The John Byrne Band is led by former Patrick's Head front man and Dublin native John Byrne. Their debut album, After the Wake, was released to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011. With influences ranging from The Chieftains to Planxty to Bob Dylan, John’s songwriting honors and expands upon the musical and lyrical traditions of his native and adopted homes. On this LP, John's band features members of Amos Lee, Calexico, The Fractals, Huffamoose and The Modern Inventors. The band features: John Byrne – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar ... Rob Shaffer – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Banjo, Dobro, Tambourine, Vocals ... Andrew J. Keenan – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Banjo, Dobro, Ukulele, Pedal Steel, Vocals ... Maura Dwyer – Violin and Cello ... Dorie Byrne – Accordion, Trombone, Vocals ... Walt Epting – Drums ... Vince Tampio – Trumpet and Flugelhorn ... Jim Stager – Bass ... Ken Pendergast – Bass ... Jaron Olevsky – Piano and Organ ... The Modern Inventors - Backing vocals. To celebrate the release of their long-awaited second LP, the band is making the first single, "Dirty, Used Up, Chewed Up, Screwed Up Love" available online. Listen and Share "Dirty, Used Up, Chewed Up, Screwed Up Love" Here In late 2012, John Byrne had a new batch of songs written for the follow up to his critically acclaimed 2011 album After the Wake. Then, as often happens, life intervened. An accident that left him needing surgery and months of recuperation, coupled with personal tragedy and loss, left him staring at a body of work that held, for him, little meaning anymore. “The songs were fine, they were good songs, I just couldn’t find myself in them anymore, “says Byrne from his home in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. With Byrne’s fan-base clamoring for a promised new release, John and his touring band recorded 2013’s Celtic Folk, a collection of folk tunes from Ireland and America that the band had been sliding into their live sets during the After the Wake tours. The album, which would eventually make the Folk DJ Charts, entering at number 36 (FolkRadio.Org), gave Byrne the time he needed to reflect and write. “I wrote about the bad stuff and the amazingly good stuff that came out of the bad,” he reveals. The result of this is The Immigrant and the Orphan, an album of 12 songs that Terry Roland of No Depression magazine in LA, who stumbled upon the band on their recent Kickstarter campaign, calls “Some of the finest songwriting I have heard this year, each tune on this album carries an honesty, integrity, and quiet passion that will draw you into its world for years to come”. Roland had only heard rough mixes that Byrne felt comfortable sharing with the writer after an interview. “There is anger, joy, sadness and reflection in the songs, “says Byrne, “But most of all I wanted to get to the very deepest root of each situation, to be open, to be exposed, but to leave the listener room to enter, interpret and find their own meaning in the songs.” Byrne’s skillful handling of the subjects has led to some of his most honest yet accessible songs to date, as witnessed in the first single Dirty, Used Up, Chewed Up, Screwed Up Love, a defiant folk-rock song with strong echoes of John Hiatt and Lucinda Williams. The B-Side, Sing on Johnny, is an homage to his Father. At the time of writing, The John Byrne Band’s CD Release show at the storied World Café Live in Philadelphia is all-but sold out, almost 2-months in advance. His CD Preview nights at Philadelphia’s Tin Angel in May also sold out. Fans are expecting great things from The Immigrant and the Orphan, and that’s just how John Byrne likes it.