Henry Marten's Ghost. Padraig Lalor is pictured to the left

Its sometimes a risky business to tip rising stars in the world of entertainment but many people are saying the smart money is on Padraig Lalor to become one of the foremost folk singers of his generation.
Not that this Belfast native is a novice. For the past 12 years Padraig, who fronts the band Henry Marten's Ghost, has been touring the length and breadth of Britain.
But it is in recent years that things have started to suddenly happen for Padraig, who is now based in south west Wales. As a solo singer he supported Finbarr Furey on the Welsh leg of his last tour of Britain and developed a real bond with someone who he describes as one of his heroes.
"The three Irish singers I have been influenced by are Finbarr, the late Kathleen Largey from The Flying Column and the great tenor Joseph Locke," he said.
Padraig is hopeful Finbarr may even sing one of his recent songs, Two Pennies, a moving composition in the finest storytelling tradition about the Titanic and based on a true story.
"It is about a guy called Ruddick Miller, a riveter who worked on the Titanic who couldn't be bothered with the sectarianism of Belfast and wanted to leave," says Padraig.
"He thought this was a great opportunity to get out of Belfast and took a one-way passage to America with the intention of finding work to get the money to come back and get his two sons. His wife had recently died. Needless to say he didn't make it and his body was never even found,
"He gave the sons two pennies and in the fifties one of the little boys who had grown up found the two brand new pennies in a box. It is written from the perspective of this little boy.
"I know Finbarr Furey likes Two Pennies and I could hear him singing it but we will have to wait and see. If Finbarr Furey wants to record one of your songs that is a huge accolade in itself.
"He is an awesome character and we get on well but you have to really like a song to get up there and sing it the way it deserves to be sung. That's the way I feel and I know Finbarr is the same. If he really likes a song he will sing it."
Two Pennies is a song earmarked for Padraig's first solo album, which he hopes to have finished by the end of the year. He has written eight songs so far and reckons he needs to throw four more into the pot. The album will also feature the vocals of Lowry Evans, Patrick's guitar playing, and fiddle and whistle arrangements.
Another song already written is one about the famous Belfast boxer Rinty Monaghan and he recently finished a song called Watch the Bullets Fly which deals with the subject of army recruitment.
Anyone who loves the tradition of storytelling in song will be in tune with the sort of approach Padraig adopts, though he is also acutely aware of what audiences want, an instinct honed from several years on the road, and he has a fine ear for a melody. He has also picked up a fair few tips from Finbarr.
"I am always watching him and observing him onstage. He is a really great performer.
"I want to write songs an audience can connect with immediately. I don't want to sing songs with lyrics that are meaningless. I like to write songs that are rooted in reality, about characters and the flotsam and jetsam of what goes on.
"There's a lot of historical stuff and stuff connected with Ireland. It might be that 50 years down the road these modern Irish songs become traditional music.
"For me I am not reinventing Irish music, I am writing my own brand. If people want to label it as Irish music that's fine. I see it as social and historical music with a bit of a comment. It is universal. I would hope my album will be very different to what is out there.
"I feel I have got my own unique style which is me, a lot of the Northern Irish style too when there isn't much Northern Irish stuff coming out."
Those who listen to his material will detect a degree of familiarity, almost to the point of feeling they have heard his songs before.
"I have managed to hit on a bit of a knack to make a song sound timeless, so people actually wonder whether it has been around for a while. I guess it's because I have been singing and playing for so long."
Currently Padraig writes a song a month on average. He then whizzes down to his producer Wal Coughlan to get a rough version recorded and then he will try the song out with Henry Marten's Ghost live to see how it goes down with audiences.
This is something Midland music lovers can experience when Henry Marten's Ghost play Behan's in Highfield Road, Hall Green, on Friday May 19 as part of a mini-tour of the Midlands and Lincolnshire.
Staff and customers at one of Birmingham's newest and it would seem busiest Irish music venues have already been switched on to some of Padraig's and Henry Marten's Ghost's material. CDs have been played on the music system at Behan's and gone down a storm according to Sarah Shannon.
East Midlanders can catch them at The Musician Pub in Leicester on Thursday May 25.
Expect a mixture of Padraig's songs and some traditional songs and tunes too.
"It is future, past and present working together and I think it works really well," said Padraig.
If rosy predictions about where Padraig is heading are to be believed - he has even been compared to the likes of Christy Moore - then make sure you catch him on one of these visits to the Midlands. Next time around you might well be parting with your hard-earned cash to see him.