Hannah returning to Sligo roots
OLD HANNAH TO PREVIEW NEW SOUNDS AT SLIGO LIVE THIS OCTOBER
Playing Sligo Live will be a homecoming of sorts for the Sligo members of ‘Old Hannah’ who have just been announced in a double bill with Canadian Bluegrass band The Slocan Ramblers.
“The lads are from Grange and Rosses Point but I’ve spent my childhood summers in Grange,” said Lucie Crichlow who is a first cousin of Luke Mercer from Grange.
“We’re from a very musical family, always singing and playing instruments at parties,” she told The Sligo Champion.
The band are excited about just finishing their first album and are currently in rehearsals for their Sligo Live gig at the Hawk’s Well at8.00pm on Friday 27 th October 2017.
Their highly anticipated album “Borealis” is due out next year, and is a glowing critique of what’s achievable with a strong background of traditional instrumentation, accomplished song-writing, and the ability to bring that foundation to a whole other place.
This time around their influences traverse pop, blues, roots, progressive rock and more.
Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and Leonard Cohen come to mind throughout as four deeply affecting vocalists explore themes of love and loss, light and darkness, progress and stagnation, anxiety and calm. It’s accomplished, rare, and eminently listenable.
“We’ve gone more contemporary this time around,” said Lucie.
“The old acoustic influences are still there but we were definitely focused on creating our own sound,” she said.
“We’re still playing a lot of acoustic instruments though, it’s going to be a very interesting sound,” she said.
For now, the band are entering a rehearsal period before Hard Working Class Heroes music festival and music industry convention in Dublin.
“We’ve just gotten a slot in that so we’ ll be show casing some of the new material at that,” said Lucie.
Their Sligo Live gig will be their next opportunity to preview some of their new material. They’re even hoping to release a single before Christmas.
After years of informal collaboration, Old Hannah started writing and performing together in Grange around 2013.
Since then they’ve released two EPs, toured extensively in Ireland, France, the UK and the US, and have just finished recording their debut album.
Quite the departure from their early work, the upcoming album marks an important transition in Old Hannah’s form and sees them expand their appeal far beyond the bounds of the Irish and North American folk and country traditions that coloured their early work.
Tickets for this performance are on sale from Sligolive.com and Hawks Well Theatre (071 916 1518) priced at €18 + sc.