Rioghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet

About

Malt Room Standing
Ríoghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet move with ease and confidence between swampy jazz, raucous brass, fractured funk, blues balladry, and gorgeous folkloric textures. Connolly's powerhouse vocals lead the charge, blending mischief, protest and vulnerability into something fiercely human and utterly live. Honeyfeet holds all of this together with a groove and a commitment to musical freedom. The lineup consists of Lorien Garth Edwards on bass, Ellis Davies on guitar, John Ellis on keyboards, Biff Roxby on brass, and Phill Howley on drums form a fluid and fearless musical unit.

At the heart of Ríoghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet is the indomitable Ríoghnach Connolly, whose voice is equal parts fierce, tender and fearless, connecting ancestral song traditions with contemporary storytelling. She has won the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award for Best Folk Singer and BBC Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year. In early 2025, she joined Annie Lennox on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for "Sisters: Annie Lennox and Friends," a landmark concert that raised funds for The Circle, Lennox's global feminist organisation. Sharing the bill with artists including Celeste and Nadine Shah, Connolly brought her singular presence to a night that celebrated the transformative power of music and collective voice.

Ríoghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet have found themselves on a steady rise. Their They Want What You've Got tour featured a string of acclaimed performances, including shows at The Glasshouse in Gateshead and a headline slot at the Albert Hall in Manchester as part of WOMEX 24. Another unforgettable moment came with their performance at the cliffside Minack Theatre in Cornwall, where the band held the audience in thrall beneath the open sky as the sun dropped into the sea.

The Heads, Hearts and Hooves Tour widened their reach again alongside other 2025 appearances including Calgary Folk Music Festival, Wilderness, Green Man and Found Festival, and concluding the year with a headline show at Manchester Academy Three.

"Brilliant band!" – CRAIG CHARLES, BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC

"A righteous blast of working-class energy." – CLASH MUSIC

"I'm in love with Honeyfeet." – BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH