Following the success of her Mercury-prize nominated debut album, Gemma Hayes was struck down suddenly with writer's block. Her artistic recovery was a long, painful process, taking her from a sleepy Kerry village to downtown L.A.
As Gemma Hayes steps back into the fray with her long-awaited third album, Hot Press arranges for her to have a tete-a-tete with long-time collaborator Dave Odlum.
She’s been a regular festival goer since she first attended Féile at the age of 14. Gemma Hayes waxes lyrical on the joys of those sprawling, big days out
As an admirer of Hayes' new album, I’d been hoping for a more mellow and subdued performance, but she was playing with a full band. And it didn’t really work.
...and on the strength of the amazing reviews she's been getting Stateside - not least from Billboard and the Village Voice - Gemma Hayes' American career is set to run and run
Gemma Hayes tells John Walshe about playing the International Bar, singing with Guy Clarke, recording with Julian Lennon and how she doesn't just write love songs.
It’s Christmas, time for some of the leading lights of the Irish musical family to return from far-flung stages and convene for a traditional evening of reflection, revelation, conversation, merriment and, well, gargle. The guests: Glen Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames, Gemma Hayes, Mundy and David Kitt.
Ahead of their Slane appearance, Adam Duritz of The Counting Crows spills the beans on everything from the inspiration behind his songwriting to Gemma Hayes
The sun shone on our Sunday Chatroom, with talkative adventures aplenty and guests The Flaws, Gemma Hayes, Mark Geary, Hadouken, Foals, The Roots, Michael Franti and more!
Gemma Hayes's debut album collects great reviews from such tastemakers as Music Week, the Sunday Observer and (ahem) Ok Magazine's 'Hot Stars' (the last of whom reckoned, 'She's not just a pretty face - she's actually very good.' Cheers, thanks...)
The name may not ring a huge number of bells, yet Fiona Melady has been something of an Irish musical mainstay over recent years, first as a member of Turn and then through her work with Gemma Hayes, Paddy Casey and Declan O’Rourke. Of them all, ‘One’ is probably most reminiscent of Hayes, especially in the vocal department. As accomplished as you’d expect, Melady still needs to find more of an original angle.
“Holy Shit!” Not the words you might expect to hear from the usually quietly-spoken Ballyporeen beauty. But that was precisely her reaction to the rapturous reception she received from a packed to the gills Vicar St. for what, I’m reliably told, was her biggest solo headliner to date.
Enan warbles her way through this tune with a lilting Irish softness that she may have picked up during support tours with Gemma Hayes, Damien Rice et al. Despite the cliched lyrics of the I'll-be-there-to-pick-you-up-when-you-are-down variety, this is a promising release from a the multi-talented newcomer.
Ireland beating the mighty Dutch on an enchanted evening at Lansdowne Road. The Frames at Vicar St. Liverpool lifting three trophies in one season. BellX1 at the Music Centre
Despite having Kevin Shields stolen away from them by Gemma Hayes, Primal Scream are in the best shape of their careers. So says Bobby Gillespie in a no punches pulled interview.
The rise and rise of the female singer/songwriter is fast achieving phenomenon status in Ireland - here,
Peter Murphy profiles an eclectic mix of new and distinctive talent
Currently touring their fifth record Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings, COUNTING CROWS singer Adam Duritz speaks to Edwin McFee about Teenage Kicks, porno flicks and his love for Ireland.
Having drummed his way round the world with Therapy?, Graham Hopkins is now upfront singing with his own band Halite. But as Paul Nolan finds out, he’s no indie Phil Collins
It’s Christmas time and, as far as the hotpress journalistic elite are concerned, there’s not a turkey in sight. JOHN WALSHE, COLIN CARBERRY, CHRIS DONOVAN, EAMON SWEENEY and BARRY O'DONOGHUE report on the Irish acts who are going to be huuuuuuuuge!
over the next 12 months.
Not so long ago mavericks and experimentalism were thin on the ground in Ireland. But with the growth of an independent scene, all of that has changed. for confirmation, look no further than the rise to eminence of The Jimmy Cake.
With Gemma Hayes, The Chalets, Declan O'Rourke and Hothouse Flowers on the bill, Dublin's clearly not the only place that celebrates St Paddy's day in style.
Aspiring Keith Moons, John Bonhams and Meg Whites take note: June 24th brings a drum workshop with a difference, in the shape of special-guest-teach Chad 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' Smith
Oppenheimer, Jinx Lennon, Joe Rooney and his very special comedy guests are the latest additions to the Hot Press Chatroom at this weekend's Electric Picnic.
David Holmes, whose latest album The Holy Pictures received a resounding thumbs up in the latest issue of Hot Press, will join the Hot Press Chatroom at the Electric Picnic.
If you’ve been giving your local record retailer an earbending because they don’t have the eponymous Cake Sale album in stock, you need to apologise because its release has been put back a week to November 3.
He emigrated in '95, sang with jeff at sin-e, acted with denis leary, consoled nyc's firefighters and tripped around the planet with emmylou harris – but for mark geary, the adventure is only beginning
"Why aren't (insert fave newish band here) playing Witnness?" we hear you gripe. Well, Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds (Today FM, weekdays 7 to 9pm) are giving you the chance to vote your favourite Witnness Rising artist right onto the festival bill. Done and done
No longer content to be an indie under-achiever, Joe Chester has produced a solo album that owes as much to Fleetwood Mac as it does My Bloody Valentine. Interview by Maurice O'Brien.
Coldplay, White Stripes, Strokes, Queens, Garbage, Oasis, JJ72, Franz... With a whole slew of major albums in the pipeline, it looks like ‘05 will be the wrong year to kick that addiction to noise.
Paul Wilkinson of widely touted Coleraine duo, The Amazing Pilots, on the making of the group’s Dave Odlum-produced debut album, Hello My Captor, joining artists like Jarvis Cocker and Evan Dando in paying tribute to Lee Hazlewood, and surviving a visit to the real-life Twin Peaks.
The latest radio listenership figures suggest that the once embattled Today FM is finally emerging as a credible national alternative to RTE. In the final of a four part series, Jackie Hayden meets No Disco founding-presenter, new-music savant and legendary nighttime DJ Donal Dineen
Magnet are right up there with Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, not least because of Johansen’s ethereal, heart-swelling vocals and its perfect coupling with orchestral strings and digitised heartbeats.
One thing’s for sure: the debut release from singer-songwriter Jenny Lindfors, When The Night Time Comes, makes no attempt to grab you by the scruff of the neck.
In the current issue of Hot Press, the musicians of Ireland have spoken - but what do they know? Have YOUR say on the top 100 albums of all time. Ever.
SPARKLEHORSE TAKE CARE of headline duties when the Witnness Rising tour swings by the Empire, Belfast (June 27th); Warwick, Galway (28th); Savoy Theatre, Cork (29th); and Whelan’s, Dublin (30th @ 2 and 7.30pm).
In a year that saw events which will forever change the world in which we live, selected hotpress contributors offer some personal recollections of the past twelve months. We begin by listing the critics’ choice of 2001’s single and album releases
Irish labels, bands and artists often face an uphill struggle to garner recognition, even on their home turf. Which is why hotpress and HMV have undertaken their own combined initiative, to coincide with the announcement of the shortlist for the first Choice Irish music prize. As a product of this initiative, all ten albums will be specially stocked and displayed in HMV stores all over Ireland on the run-in to the announcement of the winning album later this month. Here, we take a look at the list – and reflect on those that have been omitted.
A galaxy of Irish stars led by members of BellX1, Snow Patrol and Damien Rice have announced their support for a charity album, under the guise of the band The Cake Sale.
Although Linkous has pioneered lo-fi melancholia, I’ve seen him in better form and remain unsurprised when an audience member is compelled to shout out, “Almost too quiet!”
The Walls are about to embark on their most extensive Irish tour yet, including their biggest Dublin gig to date at the Ambassador and may be about to finally break the bank
The Walls are about to embark on their most extensive Irish tour yet, including their biggest Dublin gig to date at the ambassador and may be about to finally break the bank
Paul O'Reilly brings us Songs; Luc and the Platelets and The Warlords Of Pez say Let's Battle in the Storehouse; and Leagues and Robert Stephenson get famous
To celebrate their 10th birthday, The Ruby Sessions have organised four weeks of celebrations including performances from some of the best acts Ireland has to offer.
Spirit Store announces their upcoming gigs for the weeks leading up to Christmas and into the New Year with acts including Director, The Flaws, Declan O'Rourke and more.
With preparations well underway for Cork city’s hosting of the European City Of Culture festivities in 2005, the indigenous music scene is already rising to the challenge
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.
Inventive segues and delicately-wrought musical flourishes render many of these eleven tracks unexpectedly lovely, while lyrics about cancer, runaway fathers and lost love intrigue and compel.
Most cities and towns have their trouble spots and their danger zones, but Limerick's have been given more than their unfair share of publicity. Such a focus on the negative has tended to detract attention from the positive aspects of this resurgent city, with its vibrant music scene, its buzzing university, the warmth and friendliness of the people, its obsession with rugby, and er, Ryan Turbidy.
The organisers of the Dysart Festival have announced a major rejig of the August 9 and 10 event, with a venue change, cancellations and lineup amendments.
The industry may not have always liked them but their fans couldn’t be more passionate. Ten members, four studio albums, three managers and two major labels later, The Frames still managed to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Peter Murphy, with help from Glen Hansard and other key players brings the story of the band up to date in this, the final part of our two-part special [Photo Mick Quinn]
Ten, nine, eight… we count down the contenders for 2003. Words Hannah Hamilton, Colin Carberry, Niall Stokes, Richard Brophy, John Walshe, Eamon Sweeney and Stuart Clark
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed * along the way
Brushing shoulders with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bertie Ahern is currently all in a day’s work for hugely acclaimed singer-songwriter, Juliet Turner. But, as she tells Hot Press, the singer’s Northern Methodist upbringing has left her with a distaste for the spotlight and an overwhelming desire for creative and personal independence.
Since their debut single ‘Wired To The Moon’ went gold here The Revs have established themselves as Ireland’s hungriest and most energetic rock combo, with an appetite for gigging and an eye for publicity that has seen them embroiled in a number of amusing controversies. But behind the brash exterior is the fascinating story of three dedicated young musicians who have overcome their status as outsiders to build one of the biggest and most loyal grass roots following of any local act. Now with the release of their debut studio album, Suck, they are ready to go international.
With ‘Yellow’, Coldplay captured the imagination of even the most resistant of hard-boiled rock’n’roll cynics. Now, as A Rush Of Blood To The Head achieves lift-off in the U.S., even the sky is no longer the limit.
It’s what every remembrance should be: not a reflection on the ache of losing him, but a celebration of our insane good luck at having had him in the first place.
You might think that Dublin needs another acoustic-flavoured album on the market like it needs a SARS epidemic, yet this is a joyous mixed bag of intimate-sounding folk, upbeat indie and ’80s fused electronica.
As a debut, Everything, Something, Anything is for the most part a passable listen. However, like many first albums, there’s a feeling of unfulfilled potential about it.
Spiritualised, The Redneck Manifesto, Redsettaz and Telepopmusic are merely a few of the latest additions to the delightfully overstuffed Witnness '02 bill
Taking two years to write and record, A Murder of Crows has been a labour of love for Chester. The positivity stemming from that love flows in abundance throughout the album. It’s the perfect pop record. Negative feelings, like love lost and relationship break-ups are twisted and shaped into something altogether more encouraging.
It ‘s upsetting, however, that the specific track choices here frequently reduce truly great artists with vari-coloured work, and a number of obsessions and preoccupations, to their one track that most addresses what a lecturer at my university used to call The Ongoing Fight.
Saturday was chatterday here in the Hot Press Chatroom, with appearances from Josh Ritter, The Stunning, Elbow, Oppenheimer, Cathy Davey and That Petrol Emotion.
The Cake Sale does for Irish musicians what The Reindeer Section did for Scotland’s: i.e. it makes a group of disparate songwriters and performers sound like the most talented and cohesive band in the world ever.
This album operates under its own internal logic, happens in its own dreamtime, the basic tracks being augmented with all the care and lightness of touch one would expect from musicians preparing their friend’s last will and testament
So Bono and the lads did appear at last night’s IRMA Meteor Music Awards in the end (you would, too, if you had eight of them to collect). Read on for the IRMA results in full
Further adventures in Witnness '03 - more video interviews, reviews, gossip, pics and everything else that'll fit. It's the next best thing to being there
Like its predecessors, this double CD features some of the finest Irish and international artists in a pared-down, mostly unplugged setting, letting the songs do the talking
...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
Amanda Byram was today unveiled as the host of this year’s Meteors Awards and nominees for 2009 were revealed - as well as the fact that Sharon Shannon would receive a lifetime achievement award.
If someone unfamiliar with the current crop of Irish musicians were to cock an ear to Other Voices 2, they could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland’s rock ‘n’ rollers were mellowing out.
The Hot Press Irish Music Awards proved to be as keenly contested as ever with U2, Ash and The Corrs emerging as big winners. But the number of awards acknowledging nascent talent prove there’s more heavy-hitters waiting in the wings
The first day of The Music Show saw some hot debates, great music and Glen Hansard in stirring form.
Reporting: Peter Murphy, Celina Murphy, Niall Stokes, Stuart Clark and additional Hot Press reporters
