I stumbled on this Altan video of the trad ‘Month of January’, from January 2019. I’m stunned it has had only 420 views in all that time. Let’s give it a few more.

One consequence of lockdown is that singer Mairead has mused on social media about whether she wants to return to the life of a musical troubadour once it’s over. She’s certainly served her time. Altan have been on the road since roughly 1990, peaking perhaps (in commercial terms) in the mid to late 90s. I saw them often in Belfast and Dublin and Donegal then – they were truly exhilarating – but lost touch with their music after the 90s. I saw Mairead at an awards do in Belfast two years ago and she shouted a breezy ‘hello!’ as she dashed across the room to another crowd of well-wishers and revellers. Whatever she chooses to do next, I wish her well. 🙂