Many artists can be credited with signposting new directions on the shifting sands of the international music market during the second half of the twentieth century, and in Ireland, Paul Brady is one those renowned for his innovative influence.

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Emerging from a teenage maelstrom of the vanilla popular songs of the day mixed with his love of rock ‘n’ roll, soul, traditional Irish music, folk, blues and R ‘n’ B, he found himself in The Johnstons before joining Planxty. Those early days and his collaboration with Andy Irvine have earned him a lifelong reputation as a true bearer of the traditional flame, while his restless creativity inevitably led him down the path of a solo career where he could express himself to greater effect.

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Since then, Brady’s own songs have always been impeccably delivered in his solo shows and with his band and the universal appeal of some of his material has not been lost on others who have made their own successful interpretations of his work, gaining him the global recognition as a songwriter that he deserves.

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Like many artists, he has been represented by numerous record labels along the way and I was fortunate to have been able to release five of his albums through my old company, Proper Records. Now, I’m pleased to say that here at The Last Music Company, Paul and I have put his entire catalogue together under one roof to make it available to everyone worldwide.

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And here’s some exciting news.

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Over the years, Paul has amassed a large collection of photos and memorabilia, most of which has been unseen by the public and there is also a lot of rare or previously unreleased music. So we have decided to assemble as much of it as possible into a box set collection named - PAUL BRADY: THE ARCHIVE - for everyone to enjoy. It is a 12” square hardback book with seventy-two pages of illustrations and four compact discs.

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It is an absolute pleasure to be working with Paul again and assisting in the curation of such a notable collection.

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_ Malcolm Mills