In this case, musicians can be presented with some rather unanticipated journeys to the creation of their work, and Graham Cooney, who goes by the stage name Yenkee, is no exception. Born in Texas, Yenkee first matriculated at University College Cork to pursue music but dropped out after a month to chart his own path. Rather than stay in school, the Cork born man, who was living in London at the time, opted for the best way to learn – through experience. He started performing on the streets of Cork after working at a supermarket to earn money for a home studio.
Yenkee has been making and recording music since he was 15 and has evolved his lo-fi bedroom pop style into personal coming of age stories in the modern age. Since 2018, he has released a series of successful singles and the 2019 EP Cannibal Tree. His music is a mix of many genres from the rock and roll and folk rock of the 1960s and 1970s to the pop and soul of the present day, but with influences from John Martyn, Jonathan Richman, Al Green, and Prince, and his own humor.