Dancing With Lunasa

TRAD SUPERGROUPS might be all the rage right now, but Lunasa s star-studded line-up suggests a super supergroup.
Featured in Lunasa s personnel department are, ex-Waterboy and Sharon Shannon Band bassist Trevor Hutchinson, guitarist Donagh Hennessy (also formerly with Sharon Shannon s band), renowned piper John McSherry, who is currently treading the boards with Belfast family group Tamilin, and flautist Michael McGoldrick who fronts Manchester Celtic Rock outfit Toss The Feathers (he s also played with everyone from Arcady to the RTE Concert Orchestra). The only member of the band who doesn t have a lengthy CV is fiddler Sean Smith, though he has himself guested on the big stage with the likes of Altan, The Chieftains and Sharon Shannon.
Lunasa have already toured Australia to rave reaction the Sydney Morning Herald describing them as the most exciting new band to emerge from Ireland in a long, long time . Folk with balls, said another review a fact which, in this case, is physiologically indisputable!
Their recently released debut album Lunasa Live is a suitably energetic introduction to this exhilarating new outfit. On a whistle-stop visit to Ireland for a short tour they managed to halt the van on the road to Galway long enough for Sean Smyth to say a few words down the phone line.
The whole thing evolved out of two sets of tours, he explains, one with Steve Cooney and I was also playing with Donagh and Trevor in Scandinavia. We all got together just to see how it went. Trevor had his own studio but we decided to take the studio on the road instead to capture the live feel.
He acknowledges the fact that the individual members of the group were well known in their own right and that this helped in gaining immediate acceptance in the international context.
But I also think it s very fresh, he offers. There isn t a formula to it. And it s very interactive, everybody s doing different things but there s a strong communication between us. There s also a bigger influence from the rock scene as well as the input from the traditional end of things. There s a strong rhythmical backing and there are three strong melody players. Also, with the album, what you hear is exactly what you get. If you like the album you ll like us live and vice verse.
Following their brief Irish visit, Lunasa head off to Scandinavia (with Paul Brady, Frankie Gavin and Mairtin O Connor). Then it s off to Japan and back to Australia.
The reaction in Australia was fantastic and we re looking forward to heading back there, Smyth says. It s probably more daunting to play in Ireland these days three quarters of a million people are musicians. We love playing here, it s a great challenge. But it s hard to explain to people here when we play smaller venues that we play to a couple of thousand in Europe or Australia. It s the same for most traditional outfits. People might laugh at the Michael Flatelys of this world but that whole Riverdance thing has generated a mass acceptance of Irish music and culture that just wasn t there before. People like us are reaping the benefits, but we ll be back in Ireland as soon as we can. n