A Question of Taste: John Blek

Cork singer-songwriter John Blek launches his fifth album, The Embers, with a gig at Triskel Christchurch on Saturday. His song Salt in the Water was nominated for “International Folk Song of the Year” at the Folk Alliance International 2018 Awards and his previous record Thistle & Thorn reached number 1 in the Independent Irish album charts.

Don’t Skip Out On Me by Willy Vlautin
Uncut Gems. An unsettling and hectic piece of cinema.
Richard Thompson at Moseley Folk Festival 2019.
Song : “Scapa Flow 1919” by Kris Drever or Album : Bonny Light Horseman by Bonny Light Horseman.
‘Clare to Here’ by Ralph McTell when I heard it sung by a stranger in a pub in Dingle. I was only 7 or 8. It took me away.
The best show I’ve ever seen was The Flaming Lips at the Marquee, Cork a few years ago.
Narcos is getting a good going over lately again. Really enjoy that series.
I’m often driving home late at night so Late Date on RTÉ Radio 1 always gets a listen. The only podcasts I listen to all the time are Marc Maron’s WTF and the Blindboy Podcast.
I met Michael D Higgins a few years ago when I played Áras an Uachtaráin. Does that count?
I would go back to the early 1990s and go see Townes Van Zandt in the Lobby bar in Cork. It always gets to me that he was dead before I ever had a chance to see him play live.
Bert Jansch, the aforementioned Townes Van Zandt, and Joan Shelly
Small venue owners and promoters the world over. Just doing their best to bring something good to the public.
I would love if travel/work visas were not needed for artists touring in certain territories.
Des O’Driscoll