Irish singer-songwriter Rory & The Island has released the kid-friendly video for his brand new single ‘Miss This’, with cameos from his sons Aidan and Shay featured.

Rory Gallagher understandably performs under his Rory & The Island moniker to avoid confusion, and has built up something of a cult following during lockdown. The musician's Facebook Live shows average 30,000 weekly views over the past year, and his most recent single, ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’, reached No. 1 in November 2020.

Rory & The Island has had 12 Top 20 iTunes singles in Ireland in the past decade, with ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’ fending off competition from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Lizzo and Dermot Kennedy to claim the Irish top spot and climbing to No. 8 in the UK iTunes Songwriters chart.

“The 'Miss You' video was a simple concept of creating a contrast between old images of normal lively scenes of life such as music festivals, gigs, football games and busy cafes etc against the backdrop of being stuck indoors with my family during lockdown just waiting around and trying to pass the time without going insane, I filmed it on my phone and just edited it all together with old footage I had on memory sticks," Rory said of the COVID-inspired visuals.

"My two sons Aidan (5) and Shay (2), played their parts perfectly and deserve an MTV award. Strangely when i watched it back a week later it looked and sounded less like a lockdown video and more like a mid-life crisis! I hope this flaw makes it timeless.”

Rory’s journey began as lead singer of indie-rock band The Revs, who found themselves topping the Irish charts with two top 5 albums and a string of successful tours that made waves throughout Ireland, Europe and even reached Australia with a top 30 single - as well as beating Damien Rice, Relish and Six to take both the Meteor IRMA award and the Hot Press Award for Best Newcomer. After the bands split in 2007, Rory moved to a remote island in the Canaries where he opened a live music venue, ‘The Island Bar’.

It was there the Donegal songwriter performed weekly residency shows, beginning his solo project under the name 'Rory & The Island'. Two albums later, Rory & The Island independently saw himself performing all over the UK and Ireland, supporting the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Feeder and Alabama 3. Rory left the island two years ago for Ireland, selling out his Dublin Castle show within 48 hours of tickets going on sale.

In March 2020, Rory and his wife Cara announced the opening of a new music venue ‘The Wildcat’ in Edinburgh. These plans were scuppered as a result of the ongoing pandemic, never reaching its opening night on the 21st March. Ever productive, Rory & The Island has spent the past 11 months writing and releasing new music and performing gigs through Zoom and Facebook, continuing to build up a strong fanbase.

Watch the new video for 'Miss This' below: