Strabane hand-pan man to take on new solo busking tour

A STRABANE man who rose to fame during the pandemic for his special talent on an unique instrument is set to take on a busking tour of the North.

During lockdown the streets of Derry and Strabane echoed with the melodic sounds of a strange instrument: The hand-pan.

The source of this mesmerising sound came from Strabane dad and musician Micheál Ó’Dálaigh who took up the hand-pan after being mesmerised himself in the Netherlands.

However in his new tour of busking across town and cities in the North, Micheál said he wants to break the taboo of what he says people perceive as ‘glorified begging’.

“I had been involved in music my whole life,” said Micheál, “I started playing guitar as a child then I moved on to bass and from working in bands I got a bit of drums in there too.

“But when I was in the Netherlands just before Covid was the first time I seen and heard a hand-pan.

“I was on a spiritual retreat and I heard this new sound and when I left (the sound) left with me.”

He continued, “There is a sort of taboo around busking as I think people see it as glorified begging but you have some really talented musicians out there who use busking as a great way to grow.

“I remember busking around Strabane but I wasn’t taken seriously because I was so well known, so it would just be friends of mine stopping to chat to me.”

For the Strabane hand-pan man, his ‘big break’ came last year when he performed his first ‘solo’ set at the Alley Theatre.

“It was a great show. I had got to play all of my original stuff and I had an AI projection to match the meaning of the songs. I’d put in a prompt for the name and meaning of the songs and it would project visuals to represent what I was trying to convey. The best part about it though was having my daughter perform her dancing alongside me,” said Micheál.

“Now my plan is to travel across the North and busk in every major town and city. All I need to do before I start is get the insurance for the van and I’m good to go.

“So far I’m aiming for spring/summer time. I’ve already got a few gigs lined up in Strabane, Armagh and Derry but I’m looking for new places in Belfast and Bangor.”

Micheál added, “I definitely am looking forward to this journey and I’m always keeping an eye out for any events I can get myself signed up to.

“For me, music is the language of emotion and it is just as beautiful without words as you can express how you feel rather than say it.”