At Home and Abroad

In 2010, Michael Darcy packed up his songs and guitar, left his home in the green hills of Co. Clare, Ireland and journeyed westward across the Atlantic – to Toronto, Canada. Chasing adventure and devilment he fell in with three like-minded young music makers who would become ‘The Atlantic Tramps’. It was a whirlwind of folk traditions — where greengrass meets bluegrass. From soulful ballads to roof-raising barnstormers, Michael Darcy & The Atlantic Tramps whisk their audiences up to the rafters and down to the roots. Drawing from the well of rich Irish music that he grew up with and also being inspired by gritty American songwriters like John Prine & Guy Clark, Michael’s songs bear the earthy tones of his Old Country roots, and the freshness of a newly cut path. Americana. Stories of loss and fortune, love and heartbreak, wanderlust and lives lived — told with a touch of banjo twang and a light Canadian frost. Michael tours both solo and with The Atlantic Tramps. Most recently, the band received a scholarship to attend the 2022 Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri where they performed multiple showcases at the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community. Their single “Sweet St. John’s”, released in March 2022, was featured on the popular St. John’s Morning Show for CBC Radio One in Canada which also included an in-depth interview with Michael. In 2021, they were honoured to be the only Canadian artists presented at the international Robinson Emerging Artist Showcase at North America’s longest running pan-Celtic festival – Goderich Celtic Roots Festival. 2020 saw the band share the stage with multi-platinum Irish artist Mundy where they closed out the show together, performing the worldwide hit song “Galway Girl” at Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern. In 2019, Michael’s solo soft-seat theatre debut at the Saltwater Sessions in Kimberley, BC was a resounding sold-out success. After releasing his impressive solo debut Simple Drop of Rain, which garnered positive reviews and radioplay on both sides of the Atlantic, Michael returned to the studio with The Atlantic Tramps in tow for the eagerly-awaited follow-up album, titled Down to the Roots, released in the summer of 2022.