Folk-trad supergroup are going off the road to concentrate on new album
The Gloaming are back in the studio this year to record their highlyanticipated third album. The folk-trad supergroup made up of Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Iarla O Lionaird, Caoimhin O Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett continue their seven-night sold out stint in Dublin’s National Concert Hall.
The gigs – the band’s only dates for this year – kicked off on Monday and will also play tomorrow night, Sunday and Monday.
Fiddle player O Raghallaigh has revealed the band are going off the road and back into the studio.
“That’s going to be the main focus this year, instead of touring,” he told the Irish Examiner.
Giving an insight into their third offering, he said: “Personally I would like the third studio album to be different.
“I’m really proud of the second one in particular, but it would be great if we all agreed that something different is required for a third album, and explored how would we go about achieving that as a group.”
Lucky fans with tickets are in for a treat as
The Gloaming’s gigs at the National Concert Hall have become an event not to be missed with each annual residency selling out quicker than the previous one, and indeed faster than new shows can be added.
Their debut performance there in 2011 is a gig that will always be remembered as ‘the one that sold out before they had the opportunity to write or rehearse any music.’
The musicians of The Gloaming came together seven years ago to explore the possibilities of Irish contemporary music, and have since gone from strength to sparkling strength. And it’s too late to stop now.
What began as an experiment has turned into something truly compelling, enthralling and thrilling. Something which never fails to lift the heart or lift a roof.
Something which connects you to old souls and wild ways and fierce times. Something which certainly didn’t exist before, but which often feels as if it has been been part and parcel of the furniture forever.
With two studio albums behind them – The Gloaming (2014) and The Gloaming 2 (2016), the band have now introduced a live album into the collection.
Released last week The Gloaming Live at the NCH was put together by Thomas Bartlett, the band’s producer, who sifted through two years of performances and settled on six tracks: “The Booley House, Cucanandy, The Sailor’s Bonnet, The Pilgrim’s Song, The Rolling Wave and Fainleog.
Using the studio recordings only as points of departure, these performances stretch out and roam in unexpected new directions, incorporating new tunes and rearranging old ones, filled with the excitement and delight of five master musicians coming together as one.