Italish Magazine Irlandesi Dentro
What will it happen in 2014 in the world of the Irish Traditional Music? Which projects are going to be realized by Irish musicians?
We have asked only one question to many Irish artists: “How will be your 2014 in Music? Any projects, new album, cooperation, special gigs?”
Here just the first part, with some of their answers:
John Spillane:
Well, 2013 was so good I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to stand 2014! This was one of the best years ever for me. I wrote 12 songs, did about a hundred gigs, presented my own TV series on TG4, Ireland’s Gaelic TV channel, released a new album called Life In An Irish Town, on a new Record label called Universal Records, had some of my songs recorded and released by Niamh Dunne, Christy Moore and Bernie Morris, had a radio hit with a song called The Ferry Arms, had songs included on compilation albums called Irish Ways and Celtic Invasion.
Next year is going to be called 2014 and I am hoping to get another series of the TV show, called SPILLANE AN FÁNAÍ – Spillane the Wanderer – which will involve me visiting six small Irish towns, working in a bar, meeting a lot of local characters, learning about local history, folklore and music, and then writing a song for the town. It is lovely work, very challenging but very interesting and rewarding.
Danny Diamond:
Our duo, Danny & Aki are launching a new project in December 2013. The project, ‘Two Traditions’, explores the common ground between traditional music from Ireland and Finland, bringing together material and sounds from both countries along with alternative fiddle tunings and the rich sonic palette of the nyckelharpa to create a dynamic and unique sound.
In 2014 we plan to record & release a new album of the ‘Two Traditions’ material.
For more info on Danny & Aki www.dannyandaki.com
For info on ‘Two Traditions’ www.dannyandaki.com/two-traditions/
My other act, the band Mórga, are releasing our second CD, titled ‘For the Sake of Auld Decency’ in December 2013. We are planning a week-long tour of Ireland in February 2014 & are currently booking gigs for later in the year in Europe.
For more info on Mórga:
www.morga.ie
www.morga.ie/epk.html
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
2014 is looking like a lovely year, musically. I have a collaborative gig coming up on the 19th January called A Stór Mo Chroí in Vicar Street, Dublin, where I’ll be performing with John Spillane, Lumiere, Karan Casey, Dónal O’Connor and John McSherry. Then in March I’ll be heading out to the States with Danú for a four week tour, our dates are up on my website www.muireann.ie. We’ll be spending the last week of that tour in Hawaii so I’m very excited for that! The summer will see me home in Dingle performing as part of the wonderful “Féile na Bealtaine” festival in May, and I will be playing and singing at the various folk concerts and sessions in the area. I’m lucky to be able to live in a place that has so much music. In November then I’ll be back out to the States with Danú to finish off the year.
Colm Phelan (Goitse)
We do have a lot of things planned for 2014. We feel it’s going to be our busiest year yet! January we are going to be on tour in China for the month. We arrive back in Ireland for two weeks in February and in those two weeks we hope to record a 3rd Album. At the end of February and nearly all of March we are on tour in the USA. We hope then to finish off the album in April and release it in May with some summer launches planned around Ireland and Europe. In October and November next year we will be touring in Germany, Switzerland and Holland as part of the Folk Festival tour. So a lot going on already and we have not finalised a lot of things!
Fiachra O’Regan
I mainly play in a duo with Sophie Lavoie (www.sophieandfiachra.com) and in our band Fásta (www.fastamusic.com).
We have quite an exciting year coming up in 2014.
Firstly we are currently recording two albums, one of them is Fásta’s first album, which will feature myself and Sophie, guitar and Bouzouki player Michael McCague and percussionist Jim Higgins. This should be released in March 2014. Sophie and I are also recording our second album as a duo, which goes in a slightly different direction than our first album in terms of instrumentation.
We had our band Fásta playing in an Italian Festival in 2013 and 2012, Irlanda in Festa, which had gigs in Bologna, Padova, Rimini and Urbino. We had a great time with the festival but will take a break from this Festival in 2014, as it is policy to change bands from year to year to keep it fresh. But we hope to be back there in following years with something new to bring to our fans there. We also plan to play at more festivals in Italy to widen our base there.
This April will see us on a tour in Australia to promote those albums. Sophie and I were there in 2011 but will be bringing the band over this time. We are playing at three festivals there, The National Folk Festival, The Australian Celtic Festival and St Albans Folk Festival. We also have a tour coming in Canada in August, but don’t have any details we can release on that yet.
