Amble: "Everyone loves telling stories, everyone loves telling jokes. It’s just an Irish thing and I grew up fascinated by it all”

Don’t let the name deceive you.

Longford’s Ross McNerney, Leitrim’s Robbie Cunningham and Sligo’s Oisín McCaffrey – previously plying their respective trades as a secondary school teacher, a primary school teacher and a data scientist – began their joint venture in 2022.

It’s been more of a stampede than an amble since, with the folky three-piece quickly scaling from playing in pubs, to small venues in Ireland, to packing festival tents and selling out shows across North America – where they’ve also just signed a deal with Warner.

It’s all, admittedly, “just a bit mad” the lads say, as they sit down for lunch in a diner along the Canada-US border.

“Maybe we were quietly confident in the background, but we definitely never expected it to happen this quick,” admits Robbie. “I thought when Amble started, that if we ever made the Olympia, it would mean we’ve done seriously well. I wasn’t thinking that we’d sell out three of them in a year.”

It’s an ascension so rapid that one could reasonably suspect some strategic industry savviness at play. That couldn’t be further from the truth: Robbie barely had a gig to his name before the trio was founded.

“I did a couple of school musicals in secondary school,” he reveals. “I was Oliver Twist and I did one in fifth year as Danny Zuko in Grease. I was always mad to play in a pub. I thought it was a no-brainer, because I was playing at after-parties with my mates and thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, I could be doing this and getting free pints.’ The whole reason I reached out to Oisín and Ross is because I loved playing.”

What’s behind the hype then? The lads cite their stripped back, authentic approach, taking pride in the fact they record all their tracks live, relying on their voices and acoustic instruments. In line with the growing number of Irish bands embracing folk influences, as well recently established global powerhouses like Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan, what you see is very much what you get.

“Look, the world is getting more and more online,” says Oisín. “People crave going to see someone who’s just going to go up and sing a song with meaning behind it. It’s almost as if the more complex the world becomes, the more you need a simple song.

“We’re very much the same here in the diner as we would be onstage. I don’t know if that was the case 10 years ago in the music industry. I think a lot of artists had a bit of a persona or an aura about them that they brought onstage. That doesn’t seem to be in vogue at the moment.”

Amble’s down-to-earthness is channelled via their discography, which consists of timeless-sounding tales of everyday situations and delicate depictions of natural surroundings. It’s an approach that stems as much from their upbringing in Ireland, as it does from their shared love of legendary songsmith John Prine.

“Ireland has such a huge culture of storytelling,” says Robbie, offering a grateful nod to the waitress as his soup arrives. “Everyone loves telling stories, everyone loves telling jokes. It’s just an Irish thing and I grew up fascinated by it all.”

One need look no further than their latest track, ‘The Commons’. The title, I’m told, uses ‘common’ areas – whether it be the green of a housing estate or a local park – as metaphors for the unfortunate familiarity of the song’s subject matter.

“I was getting a train from Dublin to Longford,” begins Ross. “I picked a random seat – I don’t believe in the Iarnród Eireann name-over-your-head craic. I sat down and put my cup of tea on the tray, and there was just a letter. It told the story of a mother who lost her 14-year-old son to suicide. It just hit me and made me think of my friends and students. I never intended on writing about suicide, but that song had to be written on that train journey home.

“I suppose the big thing about it was that I was left with hope. That was the message from the letter and from the song. With the instrumental at the end, it was very important for us to get that right and portray that feeling musically too.”

“We’ve no agenda and we don’t have the solution to the problem,” adds Oisín. “All we can do as a band is talk about it and help other people talk about it. That’s our little way of opening the conversation. I don’t think we’re going to be holding a podcast discussing it. But as a band, that’s our way of opening the discussion for men’s mental health.”

It’s a preach very much practised by the lads themselves, Robbie reveals.

“We’re very open with each other,” he says. “Even on this tour, there are days where you might not be feeling the best. You might be feeling tired and homesick, but we’re very good at being honest with each other. It’s a great way to be. We don’t shy away from talking about our feelings.”

Looking forward, it’s exciting times for the band, with an album out early next year. With the current line-up consisting of ‘just’ the three lads, their two guitars and a bouzouki, is there any desire for adding more instruments to the mix?

“We’re always open to expanding musically,” notes Ross. “We love that camaraderie of musicians coming together, so we’re definitely open to it, but we’re also wary of keeping it real, so there’s a happy medium there.”

There’s also the small matter of the three aforementioned sold-out Olympia dates, speckled across November 23, 28 and December 11. Luckily for Amble, they’ve a bit of experience playing sizeable amphitheatres, having supported Aussie legends Crowded House across North America earlier this year.

“Supporting Crowded House was genuinely an honour,” Ross continues. “Aside from the music, they are the nicest men, team and crew. They couldn’t have been more welcoming to us. It’s a week we won’t forget. I’m speaking on behalf of the three of us. We learned so much, not necessarily about music, but how to treat everyone.”

• Amble play Live At The Big Top, Limerick (November 1); Opera House, Cork (2); and the 3Olympia, Dublin (23, 28 & December 11)

Listen to 'The Commons' below: