Tradition Reimagined
Original songs in traditional settings & reimagined traditional songs and tunes

Grásta (The Irish word for Grace, pronounced graw shtha) is a new project where original songs with contemporary themes are developed with traditional instruments and traditional songs and tunes are reimagined.

Golden Light is the title track of the debut album ​due for release in 2026.

Biography

Grásta is the brain child of Irish singer-songwriter Gus Glynn and percussionist, bodhran and Irish whistle player Mark Woolley (Full House, Virginia Kettle’s Rolling Folk, Radco), who initially offered to help with what was then a solo recording project in July 2025. Gus’s intention was to record new songs with traditional instruments and create new settings for traditional songs and tunes. Mark suggested Ian Jones (Full House, Time Bandits) a regular musical visitor to Ireland, for flute and melodeon parts and Ben Robertson, renowned finger-style guitar player on fiddle, a second instrument that Ben approaches with flair, ingenuity and stylistic attention to detail. The recordings developed so well at Chris Lee’s Babacombe studio that Gus decided to ask the players to continue this as a new group that he would like to call Grásta and all were immediately on board. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Lee (Full House, Time Bandits, Radco, Virginia Kettle’s Rolling Folk) adds bass, banjo (Oh no!) and even sitar in studio to add idiomatic flavours on certain tracks. Debut album, Golden Light, will be released in 2026, and with live shows already on the calendar Grásta are off to a promising start.​

Live Shows

Gus Glynn: Guitar / Vocals / Songs
Gus is a singer songwriter and classically trained fingerstyle guitarist born and bred in Galway, now settled in Cheshire for over twenty years. Having grown up around Irish folk music he has always had the intention to work in the genre should he find the right people. His work with The Gus Glynn Band allowed his song writing skills to develop through four studio albums in a range of genres. Solo acoustic gigs and solo acoustic touring with the National Rural Touring Forum developed his understanding of folk forms, solo guitar arrangements and playing folk as a solo artist. A chance meeting with Mark Woolley led to a practice / jam session where Gus was very, very happy to find a player who understood the Irish rhythms, playing top notch bodhran, and traditional airs on whistle. It was Mark who suggested working with Ben and Ian for live performance and Chris Lee as producer / engineer in studio. Gus is very happy to be working with some of the finest musicians in Cheshire on a project he's been eager to begin for many years - Grásta. 

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Mark Woolley: Bodhran / Whistle / Percussion
When Mark saw musicians getting free beer in pubs for playing music when he lived in London, that was all the motivation he needed to start playing folk music. From the London Irish scene via a career move to Northamptonshire he met and joined Dansaul with Dan Plews, Saul Rose and Guy Fletcher. Gigging across the UK followed and the East Coast of America playing English Folk Dance style songs and tunes. After moving back to Cheshire he joined Full House by text, was recruited into Ade Edmondson’s Bad Shepherds whilst on holiday in Mexico and into a number of Mark Radcliffe’s musical ensembles by not ducking quick enough. He  can also be found playing percussion and whistles in Virginia Kettles Rolling Folk. Beer may sometimes be involved.

Ben Robertson: Fiddle ​
​Ben is a fingerstyle guitarist, singer, and fiddler from the hills of North Wales. He spent his formative years on the Chester folk scene and since then has performed at folk and roots festivals across the UK both as a soloist and in a duo with Phoebe Rees. Most recently he has found himself playing fiddle in multiple ceilidh bands, and has been having lots of fun as fiddle player in the Grásta project.

Ian Jones: Flute / Button Accordion
Ian from Chester is a classically trained musician.  He’s been playing on the Norhtwest Folk scene for over 20 years. He enjoys playing many different styles of trad music and performs with The Time Bandits, Full House and with the folk trio Helianthus. He’s excited to now be working in the Grásta project. 

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