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Johnny Duhan | The Burning Wood

July 31, 2010

"Truly a beautiful piece of work. There is something primary, if not primal, about the album. It speaks to the human being  who comes to these questions with nothing but a flimsy raft of  openness buffeted on an ocean of doubt and fear.” John Waters

The Burning Word is the first completely new album Johnny Duhan has produced in many years. The dove emerging from the lick of fire on the cover is symbolic not only of the fact that the songs are spiritual but also that the collection has evolved from one of Johnny’s last studio albums, Flame, and may one day merge with it.
 
Over the years Johnny has received letters from people all over the world telling him that the spiritual dimension in his songs has helped them through times of crisis as well as marking occasions of celebration. This contributed to his going below the surface of his faith for this work.

In the opening song, The Coat, the listener is asked to lay aside doubt and put on a garment of faith so as to make a journey in a cold season to a place of prayer. An invitation to a spiritual meal is extended in The Flame is Lit. Emily Dickenson’s This World is not Conclusion choruses the unfathomable mystery of our world and heralds an afterlife. Wonders catalogues a series of miracles that stem from Christ’s charitable nature, and Surrender gives in to the declaration of faith of the Lord’s Prayer. 

The incarnation mystery at the centre of the title song, The Burning Word, reflects on the paradox that pain lies at the heart of the joy of creation. Song of the Bird grew from a boyhood memory of arriving home with an injured bird which Johnny’s mother allowed him to keep in the garden shed till it was strong enough to fly. The Storm chronicles Johnny’s father’s exemplary courage after a family tragedy. Sure Amen is a hymn for the weary and doubtful. Part of a Tribe, an anthem for community. And finally, Old Story charts an epiphany experienced after a dawn mass.

 
Johnny Duhan
Biography
 
“Peerless.”  The Sunday Times
“One of our great songwriters.”  Christy Moore
“One of my favourite songwriters.” Ronnie Drew

 
Johnny Duhan started his career as a fifteen year old front man in the Limerick beat group Granny’s Intentions, the most popular band in Ireland in the mid to late 60s. After rousing Dublin with their soul touch, they moved to London (one of the first Irish bands to do so), were signed to the prestigious Deram label, released a string of singles and one album and disbanded before Johnny was twenty one. Though plied with offers to front other bands, Johnny turned his back on the popular music industry and started writing folk songs, poetry and prose. Known for his fierce independence and integrity as an artist, he has condensed a body of work spanning 40 years into a quartet of epic albums – Just Another Town, To The Light, The Voyage and Flame –  which correspond to the four chapters of his recently published lyrical autobiography, TO THE LIGHT.
 
Johnny’s songs like The Voyage and Don’t Give Up Till It’s Over are sung all over the world in a variety of languages, thanks to the focus put on them by Christy Moore, The Dubliners, Mary Black and hosts of other Irish and international singers. A new album, The Burning Word, is due to be released on the 15 August 2010.
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