Kevin Mitchell at St Andrews Folk Club circa 1969 (artiste only)

KEVIN MITCHELL was born in Derry in Northern Ireland and grew up in the Springtown Camp and Creggan areas.
During his youth Kevin was involved in traditional Irish language, dance & games. Encouraged to enter the Derry Feis he soon became known as a singer, winning the John Player Ballad singing prize in Belfast in the 60’s.

His repertoire was expanded by many Friday sessions in Buncrana, where he learned many songs and ballads.

In '69 he moved to Glasgow, working as an industrial painter. His repertoire was expanded by the addition of Scottish music. He immersed himself in Scottish songs, and found many of them not as Scottish as they seemed - the relationship between Scottish and Irish music not easy to separate.

A long term member of the group “Stramash” with Finlay Allison, Bob Blair, John Eaglesham, Anne Neilson and songwriter Adam McNaughtan he was a wonderful interpreter of traditional song with a repertoire of Irish music and a style conveying where his heart lay. If you heard him singing you will remember it. Words like distinctive, lyrical and beautiful are not enough to describe his unique style.

Kevin sadly passed away in his adopted city of Glasgow, three days before Christmas 2022 of mesothelioma, brought on by his years in the building trade.

Commercial recordings can be found on Topic – 12TS314, Greentrax CDTRAX 108 & Musical Traditions MTCD315