A songwriter and singer with a solo career at full tilt, he is also front man in the well-known Irish band, the Hothouse Flowers. The band had their breakthrough in 1988, with their hit Don’t Go which was an international succes. And they still going strong, playing for example at Glastonbury Festival in 2022. However, there’s much more to 58 year-old Liam Ó Maonlaí than playing in Hothouse Flowers. As a soloist, he has released several albums, among them 2005’s Rian. He has done acting work and was a major part of the documentary film Dambé: The Mali Project from 2008. The film deals with the musical journey undertaken by Liam Ó Maonlaí and Paddy Keenan (of The Bothy Band) to the famed Festival Au Désert in Mali. Here the two musicians brought traditional Irish folk music in contact with West African music, and instruments such as the uilleann pipes, bodhrán and whistles played alongside kora and gourd drums. Liam Ó Maonlaí grew up with traditional Irish folk music and remains true to his roots. And it is this music with folk roots he will be presenting at Tønder Festival. His only Danish festival in 2023.