Mike Kenney

Mikey Kenney is primarily a respected fiddle player, singer, songwriter and composer from Liverpool, but he is also a multi-instrumentalist, often performing many of the parts on his recordings (on banjo, mandolin, guitar, melodeon etc).

Embracing duality, Kenney is very much the musical outsider artist; he is hailed by many as an important conduit of learning, conserving and handing down both English and Irish traditional fiddle music in England’s Northwest (previously the musical director for the Lancashire Youth Folk Ensemble and currently the Vice-Chair at Comhaltas Liverpool) and yet he is constantly composing alternative and progressive music of his own with his last two releases Counsel of Owls and The Reverie Road receiving widespread acclaim (both 5/5 fRoots magazine).

For Kenney both of these releases serve as stepping stones in his artistic disciplines, as he seeks a way to use his knowledge of traditional fiddle music in his own compositions without compromising the integrity of either. Through direct experience, Kenney allows other musical forms such as psychedelia, bluegrass, jazz and Italian tarantella to seep into his music but never so far as to allow any one influence to dominate his deep love for traditional fiddle playing. The result of crossing these stones is his forthcoming work Tiny Little Light, set to be released in September 2025.

Tiny Little Light is, with the exception of two instrumentals, a collection of songs written around original fiddle tunes in keeping with traditional forms but progressive in their arrangement and instrumentation. Kenney considers it his finest work yet and the truest expression of a life devoted to his craft. He will spend 2025 celebrating this new material by performing it live accompanied by various ensembles including Michael Paul Metcalfe (drums), Awen Blandford (cello) and Andy Raven (guitar).

Aside from his reputation for his original work, Kenney is also very much in demand as a collaborator and session musician for his fiddle-playing and string arranging and has worked with the likes of: Vinicio Capossela, Alabaster dePlume, Katherine Priddy, Josephine Foster, Bex Burch, Band of Burns, Adam Beattie, Emily Portman, Dominie Hooper, Victor Herrero, Alessandro ‘Asso’ Stefana, Dan Haywood’s New Hawks, Liverpool Céilí Band, Jon Wilks, Johnny Campbell and more.x

‘Mikey Kenney is a rare gem… there are few people who seem to embody traditional music in quite the same way. He’s like a walking tune book, and his dedication to keeping the old music of his native Lancashire alive is something to be cherished. In person, he’s much as his press images suggest he might be. Surely born in the wrong era, there’s a wide-eyed wonder about him, and a sense that he was left on this planet to roam and soak up as many musical traditions as he possibly can. He’s seen a lot and he’s played a lot and his music positively drips with the wisdom and experience he’s picked up along the way.’

Jon Wilks, TradFolk

‘Mikey Kenney is an artist for whom music is a calling, not a career choice…a singular and inspiring talent… unfettered by expectations of geography or genre, and a wanderer of worlds both seen and invisible, Kenney is an authentic free spirit.’

5/5 fRoots

‘Superbly charismatic fiddle playing / once heard, never forgotten singing.’

FRUK

‘This is magical, medicinal music that defies labels and borders’

Liverpool Echo