Colin Irwin (journalist)

Colin Irwin is a British music journalist. Irwin was an assistant editor of Melody Maker in the 1970s and 1980s, before leaving in the summer of 1987 as the magazine moved in a different direction, and editor of Number One magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His book In Search of the Craic details a comic journey around Ireland seeking out pub music sessions and became a best-seller in Ireland. Subsequent books were In Search Of Albion, a similarly light-hearted journey around English traditions and rituals and Sing When You're Winning, about the history and culture of terrace songs at football matches. He's also reviewed music for The Guardian, Mojo, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, fRoots and Spiral Earth and has been a Mercury Music Prize judge. He reviews mainly singer-songwriters, folk rock, Celtic and traditional folk albums. He has also presented music programmes on BBC Radio 2. His play The Corridor has been performed in Surrey and Yorkshire. Other plays he has written which have been performed on stage in different parts of the country include 'One Of Us Is Lying', 'When Barry Met Cally' and 'I Am The Way'. In 2017, his theatrical music show, 'She Moved Through The Fair: The Legend Of Margaret Barry', co-written with Irish singer Mary McPartlan was successfully debuted in front of a sell-out audience at Glasgow's Tron Theatre as part of the Celtic Connections festival.