Thank you for visiting The Crankie Island Song Project, a labour of love for the last few years, and I’m delighted to be finally be able to share it with you all.
A project, with 32 songs (one for every county), 32 original illustrations
and featuring over 70 musicians, artists and technicians.
Sit back, and enjoy a leisurely meander through Ireland's history using it's traditional songs interpreted by contemporary illustrators by means of the intriguing and versatile "Crankie Box"
What is a Crankie?
The Crankie Box
The Crankie box is a vintage storytelling device. It uses hand-cranked rolling illustrations to add a visual to stories, music and song. They come in many styles and sizes, and can be crudely made from up cycled material or more polished, like a mini-theatre. Closely related to puppetry, the illustrated scroll can be accompanied by shadow puppetry among other styles.
Music & Video
All 32 videos featuring original artworks commissioned from contemporary artists and illustrators are almost all available to watch on our YouTube channel, and indeed the full 32 track album is ready now, to listen to, or buy, on our Bandcamp.