John Francis Flynn
Takes old Irish songs somewhere strange — drone, tape hiss and tin whistle under a voice that sounds like it's coming from another room.
John Francis Flynn is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Dublin who came up playing tin whistle and flute in the trad scene, including a spell in the band Skipper's Alley. His solo work carries that grounding into post-punk, electronica and improvised music, treating old ballads as raw material rather than fixed repertoire.
His albums, I Would Not Live Always and Look Over the Wall, See the Sky, take ballads and street songs from the Irish and English traditions and run them through feedback, loops and long sustained drones, often letting a single verse sit over several minutes of slowly shifting noise. His voice stays low and unhurried, and he tends to leave the words themselves intact even as everything around them comes apart.
I Would Not Live Always, released in 2021, was named Folk Album of the Year by The Guardian and spent eleven weeks on the UK Folk Albums Chart, reaching number 8. Look Over the Wall, See the Sky followed in 2023 and turned up on year-end lists from The Quietus, Loud and Quiet, The Atlantic and The Fader.
Flynn won Best Folk Singer and Best Emerging Artist at the 2021 RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards, and his second album was later shortlisted for the RTE Choice Prize and for Best Folk Album. He also appeared in North Circular, a 2022 documentary directed by Luke McManus.
Live, he moves between whistle, flute, guitar and tape effects, sometimes alone and sometimes with a small band pushing the same material louder.
John Francis Flynn at a glance
Where is John Francis Flynn from?
John Francis Flynn is from Dublin, IE.
What kind of music does John Francis Flynn play?
John Francis Flynn is tagged folk, trad and experimental.
What festivals has John Francis Flynn played before?
John Francis Flynn has played Electric Picnic 2026.
Also on these bills
AltanMaighread & Tríona Ní DhomhnaillDónal Lunny, Máirtín O’Connor & Zoë ConwayVan MorrisonAmbleThe Mary WallopersBaka BeyondDarren KielyEleanor McEvoyDamien DempseyDordánMick Flannery
More folk acts
AmbleCameron WhitcombS.G. GoodmanBillie MartenDove EllisFolk Bitch TrioJesse WellesJonah KagenBen HowardGoldFordKen PomeroyMolly Tuttle
More artists from Dublin, IE
CMATFontaines D.C.BricknastyGurriersBelters OnlyDamien DempseyEleanor McEvoyJay PryorLe BoomM(h)aolMik PyroØXN
Find acts like John Francis Flynn at upcoming festivals
Start the finder with John Francis Flynn already in the box and see which acts on a lineup fit the same taste.
