including the next London Headline show Nov 22nd at Dublin Castle, Camden.
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European tour 2024 - 27 dates
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11.5 million online views across Instagram, Facebook and Youtube
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70k followers across Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and Youtube
Canny has 3 other side-projects thriving in different areas of the industry...
1. ABSOLUTE LILT
Absolute lilt is a lilting duo comprising of Lisa Canny and Niamh Hinchy.
Launched just 6 months ago here are some of the highlights to date:
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425k followers on TikTok/Instagram
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48 million views on Tiktok/Instagram
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2x Absolute Lilt tracks on upcoming Michael Fassbender movie (2025 release)
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In talks for multiple live performance and festivals for 2024 across UK, Ireland, Netherlands and USA.
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Appearance on 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown (not yet aired, expected November 2024)
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Major popularity among the neurodivergent community online - often shared with captions "brain floss", "audhd sounds", "neuro music" etc. (Also hundreds of requests for a binaural mix loop)
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Thousands of comments asking for a Spotify album/playlist
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Currently mixing debut album (2x tracks below)
2. MOM + The Rebels
MOM + The Rebels was born in London in 2018 when "church met trad". The duo, comprising of Lisa Canny and Dejay Edmund, mix Irish folk with gospel to create a sound like no other. Independently produced, mixed and released to date they've already over 1 million streams on Spotify, as well as the following highlights:
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2023 Glastonbury emerging artist longlisted
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Radio 1 support, especially Mollie King, Future Pop.
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2fm, RTE Radio and Today FM playlisted
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Editorial support from Spotify (New Music Friday) and Ireland Viral Spotify playlisted
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Sold out all headline shows to date (4 shows, 600 tickets)
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1200 strong mailing list.
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AMA showcased 2023
3. BIIRD
BIIRD is a brand new project comprising of 11 of the best young female folk musicians (including Absolute Lilt). Endorsed by Annie Mac we have received Arts Council funding to record our debut E.P. and visuals. We are teaming up with an all-female creative team of designers, stylists and graphic designers to create a new look and sound for traditional Irish folk.
BIIRD are currently in talks with Other Voices, Guinness, Electric Picnic, Milwaukee Folk Fest and Trafalgar Square Paddy's Day Festival about live and collaborative opportunities.
BIIRD sold out their debut show (stripped back 6-piece version, pictured here), presented by Annie Mac at The London Irish Centre, September 27th, 2023.
Listen to track from debut show...
Listen to track from debut live show here...
Annie Mac Interview...