CIGF17 & FAI PRESENT: IN THE ROUND..’ FEAT: WALLIS BIRD, JOHN SMITH, LISA O NEILL, MICK FLANNERY
WALLIS BIRD:
Ireland’s Choice Music Prize Nominee 2017
Germany’s Deutscher Musikautorenpreis Winner 2017
Wallis Bird is steadily becoming a household name, and not only in Ireland. Nominated for a Choice Music Prize at home this year, she’s also been making big waves in mainland Europe. Wallis won a Deutsche Musikautorenpreis – a national prize chosen by composers and awarded to their peers. Wallis was the only non-German up for an award – a huge and rare achievement.
Wallis released her fifth studio album ‘Home’ in September 2016 on Mount Silver Records / Caroline International, and has been touring relentlessly all over the world since its release. The ‘Home’ tour encompassed over 70 shows, with Wallis playing to rapturous audiences across Europe, Japan and Australia. On the Australian leg of the tour, Wallis gained a new fan in American artist Amanda Palmer, who tweeted repeatedly to her million-plus followers to go and catch a show. Palmer subsequently invited Wallis to join her on stage for a duet during one of her festival appearances, and Wallis reciprocated by having Palmer sing at one of her own headline shows.
Wallis’ energy on stage is one of her trademarks; even the Irish Times once noted it could ‘kickstart an entire economy’. In 2016, she played a 12-hour free gig in aid of refugee charities in Berlin, even finding enough strength to play an encore. Never your average troubadour, Wallis already has two Meteor Awards to her name, as well as a previous Choice nomination, and has recorded for Island Records and Columbia Records, as well as touring with the likes of Rodrigo y Gabriela and Billy Bragg. Though you might not catch another 12-hour show anytime soon, you can be sure that few can enrapture an audience the way Wallis Bird can.
“Home is an eclectic pop record that ticks every box. It also might just be her best yet” **** Irish Times
“Wonderfully eclectic and unpredictable…easily Wallis Bird’s most accomplished album to date” 9/10 Hot Press
“The energy, the emotion…it’s all there…the new album ‘Home’ is out. Get it.” Nicky Byrne, 2FM
The music of FIXITY is composed by Dan Walsh and explored in collective improvisation with others, driven by a helpless allegiance to time and the beautiful impossibility of stillness or repetition within it. Releases manifest as self-produced (FIXITY, 2, 3…) and ensemble-based explorations, including The Things In The Room which was recorded in Tambourine Studios, Malmö, and features Walsh on drums with Tenor Saxophonist Emil Nerstrand (Brigaden/Heavy Water/The Nod), Guitarist Nils Andersson (Ljom/Ava) and bassist Fredrik Persson (Sista Bossen/The Good Morning Spider/Leo Kall/Cassus) and released on Penske Recordings on double LP and CD in late 2016.
Following an Irish tour in June 2017 included Walsh, Nerstrand, Carolyn Goodwin (Clang Sayne), Philip Christie (The Bonk/O Emperor), Kevin Terry (Sky, Horse & Death/Altered Hours) and Neil O’Loclainn (Ensemble Eiru/Cuar) the near future will see further releases and more shows.
…about FIXITY
“The Things In The Room is a deep experience. The atmosphere is similar to the black caverns in Japanese legend Keiji Haino’s earliest Fushitsusha albums—or even the funereal ambient jazz of German outfit Bohren & der Club of Gore”— Tristan Bath (The Quietus / The Wire Magazine/ Spools Out)
“We often think of the encounter of the mythical rhythm of Can or closer to us of Aluk Todolo with an inspired Archie Shepp. Their mix of Jazz and Kraut Rock is a total success. The musicians never pour into exuberance, tempering their interventions at the service of incandescent passages”— Kfuel.org
“…defined by its disregard for parameters” — Brian coney (The Thin Air)
Cutting her teeth as a sideman in Boston’s roots music scene, Laura Cortese forged a unique path through a pool rich in talent (due to a large population of Berklee School of Music graduates like herself) including stints as an instrumentalist with Band of Horses, Pete Seeger, Rose Cousins, Jocie Adams (of the Low Anthem), and Uncle Earl. Her Compass Records debut, CALIFORNIA CALLING, is the next step in her career as a frontwoman and bandleader – she and her Dance Cards, (Cellist Valerie Thompson, fiddler Jenna Moynihan, and bassist Natalie Bohrn) break new ground with a bold and elegant new album, based in the lyrical rituals of folk music but exploring new territories of rhythm and sonics. With the support of Sam Kassirer, album producer of folk-pop favorites like Lake Street Dive and Joy Kills Sorrow, they’ve created something that’s simultaneously rowdy, delicate and cinematic. This is post-folk that seriously rocks.
CIGF17 & FAI PRESENT: A DOUBLE BILL WITH LAURA CORTESE
“MOXIE is the music of a new era, where fluidity, cross-pollination, and innovation are the future and salvation of Irish music.” – Irish Examiner 2016
’Irresistible, revolutionary energy’ – The Irish Times *****
“Every track is a triumph” – Irish Music Magazine
“Harmonious, energetic and tenacious, there’s no idea where Moxie will take
you.” – Lynette Fay, BBC
“A high energy cocktail that defies easy categorization…accordion trad meets
banjo bluegrass with a contemporary rhythm section that takes many a
jubilant left turn. This is highly charged 21st Century Irish music.”
Carl Corcoran, RTE
All hailing from Ireland’s untamed West Coast MOXIE are: Cillian Doheny (tenor banjo/guitar), Jos Kelly (button accordion/keyboard), Darren Roche (button accordion), Ted Kelly (tenor banjo) and Paddy Hazelton (percussion).
Their music has a solid traditional backbone, inspired and shaped by the surrounding of the west of Ireland, but with progressive, world and jazz influences creeping into their music it makes for a truly heady and distinctive sound, putting them at the forefront of new acoustic music from Ireland.
In August 2014 they released their debut album ‘Planted’ to critical acclaim. With their unmistakable approach, MOXIE are becoming a festival favourite in Europe, America, Australia and beyond garnering a reputation for their highly charged live performances.
In 2016 MOXIE provided the musical landscape for the dance show: ‘Prodijig, The Revolution.’ After 3 weeks of performance in Ireland’s famous Cork Opera House, extra dates were added due to demand. The show has received rave reviews and will no doubt be back for a run in 2017.
Reviewers called it –
’Irresistible, revolutionary energy’ – The Irish Times *****
‘Streetwise, fast moving, clever…full of superb moments’ – Irish Examiner ****
ARTHURITIS is a Pan-Dimensional being from the fifth moon of the desolate bubblewrap planet, Lukon 5.
Gracing us with two albums, ‘Neglected Ambient Shirts Vol.1’ & ‘Saturnalia’, in what you called 2016 alone, he has acquired many favorable reviews.The Lukon Times called him ‘the biggest star in the galaxy’. Come see him at C.I.G.F. 2017, though he experiences time a little differently so you are both already there and already finished watching the gig yet also already not there.
Love & Bubbles.
A.https://youtu.be/Zpl8-LxYIQE
Acclaimed singer and guitarist John Smith announces an Irish tour following the release of his fifth album, Headlong and it’s lead single Living In Disgrace. Produced by Sam Lakeman and featuring Cara Dillon on BVs, Headlong comes dedicated to the memory of John Renbourn and is the follow up to Great Lakes, John’s Joe Henry produced release of 2013 which featured Salty & Sweet, a duet with Lisa Hannigan that became somewhat of a radio hit in Ireland. Headlong has already been an RTE Radio 1 album of the week in Ireland.
Headlong is the fifth album in a hard-working, under-the-radar career that has earned the Devon-born Smith a dedicated following and secured the respect and admiration of his peers. The late Renbourn called him “the future of folk music”, and Smith has opened shows for artists as diverse as Iron and Wine, John Martyn, Tinariwen and Gil Scott-Heron. He has also played on sessions for Joan Baez, Cara Dillon and Joe Henry among others, with Lianne La Havas and Lisa Hannigan both recruiting him to play lead guitar in their bands.
And so not by chance is it that John’s new record comes bearing a title implying impulsive, breakneck motion- written as it was, across various touring stints playing guitar for the likes of La Havas and Hannigan (who fittingly lends a co-write to Headlong, on ‘Coming Home’), across the U.S. Having wound up his own successful 2 year stint touring Great Lakes round the UK & across Europe (taking in sold out shows at Union Chapel, London and Unitarian Church, Dublin. In early 2016 John was finally afforded a chance to come off the road, settle in one place for a while. An opportunity which, for better or worse, Smith elected to decline. Says John; “When I finished touring Great Lakes I felt like I had time on my hands, and I thought rather than go home and try to write where it just didn’t feel natural, I wanted to keep on touring. It felt right”.
And so in stark contrast to the agonising 24 month period of writer’s block which frustrated the arrival of Great Lakes – the songs that would eventually become Headlong came together at nimble pace, during woodshedding in the isolated lulls afforded to touring musicians.
Many of the songs here are inspired by John’s wife and newborn baby- together they form a magnetic north of sorts for Headlong. His wife is the source of the redemptive, unconditional love to which ‘Save My Life’ is indebted – she’s also the ‘Joanna’ of the track that bears the same title, spurring Smith through the humdrum niggles which invariably pepper lengthy stints on the road, from clearance issues on the Oregon country border to inter-band squabbles. Yet for all that Headlong is informed in part by separation, it is also an album full of hope and trembling promise for the future. “Open the door into my time,” John sings on the joyously surging “Threshold”, inspired by the rite of passage of becoming a father for the first time
Headlong also bears the indelible loss of John’s close friend Renbourn. The death of the Pentangle legend took a particularly strong toll; “His death really hit me hard” says Smith; “He was so much more to me than someone I’d played with, and who had encouraged me. He was a friend as well, so I wanted to reference him on this album- that’s why I’ve dedicated it to his memory”.
Renbourn’s presence is particularly palpable in Smith’s equally sparing and striking electric guitar work, which weaves through Headlong, marking a break of sorts from the lush string orchestration that characterised Great Lakes. “I learnt a lot about guitars on those big U.S. tours” says John, “Finding the best tone, getting a big guitar sound for a big room. Bringing that back to my studio, and playing that kind of electric guitar on my songs, felt really good.” And so the remit for John and producer Sam Lakeman (brother of Seth & Sean) – when they eventually repaired to Lakeman’s Somerset studios – became aligning the glistening Petty and Clapton guitar lines of which Smith was so in awe, with the paired-back world inhabited by Headlong.
The success of this distillation is borne out in spades- particularly on the freewheeling outro to ‘Joanna’, galvanised by sparing blasts of Smith’s telecaster & the silken backing vocals of Cara Dillon (who also lends vocals to John’s homage to belt-tightening, ‘Living In Disgrace’). John and Lakeman’s labours were smoothed by the easy creative shorthand the two friends enjoy; “We’re really direct with each other, but it actually makes for a friendly working relationship. If we disagree, we can have a raging argument about it, but 5 minutes later we’ll be recording again and everything’s fine. For Headlong I really wanted someone who could challenge me, dare me to chop out that part of a song, or add in an extra chorus.”
Whilst John Smith has stood still just long enough to commit this new album to record, there’s yet little danger of moss gathering. Currently gearing up for a 3 month autumn tour of the UK & Europe, Smith has also been tapped to play guitar on the forthcoming album from Joan Baez (with an appearance on the forthcoming Martin Simpson album also in the works), alongside his Great Lakes’ collaborator, Joe Henry.
PRESS:
It’s rare these days to find an audience so wrapped up in a performance as this one**** The Independent
John Smith has captured something specialAcoustic Far from the connotations his name brings, John Smith is one of a kindWonderland This is the sound of a hugely underrated songwriter revealing more of himself, and it’s resulted in a wonderful record 9/10 Guitarist Should see him reach the bigger audience his talents most definitely deserve **** Total Guitar The searing thrum of ‘Undone’ is testament to how powerful his music can be Uncut
SurfSide 61 is a celebration of the golden age of instrumental guitar music.
Surf Music, as it was called in the USA, originated in Southern California in the early 60s along with the booming surfing craze.
In The UK a similar sound was happening led by The Shadows, who were hugely successful across the world with no less than 5 number one hits between 1960 and ’63.
Stephen Housden formed SurfSide61 to present authentic versions of the music that inspired him and a generation of guitarists.
Stephen toured the world for many years as a member of Little River Band. He has also has played along side many music greats including; Glen Frey, Christopher Cross, Dr. John, Warren Zevon, John Entwistle (The Who) and Albert Lee.
SurfSide 61: Stephen Housden; guitar, Dónal O’Sullivan; guitar, George Hart; bass guitar and Brian O’Higgins; drums.
Growing up in Clonakilty you are surrounded by music.
Eoin grew up with people who were genuinely passionate about music and that has always stayed with him. His older brother, uncles, and aunts would show him a variety of music from all different genres and eras, allowing him to appreciate music holistically.
He says that this holistic approach to music has been one of the major influences on his song writing. Another major influence was the discovery of his favourite band, The Doors, and other 1960s psychedelic bands like Jefferson Airplane and Love. Jim Morrison’s song writing showed him, more than anyone else had before, that lyrics can be a form of poetry. This idea blossomed with his growing interest with rap albums, especially concept albums that had particular themes. He was blown away by certain rappers ability to speak of situations in life completely alien to his own, yet was, because of their words, able to understand and empathise with them.
After 4 years of wishing, Eoin is finally set to release his debut EP ‘Songs from my Windowsill’. He has described it as a series of introspections, documenting a 3 year period of change both musically and mentally in his life.
The EP seeks to combine two genres, which heavily influence Eoin’s music, folk and the psychedelic sounds of the 60s. He says that this era of music gave him a lot of confidence in writing his lyrics as he felt like he didn’t have to hold back on the subject matter or his opinions.
The Lovely Eggs are an underground surreal-psych punk rock duo from northern England.
They have a fierce ethos that music should have no rules.
For Holly and David being in a band is a way of life. True to this, they live the way they play. Fiercely, constantly in search of the good times.
With 8/10 thumbs up from the NME and much support from BBC 6 Music and Radio One the band continues to sell out gigs across the UK without the help of management, booking agent or record label support.
With SIX BBC 6 music sessions under their belt, as well as sessions for Radio One and XFM, The Lovely Eggs have enjoyed huge support from BBC 6 Music. Marc Riley declared their last two singles “Goofin’ Around (in Lancashire)” and “Drug Braggin'” his official top tracks of 2015 and 2016, with the band also attracting airplay from DJs Steve Lamacq, Lauren Laverne, Chris Hawkins, Gideon Coe, Shaun Keavney, Radcliffe and Maconie and Jarvis Cocker.
Their songs have been produced by Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), remixed by Tjinder Singh (Cornershop) and sampled by Zane Lowe for Scroobius Pip. With releases in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan, The Lovely Eggs have played hundreds of gigs around the UK, USA and Europe.
With observational and often surreal lyrics about life The Lovely Eggs have a powerful stripped down sound: one vintage guitar amp, one Big Muff distortion pedal, a guitar and a drum kit.
They have produced four albums. The latest “This Is Our Nowhere” was self-recorded in an abandoned factory in their home town of Lancaster. It’s title sums up their celebration and love of a scene which doesn’t exist in the eyes of the manufactured mainstream. Ironically the record received 8/10 in the NME and received massive support from DJs across the board at BBC 6 Music as well as sell out tours of the UK.
Their 5th album has been produced and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Mogwai, MGMT, Tame Impala) at his studio in upstate New York. It is due to be released in February 2018.
The Lovely Eggs are one of the most exciting, innovative and genuine bands on the British Underground Music Scene. Welcome to their world.
THINGS PEOPLE SAID:
“One of the country’s most beloved underground bands”– NME
“You won’t hear another band like this anywhere between now and the the end of the millenium. The Lovely Eggs are just brilliant!”– Huw Stephens, Radio One
There is a fearless quality to the music of Christopher Paul Stelling. A voice that sounds both old and young, an effortless yet intricate finger-picking guitar style and lyrics that are both dramatic, and intensely confessional. It’s a sound that channels the restless spirit of a young man who left home to travel the country, formed by endless nights alone on stage with a guitar, playing to packed houses, other times to nearly empty rooms. Stelling estimates that he’s played over four hundred shows in just the past three years. It places him within a longstanding tradition that serves to nurture ones character and art.
Amidst the euphoria of playing in bars, cafes, theaters, festivals, under bridges and in living rooms, were late night conversations with friends, new and old, about the undercurrents of tension and change in their countries and concerns about what was happening back in his own. And so Christopher Paul Stelling wrote songs about it all. Darkly beautiful and powerful songs which became the album “Itinerant Arias” on Anti Records.
Unlike previous records, the new album finds Stelling backed by a band, electrified if you will. It is a record inspired by movement and travel. With a little more than a week before returning to the road, he retreated to a friend’s Connecticut cabin out in the woods with
some musician friends. They slept there, ate there and didn’t leave for the next eight days, recording the haunting and powerful record.
PRESS:
“The richly layered storytelling of John Prine, the croon-to-howl hybrid vocal of Tom Waits and Glen Hansard, and an intricately finger-picked guitar style that lands somewhere between Lead Belly and Lindsey Buckingham” – 10 new country artists you need to know – Rolling Stone, May 2017
“The musical storytelling of Christopher Paul Stelling embodies a long road full of lush folkloric, mythological and religious imagery.” — WNYC
“False Cities finds Stelling owning his particular pulpit with the strength of a dozen Southern Baptist preachers.” – SPIN
“heart-plucking stylings of an acoustic troubadour” – New York Magazine
“Every song on his debut album Songs of Praise and cooks with both down-home comfort and avant-garde brio, Stelling building earthy folk troubadour stories over a fluster of wild arpeggios.” – Village Voice
“The way this man delivers his songs, it’s not hard to imagine him actually “tap-dancing down the edge of this here knife,” as he sings at one point from within a small tornado of acoustic guitar and fiddle.” – SPIN
“…Stelling has put together an album that will hopefully draw people to live performances where they can see what a real self-contained, modern-day troubadour looks and sounds like. Songs of Praise and Scorn is a fine way to introduce someone who should be a voice to be reckoned with in the years to come.” – American Songwriter