ABOUT ailie

Ailie Blunnie is a musician and songwriter from Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim. Her music sounds "like Leitrim fiddle legend Ben Lennon met up with Patti Smith, had a drink in Carrick on Shannon and worked out how to fuse trad, folk, rock then sprinkle some tasteful electronica over it all. Uniquely edgy and familiar at same time” (Fergus O’Keefe, WRFG 89.3FM Atlanta).

She released her début album, 'West to the Evening Sun', in 2017, described in Hot Press Magazine as “a tour de force of masterful songwriting, which pushes the boundaries, both sonically and lyrically” (Róisín Dwyer, Hot Press).

Ailie, a young white woman with a dyed red bob, is sitting at a piano looking left and singing into a microphone with her right arm bent & held up above the piano (as if after finishing a song). She is wearing a grey t-shirt. Photo by Fergal Woods

A little more..

She previously released 'On love.. and other murder mysteries' (2013), a 4-track EP from which the song 'How much do you love me?' was selected as a winning song in the international UK Songwriting Contest 2014 (Love Songs category). And speaking of love songs, the track 'Love Song to a Bicycle' from her début album has garnered intrigue on account of its quirky portrayal of a dead man’s love for his bicycle. It was originally written for a Flann O'Brien commemorative event in 2011 celebrating his acclaimed novel 'The Third Policeman' and subsequently featured in a short film of the same title documenting a shared passion by the creators for the art of cycling and the writings of Flann O'Brien (short film, dir. L. McMorrow & J. Gogan, 2022). Her version of the well-known Irish ballad, 'Rocky Road to Dublin' (single; 2019) is another track sometimes heard out in the wild, recently forming part of the soundtracks to RTE Sport's GAA coverage and BBC4's 'Arena: James Joyce's Ulysses' (dir. Adam Lowe, 2021).

Ailie also writes music for theatre and dance, including work with Manorhamilton's Splódar Theatre Company, and Dublin aerial dance company, Taking Flight. She is based in Dublin where she divides her time between writing and recording music and working as a counsellor/psychotherapist (MIACP). She is currently working on her second album.

update on Ailie’s health

Ailie contracted COVID-19 in March 2021 and subsequently developed Long Covid (subtype ME/CFS & Dysautonomia/POTS). The condition has unfortunately had a serious impact on her health and quality of life & she is consequently unable to perform music in live settings. She speaks about her experiences on her YouTube series, Sound-Bytes from the Deep End.

Meanwhile, she is working on new ways of creating and presenting her music which aligns better with her ongoing health situation. She is still available for selected commission work.

  • "Ambient, hauntingly intimate and very moving, this is something rather special from the singer-songwriter from Carrick-on-Shannon"

    — Alan Corr, RTÉ Entertainment

  • "So new, so fresh, and so good"

    — Carl Corcoran, The Blue of the Night, RTÉ Lyric fm

  • "a tour de force of masterful songwriting, which pushes the boundaries, both sonically and lyrically"

    — Róisín Dwyer, Hotpress

  • “This album extends beyond innovative musical arrangements, even beyond the skill of poetic, expressive lyrics. Blunnie’s songs are transcendent and transporting.”

    — Colleen Taylor, NY Irish Echo

  • "Ailie Blunnie has a remarkable way of playing with silence and minimalistic loops that create beautiful textures that morph in and out of completely different styles. Her voice is innocent and sweet, her music is thrillingly sinister."

    — Emma Leddy, KnockanStockan Music & Arts Festival

  • “‘West to the Evening Sun’ is not just music—it’s poetry too. Listening to these songs is like sitting alone in an archive, reading a collection of letters shared between the closest of friends. There is tragedy, confession, hope, love. Moreover, there is narrative as well as harmonic integrity.”

    — Colleen Taylor, NY Irish Echo

Side profile of Ailie, a white woman with a brown bob, looking directly to the left, wearing a black leather jacket and standing in front of a rusty green iron gate with a pile of bright green fenders/buoys behind the gate. Photo by Pookadubh
Ailie, a white woman with a dyed red bob, is standing upright on the end of a very narrow pier wearing black and grey with her back to the camera. There is water all around her and a forest on the horizon. There are clouds in the sky are reflected in
Ailie, a white woman with reddish brown short hair, is wearing black and crouched down in a bluebell wood with bluebells and trees all around her. Her body is facing to the left but she is looking back over her left shoulder at a miniature piano whic
This is a photo of a river with Ailie's full profile reflection visible in the top right corner along with the reflection of the pier she is standing on. It gives the appearance of Ailie, a white woman wearing black, standing upside-down in the top r
Ailie, a white woman with a dyed red bob, is leaning against a large industrial-sized garage door wearing grey and black and black Doc Martin boots. The garage door is a grey shutter-style structure with dark green steel pillars. Photo by Pookadubh