Music

The New Stars of Irish Music: The Led Farmers!

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The Led Farmers: They have a likability that is instant. The music is full of vigour and wonderful melodies.

The Led Farmers’ website says they are touring around Europe but they will start their North American tour in the last part of August. There is no doubt they will fill venues with their energetic sound and a style that is homegrown as it is punk with its rebelliousness.

Katie is the latest album that landed on my speakers from Ireland. Caution: Their music encourages you to get up and move. . So who are they? The band is comprise of the following:Brendan ‘Dog’ Walsh: Banjos. Ross O’Farrell: Bass. Glenn Malone: Drums. Shay Long: Guitar.

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Share the Wealth is the latest single off the album. The music video shows the band playing in what appears to be a living room. There is an alternate scene(acted by the band members) of what looks like a money-lender making deals over the phone. First client comes in and signs a contract. He hands it back to the man who tears it up and laughs at his face while smoking a cigar.Then another appears, same thing happens but this time he puts an X on the paper to the dismay of the other guy. Third guy gets his paper crumpled. In the end he receives a termination letter. He packs his stuff and walks out of his office. Outside, he meets the men he conned. Their expressions say:” See what happens to greedy people?”
What I like about them as a band? The reviewers are right. They have this likeability factor. They’ve got  what you need in a superstar Irish band: Sound, looks, and stage presence. Any banjo fan will rejoice as this recording highlights the instrument very well. Guitars and bass have their moments. The drums are also mixed in a way that it doesn’t sound too aggressive especially in the faster tracks.
 Row by Row is my favorite as of the moment. It has all the elements of a timeless tune. The voices of the quartet blend well and I love the counter points in the chorus section. But this is not to say that is the only stand out track. There are many more. From Share the Wealth which introduces the mood of the album, to their beautiful remake of Star of the County Down, the funky Space to their rendition of traditional Irish music- everything you look for in an excellent Irish pop rock album is here.
Yes Katie is an album of fast tunes, but Foggy Dew and Ragland Road prove that they can be masters of  haunting ballads.
Read the press release that follows:

 Biography: 

The Led Farmers are an Indie Irish Folk Rock band from Ireland. The group boasts a two-time All Ireland Music champion and many of it’s members have studied music at University level. They have toured the U.S. and Europe and are becoming one of Ireland’s best-loved live acts. 2015 saw them play over 80 concerts and 2016 looks to be something similar. While they love to play the Irish folk classics it is their own songs and fresh new arrangements of folk music that has seen them get attention of late. Their spontaneous nature and friendliness on the stage makes them a very entertaining live band.

What the media says:

‘The Led Farmers are the kind of act that you just want to see go far, they have a likeability factor and stage presence that just completely enhances their performance and makes them so distinctive in comparison to so many trad/folk groups out there at the moment’ – Dublin Concerts reviews

‘According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word ‘fresh’ has the following meaning: having its original qualities unimpaired, full of or renewed in vigor and not worn or rumpled… and here comes a band that seems to fit the bill… they are infectious likeably and distinctive, these are lads you might indeed want to join for a pint or two’ – Irish American News

‘The Led Farmers preserve the tradition of their own native songs while adding a decidedly unique perspective to it. I can see that if The Led Farmers can persist like the Clancy Brothers did. Maybe in 20 or 30 years it may be said that they helped set the new standard for traditional Irish Music’ – Paddy Rock

‘I like the vibe of The Led Farmers. They have an acoustic sound that reminds me of Dexys Midnight Runners. These lads have an energy and style that takes up where the Pogues left off’ – Christy McNamara

 

Sing by Jennifer Licko: The Sunny Side of Celtic Music.

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The Appalachian elements in her songs provide the balance to the misty and often mystical atmosphere of Scottish traditional music. That is why her latest offering “Sing” shines a musical light on every corner like a summer morning. Sing evokes a feeling that is at home with Reggae, Ska and Bluegrass. Her previous effort, A Thousand Curses Upon Love’ actually won the Celtic Album of the Year by Celtic Music Radio. According to her press release, Licko wanted to record an album that felt a little closer to home:

Jennifer sings Scots Gaelic dance & work songs from the perspective of the music’s adopted home in the Carolinas. Original songs in English that express her own folk music style compliment this new Celtic sound which could only have taken root from a North Carolina native who spent her childhood years Scottish dancing.

 

Sing opens with mouth music SEINN O CHURADAIL O/THOIR A NALL AILEAN THUGAM. Licko channels her inner priestess making the Gaelic vowels and consonants beautifully mesmerizing. You don’t have to understand the language to feel the passion in the music.

Light the Way is written and compose by Licko herself.

“I want a finer day

where the sun just lights

the way, and run…

See all that I can see,

Feeling wild and free..just run…

She sings the chorus with a child-like wonder, yet the acoustic alternative style keeps it real and grounded. FILL IU O is another Scottish tune with an Americana twist. THE TIDE has a reggae vibe. Puirt a beul lightens up RUIDHLIDH. It is a short track that dances around your mood.

Flying High is another original recording which is a love song. The Major 7 chords evokes warm sunny afternoons by the beach.EADARAIBH A HUINN O/’S IOMA RUD THA DHÌTH ORM follows. I think I first heard it performed by Scottish band Capercaillie if I am not mistaken. HE NA MILIBHIG gets a bluesy treatment and it is another standout track from the Sing.

SOME ROADS LEAD ON ( words & music by Bill McKay) is another English track owing its style to Irish hymns. I BHÌ À DA closes the album accompanied by the exquisite beat of a bodhran.

Sing is a unique vision.This proves that genres can be fused in the hands of an expert, and the end result is always something magical.

 

Links:

https://jenniferlicko.bandcamp.com/album/sing

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jenniferlicko2

http://www.jenniferlicko.com

https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLickoMusic/

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A New album and Single by James Vincent McMorrow is Out!

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Today, we have a crossover post from my other blog. This singer-songwriter has appeared in The Celtic Connection and he is also very active in the Irish folk/indie scene.

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The Irishman with an exquisite and smooth silky voice is back! The new single is Rising Water released in early July this year. James Vincent McMorrow broke into the indie pop/folk scene with Post Tropical and Early in the Morning. His live performances duplicate the meticulous perfection of his studio recordings. And yes that remarkable voice has attracted 100 million Spotify streams!  Rising Water is taken from the new album We Move. Expect the album to sell like hotcakes. Check out the lyric video of Rising Water above.

Read further about the new release:

NEW SINGLE “RISING WATER” AVAILABLE NOW

James Vincent McMorrow, an Irish singer/songwriter from Dublin, has just released his new single Rising Water. The single is the opening track of his upcoming album We Move, which is set to be released on September 2ndvia Caroline Records. On July 4th, Rising Water was premiered by Annie Mac on her program ‘Mac’s Hottest Record in the World’ on BBC Radio, listen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040fl09.   After its UK debut, the single was released here in the U.S., which McMorrow called home for a few months while he recorded his new album.

In early 2015 McMorrow decamped to Los Angeles for four surreal months, wanting to experience something totally alien to any way he’d ever worked before. McMorrow explains “Making this album was about changing so many things. Physically changing where I was, mentally changing how I think about life, about myself, how I think about making music. Every time I’ve made a record in the past, I’ve walked to the edge of where I’ve wanted to be, I’ve gotten scared, and I’ve walked back to a safe distance.”

Rising Water is the perfect example of what the rest of the album holds. The single, along with the rest of the record, features production from Nineteen85 (Drake, dvsn), Two Inch Punch (Sam Smith, Years & Years), and Frank Dukes (Kanye West, Rihanna), as well as mixing from the legendary Jimmy Douglass (Donny Hathaway, Timbaland).

McMorrow’s 2010 debut ‘Early in the Morning’ achieved platinum-status and reached #1 in his home country of Ireland. His “Breath-taking” (VICE) second album ‘Post Tropical’ was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, and led to sell outs at the biggest venues of McMorrow’s career including two nights at Sydney Opera House, and London’s Barbican & Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Earlier this year, McMorrow surpassed 100 million Spotify streams, recorded a cover of “Wicked Games” for a trailer of season six of Game of Thrones, and was featured on “I’m In Love” off Kygo’s debut LP ‘Cloud Nine.’ 

Purchase ‘Rising Water’:

iTunes: https://smarturl.it/RisingWater

Amazon MP3: https://amzn.com/RisingWater

CULTURAL ROADMAPP: IRELAND’S WILD ATLANTIC WAY —A GROUNDBREAKING GPS-ENABLED AUDIO TOUR APP FOR MOTORISTS— TO LAUNCH CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN ON INDIEGOGO

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Sorry for no update for a while!!! It’s been a crazy month. But do check this project out. I think this is really exciting as it involves music, motorcycles and technology:
The transatlantic startup Cultural Roadmapp is launched its first crowdfunding campaign on June 7, 2016, in Indiegogo’s Transmedia category. The campaign for $35,000 will enable the startup to create a pilot audio tour for a GPS-enabled app illuminating the prodigious culture and heritage of Ireland’s west coast. Designed specifically for motorists on Ireland’s 1500- mile (2500 km) Wild Atlantic Way driving route, the hands-free app will comprise four audio tours. The pilot audio tour app spotlights Counties Clare and Limerick.
In both format and content, Cultural Roadmapp offers the immersive cultural experience more and more tourists today are searching for. Unlike the few audio tour apps for motorists available on the market, Cultural Roadmapp weaves unvarnished expert interviews, storytelling, and humor with world-class musical, literary, and dramatic performances–all 100% hands free. The app’s hands-free capability is made possible by the latest GPS technology, called “geo-fencing.” After downloading the app to a smart device, the user plugs the device into the vehicle’s USB port.
Sensing pre-identified landmarks on the tour route ahead, the app triggers the vehicle’s speakers to automatically play audio providing a delightful cultural-historical context to the landmark and local area. Without the need to keep hands and eyes glued to multimedia apps and traditional guide books, motorists can enjoy the scenery as they listen. Based in New York City and Ennis, Ireland, and founded in 2014, Cultural Roadmapp is in its early stages. Founder and president Deborah Schull is a senior writer-producer whose credits include an audio tour for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, which earned the museum world’s prestigious MUSE Award in 2011.
The startup team includes Leah O’Brien Bernini, an ethnographer and ethnomusicologist who directs content collection and curation, and Oisín Mac Diarmada, a world-renowned Irish fiddler and the startup’s music director. For more information about Cultural Roadmapp and its upcoming Indiegogo campaign, please go to http://www.culturalroadmapp.com/press. Also see Cultural Roadmapp’s Indiegogo Campaign Page at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cultural-roadmapp

Peregreni by Eve Williams:Preview and Thoughts

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Northern Irish singer-songwriter Eve Williams has carved a musical path that is not for the faint of hearts. It is not easy to just have a beautiful voice and songwriting skills these days. You gotta have grit. And grit is the very thing that pushed the release of her new album Peregreni. The new album has nine songs-a labor of love and took a lot of time to make. Screen Shot 2016-06-07 at 11.05.16 AM

Although Williams did not encounter any writer’s block after the release of Twenty Miles From Home, health issues along with other personal challenges almost drained her creative energy. Yet those challenges did not deter her from finishing these nine songs. You can hear the inner strength in each of them. Even if her lyrics talk of something else, her voice is unmistakably saying, I’ve been through a lot. This is my story.

With her supple Mezzo-soprano, Eve Williams can glide between power ballads and Celtic folk with remarkable ease. Peregreni is a delightful album that showcases her songwriting genius and impeccable power of interpretation.

The album will be released on June 10, 2016. I am so glad to get a preview and I think with Peregreni, Williams has achieved another musical height that is more confident than her previous efforts. The album sees her growth both as a poet and arranger. This is also a work of endless chores in front of the computer (if she is not with her piano)mastering Excel and also Accounting.

Yes, all musicians should be taught accounting and how to use Excel!!! She replied in one of our online conversations about the plight of indie artists.

I get the feeling that Illumination is going to be a single off this album because it has this catchiness that is pure pop, even though the song is grounded on acoustic folk and gospel. Her voice sounds at home with a big bands(complete with strings). But there are also moments when her simple arrangements shine through like the haunting Ailsa Craig. Big voices are a trend these days and I think Eve Williams has this lighthouse effect that will continue to attract travellers from all walks of life.

Peregreni will soon be available here: http://evewilliamsmusic.com/store/cdbaby_store/