Before the 2010s, Irish musician Karl Nesbitt started an exceptional but modest musical venture as an instrument tutor. He also collaborated with other musicians and then released his solo album The Good News in 2003. His more popular sister Mairead Nesbitt was already on top of the global charts with Celtic Woman. However, I am more drawn to Karl’s somewhat introspective style of music. His music explores elements of pop, jazz, folk, and a little bit of classical. However, his style and delivery are hugely rooted in traditional Irish music.
He then withdrew from the music scene for reasons only known to him. The traditional music scene continued and, in my opinion, became enormous. However, I am unsure how streaming services like Spotify affect independent artists. I am also suspicious that the music industry has favored artists who promote their work via Youtube and other platforms, including TikTok. However, this makes me cringe, knowing that there are artists who are not and will never be part of this scene. Sure, these days, you have to be a businessperson/accountant and sales agent to survive in the music industry. But it saddens me that this stretches the creativity that an artist loses while multitasking.
Karl recently released an album called One in late May of 2022. It is an Irish fusion instrumental album that is highly energetic, inventive, and atmospheric. However, I am disappointed that little fanfare happened in the Irish music community. Something like this should be celebrated, right? However, the music scene is fickle, and people have short-term memory like social media. You have to start from scratch to promote your stuff, especially when the wave you rode crested and the world moved on. But real music lovers like me don’t see it that way. We always remember, right? We can wait for decades until an artist releases something. And when it happens, we love that work and shout it to the world.
Karl is currently performing live music with other musicians, and you can see his music updates via his Instagram account. Yes, I follow his posts and show support because we should celebrate such talent. It is rare these days. And it is a beautiful kind of music.
Celtic Music Fan 