Highly-regarded, award-winning Irish singer-songwriter Matt McGinn will make a long-awaited return to Scotland this month, including a much-anticipated show at The Georgian Hotel in Coatbridge on August 28.
Acclaimed songwriter with notable fans
The County Down-based musician has long been regarded as one of Ireland’s finest new songwriters, counting the likes of Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Fergal Sharkey and Bob Harris amongst his fans.
Tipped in 2020 by the Irish music magazine Hot Press as ‘One To Watch’, Matt has had five singles make the top 10 of the RTE Radio 1 charts, and has picked up national airplay on BBC Radio 2, Radio Scotland, Radio Ulster and Radio 6 in the UK, as well as being nominated twice for Best Songwriter in the Hotpress Music Awards.
Musical journey and influences
Matt developed his love of music listening to his parents' music collection, where Johnny Cash rubbed shoulders with The Beatles and Beethoven, before discovering Jimi Hendrix and Horselips. But it was when he started listening to the likes of John Martyn, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Planxty, Robert Johnson and Andy Irvine, that he started to find his own musical voice, eventually studying music at Belfast’s Queens University.
Before long, Matt began writing his own songs and began playing live, opening for the likes of Chris Smither, John Hammond Jnr, Peter Green and Lucy Kaplanksy, and gaining a reputation amongst his fellow musicians as a truly special talent.
Rise to prominence
Matt recorded his debut album, Livin, in 2012, but it was his third album, Lessons of War in 2020, and its lead track Bubblegum featuring Ciara O’Neill, that put him firmly on the map, becoming both a radio and viral social media hit. In 2020 Aoife Scott, daughter of the Irish folk legend Frances Black, dueted with him on his track Time Well Spent which became one of the biggest folk songs on Irish radio.
Popular Coatbridge music group 50rpm are behind bringing Matt to the town, with a spokesman telling Lanarkshire Live: "Matt has released six solo albums, and is also a member of the Irish ‘super group’ Dead Goat, who released their debut album earlier this year to a string of five-star reviews."
Return to Scotland
Matt last performed in Scotland when he played a sold-out Celtic Connections shows in January 2025 at the stunning Barony Hall, and returns to Scotland for three shows, taking in Coatbridge, Glasgow and Hawick, and he is looking forward to the shows.
Matt added: "Scottish audiences have always been very kind to me. They have the same passion as audiences back home, so I always feel comfortable on stage here."
Tickets for Matt’s show at The Georgian Hotel in Coatbridge are available from www.50rpm.co.uk
