New single, Old Alzy, from Saoirse Mhór is powerful and truly moving
Kilcullen-born musician Paul Durney, known artistically as Saoirse Mhór, has released a new song titled Old Alzy, exploring musically the heart-rending topic of dementia, writes Brian Byrne. A longtime singer-songwriter based in Germany, Paul has made his living as a professional singer-songwriter playing in pubs and at music festivals all over that country.
Available as a downloadable single on all major music platforms, Old Alzy is a gentle treatment of an all too common modern life issue, that is a powerful, truly moving and sweet piece, brilliantly written and performed. It deserves to have a global audience.
Paul sang as a youngster in the Kilcullen Community Capers back in the 1970s. In 1980, after a spell working in Berneys Saddlers, he left Ireland and busked his way across England and Germany, where he settled in 1987 and now lives near Heidelberg. Following a period working with various local bands, fronting them and writing many songs, he collaborated with producer, sound engineer and singer/songwriter Andy Horn in The Dolldrums CD featuring Paul's songs ‘Skin’ and ‘Mirror’.
On a trip to Ireland in 2004, after hearing Luka Bloom playing in The Riverbank in Newbridge, he picked his pseudonym Saoirse Mhór and began his life of entertaining on the streets and on the Irish pub scene in Germany. He worked with Germany-based Irish music band Fleadh from 2005. In 2006, his CD 'Skin' was released, featuring Belgian busker flute player Tom Drost and two years later, he released a CD, Thursday Asks, on which he had penned five of the 11 tracks. In 2017, he produced his 11-track album Ghosts of Tomorrow, dedicated to his father Patrick (who passed away in 2024). In 2021, Paul won the Best Song of the Year in the 39th German Rock & Pop Awards for 'Ashbury Lane' from his album Minor Tales Major Stories. He last performed in Kilcullen in 2014, with Fleadh in a night on the stage of the Town Hall.
Despite the challenges that currently make album production financially difficult, Paul has been developing his home studio, taking on to himself the roles of recording, mixing, and mastering. While recognising the rapid impact of AI in the process, he's now dedicated to mastering the craft of sound engineering, a skill that takes years to develop. Additionally, he is seeking opportunities in TV and film music, though he compares the process to a lottery, with the chance of a song ending up in unexpected places, such as a ketchup advert.
Old Alzy is available as a downloadable single on all major music platforms. Do give it a listen.
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