Gerry Casey Interviews Grainne Duffy

May 31, 2026

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Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey’s Interview with Grainne Duffy

Gráinne Duffy is an Irish singer, guitarist, and songwriter from Castleblayney, County Monaghan, who has built an international reputation through powerful live performances, soulful blues-rock songwriting, and relentless touring. Raised in a family of seven, she grew up singing in her local choir and performing in a family band with her sisters—an early foundation that shaped both her confidence on stage and her love of harmony.

Music was central in the Duffy household. With no television at home, the family gathered around a record player, and each child was encouraged to choose a record for birthdays and Christmas—an approach that widened her musical world early. Through that collection she fell in love with artists like Aretha Franklin, The Pretenders, and The Rolling Stones, and soon discovered Fleetwood Mac and the blues playing of Peter Green, who remains one of her key guitar influences.

Before launching her solo career, Duffy earned a music degree from NUI Maynooth and gained experience through session work in Italy and France—training that helped her become the kind of artist who can handle both big stages and intimate rooms with equal authority.

In 2007, she stepped out on her own, releasing her debut album Out of the Dark. The record made an immediate impact and helped land her a major milestone: performing three days on the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2008. Around the same period, she supported major acts including Robben Ford and The Yardbirds, and in 2009 she worked with the BBC to record a track for a TV promo campaign in George Martin’s art studio in London.

That momentum carried into wider UK and Irish recognition, including an acclaimed appearance on Ireland’s Other Voices, festival performances in Ireland, and opening slots for artists such as Little Feat and Paul Brady. In 2010 she formalized the next step of her live evolution by forming the Gráinne Duffy Band, tightening her sound for larger stages and broader touring.

Her second album, Test of Time (2011), was produced in collaboration with Niko Bolas (Melissa Etheridge, Los Lobos) and earned strong reviews, with The Sunday Times calling her “an Irish blues singer of real integrity.” Classic Rock highlighted the way she blends soul into her blues while carrying her Celtic-rooted identity.

From 2012 through 2015, Duffy’s profile expanded rapidly across Europe and beyond. She became a high-demand festival and touring artist in the UK, then broke into Norway and played leading events including Skanjevik Blues Festival and the “Dark Season Blues” festival in Svalbard—one of the world’s northernmost festivals. She continued to build on the European continent with appearances and tours across Bulgaria, Holland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and more, while also headlining her home festival in County Monaghan.

By 2014 and 2015, international acclaim followed. She performed at major festivals including Blue Balls Festival in Switzerland, Cognac Blues Passion in France, and Notodden Blues Festival in Norway alongside leading artists such as Keb’ Mo’ and Rival Sons. She was voted “Best Vocalist” and “Best Artist” in the Blues Matters Writers Poll (and repeated that recognition again the following year), toured Canada for the first time at Tremblant International Festival, and made her first appearance in Africa at Tanjazz Festival in Morocco.

In the current chapter of her career, Duffy recorded in Los Angeles with producer and film composer Justin Stanley (noted for work with artists including Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck, and for film credits including Lost in Translation and Blow). Those sessions featured an exceptional group of collaborators, and her touring continued to broaden—taking her to festivals in Norway, Canada, Morocco, the UK and Ireland, and her first tour of Australia at the Woodford Folk Festival.

In 2017, Duffy performed at India’s Mahindra Blues Festival, sharing the bill with artists including Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Lance Lopez, Shemekia Copeland, and Eric Gales. That same year she released the single “Where I Belong,” produced by Justin Stanley, followed by her third studio album Where I Belong. The release brought strong press and radio support (including mentions of BBC presenters), and she marked the album with a London release concert at Nell’s Jazz & Blues Club.

By 2018, her live reputation continued to grow, including a UK support tour for Paul Carrack (Mike & The Mechanics), with reviews praising both her voice and her onstage presence.

Gráinne Duffy’s story is one of steady, hard-earned momentum: a choir-trained Irish singer and guitarist who turned early influences into a world-class touring career, building her name stage by stage across the UK, Europe, North America, Africa, Australia, and beyond.

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