English folk singer KATE RUSBY has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. She tells Colm O'Hare about sad songs, her Bon Jovi phase, and attracting praise from Blur s Graham Coxon
Having already played high-profile support slots with the likes of Joe Strummer and John Squire, Omagh folk-rockers The Basement are aiming to go overground in 2003.
KARAN CASEY may be a folk singer, but don t classify her as easy listening . Her music is infused with radicalism and eclectism. She spoke to SIOBHAN LONG.
The Christy Moore Interview by Bill Graham
Christy Moore is out on his own. He can't be limited as just a folk singer or a popular artist. Rather he's increasingly an Irish national fixture with an influence far beyond the mere entertainer's reach.
It's been a long strange trip and no mistake, one that describes a discernible line from
Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music through to the Handsome Family.
But there's even more going on beneath the surface. GREIL MARCUS, the music critic's music critic,
is PETER MURPHY's guide on a mystery train whose other passengers include Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Mark Twain, Nick Cave, The Blair Witch, Bill Clinton, The Band, Siniad O'Connor, Beck, William Burroughs, William Faulkner and Bob Dylan. And that's just the first class carriage. All aboard
Sarah McQuaid rounds up the news from the folk, trad and roots scene for one last time as her tenure as HP’s resident folk columnist draws to a conclusion.
When the late Luke Kelly performed in the Foxrock Folk Club in December 1972 he commented that it was surely a contradiction in terms. Maybe so, but it was a vibrant presence on the music scene in the early 1970s.
The new album from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (pictured) is one of the folk records of the year. As is Steve Earle’s remarkable ode to his adopted New York.
Following the demise of the Music Board last year, hopes are high that the incoming Culture Ireland committe will herald a new era in state support for traditional music. Plus the usual round-up of trad and folk news from around the country.
A solo Jeff Tweedy show, a new Poozies retrospective, Christy appearing on Later With Jools, and Kila’s pre-Christmas shows: it’s a busy time in the folk world.
Damien Dempsey takes two Meteors and then represents Ireland at the London St. Patrick’s day parade..and much more in Folk Centre: the latest folk news, with Sarah McQuaid
It’s that time of year when gongs are being dished out. Guest columnist Rossa O Snodaigh of Kíla makes the case for a change of emphasis. Plus news, gossip and all that jazz.
The Man From God Knows Where is a folk opera. American country legend Tom Russell and friends each play a role, as Russell attempts to chronicle his Irish/Norwegian family's history in America, from the 1820s to the present day, through a mix of country, blues and traditional Irish and Norwegian folk music.
Quite a few people could be surprised by Rónán Ó Snodaigh’s debut solo album. While there are large elements of folk present, the arrangements often have more in common with classical rather than traditional music.
There’s a strange din echoing around Belfast these days. It can only be sometime satanists, occasional folkies and day-tripper pagans The Factotum Choir.
A great many of us lost the run of ourselves during the Celtic Tiger epoch – the trad community included. But now that the arse has fallen out of the economy, maybe it’s time musicians went back to their roots
Few, if any performers in the English folk tradition - with the exception of Richard Thompson - have as distinctive a style or presence as Martin Carthy.
He's the spiritual leader of 'freakfolk', a scene that celebrates the quirky and off-beam. But behind Devendra Banhart's neo-hippy schtick is an awesomely talented songwriter.
In the pantheon of fine female folk singers, a handful stand out.
Sandy Denny, June Tabor and Pentangle's Jacqui McShee have been flagbearers for more than a few generations. And their circle can now be widened to include Niamh Parsons, a singer who has quietly carved a reputation for herself throughout the singing clubs of Dublin and well beyond.
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?
FRONTED BY Eric Brace, Last Train Home play a mix of folk-rock and roots country, at times recalling early Fairport Convention as much as hard-core country.
Back in his native Fife, Scottish folk sensation James Yorkston chats about his childhood sojourns in West Cork and the debt his music owes to a sense of time and place.
This pair of digitally re-mastered collections are both welcome and timely. Damn fine performers of Texas folk/blues and jazz piano respectively, Hopkins and Morton are time travellers who betray not an ounce of jetlag, despite their millennial's end travels.
Katell Keineg confesses that she's lazy, eccentric and mis-understood yet she's back with a live appearance in dublin in February and a new EP due in the spring. Interview: Fiona Reid
With titles like ‘Cum When You Cum’, ‘Cafe Necrofilia’ and ‘Wasted So Ferociously Stoned’, The Unsuspecting Public will probably not be playing at a folk mass anywhere near you in the forseeable future
Folk doyen Richard Thompson remains a singular presence in the roots music scene after four decades. Here he talks about “exile” on the US West Coast and his recent return to his electric rock roots.
The annual Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival has put Longford on the world music map. Jackie Hayden talks to the festival’s originator Chris Keenan about how it grew from initially being laughed at to becoming one of the most important folk festivals in the international calendar.
He's one of the most distinguised and individualistic figures on the folk scene, an artist who is not afraid to take risks or challenge convention. Now John Spillane has written a moving paean to Ireland - and to his mother.
He used to be an actor but there's nothing showbizzy about Johnny Flynn's baroque folk-pop. He tells us what it's like to grow up in a thespian household and of his friendship with Kevin Spacey.
As Ireland’s Latin American solidarity committee prepares to mark the 30th anniversary of the coup which overthrew Chilean President Salvador Allende, Michael D. Higgins TD remembers the inspirational life, poetry and music of the great folk singer Victor Jara who was brutally murdered in 1973.
At 81 years of age, folk pioneer PETE SEEGER is still active in the politics of song. SIOBHAN LONG meets a man fully deserving of the title 'living legend'
Country, folk and roots fans are in for a treat on the May Bank Holiday weekend when a veritable who's who of the best bands and solo performers of the genre head to Kilkenny for the second annual Kilkenny Country Roots Weekend.
Folk legend and son of Woody, ARLO GUTHRIE is feeling a conspiracy of hope take shape as the inauguration approaches and he gears up for his Irish tour.
The folk and traditional community has been agog with rumours of a row between Facé and Imro. But the signs are that the organisations will be working together now.
With a vivid backwoods sound that’ll leave you hungry for a campfire and a pair of old moccasins, Nevada native ALELA DIANE is Europe’s favourite adopted daughter of folk. On her sophomore visit to our shores, she talks to Celina Murphy about working with her Dad and the album she never thought she’d make.
Until recently, Scottish jazz/folk legend john martyn was almost as renowned for his hard-living consumption of booze as he was for his marvellous records. But, he tells colm o hare, these days he s on the wagon, and operating on full horsepower for the first time in years.
He found fame in Queer As Folk and is currently to be seen in the acclaimed US crime drama The Wire. Now Aidan Gillen is burning up the Irish stage in an acclaimed new production of a David Mamet classic.
She may not be a folk-chick , but for the time being, a bottle of beer, a chair and a guitar is all it takes to get Kristin Hersh through the night. Interview: colm o hare.
Anti-folk graduate and New Jersey native Nicole Atkins' debut album Neptune City is a beguiling mix of Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn and Jenny Lewis's bangs. Just don't mention The Boss.
After suffering from a particularly nasty bout of 'difficult second album' syndrome, GOATS DON'T SHAVE have come up trumps with a record that's destined to take them way beyond their present cult status. PAT GALLAGHER tells COLM O'HARE how they managed to avoid becoming the world's first folk techno band and why doing-it-yourself is definitely the best policy.
From sweeping the steps of lauren hill’s manager’s house to teetering on the brink of a massive hit – native american Jason Downs tells his story to John Walshe
Those angry young Marxist Punk-Rockers THE MEKONS are back with a new album I Love Mekons and a contribution to a pro-abortion Woman’s Rights compilation . . . but they’re no longer quite so angry or young, not exactly Marxist, and their Punk is reinforced by Folk, Country and World Music! ANDY
DARLINGTON finds out what the hell is going on in Club Mekon.
Formerly, by his own admission, a perfectionist, an arch-worrier and an all-round uptight individual, Paul Brady is slowly but surely learning how to relax. As his Full Moon album rises, John Waters takes a long, close look at Paul Brady in a new light.
Dr Sean Millar is back with an acclaimed new album, this time accompanied by The Beet Club, displaying a recently acquired maturity in both music and lyric. Yet he tells Stephen Robinson that he's happy to be still growing up
Their music may incorporate snatches of jazz, folk and classical music. But whatever you do, make sure you don’t call Albrecht's Pencil a ‘fusion’ act.
Russian born, New York reared, Regina Spektor writes songs that seem to inhabit their own dark little world. No wonder she’s been compared to both Tori Amos and the anti-folk movement.
IF last week's violenct clashes between members of the travelling community and the good folk of Glenamaddy served any purpose, it was to show what a bunch of fascists, hypocrites and bigots we the (settled) community of Ireland are.
Patti Smith has been an avant-garde icon and punk poet idol for more than two decades. We thought it would be interesting to see what Cathy Jordan, the stylish singer with folk supergroup Dervish, would make of her recent performance in Jordan's hometown of Sligo.
As his singular contribution to the birthday party, guest writer Elvis Costello offers a handful of stories from his ten years on the beat, which serve to illustrate why, in his own words, “I’d rather be a folk music fan than a teen idol.”
With his new album The Mountain, STEVE EARLE has turned his hand to bluegrass. He talks to SIOBHAN LONG about the record, his colourful past and his love of Irish music.
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.
Most people know Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy as the swashbuckling rock ‘n’ rollers who produced hard rock classics like ‘The Rocker’, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and ‘Don’t Believe A Word’. But there were other fascinating forces at work in Ireland at the end of the ‘60s, with poetry and folk music both influencing the rock scene hugely. Philip Lynott was at the heart of that development – a charismatic star in the making with a deep romantic streak and an innate lyricism that separated him from the crowd. Now, these qualities have been captured, as never before, on a remarkable CD, released for the first time, free with HotPress. Read on...
This 23-track compilation includes material from five albums recorded during their 1968-1972 heyday, presented in chronological order so that one can trace the band’s musical evolution
What does the patent lack of enthusiasm about the choice of Dervish as Ireland’s Eurovision song contest representatives tells us about our attitude towards traditional music?
With her own debut album, ELEANOR McEVOY, one of the stars of 'A Woman's Heart', has come out of the folk closet and revealed herself to be a real rocker - feedback, distorted guitars and all. Interview: COLM O'HARE
With her own debut album, Eleanor McEvoy, one of the stars of A Woman s Heart , has come out of the folk closet and revealed herself to be a real rocker feedback, distorted guitars and all. Interview: Colm O Hare.
SEAMUS HEANEY once described Ireland as a country that went from the medieval to the post-modern in a generation. More than any other native band, Horslips embody that idea. Over their ten-year career, the band lurched back and forth from neo-classical Irish chamber music to progressive rock to acoustic folk to psychedelic pop to glam rock; here was one combo capable of going from Carolan to Caravan in a single bound.
The task of exhuming a number of folk legend Woody Guthrie’s unused lyrics and setting them to music would be a daunting prospect for most artists – but not Billy Bragg, the self-styled Bard of Barking. The guitar-slinging socialist has teamed up with acclaimed US country-rockers Wilco to do just that. Interview: Colm O’Hare.
FIFTEEN YEARS after his death Elvis Presley is probably having the toughest year of his career. Not Elvis the guy who works down at the chipper or at the local A&P, obviously, but Elvis the social construct and cultural phenomenon. Elvis the quintessential folk hero.
Veteran agitprop folk-rocker Steve Earle talks to Peter Murphy about kicking against George Dubya, jamming in Galway and revamping Shakespeare for the 21st century.
It s been a long, long way from there to here and DONAL LUNNY has been at the centre of things every step of the journey. He has achieved enormous acclaim and considerable success with Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts. Now with the launch of his latest band and their eponymously titled album COOLFIN, he takes time out to reflect on all of the major figures who have contributed to the extraordinary revival of folk and traditional music that has taken place over the past 30 years. He also recalls the highs and the lows the heartbreak, the good times and the great music that he himself has enjoyed as one of Ireland s finest and most influential musicians. Interview: Niall Stokes. Pics: Colm Henry
From “Outspan” to Glen Hansard, from Grafton Street to Hollywood – and onwards to Lisdoonvarna 2003. A portrait of The Frames as a most unusual band. Part one of a two-part special feature by Peter Murphy. [Main Photos: Mick Quinn]
For Gen X-ers like Kurt Cobain, Matt Groening and Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnston is akin to Syd or Roky, a gifted figure beset by the demons of delusional paranoia and manic depression. A 1994 tribute album featuring Beck, Tom Waits and eels showcased his ghostly and surrealistic folk songs, and now, as the remarkable documentary film The Devil And Daniel Johnston goes on release, hotpress is granted an audience with the man who isn’t there.
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.
The outlaw loved by the in-law, Willie Nelson can draw 4,000 people outside Dublin virtually by word of mouth. But it ain't all middle of the road: as befits a veteran of the honky-tonks who had done battle with the IRS and the law, the country music legend can still get in touch with the dark side of Hank
Dundalk’s Spirit Store is one of the leading folk venues in the country. On evidence of its inaugural night, The Tall Poppy Club sees looks set to be the jewel in the crown. Also: Steve Earle and Billy Bragg, old dogs with new tricks.
THESE TWO compilations have been released to commemorate the tenth anniversary of promoter Vince Power's hugely successful annual celebration of Irish music.
Clive Barnes has been trekking across the US for most of January, playing at some pretty tasty venues and bringing his wistful desert-hearted acoustic blues to its spiritual home.
The first track on Dublin-based singer-songwriter Eamonn O'Connor's EP, Born To A Holy Land, is a melancholic lament to Ireland's troubled past and woes of the present day. Cello accompanies acoustic guitar to give it a deep mournful sound, with some genuine spine-tingling moments. 'Love In Vain' is a little more cheerful and up-tempo throughout and has a definite folk/country feel. O'Connor's voice is soft and wistful, lending a distinctive atmosphere to his music. 'Yellow Man Street' is accompanied by harmonica, again giving it that folk feel and subject matter sticks with the parochial and traditional. We hardly need another singer-songwriter but we can certainly make an exception for Eamonn O'Connor.
Opinions are somewhat divided on the future of trad – some feel the music should retain its explicit links with the past, while others contend that the only way for the genre to survive and flourish is through stylistic diversification. Plus the usual round-up of news from around the country.
Gary Dunne avoids the pitfalls of mawkish singer-songwriterdom with challenging indie-folk songs that bridge the divide between Cat Stevens and Neil Young.
Back in 1977, English folksinger Peter Bellamy made a recording called ‘The Transports: A Ballad Opera’ that still makes it into lists of great folk albums of all time; just recently, MoJo magazine went so far as to highlight it as one of the ‘Top 100 Recordings of the 20th Century’.
Singer and virtuoso folk guitarist Martin Carthy was one of the key figures in the English folk revival of the sixties and seventies. This collection is culled from his '65-'71 period, a time when folkies were still singing songs that told stories rather than serving as therapy sessions to ease their inner pain.
The Brazilian folk-tronica of the original was made for a Herbert re-touch – and he delivers a sublime slice of downtempo house: cut-up vocals, circular bassline and layered FX and synths that make a magic melody.
A fine version of George Michael’s soulful ballad from the former punk siren and now Wicklow resident, this is a more commercial offering than much of her more folk-inspired output of late.
We’ve been slow to come around to Clark’s charms, but we are getting there. The multi-layered ‘Ted’ is a discordant, reverb-heavy ditty that features droning bass, a wonky piano and a disko breakbeat. The beguiling Bibo remix sounds like a drunk folk band being dragged backward though a hedge.
Good lord, it's 1988 all over again. Strummed acoustic intro? Check. Soaring fiddle from the Wick? Check. Gurgling Hammond? Check. The 'boys might be a little greyer around the temples, but rather than sounding like a rehash, this pugilistic little folk-rocker rollicks along at a rather exuberant 'Fisherman's' clip.
‘Keep Trippin’ could be Plak’s official tagline. The label is nonplussed about staying within the confines of conventional techno. On ‘Calypso 3000’, Quenum sketches out a blurry meeting between discordant funk and the fluctuating time signatures of Latin American folk music. The concoction yields a warm, hypnotic glow.
What sorcery is this? By now, it’s accepted that every musical sub-genre gets excavated and recycled after time has put the original article at an appropriate distance, but a full-on psychedelic folk revival?? Weren’t the punk wars fought to cleanse the Earth of beads, beards, flutes and six-minute one-chord drone jams?
The second album from the Derry duo is a pleasant collection of acoustic, folk-based songs replete with laid-back melodies and lush harmonies. Think Simon & Garfunkle and you’re not far off the mark, though the country-ish ‘Faults And Gains’ might appeal to Americana fans. A tad too downbeat at times but a real grower.
If one of the most respected musicians in Scotland (Roddy) decides that being in a dripping cool rock band (Idlewild) is momentarily dull and turns his creative attentions to the anti-rock (folk music), it’s only right that his hired team comprise of the best in the business (Kate Rusby, Dave Burlinton, and Michael McGoldrick).
Are you, like me, just not digging Delaware’s The Spinto Band? Why such a fuss over five petrol pump attendant-types peddling Pavement/ Yo La Tengo indie-folk, only with all of the interesting loser conflict leached out. Also, singer Nick Krill’s whine achieves what we’d all considered impossible – it’s more irritating than the bloke from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
A strange release, but what else could you expect from Kieron Hebden? From the squelchy beats and female chanting of ‘Mosquitoes’ to the folk influences on ‘Look After Your Mermaid’ and the sound track inspired ‘Warmer Places’, Hebden is still at out there somewhere.
Solo project of Stéphane Garry, member of Domotic and Davide Balula (Active Suspension). Inspired in equal parts by folk and electronica, Pokett mixes acoustic guitars, singing and various instruments with laptop generated FX.
The sister of Turn’s Ian Melady has a go for herself with debut single ‘Day In December’ (which, by the way, was released in December). It must have been a strange day in the Melady household when she played the song to her family – her voice is incredibly seductive. Still, no bad thing for anyone’s ears, and while the country/folk-tinged tune becomes slightly too repetitive by the end, it’s an incredibly promising start.
Unable to convince as a purveyor of Norah Jones-like smoky jazz (when it’s obvious that Katie Melua doesn’t smoke) or indeed as a jigging teen idol (when it’s obvious she doesn’t dance), tonight the temptation is to dismiss the weird collision of mood-changes on offer here (from anti-war ballads to skat versions of ‘The Love Cats’ to Georgian folk ballads sung in the mother tongue) as a case of talent being spread way, way too thin.
‘Winter Notes’ – a song from their last album – was used on the soundtrack of television series 24 but this Toronto quintet headed up by vocalist/guitarists Liz Hysen are unlikely to have Hollywood queuing to use their bleak, lo-fi post-folk.
One of the country’s best live acts, TKO have announced that their debut single is to be in aid of ‘2 Lads And A Cinquecento’, a campaign to support safe driving. Influenced by jazz, funk, folk and rock, the band are certainly versatile: it’s a pity then that ‘Let’s Go’ is such a standard affair. There’s not a whole lot wrong with it. But there’s a MOR blandness that the band appear to be trying to shake off for most of the song and it just doesn’t happen.
Johnston is a folk troubadour of the hard travellin’, dusty roads variety, offering wry observations on the ups, downs and sideways of life as we think we know it.
Produced by Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon man Mark Kozelek, the highly-rated Washington DC folk/Americana singer returns after a seven-year hiatus. Cerbonne’s soft, clear voice is almost hypnotic, while the songs range from the pared-down acoustica of ‘Araby’ and ‘Beautiful Mess’ to the low-key, full band arrangement on ‘Ruthless Order’.
Lou Barlow’s efforts with grunge-pioneers Dinosaur Jr generally took a back seat to frontman J Mascis, while his subsequent work with Sebadoh and Folk Implosion was often unhelpfully mired in no-fi under-production. So his first real solo album, much of it recorded at his home in LA (home-emoh, get it?) sees him crawl from under the noise to deliver a very personal selection of indie folk tracks that bear comparison with the introspection of more mainstream singer-songwriters like Neil Young or Jackson Browne.
Who’d have bet money on Sinéad O’Connor making such an acclaimed return to music with any album, let alone one made up of old reggae tunes? Still, that’s about the size of it and Untold Stories is one of that particular record’s stand out moments and ironically one of its least dub influenced. Instead, O’Connor focuses on the folk element of Jamaican music to stirring effect and ends up sounding more resonant than we might have reasonably expected. Mighty stuff.
Never Said Goodbye is impossible to dislike. If Matthews has decided to pull back from a full-on roots/folk detour, there are still enough quixotic diversions to justify your love.
The second single to be lifted from his Twenty Twenty Fiction album, ‘Jennifer’ isn’t a match for its predecessor, the excellent ‘Amerikan Folk Song.’ Though the Portlaoise man’s fragile and shivering vocal remains endearing, this lacks that extra spark. The thump and vitality, that the opening drum beat promises, never arrives.
At least The Saw Doctors never let you down. You always get what you’d expect: good old slap-yourself-on-the-knee pub songs! Toning things down ever so slightly, ‘If Only’ marks a slight return to the subtler, less raucous folk rock of 1996’s Same Old Town.
Though it retains the vibrancy of the past, it also marks a more mature Saw Doctors outlook of regret and nostalgia. Excellent b-side ‘Going Home’ builds on such wistfulness, adding to the group’s well of immigrant songs, and is worth the prize of the single alone.
Backed by musicians from the Wallflowers and Pete Yorn’s band, she has made a highly impressive debut best described as contemporary pop blended with a bit of folk and alt. country.
If, like me, you like your folk on the maudlin side of existential inquiry, then this EP should serve many an evening of melodic introspection. New York Sessions deals in simple, beautiful and declarative songs, stripped of artifice, such as ‘Stay The Night’, which is accompanied by a violin that lends itself to the track’s minimalism. In ‘Fabulous People’, Flynn considers the artificial construct of the world of the glitterati, and the isolation felt from without. This, and more highly-wrought vignettes of the emotional entanglements of which he tries to make sense. Pull up a chair, lovers and losers.
If, like me, you like your folk on the maudlin side of existential inquiry, then this EP should serve many an evening of melodic introspection. New York Sessions deals in simple, beautiful and declarative songs, stripped of artifice, such as ‘Stay The Night’, which is accompanied by a violin that lends itself to the track’s minimalism. In ‘Fabulous People’, Flynn considers the artificial construct of the world of the glitterati, and the isolation felt from without. This, and more highly-wrought vignettes of the emotional entanglements of which he tries to make sense. Pull up a chair, lovers and losers.
'A journey into the Heart of America's Greatest Folk Songs'. So the sleeve proclaims. In truth it might better read 'self-indulgent musings of a muso let loose in a recording studio'.
Not quite fitting into the classic singer-songwriter mode Lee blends a kind of quirky pop-folk-country with all manner of unusual but complementary studio doodles.
Championed by the likes of Giant Sand’s Howe Gelbe and Granddaddy’s Jason Lyttle, M(att) Ward successfully recreates the sounds and textures of old-time American radio. The result is a beguiling tapestry of organic, lo-fi, folk, country and Americana - some of which sounds like it was recorded on a gramophone.
There was an odd period some ten or fifteen years ago when punters would pay a few bob to go into a folk club and shut their gobs while somebody played. I can’t imagine why. Perhaps the late arrival of technology was making us romantic.
Martyn, a Scottish-born folk singer-songwriter, had been absorbing more and more disparate influences as his career had progressed. A lot of blues, rock and jazz touches had begun to appear in his sound, and this sense of musical adventure reached its peak on Solid Air.
With folk music entertaining a possible resurgence thanks to Nizlopi, here’s an artist with the potential to follow suit. Making this a double A-side is a smart move by a smart guy, with ‘Marrakech’ being a tune you’d bring out for a good old (possibly drunken) sing-song.
‘Belly of The Earth’, on the other hand, reveals a more sombre and passionate element to Noelie, and might be played to accompany the bad kind of drinking.
It’s a solid offering, and his imminent seven-date Irish tour should prove his full worth.
Though it would be a while before the purist folk fascists lost patience, Freewheelin’ (Dylan’s second) already hinted at his move away from political commentary towards soul-searching introspection.
The mix of folk, country & western, orchestral sweeps and the inherent sense of melancholia make Manzanita as emotive as any of Derrick May’s greatest moments.
Another A-list act returning to the scene after a notable absence – three whole years, in the Bristol band’s case. Dare we hope that they’ve spent this time creating something as mesmerizing as ‘Teardrop’ or ‘Unfinished Symphony’?
Sadly ‘Live With Me’ doesn’t quite make that league, even though it’s as laidback as they come, with vocal goodness from folk/jazz legend Terry Callier and a whole string section to boot.
But no, my crystal ball has already seen the future and says this won’t go down in history as one of their finest moments. Although, it’s on their forthcoming best of album, so technically, I’m already wrong.
Liverpool-born Wilkes has acquired a growing internet-following, thanks in no small part to world of mouth acclaim on several Irish music forums. Backed by Mersey band Ella Guru, 'They’ve Got Nothing On You' is a fine suite of of rootsy folk, in the vein of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Opener ‘Your Face It Cracks’ demonstrates to good effect Wilkes gravel-toned voice and Ashcroft swagger. However, it’s the sparse and haunting title track which impresses the most. We may have a young John Martyn in the making.
Junebug opens with footage of the hollering mountain men of North Carolina – a fitting folk art overture for Phil Morrison’s eccentric, gently comical and down home debut.
Despite an impeccable pedigree that goes back to the bands Na Sulteoiri and Oisin in the '70s, Geraldine McGowan is one of the most unsung female singers on the home folk circuit, a situation partly exacerbated by her domicile in Germany where she is one of the dominant figures on the live music scene.
Meet the new Boss - not the same as the old Boss! Or is he? When you think about it, this is quite possibly the least surprising album of Springsteen’s entire career. Despite his glory days as a rocker beyond compare circa Born To Run/Darkness On The Edge Of Town, he has always been a folk artist, in spirit if not in deed.
Featuring multiple mixes each of three songs, All Your Life/Sweet Love is an absolute gem of an EP by arch Irish musicians David Bickley of Hyper[boreal] and Ferus O’Farrell of Interference. These stunning tracks – put together in O’Farrell’s studio on the remote West Cork coast – blend O’Farrell’s beautiful folk vocals into some seriously spacey electronica/funky dance beats. Individually, Bickley and O’Farrell are geniuses in their own right; what they’ve created together brings their gifts to a whole new plane.
The sound of history in the making, here’s a warts, gags and all document of young Bobby Dylan, folk hero, in the process of creating a rock revolution.
This project is the brainchild of one Mark Lawlor, who purveys a nice if unspectular line in folk rock motifs with occasional forays - as in 'Gill with a G' - into grunge guitar territory.
There are signs though, that with a little more focus in certain areas, something better should come from this in the medium to long term.
IT'S NOT all that hard to fathom the phenomenal success and longevity of Tracy Chapman. Her winning combination of simple, folk-based melodies, wise, knowing vocals and a quietly spoken dignity, has made her the most popular singer-songwriter of the last decade.
Given that many of rock’s most universally revered icons could at least partially be filed under ‘folk music’ – Dylan, Cohen, Nick Drake - it’s striking how rarely the genre attains genuine crossover appeal among those who’d gleefully hunt down reggae or blues obscurities.
A taster for his forthcoming third album, 'Ol’ Death Whisper' marks Goodtime John’s first batch of new material since signing to Irish indie label, Trust Me I’m A Thief. Fans will be aware; Goodtime John is all about sparse atmospheric folk songs much in the mould of Bonnie Prince Billy. This means the connection between music and lyrical content is all-important. Of these five tracks, he hits the mark twice. ‘Play Funerals’ draws the listener in with its wistful vocal and melancholic imagery. ‘Nothingness’ has a similar impact. The only real let-down is the awful ‘Thought Dictionary’, with high-pitched guitar feedback that torments the ear.
I have to confess to being suspicious of charity albums, which are normally brimful of filler tracks from acts you’ve never heard of. When you’re one of the most respected writers on folk and blues though, and you decide to do something to help the Ulster Wildlife Trust you do have the advantage of being able to open a few more high class doors. Many of the tracks here are written or co-written by Harper and there are a couple George Harrison covers so there’s more of a coherence than you would ordinarily find on an album of this nature.
You know you’re getting older when new artists come along who were first inspired to pick up a guitar by Pete Doherty. Glaswegian Amy MacDonald is part of the new wave of musicians, equally versed in all aspects of the medium. What impresses most is that she has both a young and old head on her shoulders. She may take a great deal of her motivation from the sheer thrill of making music and hanging out with bands (her online diary gushes with tales of sitting behind the Killers at the Brits and the like) but ‘Poison Prince’ belies a maturity beyond her years. Her voice is rich and clear and the song marries a mainstream sheen with the kind of Scottish folk twang so beloved of the missing in action Sons And Daughters. An album follows in the summer, I’d keep an eye out if I were you.
The Galway singer So claims Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd and Neil Young (“with or without Crazy Horse”) as inspiration, but the only discernible influence here is Dylan-esque folk-pop. On the EP’s lead track, ‘Just For You’, he evokes sweeping vistas but forgets to include a chorus.
You know, it would be easy to consider Planxty a little naff. They play a mix of folk and trad, sing songs about the ‘West Coast Of Clare’ with lyrics that mention shillelaighs and were entertaining your parents before many of you were even born.
But Planxty are much more than just a sentimental relic of the past...
Yup, the brothers gonna folk you up. Anti-folk that is: Jeffrey and Jack’s garage troubador aesthetic topped off with smarter-than-your-average-bear lyrics and delivery courtesy of our old friends Arch and Knowing. If irony is dead, nobody invited these Lower East Siders to the wake.
Treading similar country/folk territory to Alison Krauss and Shelby Lynn, Smith’s style is less structured in the traditional sense and more quirky and personal.
Far from loud excessive rockisms, Willard Grant Conspiracy flirt around the edges of folk-rock and lo-fi country. This, their fourth album, captures a warm glow that will doubtless delight many who are already partial to Nick Cave and Tindersticks.
Released in March 1970 and produced and arranged entirely by Morrison, Moondance was much closer to Stax soul and hippy folk than the jazz and orchestral leanings of its predecessor.
As ever with this maverick talent, Gemstones is predictable only in its sheer unpredictability. Whilst his musical style remains at least moderately categorizable (those ragged folk rhythms are still present and correct), lyrically, his approach is more laissez faire than the economic policies of Reagan and Thatcher combined.
In ‘The Ninth Wave’, the dreamy second side of the original vinyl release of Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush borrows a title from Tennyson, only to spin out an entirely unrelated macabre folk tale of a woman lost at sea.
There’s enough 1970s-style rock and roll on this wildly eclectic album to boot it firmly out of the folk category. But with the likes of Andy Irvine, Martin Hayes, Cara Dillon and Bert Jansch on board as well, who’s to argue? Besides, it’s a good cause. With all profits going to the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the WWF, this labour of love by music journo Colin Harper is – amazingly – the first wildlife charity recording since the Beatles gave ‘Across The Universe’ to No One’s Gonna Change Our World back in 1969.
This is the respected folk-blues singer’s second live album and it’s a back-to-basics affair showing him in the way most people encounter his music live – with just voice and guitar. Yet these two simple instruments can convey a range of emotion that is quite remarkable.
Rua are Liz Madden and Gloria Mulhall, classically trained musicians who write and perform a mix of their own original material and versions of Irish folk tunes.
Country and folk music have become a lot more sophisticated over the last ten years or so. Gone are the wailing laments, tales of drinkin’, divorce and beatings.
In which Amy and Emily try to do what they do best, crafting poetic, witty and observant vignettes about love-life as we know it, with all its worrisome twists and turns, set to an eclectic mix of folk-rock and country
Africa has now moved to the musical position occupied by Jamaica a few years back and great records by folk such as youssou’n Dour and Mahlathini helped to leaven the absence of reggae music.
Beck's The Information veers between two distinct styles – the kind of blues/folk/hip-hop mash-ups that Beck has made his own, and a more melancholy, plaintive type of tune that he has increasingly favoured in recent years.
CATIE CURTIS’ music draws from a variety of sources, but the tag of “folk/pop” will suffice. Observational in tone, her songs deal with the uncertainty of life’s path.
Elegantly crafted songs like ‘Ease Your Mind’, ‘With Me It’s Down’ and ‘It’s Over You’ reveal a strong folk sensibility with a hint of psychedelia apparent in some of the off-kilter chord progressions.
Gilpin has a natural feel for folk, rock, blues, bluegrass and country and on this album he makes a true marriage out of what can often be a shotgun wedding
From balmy folk revivalist to angst-rock totem, there are many Neil Youngs. Sometimes, you wish there was only one: the feckless, snarling fallen angel of On The Beach and Rust Never Sleeps.
It's all a little bizarre. Michelle Shocked, one time spiky folk singer of this parish, is shaking her not inconsiderable barnet, shimmying around the Vicar St stage and giving her electric guitar a right good thrashing.
You look up 'skiffle' in the Chambers 20th Century Dictionary and it says "a strongly accented jazz type of folk music, played by guitar, drums and often unconventional instruments etc. popular about 1957".
Make no bones about it, Box Heart Man is a cracking American rock album – not rock in the spiky haired punk or earnest grunge sense but the classic school of thinking, imbued with a sense of the nation’s musical history. Listen to the freewheeling scope of numbers such as ‘Build’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Jane’ and you instantly find yourself harking back to the glory days of the Long Ryders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Lone Justice, rock with a sense of country and folk and a feeling of real spirit.
Make no bones about it, Box Heart Man is a cracking American rock album – not rock in the spiky haired punk or earnest grunge sense but the classic school of thinking, imbued with a sense of the nation’s musical history. Listen to the freewheeling scope of numbers such as ‘Build’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Jane’ and you instantly find yourself harking back to the glory days of the Long Ryders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Lone Justice, rock with a sense of country and folk and a feeling of real spirit.
The Crossing may well be Tim O'Brien's finest moment to date. Always possessed of a fine voice and an inventive writing style, he is not afraid to expand the boundaries of the folk/bluegrass/old-time music he explores. Add to that the obvious Irish/Celtic elements introduced here and you have an album that genuinely has a foot in both traditions, while at times transcending both.
For her first album since 2001, Colvin’s co-written nine of the album’s 13 tracks with producer John Leventhal, and her guests, including Patty Griffin, Marc Cohn, Teddy Thompson and ace pedal steel Greg Leisz, give the album an overall country/folk/rock feel.
Millar retains his own distinctive edge throughout, ensuring he can experiment with pop, folk and country styles yet keep a singular thread weaving through the album
This venture is the brainchild of former punk folk-poet Patrick Fitzgerald (then Patrik) also famed for his efforts with Kitchens Of Distinction, and written and recorded in deepest, darkest Connemara.
Bilingual jazz/folk might inspire one of two things in any music listener: either baleful foreboding or hungry curiosity. O'Reilly's last album, Tír Na Mara, set the scene with an eclectic collection of material that melded the Irish tradition and subtle infusions of jazz with surprising skill. And second time round she's grown in confidence, with the result that House Of Dolphins is a mighty fine leap into the big blue.
Combining pop, folk, haunting harmonies and emotionally intelligent lyrics, their lovingly crafted sound is both completely contemporary and yet somehow timeless.
Astonishing to think that Joan Baez has been making records since 1959, but at 65 the veteran folk-singer still releases albums and tours the world with all the energy of someone half her age.
Anybody who came hoping for an extended howl of cathartic defiance will have come away unfulfilled. This was a subdued performance from the non-pareil mistress of politically-charged, polymorphous folk-funk.
After defining the currency and potency of much contemporary instrumental guitar music, Pajo acquaints himself with the role of a skewered folk and blues artist astonishingly well
On first listen, her latest outing offers yet more spiritually-inclined acoustic folk-rock, but it soon becomes clear that Where You Live is her strongest collection since her groundbreaking debut.
Luscious Jackson have created possibly the album of the summer in Electric Honey, a wonderful mixture of experimentalism, bubblegum pop, hip-hop, folk and rock, all served up with a dollop of sunshine and a smile.
A new year zero, cultural revolution, coup d’etat and night of the long knives all rolled into one. The Pistols' one and only album (let’s forget The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle shall we?) arrived at a point when the band had gone through two record labels and already announced themselves to the middlebrows as the first bona fide folk devils the UK had seen since The Stones did their Alex and The Droogs routine in ‘65.
Ten Canoes weaves together a string of bawdy jokes to create a richly textured folk-tale, deftly demonstrating that accessible and funny doesn’t have to mean retarded.
Filí, amhránaithe and ceoltóirí na héireann member Steve Cooney on the rights of trad acts to travel, get paid… and obtain a cup of tea when playing Dublin castle. Folk Centre with Sarah McQuaid
It’s telling that folk from the rap and hip-hop industry fare much better as thespians than the average errant pop star with screen aspirations. Regardless of Sam Jackson’s claims to the contrary, it’s hard to think of a single self-styled gangster that’s actually ‘unproven’ as an actor.
A complex outfit who take traditional music into strange new territory, Kila fuse folk rhythms with all kinds of otherworldly sounds without losing their Irish identity
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.
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.
Carlow's Alanalda capivated the audience with their twist on folk rock, The Citizen from Clonmel were nigh on perfect and Chaplin rounded off the night with fresh delights.
Belgian folk-grungers dEUS have returned, five years after their last acclaimed album The Ideal Crash. A cursory listen to Pocket Revolution’s opening track, ‘Bad Timing’ confirms that they are not about to alter their gameplan, and remain dedicated to slowly filling their melancholy-tinged pop songs with extra sheets of guitar noise.
In a popular music world that has become increasingly schizoid and fragmented, it was appropriate that the best records came from those folk who have always boasted independence and individuality.
Believers view Hansard & Co’s brew of emotive folk-tinged rock as a shining example of durability and authenticity in image-obsessed days. Atheists see it as the grim apotheosis of the strain of phoney singer-songwriting that was especially virulent in Dublin at the latter part of the last decade. Agnostics remain largely unmoved. The Cost, it has to be said, is not a record that will inspire many cross-camp defections.
If, as the coolest of the cool are prone to say, grunge is dead, nobody has told it. More importantly, nobody's informed all the common folk who, at least in the States, are pushing Pearl Jam's Ten into its eighty-third week on the Billboard Album Charts.
It’ll doubtless go down as the most anticipated (and long awaited) re-union in Irish music history. More than thirty years after they first transformed the possibilities of Irish music forever, the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young of trad/folk finally decide to re-convene for a series of gigs.
Black Snake Moan exists somewhere between the timeless depression era shanties of Zora Neale Hurston’s folk-tales, the King James Bible and a Jerry Springer confessional.
In the past Paul Simon has successfully drawn on diverse American musical traditions and has worked with, among others, the gospel group the Jesse Dixon singers and the South American folk-group Urubamba.
For what it’s worth, this writer was never convinced by Joss Stone. Folk eulogised about old soul in a young body, but I always thought she was playing dress-up, in R&B clothes that didn’t fit yet.
CHRISTY HITS the chill-out zone? It’s enough to put the heart across club culturalists and hardcore troubadours alike. Moore’s often bedecked his songs with gaudy tapestries, but on Traveller, in partnership with Leo Pearson, he’s cross-pollinating folk forms with deep space beats, head music and ambient swashes, sticking his neck out further than ever before.
Folk centre with Sarah McQuaid: the forthcoming debut solo album from Nollaig Casey features contributions from such luminaries as Sharon Shannon, Rod Mcvey and Liam Bradley.
An Omagh girl of Methodist farming background, with an unassuming determination to match, Juliet Turner has already come some distance from the straightforward and endearingly earnest folk thrust of her roughly recorded debut, Let’s Hear It For Pizza.
It's been called the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable Turnip", but don't let that put you off: the Flat Lake Festival is rapidly becoming a highlight of the folk calendar.
It reads like a scene from Twin Peaks but turns out to be far stranger than any fiction. Bill Graham dons his best John Travolta strides and eavesdrops on the American slants being given to Irish traditions at the Green Linnet Folk Weekender.
Pix: DAVID NEWTON.
Following in the footsteps of such luminaries as W.B. Yeats, Ray McSharry and Tommie Gorman, western folk heroes Dervish have recently been honoured as Free Men of Sligo.
Bowling down through the centre of the country on Friday afternoon en route from Derry to fabled Thurles I tune in to 2FM and hear that there are many thousands of folk already foregathered for the Féile. Also I hear the chief of the local gardai saying that so far the behaviour of all concerned has been 'perfect'.
Two years after the release of the debut Four Tet album Dialogue, Kieran Hebden is back with Pause, an album so fresh that it could make sour milk drinkable again.
The name Domino has deservedly become synonymous with the most cutting-edge and vital contemporary music. At the beginning of this year, Domino unleashed long-playing recordings from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Smog and Sebadoh in quick-fire succession. Now they close their 1999 account with a similar burst of welcome activity.
Heart's Quest is the brainchild of David Downes (oboe, cor anglais) and David Agnew (whistles, keyboards) augmented by whatever musical battalions they need from track to track.
Long before UK folk-based artists such as Beth Orton and Eliza Carthy came to prominence Heidi Berry reigned as the lone voice of British indie folk - a strange accolade given that she was born in Boston.
A couple of years ago I saw the Shoogles at the Cambridge Folk Festival - it was without doubt one of the best sets of the entire weekend.
Shooglenifty's roots are in Scottish folk music, but their electrified line-up, including a rhythm section, means that there is a more contemporary tone to what they do.
KIERAN HALPIN's new live album, Glory Dayz, is the perfect vehicle for a man who hardly ever stops gigging. In a rare off-stage interlude, he talks to Colm O'hare.
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.
An essential early interview with one of Ireland's landmark musicians - revisited to celebrate his newly-announced hometown performances in Newbridge later this month
From their earliest days in Gothenburg, WEST OF EDEN have fused Celtic and Scandinavian influences to come up with a unique sound. SIOBHAN LONG met them.
Legendary ballad singer Liam Clancy, of the pioneering Clancy Brothers, kicked off this year’s Fleadh Cheoil in Clonmel with a vintage performance in the Enfer village. Here he reflects on Fleadhs past and their current contributions to Irish culture.
We’ve been banging on for months about the utter fabulousness of CAT MALOJIAN - now, with the release of their latest album, the rest of the world is set to get a taste of their genius too.
Who said trad music was for fogeys and whiskery aul' fellas? Spook of the Thirteenth Lock draw on old-timey Irish sounds whilst also referencing prog and nu-gaze
Roots music may help build bridges between past and present and us and them, but the media stance is still often isolationist. So says simon emerson of the afro celt sound system. siobhan long takes notes.
Roots music may help build bridges between past and present and us and them, but the media stance is still often isolationist. So says simon emerson of the afro celt sound system. siobhan long takes notes.
She’s an acclaimed novelist – but Emar Martin is fast earning a reputation as a visual artist also. As her latest exhibit opens, she talks about moving between the two media
She’s gotten hitched and given up the navel-gazing, and suddenly the world can’t get enough of her. As mainstream success looms, MARTHA WAINWRIGHT talks about marriage, familial rivalry and being asked out on a date - well, sort of - by Bob Dylan.
It?s real, it?s now and it goes all the way back to the source ? roots music is taking the world by storm and Ireland is very definitely on the map.
By siobhan long.
Increasingly popular, critically acclaimed, a Grammy Award Winner - and yet, Shawn Colvin still sings those 'ol record company blues. Colm O'Hare lends a sympathetic ear.
You don’t associate Cavan with a cutting edge music scene – but Michael O'Brien aims to change that with his Origins club night. Who knows? One day Neil Young might even decide to pay a visit.
MAZZY STAR are still going strong, but HOPE SANDOVAL has also got a side project up and running. She tells NICK KELLY all about
HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS and her collaborations with everyone from The Chemical Brothers to Bert Jansch
Her fans include David Bowie, Bono and The Cardigans’ Nina Persson – and now she’s released possibly her finest record yet. EMM GRYNER talks about raising her game and steering clear of the ‘indie-folk’ vogue.
They've been known to hand-craft their own instruments and, just for the hell of it, once toured Korea. Little wonder that boy/girl partnership Mirakil Whip are fast earning a reputation as one of the country's most eclectic new bands.
In addition to being an internationally renowned centre of artistic activity, Ireland is also famed for its party-friendly atmosphere. So, what better way to spend the summer than combining both equally noble pursuits – below is a comprehensive guide to the arts events on offer throughout the country over the next few months, and the sheer level of diversity on show offers further proof of our enduring love affair with the festival experience.
EVA CASSIDY was an Irish American singer who died at the age of thirty-three in 1996. This year sees the release of her back catalogue on Dara records, including the posthumous Songbird album, which is generating belated interest in the artist's career. STEPHEN ROBINSON reports.
Get ready for a whole new kind of weird as avant-gardists THE SUMMER EXPERIMENT prepare to hit the live circuit, touting a unique mix of folk, indie and classical.
Michelle Phelan and Pete McGrane of folk-pop duo Carosel have cracked the secret to balancing love with the art of making music. And it’s not as complicated as you’d think.
photos Emily Quinn
On the eve of the release of their latest album, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill shoot the breeze about on-the-road partying and incorporating non-folk influences into their songbook
Patrick Wolf’s baroque folk-pop has earned the singer comparisons with artists such as David Bowie and Kate Bush, while The Arcade Fire were sufficiently impressed to offer him a support slot on the first leg of their European tour.
Folk institution Kila met a dream collaborator in the shape of traditional Japanese musician Oki. Working together they’ve produced one of the most remarkable roots records of recent years.
Running a marathon, writing the folk-pop equivalent of Dante’s Divine Comedy, buying a house, releasing the finest record of his career. All in a year’s work for Josh Ritter. John Walshe travelled to Boston to meet the young songwriter.
Why the media were wrong in their assessment of Sharon Shannon’s court case; the latest musical venture from producer, director and PR ace, Mary McPartlan, plus the usual round-up of news from the world of folk and traditional music.
Rossa O Snodaigh is a founder member of the hugely popular and widely acclaimed Irish trad/folk/rock outfit Kila, which he formed with two of his brothers in 1987. The band have released six albums to date, the latest being 2003’s superb Luna Park. They are just about to tour Australia and Japan. Rossa grew up speaking Irish in the family home in Sandymount in Dublin.
Lovely former Longpigs frontman and occasional Pulp guitarist Richard Hawley talks solo albums, Sheffield sauces and swears a lot, before offering a world exclusive on Robbie Williams. Sort of.
From dark age to middle age, Nick Cave is such a far cry from the blood-spilling junkie of rock legend that these days you’re likely to encounter him commuting to his 9 to 5. Except of course that his job is writing and making music, his new album is called Nocturama and there are, he admits, some sizeable blow-outs in the memory banks.
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
Clann Zu have taken their blend of rock, trad and classical strings halfway around the world from their native Australia to settle in Dublin. Why? Because "Ireland is very open to different styles" insists token mick, Declan de Barra
It's one of the most heartwarming and deserved success stories in music - how Beth Orton learned to cope with illness, rebuilt her career and found herself sharing studios and stages with artists as diverse as Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, The Chemical Brothers and David Kitt
Former Wonderstuff motormouth Miles Hunt is coming to a town near you, acoustic guitar in hand. But as John Walshe finds out, that s no reason to expect a folk extravaganza.
Having made his name in the folk arena with Emmet Spiceland, Planxty and The Bothy Band, DONAL LUNNY went electric with the ground-breaking Moving Hearts. In the second part of a wide-ranging interview reflecting on all of the major characters and plots in Irish music since the folk revival blossomed in the '60s, he talks about the demise of the Hearts, the impact of Riverdance, Shane MacGowan, Sharon Shannon, Altan, Coolfin – and what he'd like to do with Sheryl Crow. Tape: NIALL STOKES
The story of how Paul Brady was transformed from a superlative folk artist into a superlative rock artist in a blinding flash of light (well, fifteen years actually). Today's reading is by Niall Stokes.
BIG IN BRITAIN! BIG ON THE CONTINENT! BIG IN THE STATES! YET IRELAND STILL HAS TO FULLY SUCCUMB TO THE DELIGHTS OF FOUR MEN AND A DOG. HERE, THE TRAD SUPERGROUP EXPLAIN THEIR CURRENT SITUATION TO COLM O'HARE AS THEIR SECOND ALBUM *SHIFTING GRAVEL* HITS THE SHOPS.
Mike Mormecha, frontman of Mojo Fury, is now making a stab at singer-songwriter glory with his debut solo EP as Clown Parlour, wherein he references his Eastern European roots.
BONNIE PRINCE BILLY is the new moniker of cult hero WILL OLDHAM. NICK KELLY spoke to him about his album I See A Darkness. And received a lot of curt replies.
Californian-born JIM PAGE is no ordinary protest singer. Best known on this side of the Atlantic as the writer of such classics as 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette', his music has continued to move hearts and minds well into the corporate nineties. Here, he traces his roots from Bob Dylan to Public Enemy, and explains why he wrote a special song in tribute to Sinead O'Connor. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN
Grappling with weighty political themes is grist to the mill for Colin Meloy of Oregon art-rockers The Decemberists. He’s even written a song about the Shankill Butchers.
Spare a thought for Julian Casablancas. His bandmates having flown the nest to do their own side-projects, he’s confessed to feeling, well, at a bit of a loss these days. To fill those empty days, the lead singer for The Strokes has embarked on a solo career of his own. Edwin McFee catches up with the frontman on the eve of the release of Phrazes For The Young and finds out all about the record that he never thought he’d make. Plus, Casablancas also reveals why he doesn’t miss his old sparring partners one bit.
PAUL BRADY’s long association with US legend BONNIE RAITT has been one of his most successful, particularly in terms of enhancing his reputation as a world ranking songwriter
On the face of it, the Fleadh Mor in Tramore had it all: blistering sunshine, hairy hippies, a stall selling glow in the dark condoms and a line up of rock 'n' roll legends that would be hard to match.
LA, Joshua Tree, Alabama, New Orleans . . . Kristin Hersh verbally back-packs her way around the most significant places in her life and career thus far.
Interview: Nick Kelly.
Twenty-three year old Thea Gilmore may have five albums and a record label to her name, but she still give kudos to ma and pa. Born and raised in rural Oxfordshire, her Irish parents – “quite liberal characters” – gave her a carefree upbringing and a healthy musical nourishment.
Back from exile in Brighton, Fionn Regan is making major waves with his filmic observations on life in a seaside town. Peter Murphy joins him for a promenade down memory lane, and suggests that he might just be the Wicklow Dylan.
Most people slow down a bit when they turn 60, but not trad legend Andy Irvine. Colm O’Hare hears about his latest collaboration with Donal Lunny, the Planxty reunion and the perils of being stranded in small German towns.
40 years after the Clancy Brothers brought Irish ballads to an international audience and won famous fans like Bob Dylan, Tommy Makem is still committed to the power of song – but appalled at the way modern Ireland treats its own culture.
John Spillane has remained a stalwart of the traditional scene for close to two decades. With his excellent new album Hey Dreamer having just hit the shops, Spillane sounds off to hotpress about his long and eventful career, his enthusiasm for younger artists such as Damien Dempsey and Juliet Turner, and why the organisers of the European Capital of Culture events in his native Cork have gotten things spectacularly wrong. words Colm O’Hare photos Mick Quinn
Patrick Freyne talks to Ken McHugh of Autamata about his double life as artist and producer, his new album, Colours of Sound - and about moving to the country.
Though Beth Nielsen Chapman's latest album deeper still was created when she was mourning the death of her husband and battling breast cancer, the result is an uplifting collection of life-affirming songs
At 53, EMMYLOU HARRIS has finally taken up the pen and the result is one of her finest albums yet. SIOBHAN LONG journeys to New York to meet the reluctant songwriter.
Twins Ellie and Louise – aka Heathers– are one of the most exciting new Irish acts around. Ahead of a marathon US tour, they talk about overnight success and explain why rumours of their love for Tegan and Sara are greatly overblown.
Behind the strange stage name, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s Sam Duckworth is an old-fashioned dreamer who thinks music should say something and has little truck with blink-and-they’re-gone scenes.
Devendra Banhart tells Colin Carberry that wearing a turban and having a beard can get you into all sorts of trouble these days. Lucky for us, he's still looking forward to the Electric Picnic.
Peter Murphy meets Sweden's Soundtrack Of Our Lives frontman Ebbot Lundberg and discovers that Scandinavia has more to offer music than Roxette and their ilk
The enigmatic pied-piper of psychedelic rock Donovan is to be honoured with a festival and a new documentary. Long based in Ireland, he talks about working with David Lynch and his plans to bring a new movie project on the road.
He may be a man of few words, but alvin youngblood harT's artistic lineage is not to be sneezed at: this is one bluesman whose experiences include a spell in the US Coastguard and a stint in Switzerland. Tape: siobhÁn Long.
Colin Carberry looks back at twelve months in which Bill Drummond’s Soup Line tour of Ulster was one of the Northern arts scene’s undoubted highlights.
IARLA O LIONAIRD has a new star-studded solo album out but the Afro Celt Sound System continue to teach him that music can be enjoyable and not just sublime . Interview: Colm O'Hare
The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, Sinéad o' Connor... The Chieftains are on first-name terms with all of them and as they pocket another Grammy for Celtic Harp Paddy Moloney tells Siobhán Long how the band retain their freshness after over twenty years together.
24-year-old reggae star Natty takes time off from touring Dublin in a horse-drawn carriage to discuss Bob Marley's legacy, and the 'institutionalised racism' inherent in British society.
Seneca's sorrowfully spirited anthems don't exactly fit in with today's high-energy trends, but that hasn't stopped them from creating a major buzz in the US.
Second generation Irish-American LIZ CARROLL is one of the best fiddlers around. She spoke to SIOBHAN LONG about her album, the importance of the session
and Chicago. Picture: Declan English
Second generation Irish-American LIZ CARROLL is one of the best fiddlers around. She spoke to SIOBHAN LONG about her album, the importance of the session
and Chicago. Picture: Declan English
Second generation Irish-American LIZ CARROLL is one of the best fiddlers around. She spoke to SIOBHAN LONG about her album, the importance of the session
and Chicago. Picture: Declan English
Craig Fitzsimons meets Jimmie Dale Gilmore, possessor of a unique high ’n’ lonesome voice and yet another great product of the Lone Star State who, belatedly, is
experiencing a modicum of stardom himself.
Paul Nolan talks to Neil Hegarty, author of Waking Up In Dublin, a new book which offers an outsider’s view of the music scene – and more – in the capital
California-born, Harvard-educated, Alison Brown is not your everyday bluegrass flagbearer. But her emotive playing – and the contribution of her Compass Records label – have made her a leading figure in the American roots scene.
LIAM CLANCY is in sparkling form as he looks forward to the release of a documentary on his life, which explains how he escaped the Irish Ayatollahs and wowed a young Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village.
When Iain Archer decided to get away from it all for the making of his latest album, he didn’t settle for half measures. He packed up his guitars and vanished for several months into the depths of Germany’s Black Forest. But can the resulting record transform the career of a singer still best known for helping write Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’?
Having a tapdancer instead of a drummer might seem like the height of indie schmindieness, but thanks to Conor Oberst, Tilly and the Wall are heading for the big time.
They were one of the superstars of grunge, a band that did more than perhaps any other – even Nirvana – to bring underground rock and roll to the mainstream. But they lost their way with fan-alienating experimental records and a long-running feud with Ticketmaster. Now Pearl Jam have shrugged off the cobwebs and are back rocking like legends. Ahead of the release of their best album in years they talk about the long-road to rejuvenation, lessons gleaned from Neil Young and their place in the greater scheme of things.
The Roisin Dubh has become one of Ireland's most prestigious music venues, hosting artists such as Violent Femmes, Josh Ritter and Republic Of Loose. Booker Gugai gives us the lowdown on the live scene way out west.
As Dublin readies itself for the Holidays In The Sun festival, Stuart Clark talks to Menace mainman Noel Martin about the birth of punk, Shane MacGowan's Union Jack and why John Lydon wasn't the most popular boy in school!
From Yorkshire to the former USSR, from Leeds to Kiev, from The Wedding Present to their latest CD Kultura, THE UKRAINIANS are a unique band. ANDY DARLINGTON submits a political, sociological and musical report on their progress so far.
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet consists of four virtuoso players acclaimed across the world for their unique blend of classical and flamenco styles. As they prepare for their Irish debut, Jackie Hayden asks key member Bill Kanengiser how it all works.
RICHARD THOMPSON s new album Mock Tudor consolidates his position as one
of the most articulate and influential songwriters around. GEORGE BYRNE met him.
Kirsty MacColl has added another string to her bow with a new album heavily influenced by Cuban and Brazilian music. She told Niall Stanage about the album s genesis, the break-up of her marriage to Steve Lillywhite and why there s no Left in Britain anymore .
There’s more to our national holiday than drowning the shamrock you know. In fact, no matter what your interest, St Paddy’s Day has something to offer.
Who needs Abbey Road or The Power Station when you ve got Connolly s Of Leap? Failed Keith Richards impersonator martin stephenson tells nick kelly about a wild week in County Cork.
They’ve played with Bloc Party and Muse and shared a studio with Fionn Regan. Now, London garage rockers The Noisettes are set to make a splash of their own.
After the spiking of their last album led to the demise of co.dot, Joe Brush decided he couldn’t jump around on a stage anymore. The result is a new sound and a new band, Vapor Lounge.
Annual article: Bright young things like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen captured the HP critics’ hearts this year, though they somehow neglected Johnny Cash and Mark Lanegan...
Creativity for depression? It s an exchange he can live with, says PAUL WESTERBERG, whose days of excess with The Replacements continue to haunt his latest acclaimed solo album Suicaine Gratification. Interview: JOE JACKSON.
Belfast musician Colin Reid likes to surprise his audiences, something he’s sure to accomplsh with an instrumental suite inspired by Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman
The Dublin Theatre Festival celebrates its 45th birthday in 2002 with a quality combination of classic and more recent works in musical theatre, comedy and drama
The Dublin Theatre Festival celebrates its 45th birthday in 2002 with a quality combination of classic and more recent works in musical theatre, comedy and drama
Back on the road again with a famous band name and his classic Forever Changes songs, Arthur Lee of Love recalls the golden psychedelic era of Hendrix, Morrison and Young.
Are you ready for hip hop, be-bop trad? Then EILEEN IVERS is ready to take you to the bridge. SIOBHAN LONG meets the fiddle player with the world at her fingertips.
GILLIAN WELCH s most recent album Hell Among The Yearlings has underlined her position as one of the most important of New Country artists. With an Irish visit pending she spoke to STEPHEN RAPID.
From pioneering ambient-trad with Clannad, through to her brand new concept album 'Two Horizons', Moya Brennan can now look back on 30 years of lending her voice and harp to some of the most distinctive music ever to come out of Ireland.
Geoff Topley just can’t help writing songs and releasing records. And going entirely solo hasn’t stemmed the flow. “it’s an addiction,” he tells Colin Carberry
Cork singer-songwriter NICOLE MAGUIRE is rapidly making a name for herself with her full-on pop-rock songs, swoonful voice and dogged determination. On the release of her debut album Fight The Score she talks to Jackie Hayden.
Getting funky reggae grooves heard over the din of the capital’s rock bands is no easy task, but Dublin ska kingpins King Sativa are continuing to fight the good fight.
UFOs, sunken Civil War forts and songs about Van Gogh’s severed ear are all subjects liable to come up when in conversation with WARREN DEFEVER from Michigan-based eclecticists his naME IS ALIVE. Interview: Nick Kelly.
Country music’s stock has never been higher. First Johnny Cash gained an entire new generation of fans, then Hollywood began to pepper its films with bluegrass and roots music. Now, everyone from Jack White to Van Morrison is waking up to the magic of country. Ireland's getting in on the act too, with the launch of the Midlands Music Festival, a two-day celebration of all things hatted and booted. Colm O’Hare traces the rebirth of a genre.
MUSIC, COMEDY, THE WORLD - FAMOUS ROSE, THRILLS, SPILLS, AND THE CHANCE TO BE A STAR - IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THIS YEAR'S TRALEE FESTIVAL IN THE CAPITAL OF KERRY
Gone are the booming synths and melodic choruses. Instead, techno darlings The Knife have embraced their gothic side. But why are they dressed as birds?
It's eyes down and no conferring as Colm Russell asks We Are Scientists about their new album, intra-band bullying and why Alex Turner wouldn't know a hit single if it bit him in the ass.
Under the direction of Joe Devlin, the Focus Theatre has taken on an impressive range of projects – not least two plays that tackle burning contemporary issues. Devlin tells us how he’s been carrying on the Focus tradition.
You can tell how highly regarded she is by the number of top stars who want her to sing with them. But for Emmylou Harris such collaborations are a two-way street.
Spiritualized are back with a new album which confirms Jason Pierce’s theory that “the best music is made by people who are out of control.” Loving the alien:
Now in its second year, Cork Live At The Marquee is one of the highlights of the Irish music calendar. Here, Hot Press presents a complete preview of what's in store for music fans in the southern capital - and looks at the great legacy of Cork music.
After years as son of Charles , ERIC MINGUS is forging his own musical identity. He talks to PETER MURPHY about jazz purists, hip-hop and playing bass with Nick Cave.
Although arguably the outstanding female country artist of her generation, Emmylou Harris has always distanced herself from the Nashville
mainstream. From early recordings with Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan through to her most recent Daniel Lanois-produced album Wrecking Ball, her work has been characterised by a maverick spirit and real fire in the belly.
PETER MURPHY caught up with her in Dublin.
From Donegal to London and beyond, altan s breathtaking music continues to win new converts. As the band showcase material from their latest album, Runaway Sunday, at the international headquarters of Virgin Records,
mairiad nm mhaonaigh tells sarah mcquaid:
It s all about letting it rip.
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
Speaking recently to bands involved in the IMRO Showcases it became quite apparent that there was one major question on most minds, whether to look for a record deal or go the independent route and release their own records on their own label.
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.
Since opening its doors five years ago, Galway's Róisín dubh has established itself as a superb live music venue that's a firm favourite with performers and punters alike. colm o'hare reports.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
While An Taoiseach insists that being presented with thousands of pounds in a suitcase by shady businessmen is completely ‘normal’, the rest of us have our doubts.
On the release of a double CD retrospective of his forty years as a performer-songwriter, Johnny McEvoy talks to Jackie Hayden about his early days as Ireland’s answer to Bob Dylan, meeting the great man himself, supporting and introducing The Rolling Stones, defending The Wolfe Tones, not apologising for the troubles in the North, U2 and the key albums that have inspired him.
The godfather of the modern Irish gothic tradition, Patrick McCabe, has released what critics are hailing as his darkest, and arguably finest, novel yet, Winterwood.
