Neil McGrath has been playing guitar since he was 7 years old. Coming from a musical family on his father’s side, he also began taking mandolin lessons from his uncle at the same age, and spent his earliest years playing mainly Irish traditional music with the guidance and encouragement of several of his uncles. At the age of 12, he was taught fingerpicking by another uncle. Drawing from his family’s vast record collection in order to learn more songs in this new style, he discovered the work of American artists such as John Prine, Bob Dylan, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Jackson Browne. Although he originally sought out these artists to help improve his guitar playing, he soon found that what most appealed to him about these artists were their lyrics. Because much of the Irish music he played was instrumental, at first he did not pay any attention to the fact that songs could be used to tell stories and convey ideas and messages. Realising this he says was a revelation that caused him to “start trying to write my own songs immediately” and not only that, but “before I even knew what I was going to write about”.

He spent his teenage years constantly practising his song writing and widening his musical tastes by listening to artists ranging from The Beatles (and everything else from the sixties) to Talking Heads and 90’s artists such as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis. He also played in a number of local bands and was invited to appear as a guest on Roddy Cleere’s WLR FM radio show performing his own songs, having been spotted at 15 performing his 3rd set of new songs at a local singer songwriter night.

In his late teens and early 20’s, Neil McGrath continued to write songs and perform locally but a terminal illness in his immediate family and the birth of his son Dylan saw him turn his focus more towards his home and family life instead of pursuing his music fully, however he does not regret this for a moment. If anything he says, the positive side is that it has given him even more life experience to write about. During this time he formed a musical collective named TooSkin BlooSkin. Formed in 2002 by Neil McGrath, Eamon O’Malley and Alan Shanahan, they began with the recording of Mo Chairde Go Leir in August of that year and continued with live performances until early 2003. At this point the collective parted ways with their original bass player and returned to their individual solo projects. In 2004 TooSkin BlooSkin re-gathered, this time with Jim O’Brien on bass. 2004 saw more performances and recordings such as “Pull Me Up”, “Charles” and “Vision Inc.” which were well received and given regular airplay on Beat 102. Beat 102 DJ Edel Dooley described “Pull Me Up” as “a work of rock genius”. Other notable items from 2004 include a favourable mention in Hot Press magazine, a national television performance by Neil on TG4’s Pop4 and several interviews with Beat 102.

Now at 26, Neil McGrath is ready to introduce Ireland to his music.

With the help of his long time song writing and musical collaborator Eamon O’Malley, the two are currently recording his debut album “First Thoughts On Forever” which is a collection of 9 songs that reflect the sound of their live performances; a mix of guitar, piano, harmonica and string arrangements that they have been developing for over a year in their live shows.

Along with Neil McGrath’s song writing, Eamon O’Malley’s musical contribution is invaluable to the overall sound and direction of the music. One producer they have worked with in studio described the process as “Neil being the one who builds the house, and Eamon is the one who decorates it”. A former classical musician, he is a graduate of music from both WIT in Waterford and Trinity College in Dublin. He has also composed and performed his own music, covering practically every genre in the process. Equally as talented on guitar, he played lead