By Michelle Crean

Moving from the countryside to the big city has been the inspiration for a new single by a well established local artist.

Junior Brother, AKA Ronan Kealy from Kilcummin, this week released his brand new single 'No Country For Young Men' and is preparing for a UK tour in April followed by an Irish tour.

"At the moment I'm preparing for my UK tour in April with my new band, before embarking on an Irish tour supporting my latest single, 'No Country For Young Men', which is out now and available on gold 7'' vinyl from my website," Ronan told the Killarney Advertiser.

"I wrote the song soon after I moved from Kilcummin to Dublin, and it reflects the anxiety I felt regarding the housing crisis and other pressures tangible both there and across the country."

And although the pandemic was "very tough", he said that he's "excited to present" his new material.

"It [the pandemic] presented a whole set of roadblocks which among other things have slowed the making of my next album down a bit, but now that restrictions are lifting, everything seems to be getting back to normal and I'm really excited to present the material I've been working away on over the last while," he said.

"A positive of the lockdown was that it granted me a break in my fairly hectic schedule early in 2020, and as a result, I enjoyed a replenishing few months at home in Kilcummin - this time allowed me to reconnect with the landscape, and allowed the rural atmospheres around me to bleed more deeply into my new music."

Ronan has been involved in music since around the age of eight.

"I've been writing and recording my own stuff since I could play an instrument, so from about the age of eight I've been hacking away creating songs. I began gigging when I was about 12, in a band called Titus Groan with musicians from Killarney, in which we wrote and performed our own material. I started gigging on my own near the end of my time with the band, and started exclusively doing my own thing around the period after I finished secondary school. A few years later I moved to Dublin to fully give the music a proper go, and I've been based up here ever since."

For more information on tour dates and to buy 'No Country For Young Men' on Ltd. Edition Gold Vinyl go to www.juniorbrother.com.