Just over two years ago we featured the debut album from multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Lewis Barfoot, calling Glenaphuca “stunning…a folk prayer to the ancestors.” The new album, Home – a mixture of sonorous ballads, rousing anthemic tunes, traditional folk song from Ireland and the UK, a touch of blues and a stirring a-Capella choral finale – has just been released and the At The Barrier review is available here.

In the meantime, Lewis joins us in a tribute to, and explanation of why she loves, Shane MacGowan and The Pogues.

One of the first gigs I went to as a teenager was The Pogues at Brixton Academy in the early 90s. Me and a group of the lads from school would hoof it across London on the Tube, drank pints of Guinness in the local bars, then bounced around in the mosh pit with the relentless energy of a teenager. It blew my mind and my body: the energy, the fierceness, the Irish-ness, the London-Irishness, the punk, the folk, it all spoke my language.  Shane and the band were bursting with life and passion. He was unashamedly himself and it was such an inspiration to me as someone who’d always been a ‘good girl”’. I mean I’m still not punk, but I’m speaking my truth in life and through my music now.

He had an unbounded wildness of energy in his music. He was everything I couldn’t be as a teenager: wild, free, vociferous, full of punk attitude, and I loved that. He spoke of Ireland and he spoke of London in his music and that spoke to my heart.

I love the uptempo wildness and playfulness of The Pogues music. A song like Fiesta, from If I Should Fall FromGrace With God, always makes me happy. I love the smooth bluesy introduction that flies into celebratory chaos. And the way he sings  “Will you kindly kill that doll for me” is so playful.  And Sally Maclennane is a brilliant song. You know – I didn’t realise it!

And I love the tender romance of A Rainy Night In Soho from Rum, Sodomy And The Lash. The trumpet or cornet is stunning in this.  The arrangement of whistles, strings and the brass is so beautiful and has inspired me in the way I work with clarinet and strings.

“I took shelter from a shower

And I stepped into your arms

On a rainy night in Soho

The wind was whistling all its charms”

We have lost a legend in life, but Shane MacGowan’s legacy lives on. He is our hero here in Ireland and will continue to inspire future generations. I feel very privileged to have seen him live.

Our thanks to Lewis – a fitting personal view of an iconic figure in the music world.

Take a listen to Lewis’ new album Home:

Lewis Barfoot Online:  Website / Facebook / X – formerly Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp

Lewis Barfoot photo by Aoife Long

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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