Richard BodinA few days after opening for Pinch Of Snuff and performing their first sold-out headline show at Mike The Pies, The Blow In’s were enjoying a remarkable run of momentum. The young trio have only been performing together since late 2023, starting out in pubs before building a growing fanbase, particularly among college audiences around the country.
I sat down for a pint with Cian, Oisín and Darragh in The Commercial in Limerick to learn more about their rapid rise. The lads were eager to tell me how the band came together, the pop-up gigs that helped spread their name by word of mouth, Ireland’s ongoing folk revival, and the realities of balancing music with college life.
How did the band come together ?
Cian: Myself and Oisín met in Castlegregory where we have mobile homes. We’re just both interested in music, and we ended up forming a band two and a half years ago in 2023.
Oisín: We were playing with different trad musicians for the first few months. Then Cian invited Darragh to join — they had been playing a couple trad seisiún before together — and he has been with us since Christmas 2024.
So you recorded you first EP, Meant To Be, without Darragh ?
Cian: Yeah, Oisin and I had a couple of original songs we wanted to get recorded. We didn’t really think much of it, we went to record them with my cousin Dean who played the banjo on a couple of tracks. Really, we just recorded them for the craic. But then since that was released, we were playing properly original music gigs as a trio.
Oisín: Darragh actually had a football game, so he couldn’t come to the studio. (laughs)
“Blow-in” is such a specifically Irish term, often tied to ideas of outsiders. Why did you choose the name?
Oisín: Going back to West Kerry, myself and Cian are both blow-ins to Castlegregory, during the summer. So it kind of worked as a name. And I suppose many Irish people are blow-ins to different towns. Like my parents are both blow-ins to where we’re living now.
I suppose I’m a Blow-in too…
Darragh: Exactly, and you’re a blow-in to the band. (laughs)
Did you start with covers before writing your own material?
Cian: It was covers first. We were playing some pub gigs just extra money really, doing it for the craic. Then as we were playing together more, we started writing our own songs. And the songs weren’t half bad, so we started pursuing them.
Who were the artists or albums that inspired you to play music and start a band in the first place?
Cian: I really love Oasis and Noel Gallagher‘s songwriting process, and The Waterboys, They’re my two main ones. A bit of Shane MacGowan as well. All of them prominent writers really.
Oisín: I never really thought of songwriting before we started the band. Oasis is definitely one of the main ones. The Irish bands nowadays like Amble, Kingfishr, Niall Horan… And different American artists like John Mayer or Bob Dylan. Dylan’s very inspirational.
Darragh: I started with pure trad, like accordion players to the likes of Joe Burke and more modern like Damien Mullane. And then you see bands like Amble and Kingfishr, who are integrating both worlds in together.
Irish traditional music seems to constantly reinvent itself. Where do The Blow In’s see themselves in that lineage?
Cian: There’s a big Irish folk revival the last couple of years. There was a lot of pop music that was popular, but in the last three or four years, traditional instruments have become more popular, which was made by Amble, Kingfishr, The Mary Wallopers. They all brought it back. And now it’s popular to play Irish music rather than playing just American music.
I think people are really trying to connect with their culture the last couple of years. They’re really trying to connect with their Irishness. With Kneecap for example. People realise that they don’t have to look at the big superstars across the seas. We have our own music here.
You only started performing in early 2024 and released your debut EP later that year. Since then, you’ve opened for major names, sold out your first headline show, and are now heading into festival season. How are you feeling about it all?
Oisín: When you’re there, it doesn’t feel like it’s gone so fast. But then you look back, and so much has happened over the last year or two. We’ve gone from playing in small pubs to supporting The Mary Wallopers or The Coronas this summer, and different festivals. We only kind of did it for the extra bit of money on top of working and being in school and college.
Cian: For us, it feels like it’s been way longer. But it’s good craic! here’s a big scene for students wanting to see live music. So we’ve been popping up in different colleges around the country and playing these pop-up gigs, and loads of students come out.
You seem to have built a particularly strong following through your pop-up college gigs. What’s the story behind those shows?
Oisín: We did our first one here in Limerick for Freshers’ Week. We knew the lads at the house the gig was gonna be at. We thought there was gonna be a few there, when put up in the story on Instagram that we were going to play. And sure the whole place was packed with people.
Cian: The whole estate came !
Oisín: After that, we posted a few videos of it and said we’d do another one a few weeks later, at another house. It was even busier!
Were these show improvised or planned?
Oisín: We planned it, but then we realised we had to keep it quiet until maybe the day before or the hour before.
Cian: Yeah because It got very out of control… There was one situation when we were meant to play in Thurles for College Christmas. We’d planned that we were gonna play at somebody’s house. Word had got around, and the guards were after talking to the landlord saying that it couldn’t happen, so we couldn’t play it. Then we realised that if we were gonna play it, we’d have to announce it literally just before we play because it gets too big. The last one we did now was probably the biggest one. And Oisín was late!
Oisín: I had to go on a call with my inspector about my placement for college. We said we were gonna play at 7:00pm. Sure then, I got an email and my call was at 7:00! The boys were ringing me while I was on the call. I was like: “Jeez, will you just wait.” Then the call went on for about a half an hour. So I told them “Lads, you’ll just have to start.” So they played one or two songs. Then when my meeting was over, I got in the car, and came to the house. I couldn’t even get out to the lads. There was people there, “Why are you pushing us?” Like, “I need to play my music!” It was funny.
Cian: The Popup gigs are some of the most fun gigs to play. We get to play our own music, and people there know our music, so they’re singing back our songs. It’s such a nice feeling.
How was it compare to your first sold-out headline gig in Mike the Pies?
Cian: It is quite similar. You know the people are there see the music. We announced it, and it sold out in a week and a half! Which was really good, you know. It is such an amazing venue Mike The Pies!
Oisín: When we play our pub gigs with cover songs, people are just going out. They’re not going there to see us. If you’re going to Mike The Pies or a pop-up gig, you’re going to see the band. It’s a big difference, really.
Why do you think people are connecting so strongly with what you do?
Cian: There’s no bullshit with the music. People are just enjoying it and they know we enjoy it too. We like the people after the gigs, and we get to socialise with them. I think a lot of people connect with the songs as well. They really enjoy them. I feel they are really relatable.
Oisín: We don’t take it too seriously either. People don’t care, they just want to have fun. If we’re not having fun, if we’re not being energetic on the stage, then they’re not gonna be enjoying it.
How has the creative process evolved since the first EP?
Cian: The writing process has changed because we’re all more involved now. It’s not individuals, writing songs. It’s more like, “I have an idea: I have words and a chord progression. Now let’s make it into something else.” Once you start putting all the instruments together, then you can see the full picture of what’s the song gonna be.
Oisín: Especially now we are experimenting. Yesterday, for example, we were in studio working on a new song, “Bogman Blues”, a mix of trad and bluegrass themed with Irish storytelling. We spent some time on the intro, trying to paint the picture of where the story happens. So it’s something different from our other songs, we try things with reverbs, delays… There’s not many people that have done loads of reverb on an accordion for example! (laughs)
Cian: We’re not trying to overdo it. The songs we record have to be similar to what we play live. We don’t want to have this sound in the studio, release the song, and then we can’t even replicate it live.
Being a young band today seems to involve wearing multiple hats. Has anything about that side of things surprised you?
Oisín: We’re still all very young. Cian’s 21, Darragh is 18, and I’m 19. We’re still new to this. You have to know someone or, have an idea of how to get bookings, or even go to the studio, promote it online…
Cian: It’s tough because you have to nearly be an influencer. Which is not what we want to do. But you have to be really involved with social media in order to push music these days. We’re very lucky with the pop-up gigs, that it’s word of mouth. “This band played at this house. You should come and see them the next time they’re playing.” That’s the way that we really like people coming to us.
But you can’t not be on social media in this day and age, which is annoying. You’d rather just concentrate on making good songs, or organising good gigs, and making sure everybody’s happy.
We just really care about getting solid songs and good live performances
Oisín: We had to do a promo video a few months ago for a gig in Galway. It took us about 10 minutes to get a10-second clip. We were just looking at the camera, stuttering and laughing (laughs). We just really care about getting solid songs and good live performances. This is our main thing
Cian: Our emphasis is on having a good live performance. When people come to a good live performance, they want to go again.
I heard that Meant To Be got around 50,000 streams…
Cian: We get no money from streaming. It’s gas because if it was 20, 30 years ago you sold 50,000 singles, you’d be making money. But with streaming platforms, we make no money off that. That’s why the live performances are so important.
Oisín: That’s why so many artists are on tour the whole time nowadays. You’re putting money for studio, promotion, paying the crew…
Cian: If you’re good live, people will come see you live, and then it will equal out.
At this stage, are you able to live off music — or is it still very much a balancing act?
Oisín: We’re all in college, so we’re gonna try to get our degrees first before going anywhere. Darragh and I still have another three years of college.
Cian: It is a lot to balance. Trying to live off our music only with our original music would be quite tough. In the middle of the week we’ll play cover gigs around the place, whether it is two of us, or all three. Just to get by. But we’re hopeful, we’re happy with our progression. Eventually we’ll be able to do this full-time, yeah.
You’re in studio now, the festival season is coming… What is coming next?
Cian: We did our first studio day yesterday, we’re hoping to record an EP. But we’re gonna put out a couple of singles for it first. Over the summer, we’re going to be in there and hopefully record. We’ve a good few songs lined up. During our gig at Mike the Pies, we played about seven songs that were not released. So we’re going to be picking and choosing, bring in maybe a couple of new ones and put that EP together. Then we will organize a couple of more headline slots in a couple of venues.
We are also playing this weekend at the Kilarney Sevens then we are playing Electric Picnic and the Revival Festival in Listowel. And we’re going to Germany in October. Come September we’ll hopefully organize a couple more original gigs and get a couple of more opening acts around there.
Playlist of their Lives
What was the first song you heard on the radio?
Oisín: When I first started guitar I went to a guitar teacher in Tralee called Alfie Curtin, and the first of songs he taught me were all from a band called The Shadows. Mostly instrumentals. “Apache”, “FBI” or “Wonderful Tonight”, they’re kind of the first ones I remember anyways from as young as I can go back from when I first started playing the guitar.
Darragh: When I was young, I used to listen to Damien Mullane or John Brosnan and stuff like that. Jeez, I don’t know about the radio though. I can’t think of my first song. I have no clue.
Cian: I think the first one was “Slippery When Wet” by Bon Jovi. My dad’s a big Bon Jovi fan. He had the record, and he used to play it all the time in the car.
Your first album?
Oisín: It was Ed Sheeran’s Divide album
Cian: I think mine was Appetite for Destruction, by Guns N’ Roses, or it was The Best of Rory Gallagher. It was one or the other.
Darragh: Mine was something local: The Cook In the Kitchen by John Brosnan.
Your first concert?
Cian: The first concert I went to that I wanted to go to was Ed Sheeran, and it was just after COVID. He was doing that tour where he was playing on his own with the loop pedal.
Oisín: First one I was brought to was Jedward in Tralee (laughs). But the first one I went to by choice was Slash in the 3 Arena, two years ago. I didn’t go to a lot of concerts before COVID, and then it stopped a lot of them happening.
Darragh: I went to see Bruno Mars with my Mom and Dad, I was about 10 years old. They asked me if I wanted to go, and I said: “Obviously, yeah.” I’d be silly to say no, that man’s class (laughs)
