Ottersgear, aka Mikey Kenney – majestic singer, poetic songwriter, and English folk, Irish, Celtic, Bluegrass and Americana style fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist – could’ve been born any time in the past 500 years, but it’s no coincidence that he is alive and well today; for there are no coincidences in nature or the music that grows from its seed. This is indeed a stroke of luck for today’s booking agents, tavern owners, and all present and future lovers of ‘the real’.

A veritable magician of such substantive law, Kenney’s music (solo or collaborative) is a subtly powerful homage to the earth and hearts of humankind, and it succeeds from the bawdy level of spit and sawdust barroom sing-alongs to the lofty heights of the soul set free. Once heard, never forgotten.

Kenney is a busy young man; as his solo project, ‘Ottersgear’ releases its second LP, The Counsel of Owls, on Smugglers Records – following his debut “Quest for Rest” on Sotones Records,  he continues to play with a dazzling array of his contemporaries, including: The Bog Standards (his Irish dance band) Dan Haywood’s New Hawks, and Alabaster DePlume’s Copernicus Ensemble. Such hard work has bred a semi-cult following and only increases his and our appetites for more of the same.

A true professional, Kenney has given himself completely to his art, for he is it and it is life, and will still be heard in the northern winds and wilds in 500 years to come; a thread in the web that spans the ages.”

“A True Companion, and I can think of no higher praise”
Bearded Magazine

“A diverse wondrous portrait of a thoughtful soul and his home.”
Spiral Earth

“Perplexingly attractive.”
FolkWords