McConnell’s Presents: Ciaran Lavery – Christmas in Prison
McConnell’s Presents welcomes award-winning singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery to the historic A-Wing at McConnell’s Distillery for a very special 360-degree performance of Christmas in Prison.
Known for his vulnerable songwriting and unpredictable live performances, Laveryremoves the traditional barrier between artist and audience, blurring the lines between music, theatre and confessional comedy in one of Belfast’s most distinctive and intimate performance spaces.
Ciaran Lavery is an Irish award winning, multi-nominated singer-songwriter and musician that has released five albums with over 170 million streams to date. He has previously released music with Nettwerk Music Group, All Points Records (formally Believe Records) and Kartel Music Group.
Lavery’s music has been nominated five times at the NI Music Prize, winning album of the year in 2016, as well as being nominated for the Hot Press Magazine ‘album of the year’ and ‘single of the year’. Previously, he has been named as Hot Press magazine’s 'One to Watch’.
He has toured extensively worldwide, with performances at festivals such as Glastonbury, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Zermatt Unplugged, SXSW, M for Montreal, with a particular highlight of being handpicked to play Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion Festival in Texas. Lavery has been invited to play showcases at Disney, Lionsgate, Paste Magazine and Spotify Fans Only in both New York and Boston, as well as touring with the likes of Bear’s Den, William Fitzsimmons, The Low Anthem and opening for KD Lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs for their sold out shows at the Danforth Music Hall.
He was the voice of the Bushmills x Lowden Guitars collaborative campaign, and also reimagined and recorded the trailer music for ‘The Walking Dead - Saints & Sinners’ video-game.
Lavery is also an accomplished co-writer, working with artists such as Liam Bailey, Amber Run, Duke Special, Luke Sital Singh, AVEC, Bears Den, Joshua Burnside, Ryan McMullan, Rosie Carney, Niamh Regan and Max Jury. In 2021 he co-founded and runs the premiere songwriting camp in the north of Ireland, ‘Soft Gut Song Camp’.
“super talented” - Clive Anderson
“the sound of a songwriter that is very comfortable in his own skin” - Zane Lowe
“remarkable” - The Independent
“a seriously good songwriter” - Huffington Post
“Special is the optimal word – I’ve never seen anything like this show before” - Chordblossom