DUG: "There’s an appreciation in Ireland for American music that doesn’t even exist in a lot of America"

While touring in the US this summer, DUG found themselves at a moral and professional crossroads. They could either play their next show with an empty merch table, having sold out of their entire stock back in Colorado, or improvise – and sell literal rocks, gathered earlier that day.

They chose the latter.

“They’re organically sourced, and 100% natural,” Jonny Pickett, one half of the Dublin-based duo, assures me now. “No child labour.”

In addition to their hand-painted rocks – going for between $10 to $30 – the pair also had the business-savvy to sell ‘paint-at-home’ versions (plain rocks) for $5 apiece.

“People really wanted the rocks in Ireland, so I brought a fair amount back,” Jonny resumes. “I have them in a bag in my room. And we just got an email about sending four back to the States.”

“Those rocks are going to have some serious air-miles on them,” Conor O’Reilly, his partner in DUG, adds. “I did a whole run of rocks to the States already...”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by DUG (@dugworld)

Given the remarkable trajectory of their career to date, it shouldn’t come as a major surprise that DUG’s audience are only too eager to part with good money for something you’d typically lob into a lake. United under the slogan ‘I DIG DUG’ – found emblazoned on t-shirts in many a festival crowd this summer – their devout fanbase was largely built up via word-of-mouth, particularly in their early days, as resonator guitar-and-banjo-brandishing buskers on Grafton Street. By early 2024, with not even a song released yet, they’d sold out their first ever gigs, at Whelan’s.

A string of well-received singles – including ‘Jubilee’, which was shortlisted for two Grammy nominations – soon followed. As did a performance for President Michael D. Higgins; a Hot Press ‘Hot For 2025’ selection; a main stage set at Colorado’s prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival; an Australian tour announcement; and more sold-out shows. Now, having signed to legendary Irish label Claddagh Records, and with Decca handling their business on the other side of the Irish Sea, DUG are gearing up to release their debut album, Have At It!.

At present, however, they’re sitting in a corner of a Capel Street pub, at the tail end of an ungodly busy festival season – and struggling to remember where they were last week.

“My concept of time has changed this year,” Conor reflects. “It’s all been amazing, but it puts your head in a weird place. Routine is what really helps you remember things, but when what’s happening is all fucking random, it’s like, ‘Where was I again?’”

Has it been overwhelming, adjusting to that?

“I’ve definitely been overwhelmed, for sure,” nods Jonny. “I’m constantly explaining to myself what’s going on, like I’m a kid. Just explaining what happened and what we’re doing. Because otherwise I’ll be like, ‘Wait, what? Why am I in Switzerland?’”

DUG at The Ambassador Theatre/copyright Patrik Meier

In the midst of that time warp, Dublin – which they’ve both called home for the past few years – has been a grounding force. Even the credits of Have At It! reflect the close-knit music community DUG have naturally found themselves part of in the city, and elsewhere in Ireland – with the likes of Joshua Burnside, Gareth Quinn Redmond, and Ye Vagabonds’ Diarmuid Mac Gloinn all contributing.

“Coming back here, it always feels like I can put my shoulders down,” says Jonny. “In Dublin, I’ll always just end up running into a friend. And everyone helps each other out, which is nice.”

But with Jonny hailing from California, and Conor (whose mother is Irish) having grown up in Edinburgh before relocating to upstate New York, their identity as a band is multi-layered – particularly as they draw influence from both American old-time and Irish folk music.

“We seem to be foreign everywhere now,” Jonny laughs. “I obviously don’t speak in an Irish accent, but someone came up to me after a festival in Colorado, and said, ‘Never lose your Irish accent!’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?!’”

“I’ve got a strange accent anyway, just because I’ve lived in a good few places,” Conor adds. “When I’m in the States, they think I’m really Irish. They tag that on hard. But when I’m here they don’t.”

“We’re a band based in Ireland, and Ireland is home – but there’s so many connotations to ‘an Irish band’,” Jonny resumes. “I don’t think we’re considered an Irish band in Ireland.”

“Someone claim us!” Conor implores the empty pub. “Someone tell us where we belong!”

They may be “the Stuart Little of bands”, as Jonny describes it, but such identity crises have had no bearing on audiences’ ability to connect with their music, especially in Ireland.

“There’s an appreciation in Ireland for American music that doesn’t even exist in a lot of America,” Jonny says. “You go to California, and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who even knows what old-time is. Or they’ll call it bluegrass or whatever.”

“The genre that we play is beloved in Ireland,” Conor agrees. “Townes van Zandt used to come here and do great gigs. Chris Smither played great gigs here too. I’ve seen Jake Xerxes Fussell here, twice – he’s smashing it right now. And Sam Amidon.”

Of course, the US, as they point out, contains multitudes.

“It’s just so big – it’s not one thing,” Conor nods. “It’s so many people, bringing different things to the table.”

“It seems like the most ubiquitous American genre is jazz,” Jonny states. “Americans will agree that that’s American. And rap. It’s like Guinness in Ireland – I’ve never been that into rap outside of America. It’s alright, but it is like having a Guinness in LA…”

Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Still, in both the mainstream and the underground, Jonny finds that more and more young Americans are embracing and exploring their country’s folk tradition.

“There’s an entire queer folk scene – almost in like Seeger-style – that didn’t exist 10/15 years ago,” he tells me. “So there is a resurgence in that sense. And obviously there’s an overall resurgence in Americana – which is having its O Brother, Where Art Thou moment again, with these huge acts. But there’s a pop version of it, and there’s more niche versions of it.”

Like their “good pal” Willi Carlisle – a groundbreaking figure in that queer folk community, who they previously toured with – DUG have tapped into both the playfulness and profundity of the American folk tradition. And while they note that “it’s really easy to be cringy” with political, class-conscious folk music, in these increasingly dangerous times, they’re glad to see that “there are people like Willi Carlisle who are making it cool.”

“Obviously some people did it perfectly, 60 years ago,” Jonny resumes. “But it’s a tricky line to walk – just because it can be cringy as hell. Like, remember during Covid, when all the celebrities sang ‘Imagine’...?

“There’s huge efforts to talk about class in the States – but it just seems to be hitting a brick wall, over and over,” he continues. “Bernie Sanders has been trying to get people to talk about – or even think about – class, forever. But now it’s finally being talked about a bit more.”

The title of Have At It! – inspired by the three-word jokey will Conor’s father drew up during the pandemic – also nods to the inherent irreverence of DUG’s approach. Conor claims that, when they started the band, “the whole goal was for people to be smiling when they left – and that was it.”

Of course, there’s injecting humour into a show, and then there’s allowing yourself to be tattooed mid-performance, as Conor recently did in Cork. Or, off stage, producing social media videos that defy every firework safety protocol known to man. Or, offering a surreal alternative to the established music industry awards, with their own DUGGYs ceremony, complete with coveted Golden Shovels.

Through it all – and even now, with a record deal to their name – DUG’s defiant DIY ethos has remained central to their approach.

“You can’t let go of it,” Conor reckons. “That’s like muscle memory. We’ve got management now, and even realising that they can do stuff is taking a minute to get used to…”

Conor is no stranger to the business, having released two albums, and clocked up over 25 million Spotify streams, as singer-songwriter Lorkin O’Reilly, when he was living in New York. There’s a tip-of-the-cap to that period in his artistic life on Have At It!, with the inclusion of new versions of ‘I Reside’ and ‘When The Days Cool Down’, which originally featured on his 2018 Heaven Depends album.

Could he have envisioned this current musical direction, back then?

“Honestly, I really wanted to be in a metal band!” Conor laughs. “That’s still my lifetime goal. But this has actually been way more interesting than just plugging in an electric guitar, and having a big drum set. Trying to get heavy with two instruments is more of a challenge. And it’s really fun.”

Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

As for their future plans, Jonny reveals that “there’s already another album half-there.”

“It may end up going a little bit more old-timey, possibly,” he says. “But I’d also like to get a bit weird – or heavier.”

“We’ve spent so much time in the car since we recorded this record – driving around America like three times, listening to a lot of music together,” Conor concludes. “I’ve definitely become way more aware of how things are recorded. I was so focused on performance and song before, that I didn’t think so much about that stuff. So there’s a couple of ideas bouncing around…"

Have At It! is out now. See DUG's upcoming tour dates – including a headline show at The Academy, Dublin on October 29 – here.