‘Roving Out’ is a radio documentary that celebrates the burgeoning musical culture of Ireland, by focusing on musical artists Mohammad Syfkhan, Varo, Qbanaa and Wise Wolf, who have all made Ireland their home. Named after the traditional song, ‘As I Roved Out’, it explores how these musicians decided to leave their own countries, some due to war and persecution, others for adventure to seek a new life on this island.
All of the artists have managed to find a foothold in the Irish musical community, where they have met like-minded people and managed to combine their own culture with Irish musical forms. The artists all represent different countries including Syria, Italy, France, Cuba and Palestine and the scope of their music takes in many genres from traditional and folk to R n’ B, pop and hip hop.
Mohammad Syfkhan - a Kurdish/Syrian Singer and Bouzouki player has released his debut album ‘I am Kurdish’ on the Leitrim based record label Nyahh records. He has played many gigs around Ireland including a sold-out album launch at the Bello Bar in Dublin. He will be appearing on festival bills throughout the Summer.
Varo are singers and fiddle players Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi, who met in Dublin in 2015. They have recorded a soon to be released collaboration album featuring Ian Lynch (Lankum), John Francis Flynn, Anna Mieke, Slow Moving Clouds, Inni-K amongst others.
Having spent her first year exploring a range of styles and genres, Cuban Irish artist Qbanaa returns in 2025 with the sound that may well come to define her. Qbanaa's forthcoming EP Elisa (her nickname in Cuba) containing snippets of found sounds, street recordings and conversations made in Cuba, poetic bilingual lyricism and immersive soundscapes makes for a collection of beautifully understated original music.
Talha AlAli, AKA Talha Wise Wolf, is a Palestinian psychotherapist, activist, hip-hop artist, and human rights defender. Since moving to Ireland in the 2010s, Talha has studied a Masters in Psychology and performed many gigs around the country.
The programme investigates the lives of these musicians before they moved to Ireland, their reasons for moving here, and how they have brought their unique musical cultures to boost the thriving music scene here. It celebrates the diversity of Ireland and its music, while also examining difficult subjects such as the circumstances that have caused some of the artists to migrate here, racism they have experienced and difficulties in integrating to Irish society at first.
For more, see Newstalk.com.