The Isle of Man’s unofficial anthem of Ellan Vannin is set for a new audience in New York.

Manx musician Shane Kerwin, who left the island in 2009 to pursue a music career in New York, has recorded an acoustic version of the song with a group of musicians in the city.

Shane told Island Life: ‘If you’re from the Isle of Man Ellan Vannin is really the song. It’s a song I can’t remember not knowing, we sang it in primary school and at the end of brass band concerts where everyone would sing along to every word.

‘It always felt special because it’s a beautiful song specifically about the Isle of Man and sometimes you can feel a bit lost in the mist over here. After nearly 15 years living in New York hearing that melody and those words always brings me right back home.

‘There also aren’t that many recordings of it, I know there’s one very famous one, but the song can work so many different ways and I had this arrangement idea for it with just acoustic instruments.’

The song features Shane on tin whistle, Mary-Elaine Jenkins on vocals and guitar, Alejandro Haaker on double bass and Jon Hildenstein on harmonium.

Shane said: ‘I was surprised that Alejandro was so taken by it.

‘He grew up in Peru 20 metres from the Pacific Ocean but really connected with the words.

‘So even though the lyrics seem very specific to me, like all great songs and poems, they are actually pretty universal.’

The track was recorded live together in the same room and is unedited.

‘It’s the hardest way to record anything but the result is a very real moment,’ he said.’

‘It’s just the four of us, one night in Brooklyn playing this song one of us learned in primary school 3,500 miles away and I think everyone connected with it. That’s pretty amazing when I think about it.’

Ellan Vannin is due be released on Saturday (January 6). It will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and YouTube.

Asked how he thought the song would be received, he said: ‘New Yorkers love Manx music.

‘It’s an immigrant city with a deep appreciation of cultures from other places around the world and there’s no more other place than the Isle of Man.

‘There’s so much great traditional Manx music and people love the story of this mystical place in the middle of the Irish Sea.’

Shane credits his mum Mairéad, who was born in Chicago but has lived in the island for more than 50 years, for sparking his love of Manx music. A Manx Gaelic speaker, she also plays the tin whistle.

‘She always took me and my brother to anything related to Manx music,’ he said.

‘I didn’t quite appreciate it at the time but now I do.’

Meanwhile his dad Brian plays tuba in Crosby Silver Band and more recently with Douglas Town Band.

Shane said he had found Manx music has been a ‘great way’ to connect with the ‘many incredible musicians living in New York’.

He is working on an album of traditional Manx dance tunes with Jon Hildenstein on the guitar that may surface this year.

Talking about his future plans, he said: ‘I’m always asking people to play Manx music. I have some ideas for a few traditional songs in Manx Gaelic I think it would be great to get someone in New York to sing. It’s usually a pretty easy sell because the music is so great.

‘One day I think it’d be great to do a Manx music festival in New York and introduce some Manx musicians to New Yorkers. There’s so much talent here a lot of listening public are missing out on.’