Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album, The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album, The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson.
At just 23, Siniad Lohan is one of the brightest prospects to have appeared on the Irish music scene for some time, with the Woman s Heart stars taking her to their collective bosom not to mention her acclaimed debut album which is nestling comfortably in the Top 10. Siniad an scial: Siobhan Long.
Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album. The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson
By the banks of the Lee, Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott paid homage to Cork-born songwriters by interspersing a set of Christy classics like 'Lisdoonvarna' and 'Nancy Spain' with great covers including 'Magic Nights At The Lobby Bar' by John Spillane and 'The Contender' by Jimmy McCarthy.
Back in the saddle witha politically charged new album, Burning TimesChristy Moore and co-collaborator Declan Sinnott are putting the agit-prop back into folk. In a rare interview, Moore speaks frankly abot Hattie Carroll and Rachel Corrie, Richard Thompson anoraks, interpreting Morrissey and recently being detained by British authorities under anti-terrorism laws.
This 18-track compilation is an exhilarating mix of songs and tunes by travellers and their friends. It ranges over the decades, with a track from the fifties by fiddle players Paddy and Stephen ‘Spare Parts’ Rainey, to a comparatively recent version of ‘The Travelling People’ by Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott which is worth the album price alone.
Christy Moore headlines a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. At short notice, Moore recruited artists such as Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Mary Coughlan and Declan Sinnott. Together they served up a feast of folk and blues.
RTÉ's Other Voices have announced more acts for next year's show, including Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott. Plus, your last chance to get tickets for the recordings....
Burning Times – sonically fashioned in his usual magisterial style by Declan Sinnott – addresses concrete sprawling issues in songs like Natalie Merchant’s ‘Motherland’ and Rennie and Brett Sparks ‘Peace In The Valley Once Again’.
Irish guitar manufacturer McIlroy Musical Instruments has just put the finishing touches to its 500th guitar in eight years - and announced the first international gathering of McIlroy enthusiasts.
THERE ARE those in contemporary music who ascend suddenly to the heights, their stars burning fiercely bright for a short time before they fall just as spectacularly back down to earth. There are others who build steadily upwards over a period of years, gradually winning new audiences, selling more records and expanding their sphere of influence until they attain the status of superstars, almost by stealth.
There has been nothing showy or ostentatious about Mary Black's progress to date...
All told, the last ten action-packed years have seen Mary Black release nine solo albums - from her eponymous debut Mary Black through to the recent chart topper The Holy Ground. Here Chris Donovan takes a retrospective look at what's on offer - and concludes that herein lies the true meaning of the words Black Magic.
Each of the 11 tracks represents the germ of a much bigger story, and the themes are major ones: love, bereavement, parenthood, the loss of innocence at childhood’s end, but don’t let that frighten you off; there are plenty of lighter moments as well.
It takes a rare talent indeed to reduce a venue as cavernous as The Point to the intimacy of a sitting room, but Christy does it for 35 songs, over two magnificent hours.
Horslips axeman Johnny Fean is honouring us with a masterclass at the upcoming Music Show in the RDS. Here, he talks about his formative influences and Horslips’ upcoming reunion
After studiously walking the line between rock and pop, Corkonian Jennifer Clarke explains why she now regards herself as a country act, and tells Jackie Hayden about her interest in serial killers.
One of favourite alt.country bands, Richmond Fontaine, return from a long lay-off with perhaps their finest album yet. Plus, the original ‘Galway Girl’ (who is actually from Clare), has just released a fantastic new record.
Mary Black doesn't write her own material. Instead she has made an art of picking the right songs - and interpreting them to perfection. What's more, she has concentrated her song-finding activites on a range of Irish songwriters, with results that can at times be extraordinarily illuminating. Report: Jackie Hayden
Moving Hearts, one of the most imporant Irish groups, went through several singers including Mick Hanly and Flo McSweeney before settling on an all-instrumental approach for their third and final studio album, The Storm.
In the run-up to the long-awaited reunion gigs by the legendary eighties folk-rock-jazz band Moving Hearts, Jackie Hayden talks to saxophonist Keith Donald and percussionist Noel Eccles.
Christy Moore, who headlines this year’s rejuvenated Lisdoonvarna Festival, recalls the first flowering of music festivals in Ireland – and looks forward to this year’s event, when once again the challenge will be to weave that spell
Danu may just be the hardest working band in trad. With their fourth album The Road Less Travelled only recently released and another promised for the spring, When Jackie Hayden put a number of key issues to the band’s accordionist Benny McCarthy and bodhran player and uilleann piper Donnchadh Hough he found that they don’t just work hard, they talk hard too.
The break, brief as it was, seems to have done him a power of good. His voice on this recording is lighter, stronger, and more flexible than it's been in years
Moving Hearts were of the most provocative trad groups to emerge from Ireland, with songs that touched on fraught issues such as the northern troubles. Now they’re back for a much-anticipated reunion show. But will the band stay together in the long term?
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Lewis Carrol may all be touchstones for the muse of sinÉad lohan, but this is one talented and increasingly successful singer-songwriter who definitely does things her way. joe jackson meets a self-confessed "spacer".
Pix: Mick Quinn
One of Ireland’s premier singer/songwriters whose work has been covered by Christy Moore and the Corrs, Jimmy MacCarthy’s latest album The Moment illustrates a lighter side to his character. Below Jimmy gives us the inside track on the songs, the singers and the craft of writing
Hot Press celebrates two decades of The Baggot Inn, still Dublin s premier pub venue and home, at various times, to the likes of U2, Thin Lizzy and Something Happens! Here, manager Charlie McGettigan flips through his scrapbook of memories in the company of Conor O Mahony and reveals how the recent appearance of a donkey at a Joshua Trio gig brought things full circle at The Baggot. (Not to mention, Full Circle.)
COLM O HARE catches up with MARY BLACK, as the singer helicopters her way around the country and talks about her new album, the song writing of Ron Sexsmith and unfair criticism. Pics: PETER MATHEWS.
The two producers seem determined to load the kitchen sink onto every track. It's a pity, because Spillane's lovely gentle voice and real songwriting talent would hold up just fine on their own, given half a chance
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
He may indeed be from Limerick but if you think you’re going to get a subheadline that mentions bringing home the bacon, acting the ham or even being on the pig’s back, then you’re sadly mistaken. Instead we’re going to keep things simple. Mick Hanly has just released a new album entitled Happy Like This. What better occasion for Jackie Hayden to visit him in his Kilkenny home and look back over his career to date, and to remember the days when he hadn’t a sausage (would you cut the crap, please? – Ed)? Pix.: Brendan Fitzpatrick.
Imagine stories whispered as you sink into unconsciousness. Imagine rolling rhythms insinuating themselves into the marrow so deep that they never leave. Imagine a song cycle so cohesive it'd take a Glaswegian tug-o-war team to sunder it.
One trends to be suspicious of music with too immediate an appeal. Instant attraction often leads to boredom. With Mary Black's music, however, the opposite applies.
...here's the Hot Press Irish Music Awards, and a massive bash avec much live music is pencilled in for Belfast in April. Read on for the categories and nominees in full
You will cheer, You will scowl, You will stare in disbelief - but don't blame us...
'cos it's all your fault! Yep, it's the Hot Press Reader's poll Results.
For 25 years Music Maker have been a central force in the Irish instruments industry, their premises in Exchequer Street in Dublin a veritable musical mecca for international and Irish customers alike. Latterly they have expanded into distribution with MIDI (Musical Instrument Distribution Ireland) and were also involved in the initiative to create the permanent memorial to Rory Gallagher being unveiled this week. Jackie Hayden talked to the key players about the Music Maker success story, and even heard the one about the man with the child's organ!
