Dan Donnelly is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and, as of 2022, a member of the

Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...

Career

Growing up in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Donnelly played in a number of local bands, finding success in Ireland with Watercress, a four-piece acoustic folk-rock band for whom he played guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, percussion and "plumbing" (a home-made

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

). They released six EPs between 1995 and 1998, when they released their one album, ''Bummer'', all on their own local label, Creeping Herb. The Donnelly-penned ''Candlemaker'' reached the No.1 position on the Irish Indie Chart. Watercress played their final concert at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast on 23 December 2000 and disbanded in early 2001. After Watercress disbanded, Donnelly moved to New York to pursue a solo career. Whilst there he released two studio albums, ''Bootleg'' (2005), and ''Yearning a Living'' (2007), which received extensive airtime on BBC Radio, as well as one live album ''Live in NYC'' (2008). Donnelly was backed on all three albums by his supporting band Sonovagun (Sean Barry, Graham Finn, Ray Burns and

Roy Harter Roy Harter (born March 6, 1973) is a New York Emmy award-winning, composer, sound designer and audio mixer, best known for his work in television and film. He is also a multi-instrumentalist for various performing and recording artists. Harter ...

). Donnelly also played as a session musician for several artists, including

Joy Zipper Joy Zipper is an American indie pop duo from Long Island, New York, made up of Tabitha Tindale and Vincent Cafiso, who are also a married couple.Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon. In mid-2010 he signed with record label IRL (Independent Records Ltd). In October 2010, he released the single ''Running'', followed by the album ''Country & Northern'' in May 2011. Around the same time, Donnelly recorded a cover of ''Paradise City'' by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

which featured in a television advert for Anchor Butter. He then relocated to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in the North East of England. Donnelly has toured with both solo shows and in support of artists such as

The Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its popul ...

Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working class accent in the Eng ...

, and

Duke Special Duke Special (born Peter Wilson; 4 January 1971) is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he was previously known for his distinctiv ...

. He has also performed as part of the live bands of

Oysterband Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely as ...

and

Joy Zipper Joy Zipper is an American indie pop duo from Long Island, New York, made up of Tabitha Tindale and Vincent Cafiso, who are also a married couple.Ali McMordie Alistair Jardine "Ali" McMordie (born 31 March 1959 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Stiff Little Fingers, playing with the band from 1977 until they broke up in 1983, and joined them on the ...

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

on bass guitar and television composer

on keyboards and

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

. Donnelly has performed on the UK summer festival circuit, including at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

's Leftfield stage, Beautiful Days festival, The Big Session, and various festivals throughout Europe. In May 2014, Donnelly was announced as the newest member of the alternative rock band

The Wonder Stuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying considerable chart and live success in the ...

, co-writing their top 40 album ''30 Goes Around the Sun''. In 2018, Donnelly became the lead singer and guitarist for French super group

The Celtic Social Club The Celtic Social Club is a musical band formed in 2013 and led by Manu Masko. The band is formed by a group of Bretons and Scots musicians, members of The Silencers, Red Cardell and Ronan Le Bars Group with guests related to the world Celti ...

. After a number of European festival performances, they released the album ''From Babylon to Avalon'', co-written by Donnelly, in 2019. Donnelly's fifth studio album entitled, ''Are We Having Fun?'' was released in November 2018 on On the Fiddle Records. The album was preceded by the singles ''Time of Our Lives'' and ''I Don't Care''. In 2020, Donnelly collaborated with Goulven Hamel and Anth Mills to form a new project ''The Wooden Faces''. They released the album / audio experiment, ''Flying the Wrong Way'' in May 2020. Donnelly completed a masters in music in 2019. He currently manages The Peacock, a music venue, pub and kitchen in Sunderland with his business partner Barry Hyde of

The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums). ...

. The pair previously managed The Academy of Music and Sound in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, Tyne and Wear. He is also a member of the Stockton on Tees based male voice choir, Infant Hercules. In 2022, the

announced that Donnelly was joining as a full-time member., which coincided with his departure from Celtic Social Club.

Discography

Solo

* ''Running E.P.'' (2010) * ''Country & Northern'' (2011) * ''Are We Having Fun?'' (2018)

With Watercress

* ''Candlemaker E.P.'' (1996) No.1 Irish Indie Chart * ''Tripped Up E.P.'' (1996) * ''Bummer'' (1998) * ''Oh Yeah E.P.'' (2000)

With Sonovagun

* ''Bootleg'' (2005) * ''The Beach E.P.'' (2006) * ''Yearning a Living'' (2007) * ''Live in NYC'' (2008)

With The Wonderstuff

* '' 30 Goes Around the Sun'' (March 2016) No. 38 UK Album Chart

With The Celtic Social Club

* ''From Babylon To Avalon'' (2019) * ''Dancing or dying ?'' (2021)

With The Wooden Faces

* ''Flying The Wrong Way'' (2020)

References

External links

Website of The Celtic Social Club

Dan Donnelly on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Dan Songwriters from Northern Ireland Musicians from Belfast Irish male singer-songwriters 1974 births Living people The Wonder Stuff members 21st-century male singers from Northern Ireland