Talented, 'deeply expressive' musician making welcome return to Birr

THE talented musician Alan Roe, aka Roesy, is making a welcome return to his hometown of Birr during September.
After almost a decade away, Roesy returned to Ireland at the end of August with a renewed voice and renewed perspective. Alan is celebrated for his reflective songwriting and warm stage presence. His performances create a very attractive, poetic tapestry, during which he employs a playing style which is gentle, honest, and deeply expressive.
For the last few years Alan has been absent from the arena of live performances, but he’s always kept music close. Singing, playing the guitar, writing songs are part of his lifeblood. This multi-talented man is also an excellent artist.
He's been living in Melbourne, Australia and working in disability care for the past seven years, during which time he has combined art and music whenever and wherever he could. He points out that the years away from live performances weren’t silent, but were spent “listening, living, and now, slowly, I'm returning to where it all began.”
September will be spent engaged in a nationwide tour of Ireland, performing at 11 venues, including Birr.
He says his homecoming concert in Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on Saturday, September the 20th, will feature new material “shaped by distance and return,” performed alongside the songs that once marked his path. In classic Roesy style each show will be stripped back and intimate—just voice and guitar—offering a space for connection, quiet, and deep listening.
He quotes T.S. Eliot - "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
Roesy began his journey in 1996 with Warner Chappell and his first publishing deal, marking the start of a songwriting and recording career that would span eight albums, two EPs, and multiple tours across Europe, the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
In Melbourne he is immersed in what he says is the demanding but deeply rewarding profession of being a disability care worker. In the meantime he has continued to write and create a significant amount of new material.
His 2025 concert tour began at Electric Picnic, Stradbally on Sunday August 31, where he performed his stripped-back, voice-and-guitar set, which went down very well with the audience. Following Electric Picnic he's now embarked on a series of intimate performances around the country.
Described by The Irish Times as “armed with a crystalline pair of vocal chords,” Roesy’s music explores themes of beauty, resilience, and quiet transformation.
His debut album "Sketch the Day, Paint the Night" (2001) was followed by "The Spirit Store" in 2003 and "Only Love is Real" in 2004. These albums were released on his Birr-based label Blue Cloak Records.
Through his career he has shared the stage with Bert Jansch, Ron Sexsmith, Paul Brady, Billy Bragg, John Martyn, Davy Spillane, Donovan, Shane MacGowan, fellow Offaly musicians Mundy and Dan Foley, plus celebrated Irish author Paul Durcan.
He appeared in the first Other Voices TV series on RTÉ. He was nominated for Best New Irish Act in the 2004 Meteor Music Awards and voted no.8 in the Trad/Folk section of the Annual Hot Press Awards 2005. His song "Potosi Mine" was included in the "Diamond Mountain Session Presents" compilation CD, also featuring Sinéad O'Connor, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant and Sharon Shannon. On the 2003 charity album Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1, he performed a cover version of the song Breathe by Blu Cantrell. On 2004's Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2, he performed a cover version of Beyoncé Knowles's Naughty Girl.
The Doors in Birr Theatre & Arts Centre open at 7.30pm Saturday September 20.

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