Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BURNING BRIGHT
MIDSUMMER SESSIONS MAKE THE NORTH COAST THE PLACE TO BE ON IRISH OPEN WEEKEND Spot new music easier than ever
It’s 25 years since Ash burst on to the gig scene fizzing and cracking with teenage energy and excitement. In the intervening years the Co Down trio – childhood friends Tim Wheeler, Rick Mcmurray and Mark Hamilton – have written some of the best songs in the Northern Ireland canon, turned down a world tour with Pearl Jam, flirted with bankruptcy and even headlined Glastonbury twice – in the same year.
So when they take to the stage at the Stendhal Festival in Limavady next month, it’ll be as hardened rock and roll veterans, albeit with a freshness that belies their advancing years.
Tim Wheeler says: “We really try not to dwell on the past and rest on our laurels. In many ways we have the exact same mind-set now that we did when we were just starting out. We love the energy and excitement of gigging and recording.
“Gigging is always a buzz, I think it always will be and in terms of our performance at Stendhal as it’s the first night of our tour, it will be that extra bit exciting for us, we can’t wait to be honest.”
In terms of festival pedigree Ash have plenty of notches on their bedpost and will come to Stendhal with some phenomenal festival experience.
“Probably our best festival experience was at Glastonbury the year we headlined the pyramid stage by accident. We were booked to headline the Other stage, which was amazing in itself but a bizarre string of circumstances brought about by the fact that it was an incredibly rainy year, meant that the band who were due to headline the Pyramid stage on the Sunday night couldn’t get on site. We on the other hand couldn’t get off site, so we were asked to fill in. It was amazing and I think we might still be the only band to headline two different stages at the ALL eyes are on the north coast this weekend as the crowds descend on Portstewart for one of the biggest, most anticipated events in recent memory calendar – the return of The Atlantic Midsummer Sessions!
The Irish Open is but a mere warm up show to thirty of NI’S finest musicians performing live throughout the coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and bars of Portstewart across this weekend, with admission free for everything. same Glastonbury.”
Tim says that those amassed at Ballymully Cottage Farm are in for an all hits, all the time, type of show.
“We are really looking forward to getting back on the road and our first show at Stendhal has us very excited. I imagine the show is going to be highly energetic and we will be pretty much banging out all our hits to set us up for the tour in the right way.
“It’s special too because Stendhal is one of only a couple of festivals in Northern Ireland at the minute. When we were starting out, we wish we could have had the opportunity to play in a festival setting in Northern Ireland, but that just wasn’t an option for us. For young and up and coming bands, festivals provide a phenomenal experience which can get your music to a wider audience.
“So for us, we are delighted that we can come home and play Stendhal as it has a bill made up mostly of home-grown talent and that is a hugely positive thing for music in Northern Ireland.”
Catch Ash and almost 100 other musical acts including The Magic Numbers and Sharon Shannon at Stendhal Festival on August 11 and 12. For tickets and more info visit www. stendhalfestival. com.
Each artist will play their own music for one hour on the hour, and this will form a music trail across Portstewart. With over 10 venues in Portstewart taking part, musicians performing this year include Beauty Sleep, Brand New Friend, Callum Stewart, Chris Keyes, Cup o Joe with Eilidh Patterson, Emer Maguire, Gerry Norman, Larks, Mandy and Graham Bingham, Matt Mcginn, Peter J Mccauley, Rory Nellis, Joshua Burnisde, No
Oil Paintings, Sam Wickens, Son of the Hound, Tony Villiers & the Villains and Verse Chorus Verse.
As with the main, bigger, Atlantic Sessions that take place in November, programming of Midsummer Sessions is by Snow Water, in association with Third Bar, and its Director Carolyn Mathers commented, “Northern Ireland is extraordinary in the richness of its artistic talent and Midsummer Sessions is a perfect opportunity to showcase our creative energy to international audiences, who will have an opportunity to witness our finest singer-songwriters and bands play live in intimate environments.
“We’re very grateful for the support of the hospitality sector and delighted that interest in Northern Ireland’s music scene is stronger than ever.”
For full details on who’s playing where and when head to the festival website at atlanticsessions. com and their social media channels. Spotify Discover Weekly is everything. Seriously, if you’re not on board, jump in, give it a go and let the algorithms find you incredible new music based on what it knows you love already.
This week it threw us up an album by little-known Welsh electronic producer Kelly Lee Owens and it is absolutely mind-blowing.
Kelly has supported the likes of The XX and collaborated with Daniel Avery and both influences can be heard stylistically in her melodic, atmospheric ambient that sits beautifully alongside with deep, textured pop-house and techno vibes.
This self-titled ten-track LP is definitely our favourite album of 2017 thus far. Available now on Spotify and on vinyl & cd at all good record stores.