Month: March 2019

Following the sudden death of founding member Barney McKenna in 2012 and John Sheahans’ decision to retire it was agreed that The Dubliners, as a touring band, would come to an end and THE DUBLIN LEGENDS were born.

THE DUBLIN LEGENDS, Sean Cannon, Paul Watchorn, Gerry O’Connor & Shay Kavanagh, have over 100 years of performing experience between them and Sean was the lead singer with The Dubliners for over 30 of them! They will, of course, continue to play all the classic songs and ballads known the world over; ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, ‘Dirty Old Town’, ‘The Wild Rover’, S’even Drunken Nights’, ‘The Rare Auld Times’, ‘Molly Malone’, ‘The Irish Rover’, ‘Black Velvet Band’ & many more.

In 2017 guitarist and founder, Eamonn Campbell, passed away while they were on tour in Holland. Even though he had been in poor health it was still a massive shock. The lads asked an old friend, Shay Kavanagh, if he would like to come on the road with them and, thankfully, Shay readily agreed. Shay is a stalwart of the Irish Folk Music scene. He was a founding member of General Humbert with the great Mary Black and has played with The Dublin City Ramblers for many years.

It was Eamonn’s wish that the band continue touring and finish off recording the album they had been working on. This is a follow-up to ‘The Dublin Sessions’ which featured 16 newly recorded tracks and included some old favourites & classics that the lads wanted to get down on disc…’The Leaving of Liverpool’, ‘Schooldays Over’, ‘Pub With No Beer’, ‘Rambling Rover’, ‘Hand Me Down My Bible’ and some scorching banjo tunes from Gerry O’Connor.

In the past seven years the band have continued the legacy of The Dubliners by travelling far and wide playing concerts to a whole new generation of Irish music fans. They have wowed audiences in Iceland, Norway, Finland, The Faroe Islands, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland and all over England, Scotland & Wales.

Make sure you join the boys for at their now annual Christmas Show at Dublin’s Vicar St on Saturday 28^th Dec.

Tickets €36.50 incl fees on sale Fri 29^th March at 9.00am from Ticketmaster Nationwide.

Crash Ensemble are set to host a performance and screening event, part of Music Town 2019, in The Studio of the National Concert Hall on Friday 19th April.

Grey Area is a skateboarding film with live original score. Shot and edited by skate photographer and videographers Niall O’Byrne and Sam Curtin, with music by young Cork composer and skater Sam Perkin. This MusicTown performance will be the work’s Irish Premiere.

“Blending the essence of street skateboarding with contemporary music, Grey Area is a hypnotic journey through the streets, leading us to secrets that we find only if we are open to them.”– Sam Perkin

Crash Ensemble will also perform Donnacha Dennehy’s ‘Glamour Sleeper’ which featured on the recent Adidas skate campaign, and ‘/AND JUMP FROM THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE’ by Jennifer Walshe which has the ensemble learn to skate.

The evening will start at 5pm with the screening of ‘Saint Denis ‘the skate documentary directed by Phil Evans (free entry), with the concert starting at 6.00pm, and you are invited to join us to celebrate the release of the recording of ‘Grey Area’ afterwards.

DETAILS

Crash Ensemble presents Grey Area
Friday 19th April
5:00pm Film Screening of Saint Denis
6:00pm Irish premiere of Grey Area
The Studio, National Concert Hall
Tickets: €15

https://www.nch.ie/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=Crash-Ensemble-MusicTown-19Apr19&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Acontext_id=

Irish Folk Icons Dervish’s new album ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ features Dervish performing with over a dozen luminaries across an eclectic range of genres including Imelda May, Brendan Gleeson, Andrea Corr, David Gray, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Rhiannon Giddens, Kate Rusby, Jamey Johnson, The Steel Drivers, and Abigail Washburn. ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ shows the extraordinary scope of the album and the musicianship behind it. 

‘The Great Irish Songbook’ is a fitting tribute to Dervish’s nearly 30 years in the business. ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ delivers 13 of the most iconic and best-loved Irish Folk songs. 

In assembling their line-up of featured guests, Dervish reached out to the many artists with whom they’ve bonded over a shared passion for Irish folk, then called on each musician to select their most cherished song within the genre. Recorded mainly at The Magic Room in Sligo, the finished product finds each collaborator imbuing the album with their own distinct sensibilities while lovingly upholding the time-honored character of the songs. ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ both preserves the spirit of each song and brings a new vitality to iconic traditional songs of their homeland.

The album ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ will be released on April 12^th, 2019

Dervish ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ track listing:

1. The Rambling Irishman featuring Cathy Jordan
2. There’s Whiskey in the Jar featuring The SteelDrivers
3. Molly Malone featuring Imelda May
4. The Galway Shawl featuring Steve Earle
5. She Moved Through The Fair featuring Andrea Corr
6. The Rocky Road to Dublin featuring Brendan Gleeson
7. Down by the Sally Gardens featuring Kate Rusby
8. On Raglan Road featuring Vince Gill
9. Dónal Óg featuring Cathy Jordan
10. The Fields of Athenry featuring Jamey Johnson
11. The May Morning Dew featuring Rhiannon Giddens
12. The West Coast of Clare featuring David Gray
13. The Parting Glass featuring Abigail Washburn

Ahead of their Amsterdam show together Bouts and Kobina have joined forces for a very different take on Bouts last single ‘Love’s Lost Landings Pt. 2’. Speaking about the electronic, more downbeat tempo version of the song Kobina creator Sean Arthur commented;

“With any remix I try to find the core of what makes the original stand out to me and then flip it. For me the original was filled with a real sense of resignation, but is buoyed up by this sense of catharsis. I wanted to zoom in on that resignation and amplify how claustrophobic and alone you can feel in in a non-reciprocal situation. I wanted it to be dark, and stuttering like you couldn’t get the words out.“

Bouts and Kobina play Amsterdam’s Cinetol venue along with Botanic on April 5th.

Tickets:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bouts-at-cinetol-amsterdam-ne-tickets-56191115138?utm-mediu m=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-ter m=eventcard

Bouts are also one of the first 30 acts confirmed to play Knockan Stockan Festival this July 19th-21st www.knockanstockan.ie

For more info on Bouts

WonkyKarousel     Soundcloud     Bandcamp    Twitter     Facebook   Instagram   YouTube

Photo: Brid O’ Donovan.

Rushes has today released his releases his debut EP, ‘Glimpse’

An alluring blend of electro-RnB, ‘Glimpse EP’ is infused with dreamy vocals and perfectly polished production. The mellow tracks blends euphoric melodies and inventive beats with an underlying dark undertone. The result is the epitome of sexy and cool; a finished canvas reflecting Rushes’ self-confessed perfectionism and confirming his idiosyncratic talent.

‘Glimpse’, the debut EP from West – Cork native Rushes was released today, March 22nd via DFL Records.

Rushes is part of RTE 2FM Rising 2019.

www.iamrushes.com

Barry Jay Hughes Releases second single of 2019. ‘Replace’ is the second single for the Monaghan man’s debut studio album which is set for release in winter of 2019.

Carrickmacross based Folk-Rock songster just released his single “Replace” not long after the success of ‘Diving In’ back at the end of January this year.

According to Hughes, “‘Replace’ is a charming, intimate and gentle song resulting from two separate writing sessions a few years back. The song has evolved in many ways on the live gigging circuit since then but finally made it to studio in January this year where it was given a new arrangement by myself and producer/engineer Martin O’Neill who also recorded and produced my last single ‘Diving In’. This new track has its roots firmly in my love for folk music and ballads and is written about appreciating what we have in life. The production is simple with emphasis on the lyrics and the overall message but still keeping the mystical folk feel that I am experimenting with this time round.”

‘Replace’ is out now on all streaming and download platforms via THIS LINK

Badhands is the musical project of Dublin songwriter and musician Dan Fitzpatrick.

Having played for years with artists such as The Mighty Stef, The Last Tycoons, Paddy Hanna and Maud in Cahoots, he recently released his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Predictable Boy’. The record features musicians Tom Cosgrave, Aoife Ruth, Chris Barry and Ken Mooney, and upon release received much praise from critics, earning comparisons to the likes of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Tom Waits and Lee Hazelwood. The band’s first two singles, ‘Waves’ and ‘Monday Morning’, have both received considerable airplay on national radio and have been performed live in session on shows such as Arena on RTE Radio 1.

After a busy year of gigs in 2018, including two packed headline shows at The Workman’s Club Dublin, and supports slots with acts such as Michael McDonald, the band began work on album number 2 at the start of 2019 and is set for a headline show on April 13th in Whelan’s along with several dates around the country to be announced soon. These shows will feature songs from ‘Predictable Boy’, and also new material from the recently begun second album.

New single ‘Like A Man’ is out now.

On the back of her debut EP ‘The Dark’ in 2018, ‘Snow Angels In The Rain’ is Darwin’s Daughter’s first release of 2019.  A lush string driven ballad it combines cello & fiddle to test your senses.

Darwin’s Daughter, aka Fiona, Iives in Wicklow and regularly travels to Scotland and England seeking inspiration and collaboration for new songs.  Recently graduating from songwriting at BIMM in Dublin, her music is informed by personal experiences throughout her life and a musical education from her dad who played folk, country and world music 24 hours a day!

Guest musicians on the single are Kim V. Porcelli (Cello), Seamus Harmey (Fiddle) and Anthony Gibney (Guitar).  The single was recorded and mixed by Anthony Gibney at Audioland Studios (Kila, Alien Envoy) and mastered by Simon Francis Mastering (Kodaline, Aqualung, Kylie).

www.darwinsdaughtermusic.com

Irish electronic-pop duo, Le Boom, comprising of Christy Leech and Aimie Mallon, will release their eclectic debut EP, ‘All Of My Highs’ on May 3, 2019 – the first single, ‘Be There For You’ arrives on streaming and download services this Friday March 22nd. This new collection of music trails previous releases which have attained success on US and Irish radio, support on Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist and syncs with established TV shows. The pair will support the EP release with a show at Thousand Island, London on May 3, 2019, festival shows throughout summer – including stops at Live At Leeds and Hit The North – and a full run of Irish dates (to be announced shortly).

‘Be There For You’ is a well-oiled synth-pop cut, outlining the pair’s first foray upon 2019. “We played at Primavera in Barcelona last year. After our show we caught the end of Peggy Gou’s set on a small stage down near the beach, just as the sun was going down,” says Leech, when discussing the track. “It was probably a mixture of my post-show adrenaline comedown and Peggy’s class tunes but I found myself having a moment of ‘oh fuck, life is great’ – when I got home I decided to write a tune with a vibe that would remind me of that night.”

The EP’s first track, ‘Dancing Bug’ – a taught electronic opener – marks a collaboration with fellow Irish alt-pop and 6 Music/Radio X-supported trio, Æ MAK. It displays a fine example as to why the Dublin-based duo have been the subject of sell-out headline dates across Ireland and more-often-than-not, the scene of hundreds of people dancing, phones held aloft. It’s a casting eye into the duo’s comprehension of exciting pop music, stripped of any excess and frolics, it carries an irresistibly brisk BPM buoyed along by crisp handclaps, all set beneath Leech’s tinkering LCD Soundsystem-esque electronics and Mallon’s silky vocals. 

An ode to Aoife McCann’s (Æ MAK) friend, the track delves into the need for escapism, and the release that frantic dancing energy can bring. “Aoife told me about a friend of hers who would spend hours alone in her room listening to tunes and dancing her arse off to them,” explains Leech. “She wasn’t dancer, it was just something she did to escape the world. It was her way of dealing with difficulty.”

Third track on the EP, ‘Just Want To’, looks to pick apart social insecurities and the discomfort that we feel when shoehorned into certain social events. Armed with a similar sonic artillery as to that of ‘Dancing Bug’, melancholic vocals operate against stabs of thudding house beats with lyrics that look to dispel anxiety and trepidation. Drawing the curtain on the EP is closing track, ‘All Of My Highs’, which ironically found life as an intro for the duo’s live sets. Written and recorded now in a more finalised version for the purpose of the EP, the track sits as a love letter to the duo’s live audience, bursting with euphoric animation, rallied along with a precise rhythm and an all-encompassing sense of jubilation. “There’s a special connection that happens between us on stage and the crowd down below [when we play live] and it just takes over,” explains Leech. “They fill me with an energy and (weirdly) a calmness that I find nowhere else.”

2018 signposted an exciting milestone for Le Boom, it was a year that found the pair performing across some of Europe’s largest festivals, including Primavera, Longitude, Body & Soul and Electric Picnic, whilst also taking their eccentric live show to Reykjavik, New York and Bilbao in their short history. The year also found the duo selling out an Irish headline tour – including a stop at Dublin’s 1000-capacity District 8 venue – and achieving playlist success at Spotify, attaining spots on ’New Music Friday’ & ‘Hot New Bands’ amongst others.

 Tour Dates

Apr 12 | Trinity Ball 2019, Dublin, IRE
Apr 21 | Red Bull Free Gaff, Dublin, IRE
May 03 | Thousand Island, London, UK
May 04 | Live At Leeds, Leeds, UK
May 05 | Hit The North, Newcastle, UK
May 10 | It Takes A Village, Cork, IRE
May 25 | South Central, Portsmouth, UK
May 26 | Life Festival, Westmeath, UK
Jun 21 | Sea Sessions, Donegal, IRE
Jul 26 | Y Not Festival, Derbyshire, UK
Aug 03 | Indiependence, Cork, IRE

More dates to be announced.

‘Fire And Gold’ is the new single from Davie’s forthcoming album, due in early 2020. His previous singles ‘Secret Light’ feat. ELLYD and ‘Flames On The River’ received huge airplay support helping it go straight to No1 on iTunes (singer/songwriters’ charts).

Davie Furey is steadily becoming one of Irelands’ finest songwriters’ and performers.  2018 had him touring in The U.S., Germany, The Netherlands, The U.K. and in Ireland, while continuing to write and record his new album, which is set for release in early 2020.  With an acoustic Irish tour in the making for the summer of 2019 and a further U.S. tour in the Autumn, it promises to be a busy and fulfilling year.

Fureys’ debut album ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ was very well received in audiences across the country having been showcased by RTE, BBC Radio both home and abroad, resulting in a worldwide publishing deal with Universal Music. Nominated three years in a row by The Pure M Awards, for Best Newcomer, Best Male Artist and Best Irish Solo Act. Davie’s knack for telling a story through song and his ability to engage a crowd have resulted in many sold out shows on his previous tours.

‘Fire And Gold’ is released on 5th April.

Website address www.daviefurey.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/daviefureymusic1/
Twitter https://twitter.com/daviefurey?lang=en 
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/davie-furey-music     
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/0pJVfAuuVnqtwbSbwGPFwe?si=SHLtpXxfTd-XYVje1BdryA