In ancient times, Ultan Conlon would have been a troubadour – a travelling musician who will pitch up and play wherever people will gather to listen.

Just like post-Covid, when he took off on a tour of tiny venues – grocery stores, crochet clubs, book clubs, small bars playing behind the counter – because he just loves it and he’d missed it.

Proving that variety is the spice of life, the Loughrea-born singer/songwriter almost has three parallel musical lives on the go.

There are the regular outings with his podcast pal Mary Coughlan; interpreting the songs of Percy French with singer Eleanor Shanley and multi-instrumentalist from the Stunning Jimmy Higgins…and his own solo work.

It’s his solo persona that brings him to the Town Hall studio next Friday night, November 7, for an intimate gig – fresh from the release of his new album which in turn is a stripped-back, fully acoustic reworking drawn from his first two records.

Fittingly called ‘Only’, it’s recorded as live – a concert without an audience, as he jokes – with about half the tracks taken from Bless Your Heart and the other half from Songs of Love so Cruel.

And Penny Sweets – one of his most popular numbers live – also features, the first time it has been available on a physical release, and the only track not from either of the first two LPs.

The album came out earlier in the month and it’s available as a CD from Ultan’s online store or from Bandcamp, where it can be purchased as a CD or a digital download.

“I wanted to make an acoustic album for a long time,” he says.

“All my albums have been produced with full bands on them, and I’ve had a lot of gigs over the years where people come up and say: “Oh I’d love to hear something with just you and the guitar” – so I thought it was a good opportunity.

“And also, five albums in, I think I’d sort of lost touch with the first couple of records, so I thought it was a good excuse for me to revisit, and even relearn, some of the songs. It was a little bit of an exercise in both.”

He describes Only as ‘very raw and very honest’.

“That’s why I called it ‘Only’ as well; a simple title, no fanfares and very personal.”

And it also reflects his stage persona where he enjoys the banter and the backstories almost as much as the music itself.

“For those smaller gigs, it’s literally me, the guitar, a little condenser mic and an amp – so everything fits in the boot of the car – and that’s where people particularly come up and say they’d love an album with just me and the guitar.

“And all those songs were originally written with just me and the guitar – so, here, they’re played as they were written…just me and the song.

“Funnily I also thought I’d do this, and it would be an easy way to record, and I’d get it done quickly but I soon realised that it’s warts and all and you have to be quite precise with the take that you get.

“There was no manipulation or over-dubbing or fixing a word here and there; it’s just me playing the songs from beginning to end at a gig.”

The Town Hall studio gig, with its intimate surrounds, will echo those small gig performances that have brought him to such new and diverse audiences over the last couple of years.

There’s another gig close to home on the horizon as well, because on Friday, December 5, Ultan is in Gort Town Hall.

The Galway Town Hall gig is all but sold out but if you miss both the Galway and the Gort gigs, Only offers a taster for an Ultan Conlon night out.

And if past history is anything indication, there’s also every chance he could soon turn up in a small but perfectly formed venue near you.

Pictured: New album…the cover of Ultan Conlon’s Only.