Month: January 2010

DOCTORS IN THE HOUSE
As they release a long-awaited greatest hits album The Saw Doctors reflect on almost a quarter of a century at the forefront of Celtic rock by Colm O’Hare

It’s hard to believe the Saw Doctors have been around for over 20 years, bringing their unique blend of rock and roll, good-time anthems and native balladry to audiences from Canada to Australia and in between. It’s even harder to believe that – until now that is – they haven’t released a comprehensive Best Of or Greatest Hits collection. To Win Just Once…The Best of The Saw Doctors features 22 of the Tuam legends’ best-loved songs, including long-time live favorites such as, ‘That’s What She Said Last Night’ ,‘I Useta Lover’, ‘Joyce Country Céili Band’ and ‘Never Mind the Strangers’. It also includes a live version of their emigration–themed anthem, ‘N17’ and their unique take on the Sugababes’ hit, ‘About You Now’ which hit number one on the download charts when it was released.

For guitarist, songwriter and founder member, Leo Moran, putting out a compilation album was a case of ‘it’s now or never’, as he explains. “It wasn’t something we were ever mad into doing over the years,” he says. “When you’re out playing live, you’re always looking forward to the next gig and the next album. Being in a band, we’ve found it’s always good to have a sports person’s attitude – the last game doesn’t matter, it’s the next one that counts.”

However, apart from the fact that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of that first breakthrough single, ‘N17’, they were persuaded that it might be a good idea to put together a retrospective while the demand was still there. “One of the factors that was put to us was that downloading might become even more prominent in the future and if we didn’t put it out now it might be too late,” explains Moran. “Dave Robinson, who compiled it, did a good job with choosing the songs and  with the sequencing which is important. If it was left to the band, it’d become a committee decision and we’d still be sitting around talking about it.” It also provided an opportunity for the band to re-assess their output with the benefit of hindsight. For Moran, who along with Davy Carton is one of two remaining original members, re-visiting the band’s recorded legacy brought mixed feelings. “There’s always a few songs you think you wouldn’t mind recording again,” he muses. “A lot of the songs have evolved into something different over the years. But it’s hard for people to enjoy listening to their own music anyway. I rarely sit down and listen to our old albums. But if you’re in a bar and you hear something over the sound system, you get to hear it the way a punter would and that’s always interesting.”

Apart from releasing over half a dozen albums and almost 20 singles, the Saw Doctors have seen many live triumphs over the past two decades. Just some of them include appearing at the Finsbury Park Fleadh in London alongside The Pogues, Christy Moore, Van Morrison and a host of other big Irish names, guesting with Neil Young and Pearl Jam at Slane Castle in 1993 — and then there was the famous Tuam homecoming, not to mention countless American sojourns over the years. “They were all great occasions for us and I remember them all very well,” says Moran. “America is probably where a lot of the great memories come from. Would you believe we’ve been to America almost seventy times? We always try and play proper, normal venues rather than just the usual Irish places. You want to be known as an Irish band that plays songs, not a band that plays Irish songs. Vince Power brought that London Fleadh idea to America for a couple of years and it was a great audience for us. You had people like John Prine, Lucinda Williams, Billy Bragg on the bill. We’re off to Australia early in 2010 and that should be interesting given the huge numbers of Irish that have moved over there in recent months.

When it comes to the songwriting approach of the Sawdoctors, Moran says there is no particular formula or method. “We write in all kinds of different ways and we’ve probably tried everything. You have to be in the humour for it – songs are like birds, you have to let them land on your shoulders. But essentially we’ve a pot of lyrics and a pot of tunes and we try and put them together – the well-known songs always manage to sound like the Saw Doctors.”

Despite their massive and sustained success over the years, the band members have stayed true to their roots, Moran still lives in Tuam. Was there ever a feeling that they were ignored or even looked down upon by the Dublin-centred media? “There was a bit of that in the early days alright, but I completely understand it in a way. We all grew up in the town of Tuam and it has a kind of an urban attitude. We thought we were that bit cooler than the guys who had to milk the cows before they came to school.” “But I still think we should probably get a bit more acknowledgment in the music press. We’re doing a 17-date UK tour, starting at the end of November. There are very few Irish bands who are doing what we’re doing, packing out venues like the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, the Manchester Apollo and the Barrowlands in Glasgow.”

Hands & Imperfections is the latest album from the Madrid-based GARRETT WALL BAND, the dynamic acoustic four-piece hailed by Hot Press as a “supremely tight ensemble”. Since his critically-acclaimed acoustic solo debut All Of The Above, Garrett’s music has come full circle: from the divergent rock-based albums Change and Gravity to his instrumentally diverse last solo studio outing, Daylight, Nightime. The unusual format of his band – guitar, trumpet, bass and cajón (flamenco box drum) – is powerfully well-rounded; intimate, through the use of the cajón yet sharply defined by the trumpet. All of which provides a crafted platform for Wall’s soaringly lyrical voice.

His compositions are, in his own words, “bright, lively and optimistic”, each with its own captivating melody. They speak of life, love, loss and hope with a sincerity and vulnerability that comes when an artist truly bares his soul. The Garrett Wall Band sing and compose for both television and cinema in Spain and their debut album, Sky Pointing, will shortly be released Stateside. Their latest album Hands & Imperfections, released here in October and earlier this month in Spain, has already received airplay on a plethora of radio stations in both countries.

www.garrettwall.net

The Choice Music Prize shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2009 was announced in Dublin this afternoon.

The shortlist is as follows (artists listed in alphabetical order):

And So I Watch You From Afar “And So I Watch You From Afar” (Small Town America)
Bell X1 “Blue Lights On The Runway” (BellyUp)
Codes “Trees Dream in Algebra” (EMI)
Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Chemikal Underground)
Dark Room Notes “We Love You Dark Matter” (Gonzo)
The Duckworth Lewis Method “The Duckworth Lewis Method” (1969/Divine Comedy
Records)
Julie Feeney “Pages” (Mittens)
Valerie Francis “Slow Dynamo” (VF)
Laura Izibor “Let The Truth Be Told” (Atlantic)
The Swell Season “Strict Joy” (Plateau)

The Paul McLoone show on Today FM will broadcast a special Choice Music Prize Shorlist show this evening from 7pm.

The shortlist has been selected by a panel of 12 Irish music media professionals representing print, radio, online and TV. The full list of judges can be found on the Choice Music Prize website (http://www.choicemusicprize.com)

The overall Album of the Year will be selected by this judging panel at the Choice Music Prize Live Event at Vicar Street, Dublin on Wednesday March 3. The Event will be broadcast live in a special Paul McLoone Show on Today FM (www.todayfm.com) featuring music through the night and interviews with the shorlisted artists.

The winning act will receive a prize fund which has been kindly provided by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).

The act will also receive a specially-commissioned award, courtesy of the Recorded Artists And Performers Ltd (RAAP).

Tickets for the Choice Music Prize live event will go on sale from all Ticketmaster outlets on Monday January 18, priced 27 euros including booking fee.

The event will feature performances from a number of the nominated acts and full information on the line-up will be announced later this month. The event will also feature video packages on all the acts by Irish production
company Old Hat (http://www.oldhat.ie)

ACTS & ALBUMS:

You can find out more about the act and hear music from their albums at thefollowing websites

And So I Watch You From Afar
http://www.myspace.com/andsoiwatchyoufromafar

Bell X1
http://www.bellx1.com

Codes
http://www.myspace.com/codesofficial

Adrian Crowley
http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley

Dark Room Notes
http://www.darkroomnotes

The Duckworth Lewis Method
http://www.dlmethod.com

Julie Feeney
http://www.juliefeeney.com

Valerie Francis
http://www.myspace.com/valeriefrancis

Laura Izibor
http://www.lauraizibor.com

The Swell Season
http://www.theswellseason.com

ABOUT THE CHOICE MUSIC PRIZE:

The Choice Music Prize – Irish Album of the Year – was established to celebrate and acknowledge the work of Irish musicians.

Every single year, hundreds of albums are released by Irish artists in every genre under the sun.

The Choice Music Prize aims to simply highlight those albums which deserve some extra time in the spotlight and, ultimately, to select the album which best represents Irish musical releases from the previous year.

Instead of using sales or airplay as criteria, the Choice Music Prize will focus, simply and solely, on the music.

This is the Choice Music Prize’s fifth year in operation. Previous winners were Julie Feeney ("13 Songs" – Irish Album of the Year 2005), Divine Comedy ("Victory for the Comic Muse" – Irish Album of the Year 2006), Super
Extra Bonus Party ("Super Extra Bonus Party" – Irish Album of the Year 2007) and Jape ("Ritual" – Irish Album of the Year 2008).

The Choice Music Prize is co-ordinated by Dave Reid and Jim Carroll. Jim Carroll will be the judging panel’s non-voting chairman.

On the annual European music conference and showcase festival: EuroSonic Noorderslag, Ireland will be represented by the bands: And So I Watch You From Afar, Delorentos, Imelda May and Villagers. The event is also being aired by EBU radio station ‘RTÉ/2FM’ to give extended exposure to the performing artists. EuroSonic Noorderslag takes place from 14 – 16 January 2010 in Groningen, the Netherlands.

With 2750 attending music professionals, 250 showcases from national and international talent, 100 panels and meetings and 250 speakers from around the globe, EuroSonic Noorderslag serves as the prime discussion and network platform for the international music industry, focused towards European music, touring, festivals, the (live) music industry and media developments.

Presenting 250 new and upcoming European bands in over 20 venues and stages in the inner city of Groningen, EuroSonic Noorderslag is the place for both industry and festival audience to see which acts will put themselves in the spotlights in 2010.

Expected numbers EuroSonic Noorderslag 2010

2750    International delegates
250      European acts
100      Panel and industry meetings
25        EBU public radio stations
150      European festivals
150      European journalists
35        Nationalities