It’s December …it’s Dingle …it’s Other Voices.
Back for its Thirteenth season, the Church of St. James’ will open its doors to the first Other Voices concert on Friday the 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th December. . All the signature elements that make Other Voices special will be there in abundance, from singer songwriters to rock bands, from surprise performances to acapellas. Those who have previously graced it’s hallowed stage include the likes of Glen Hansard, The National, Anna Calvi, Damien Rice, Asgeir, Savages, Elbow, The XX, Amy Winehouse, St. Vincent, Snow Patrol, Sinéad O’ Connor and John Grant…
The Other Voices programme now reaches out across the town and caters for all appetites…for culture vultures of all stripes there is Banter, a salon style series of discussions and debate curated by Jim Carroll (thisisbanter.com) taking place in Foxy John’s Bar (half pub, half hardware shop)..for eager music aficionados, the Music Trail will feature new and established bands playing in unusual venues around Dingle, which is always a highlight. Surprise guests are a feature and you simply never know who will turn up. All Music Trail events are free and take place before and after the church shows, while live-streaming guarantees a seat for everybody and an electric atmosphere in the town’s pubs.
This year Other Voices is delighted to announce that series presenter Aidan Gillen will play a two hander with BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens.
The first four acts to be revealed are…Young Fathers, Delorentos, All We Are and Damien Rice.
Just last week Young Fathers won the coveted Mercury Prize 2014 for their album Dead. The Edinburgh-based trio will bring their experimental hip hop style to Dingle for the first time when they visit in December.
Delorentos have just released their fourth album Night Becomes Light to critical acclaim. Last year the band won the Choice Music Prize-Album of the Year for their LP Little Sparks. They have been busy touring through-out the last few months, so they’ll be in fine form when they reach St James’.
All We Are will release their eponymous debut album in January 2015. The Liverpool-based trio, that includes Cork man Richard O’ Flynn, made a visit to the Other Voices tent at Electric Picnic during the summer, so they’ve had a sneak preview of what to expect when they play the church.
Damien Rice is one of Ireland’s most revered artists. After an eight-year hiatus, Damien returned this month with his third album My Favourite Faded Fantasy, which was produced by Rick Rubin. Damien played to a sold-out Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin this week, so to see him play the tiny church of St James’ will be a delight.
More announcements will follow in the coming weeks, and as always, Other Voices will be offering a stellar lineup this December.
Other Voices has always had a special place in the hearts of artists.
Recording star and singer songwriter Ellie Goulding performed here in 2010, and loved it so much she returned to write her Halcyon record. Her verdict: “Dingle really inspired me”. Prepare to be inspired!
Other Voices brought a sense of West-Kerry and Dingle to a specially commissioned stage at the Electric Picnic this year.
Each year, Other Voices provides a TV and online platform for new and emerging acts in the IMRO Other Room. Applications for a performance slot in the IMRO Other Room reach beyond the 1,000 mark each year.
“IMRO is delighted to be once again part of this unique and special gathering of songwriting and performing talent. IMRO has a strong reputation as a champion and supporter of new music creation and the IMRO Other Room provides the perfect platform this. Other Voices continues to push musical boundaries and this year it takes a significant step forward with its expansion throughout Dingle, in so doing offering even more exposure for great musical talent” – Victor Finn, IMRO, Chief Executive.
RTÉ and Other Voices will again give music fans the opportunity to select the artist for the final IMRO Other Room slot. From today, Thursday November 6th, RTÉ and Other Voices invite artists of all genres to submit a link to one video (it can be a video or a still image with audio) or link to audio only recording for consideration. These links should be submitted through the IMRO Other Room Open Call application process on othervoices.ie. Artists will have until Thursday November 27th to submit their link.
For information and full submission details for the ‘Viewer’s Choice IMRO Other Room’ initiative, please go to othervoices.ie.
Bill Malone, Controller of RTÉ Two said “One only has to look at the names who have graced the stages of Other Voices over the years to acknowledge that this is a truly special and inspirational event and RTE2 is proud to be part of that story. Supporting Irish talent, Irish creativity, Irish music and Irish identity is a core principal of what we do at RTE2 and we are proud to be part of the next success story.”
Tickets, once again, will be free and can be won through various online and media competitions so keep an eye on othervoices.ie. Further information on artists and events will be released shortly. To stay up to date with announcements please log on to othervoices.ie and follow on Facebook.com/othervoices, Twitter @othervoiceslive and elsewhere using the hashtag #othervoices
Other Voices is supported by RTÉ, Fáilte Ireland, IMRO and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
