Seamas Hyland performing at Tradfest 2026

Seamas Hyland is a traditional and experimental musician from Co.Waterford playing at Tradfest 2026. 

Hyland released his debut album ‘Maidin Domhnaigh’ in May 2024 and will be playing The Grand Social on Friday the 23rd of January. 

“It was a huge project, and I don’t think I was expecting the amount of work involved but it was really rewarding to go through every part of the process and do it totally independently,” said Hyland.

Hyland started his musical journey at just eight years old, where he first learned to play the tin whistle in primary school and then learned the accordion. 

He attributed his interest in music to the fantastic musicians that he was surrounded by growing up and how rich the Waterford area is for culture and arts. 

“I was really lucky to have Bobby Gardiner as a teacher, he’s a renowned accordion player from Claire but didn’t live too far from me, he was a fantastic musician to have around,” said Hyland.

The album’s title was inspired from an old sean nós song called Eochaill, which is associated with the Waterford sean nós tradition. The first line in Eochaill is ‘maidin Domhnaigh,’ which means Sunday morning. Hyland said it just fit perfectly for the title of the album. This piece is also featured on the opening track of the album ‘Navan Road’. 

The artwork for this album is particularly striking, the doll head figure was made by Hyland when he was 12 years old as a primary school project. He said it had just been sitting around and he ended up being drawn to it for the album cover art- adding to the completely independent aspect of the album.

In tracks like ‘Press and Draw’ Hyland combines both traditional elements and more experimental ideas which draw you in and create a unique interesting sound. This carries throughout various tracks in the album, a brave choice for a debut.

“I’m not exactly too sure of how it started. I was playing around with different sounds that could be made with the instruments. I just really enjoyed figuring out different sounds and I tried to make them into little pieces,” said Hyland. 

“At first I was very reluctant or nervous to show them or record them because it was totally different from what I had been used to, but then I just went with it and I’m really delighted I did,” he said.

Certain tracks are field recordings, which mean they were recorded outside of the studio and it was a similar creative process for including those in the album. 

“It kind of happened a little bit by chance, I just enjoyed making recordings from different environments, and I just tried to put them as a background layer and they ended up staying there,” he said. 

Combining traditional, experimental, studio and field recordings all into one album has resulted in an extremely creatively authentic album full of personality and interesting layers. 

“I think there will always be a solid traditional element, but I think with experimentation, just play what you enjoy, and if you enjoy what you’re playing, then it’s a totally natural thing you’re making,” Hyland said.

“With traditional music, there’s quite a known and recognised number of melodies and sounds that you play and you can play, which is very much associated with history and culture, so I like having both elements,” he said. 

Hyland discussed how tradfest is really important, especially around January when there’s not much on. 

“It’s great to have a big festival like this happening, I think the scene in Dublin is super strong at the moment so I suppose tradfest is an element reflecting that, it’s really incredible, the amount of music coming out and the scene is really healthy, it’s great to have this as a platform,” Hyland said. 

Again, Hyland is playing The Grand Social on the 23rd of January, be sure to check Tradfests website for tickets!

Check out babylonradio for more articles on music, culture, and lifestyle. Blue Fish Diamond are also playing Tradfest 2026, check out their article at babylonradio website