Monaghan singer/songwriter Ryan Sheridan (top) whets the appetite for his third album, due next year on Rubyworks, with this Americana-tinged single.
Ryan writes:
“‘Fine Wine’ is about the people that make your life better. The people who pick you up when you’re down, listen to you when you need to talk and tell you some hard truths when you need to listen.
“It was written on the back of a new Americana covers album that I produced over lockdown. It was a new direction I was exploring and this is the first song I wrote in that style.”
Irish trad ensemble Moxie will get your toes tapping with this infectious pop/soul number from their new album The Dawn Of Motion out on September 3.
Moxie are Darren Roche (accordion); Jos Kelly (accordion, keyboards); Cillian Doheny (banjo, guitar); Ted Kelly (banjo, tenor guitars); Josh Sampson (drums) and Julia Spanu (a French vocalist/songwriter with Vietnamese/Italian roots).
Moxie play Friday 3 September, Doolin Hotel, Co Clare; Saturday 4 Sept, Claremorris Folk Festival, Co Mayo; Friday 17 Sept, Meet Me In The Garden, Birr, Co Offaly; Tuesday 21 Sept, Monroes, Galway; and Sunday 26 Sept, Andersons Live, Sligo.
Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell – Keson (Until My Strength Returns)
The wizard from Oz.
Legendary Australian chanteuse Lisa Gerrard – the daughter of an Irish Olympian – joins forces with her Dead Can Dance touring keyboard player Jules Maxwell (from Bangor, County Down) on the latest single from their album Burn.
Cork national treasure John Spillane (top) serenades us with the second single from his album 100 Snow White Horses.
Produced by John Reynolds and featuring Pauline Scanlan on backing vocals, the ballad is accompanied by a brilliantly shot video directed by Barry Donnellan and choreographed by Karena Walsh. It was filmed at The Everyman Theatre, Cork.
John writes:
“I composed the song in 2016 and first performed it in Cratloe, County Clare, on Valentine’s Night 2019 in the house of well-loved local musician Ger O’ Donnell. I then had the huge honour of performing it with the iconic Kilfenora Céilí Band at the Leinster Fleadh that same year. They gave it the ultimate Clare stamp of approval!”
John’s tour starts this Saturday at Magic Nights by the Lee in Ballinlough Park, Cork.
Ciaran Lavery & Soft Sports – I Love The Inevitability Of Death
The man in white.
Ciaran Lavery, from Aghagallon, County Antrim, finds humour and cheerfulness in unusual places on this new single from his forthcoming EP Happiness.
Ciaran says:
“A while back I spoke to a friend that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was fully aware of his timeline, and talked about how it had changed his outlook on both life and death. One thing he told me was the sense of relief that he didn’t have to concern himself with the daily stresses and general unwanted shite any longer.
“His focus shifted toward spending time with the ones he loved, that was it. He talked about everything becoming simpler. Knowing this made me feel my own sense of calm, firstly for him, and then for myself. It struck me that there is something deeply beautiful about accepting what is beyond our control in life, and death.”
The video was directed by Richie O’Connor and choreographed by Emily McDonagh and was filmed in The Braid, Ballymena.
Meath-formed, Dublin-based pop newcomers N.O.A.H deliver a summer anthem with a spectacularly well choreographed video to boot.
The band are: Ryan Hill, Adam Rooney and Ronan Hynes.
N.O.A.H write:
“‘Hands Up’ is a song that is packed with energy and it really drives home the feeling of letting loose and letting go. Sonically the tune is super cinematic, and the music video really captures this, with Director Dave Fox doing an amazing job.”
Cork singer/songwriter Mick Flannery teams up with Clare chanteuse Susan O’Neill (aka SON) for this single from their new album In The Game, due September 3 on Rosa/Believe Records.
Mick says:
“Modern technology and modes of communication allow us all to be aware of the troubles of the world on a mass scale, whilst also dealing with our own personal struggles. This song speaks to the nature of this awareness and how we can (and sometimes have to) turn away, for better or worse.”
Susan says:
“It’s a nod to some of the old proverbs that many of us grew up hearing.Mick pieced many of them together including ‘Wear the shoe, walk the mile’ and ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child’. In this song they have become intertwined with a chorus suggesting we must carry on the journey in the face of all experience.”
That’s not a disco classic… this is a disco classic.
Former Revs frontman Rory Gallagher (top) sneaks onto a blockbuster film set for his latest video, shot in Scotland.
Rory writes:
“This is one of the cheekiest videos I ever did, as the majority of it was filmed on my phone at 5am in Glasgow city centre on the set of the new Indiana Jones movie before the cast and crew arrived! They had recreated New York City circa 1970 and it fit perfectly with the song lyrics, but I was chased away (@4.34) by security in the middle of it, and rightly so!”
One of the best loved Irish bands of the late ’80s/’90s, Power Of Dreams have reformed with a terrific new album Auslander (the German word for outsider) making waves.
Singer Craig Walker (top right) writes:
“A new studio album was something we had talked about doing over the years but the timing and problems of us all living in different countries, meant it never happened. When everything closed in March 2020, suddenly those hurdles of geography and time no longer mattered.
It was a window of opportunity that was too good to pass up. I’d been putting songs to one side over the years, as they were obviously Power of Dreams songs.
“The reaction from fans has been great since we started releasing the singles last year. ‘America’ and ‘Across The Shannon’ topped the iTunes indie charts, then ‘Hurricane’ was used in the TV show Made in Chelsea and now ‘Do It’ has been doing really well on radio and the fans love it. We have received numerous messages from lifelong fans of the band thanking us for doing a new album. We believe the new album will satisfy long time followers of the band and hopefully introduce a new audience to our music.”
The new single Best Days is a heartfelt tribute by Craig to original guitarist Robbie Callan, who sadly passed away last New Year’s Eve, and who was as lovely a guy as he was a brilliant musician.
In honour of Robbie, here (above) is an old video of a performance of All Because on the Jo Maxi TV show on RTÉ in 1988 (that’s him on lead guitar in the black leather jacket). We were cousins too, and I dedicate this post to his memory.
“When I went to college I had it all: captain of the local soccer team, I had a little car and a beautiful girlfriend… Róisín. Fast forward 18 months. I didn’t play sport, dropped out of college and I had made it impossible for Róisín to stay. Why? Alcohol. I loved what it gave me and I put it before everything and everyone.
“I never labelled myself an alcoholic, but after going to a bunch of counsellors it became obvious that I was. A reluctant me did everything I could to keep tabs on it but after spending my rent money on a piss-up and couch-surfing around Cork I finally asked for help. Everything I had was gone.
“I spent a month in a Rehabilitation centre. The first one to visit me was Róisín. I stayed sober for a while but in the end we had decided to call it quits, not because of a lack of love but I couldn’t put her through this again. I was lost; so was she. This song is a gift to her. Some people deserve to have their name sung from a stage.”
Pa plays Tuesday September 28, Cyprus Avenue, Cork; Wed 29 Sept, Whelan’s, Dublin: Fri 1st October, Roisin Dubh, Galway; Sat 2nd Oct, St James’ Church, Dingle, Kerry.
