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EUGENE BROSNAN & THE INNOCENT BYSTANDERS

Eugene Brosnan & the Innocent Bystanders were formed in Clonakilty in late 2015, initially, to pay tribute to the late, great American songwriter and composer, WARREN ZEVON, but in recent times the band has incorporated some of its own material into the set, along with a selection of covers, from artists such as, Bob Dylan, Dave Sharp, John Lennon and Prince…

Bassist, Martin Kingston and Eugene have shared a deep appreciation and love of the music of Warren Zevon, for many years and when Eugene approached Stephen Housden to join, it seemed almost predestined and serendipitous, when Stephen informed the lads that he had actually played in Zevons live band!

Since forming, the band has played to full houses around West Cork, where the band is currently based and they have also appeared at the 2016 and 2017, Clonakilty International Guitar Festivals…

THE INNOCENT BYSTANDERS ARE:

EUGENE BROSNAN: (Guitar & Vocal) has performed over 2500 shows in Ireland, the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and the USA. He has released 3 albums, mainly of his own material, to critical acclaim and has appeared as a guest vocalist on various other productions. His music has been influenced by both Americana and Irish songs, the lyrical poets and of course, Warren Zevon.

STEPHEN HOUSDEN: (Guitar & Vocals) is regarded as one of the finest guitarists in the world. Well known as guitarist with Little River Band for more than two decades, he has also played and recorded with such music legends as Warren Zevon, Glenn Frey, Dr. John, Christopher Cross, John Entwistle , P.F Sloan, Albert Lee, Steve Cropper,  Noel Redding and many others.

JERRY FEHILY: (Drums) came to prominence as the drummer with Hothouse Flowers, touring the world with them and drumming on their Top 10 hits and a No.1 album. Apart from the Flowers, he has also played live or recorded with: Tim Finn, Michelle Shocked, Luka Bloom, Midnight Oil,  Ronnie Wood, Joe Elliot, Sinead O’ Connor, Ray Lynam, Interference and Celine Carroll.

MARTIN KINGSTON: (Bass & Vocals) ran the now legendary, Kilty Stone, pub and live music venue in Clonakilty’s, Pearse Street for many years… In the 90s, it was home to many great music sessions and musicians, (Noel Redding, Eric Bell, Mitch Mitchell,The Blues Band, Bill Shanley, Nick Harper, Hothouse Flowers) which included the proprietor, as bass player for the house band and many of the guest artistes that appeared there during his tenure.

ED KADYSEWSKI: (Piano & Keys) Originally from Philadelphia, USA, but residing in Clonakilty,Ed recently joined the Innocent Bystanders and also, like the others, has a long standing admiration for the music of Warren Zevon and in fact has been playing a multitude of his compositions for many  years.  Ed is also a film and documentary maker of note and now lectures on the subject at St. John’s College, Cork.

ABOUT THE CLADDAGH ROGUES

James O’Flynn and his folk band The Claddagh Rogues have battled their fair share of demons to consistently produce passionate music rooted in their troubled lives. The Claddagh Rogues were born out of Cork’s Simon Community, which cares for the homeless and those at risk, in 2007. They have produced two EPs and their first album, For the Record, launched at the First Fortnight festival in January 2017 with guest performer John Spillane. The album was produced with Louise McCormick and John Crone who have previously worked with Davy Spillane, Tír na nÓg and U2. 

James, lead singer and songwriter with The Claddagh Rogues, spent most of his early life in prison, under psychiatric care and homeless on the streets of Cork. Fellow Claddagh Rogues founder member and lead vocalist Mags Kelly experienced addiction and homelessness. The new album pays tribute to Mags, who passed away in 2014, aged just 44.

James and Mags started The Claddagh Rogues during an artist-in-resident project at the Cork Simon Community in 2007, led by musician and clinical nurse Kevin O’Shanahan who specialises in mental health and the arts for Cork’s mental health services. Kevin, who plays and writes with the band, said a project designed to explore creativity and build confidence and self-esteem has grown to be so much more: ‘The group’s writing has the energy and vibrancy of lives lived on the on the edge. The songs are based on experiences of both the darker sides of life – addiction, homelessness, incarceration in prison and psychiatric institutions and also those things that light up our lives such as friendship, beauty and love. Through his songs, James recovery journey continues to inspire. Mags’s untimely passing and our wish to honour her memory through music is the motivation for this album and tour.’

The Claddagh Rogues are supported by HSE South’s Cork Arts and Health Programme, Cork City Arts Office, Cork Mental Health Services and MusicAlive. 

SHIT THE BED THE SAXYS ARE BACK!

Featuring the ‘Golden Generation’ of west cork musicians including Sam & Eve Clague, Sonny & Josh Samson & Sam McNichol …these guys are bringing Saxy Back!

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)

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 special Acoustic
Far from the connotations his name brings, John Smith is one of a kind Wonderland
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.

Guitar Boogie

The Savage (at Clon Gtr Fest 2017)

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.

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