Folk Column: The no bell prize

Being part of one of the country’s biggest bands just isn’t enough anymore, is it. No, no, no, no, no. You have to make a solo album don’t you? Well you certainly do if you’re David Geraghty [pictured].
Having completed the album/tour/bloody big gig/live album cycle with Bell X1 he has decided it’s high time to explore his own personal musical leanings, which are considerably more lo-fi and gloriously creaky (in a good way – I like creaky). Over the course of his time with Bell X1 he had been collecting songs and decided it was time to take the leap and release a solo record. Although the lead single ‘Fear The Hitcher’ was entirely performed by Geraghty on his own (he originally absorbed into the then Juniper on the basis that he was a cracking multi-instrumentalist) the rest of Kill Your Darlings - a ten-track personal reflection that tips its dark, broody hat to the work of Buckley, Martyn and Drake - features a band made up of a bevvy of talented collaborators including the astonishingly voiced Clare Finglass, who previously graced our stages as part of Matt Lunson’s live band and who uses her Julie London-style dusty tones to great effect on these recordings.
The ‘Fifth Wall’ Marc Aubele injects some very stylish and understated keyboards, drummer Kevin Brady and double bass man Dave Redmond inject a smoky, backroom feel; and Cora Venus Lunny adds majestic violas and violins. It’s a very assured performance and the years of stagecraft picked up round the large venues he’s used to playing with Bell X1 are put to good effect in the more intimate surrounding in which he’ll be promoting this new release. He only unleashes the banjo very sparingly on one track, but there is a deliciously old-timey feel to the proceedings generally.
Although there isn’t anything you could specifically point at as a launch gig, there will be plenty of opportunities to see him play the album live (I saw the warm up and believe me, you don’t want to miss this) as he plays the Beamish Experience in Cork on Saturday September 22, deBarra’s in Clonakilty the following evening, Galway’s Roisin Dubh on Monday September 24 before heading for Dublin where he plays Whelan's on Thursday September 27. The final date of the tour is upstairs in Dolan’s of Limerick on Saturday September 29. He is also proving his work ethic by playing an incredible number of record shop in-stores, so check out your local – he may well be coming to pay a visit.
While we’re on the subject of banjos, I have a confession to make. I’ve never much cared for it as a means of making music. Lore has it that the banjo made it’s way into folk music because it was easy to make and consequently cheap enough for anyone to afford. To me, that just never seemed like a convincing reason for using it in anger. So I have to admit to a slight disquiet in the face of my road to Damascus moment when I heard Pat McGarvey of the Southern Tenant Folk Union play it. I’m currently consoling myself that it’s only because he’s doing it in the company of five other top class players in one of the most uplifting bands I’ve seen this year (and given time and the right therapy, I may come to loathe it again) but right now – deep breath, say it loud – I LOVE BANJO.
If you missed Southern Tenant Folk Union on their recent Irish tour, I would strongly urge you to check out their self-titled debut album. With such a strong line-up featuring in this year’s Open House Festival, it’s a crying shame that they won’t be amongst the roster. They play a repertoire that mixes modern sounding old-time tunes with old-timey sounding new compositions. The band are all superb instrumentalists and they have the most sublime vocal harmonies. The beautiful Frances Vaux in particular has a gorgeous fragile quality to her vocal that shoots authenticity through everything she comes in contact with. Lead singer Oliver Talkes looks too good-looking to be able to produce the raw, aching vocals that propel the songs along. He’s a cool customer too. I’m not going into the details of the ‘rat incident’ but suffice to say he isn’t fazed by rodents dropping from the sky.
Hailing from Nashville but having grown up on a diet of Seattle grunge and West Coast rap, Old Crow Medicine Show play a mix of pre-World War II blues, fiddle tunes, rags and hollers with a raw brazen energy that was honed over a protracted period spent busking in Canada before they had recorded their first album. Now, four albums in, they are one of the most essential listens out there. Having tried in previous years to book them for the Open House festival, Kieran Gilmore managed to pin them down this time round and they’ll be playing in the festival marquee in Belfast’s Custom House Square on Friday September 28. The following evening they’ll have heaved into town in Galway for a show in the Black Box Theatre, and they wash up in Dublin on Sunday September 30 for a show at the Village.
Luka Bloom fans will be intrigued by his latest album Tribe. For perhaps the first time in his career, he gets to be a singer pure and simple. His guitar-playing features on only two tracks and the rest of the album is the result of a long distance collaboration with instrumental composer Simon O’Reilly. He had been given a copy of the Tidelines album by Simon and went to visit him in Clare, intrigued by the idea that they might work together. From there, they worked on the basis that Simon would work on tracks and post them to Luka who would then work on a vocal melody and add a lyric. Dave Odlum mixed the resulting songs and without the two musicians ever having played in the same room at the same time, an album was born.
Tickets have gone on sale for this year’s Sligo Live festival and after a fairly low-key event last year, there are some major acts lined up this time around, as the festival stretches to six days from Wednesday October 24 to Monday October 29. Biggest news is that the festival has landed quite a coup in attracting the Buena Vista Social Club to the North Western town, but the rest of the bill promises to be strong too with appearances from Alabama 3 and Duke Special, who gave one of the stand out performances of last year’s festival. Local favourites Dervish will be swapping the world stage for a more local one; other acts confirmed include Belfast-based 'supergroup' At First Light and the fascinating combo of Mary McPartland, Tommy Peoples and Steve Cooney.
As in previous years, there will be a session trail around the town and the festival will also have more of a community feel with the French Market taking up residence, the All-Ireland Air Fiddle championships and Laughter Yoga all in evidence.