Vincent Cross is an Irish singer/songwriter known for his Irish song poetry that draws from various traditional folk idioms and ancient myths. He was born in Ireland, raised in Australia, and is now based in New York City.
Biography
Cross’s career began soon after graduating from The Marist Brothers Secondary School Athlone, Co. Westmeath in Ireland. He moved to London where he busked on Carnaby Street and performed at several venues around the city, including Bunjies in Leicester Square, The Troubadour, Cecil Sharp House, and The Railway Inn where he opened for Isaac Guillory. He would eventually begin performing regularly at The Stag's Head in Camden Town alongside 5-string banjo player Montz Matsumoto, traditional Irish fiddler Chris Short, and UK bass player Stephen Harrison as well as frequent special guests including Ron Kavana and Rory McLeod. By the early 2000’s, Cross was touring regularly across Ireland, England, and Scandinavia, making a name for himself in the traditional Irish music scene. In 2001, he met long-time collaborator Shane Kerwin and recorded his debut self-titled release. The album caught the ears of Arista Records who arranged a number of shows for Cross in New York City. Jon Richards of Galway Bay FM also took notice of Cross and included him on two separate nationally released compilation albums, Undercurrents and Inundations, which led to performances with Damien Rice, Glen Hansard, and The Devlins. In 2006, Cross moved to New York City where he became a regular at the legendary Baggot Inn bluegrass jams, playing with top musicians of the scene such as Chris Thile, Michael Daves, Mark O’Connor, and Greg Garing. He formed the traditional bluegrass band Good Company and released his first full-length album Home Away From Home in 2008. On May 8, 2008, Cross was personally invited by folk legend Odetta to perform at a historic tribute concert hosted by Wavy Gravy at Banjo Jim’s. She would later rave about Cross’s performance, stating “I heard a crystal clear voice that took me back to when I was being introduced to mountain music groups and families of Appalachia. It was a pleasure to hear such beauty coming out of Vincent Cross.” Cross released his sophomore album A Town Called Normal in 2013 which hit #8 on the Radio Free Americana Charts. It was followed by Old Songs For Modern Folk in 2016 which reached #2 on the National Folk DJ Albums Chart, hit #67 on Roots Music Report’s Top Traditional Folk Album Chart, and was nominated by the Independent Music Awards for Best Tribute Album. He continues to tour worldwide, including frequent appearances at festivals such as the TelemarkFestivalen, The Hebridean Celtic Festival, The Maverick Americana Festival, The Long IslandBluegrass Festival, The Dripping Springs Songwriter Festival, and The South Florida Folk Festival. Cross recently announced his next album will release in 2020. He revealed that the songs will be contemporary and traditional ballads about his distant relative James “The Rooster” Corcoran, a 19th Century Irish-American gang leader and squatter colony chief who was known for his “caustic tongue and ready wit.”
