Lunasa
- Genre
- Celtic | Traditional
- Country
- Ireland
biography
In October 1997, Ireland's all-star quintet Lunasa released their first CD 'Lunasa', a mix of concert and studio tracks gathered from their prolific year together. It was immediately hailed as one of the finest, freshest recordings of Irish music in years, called "moving, pulsating, and thrilling to the very marrow" by Folk Roots and "a true must-have disc" by the Irish Voice. From the start, Lunasa met with instant acclaim. Their first album became an immediate best-seller in Ireland, topping Hot Press' folk charts and nominated one of the year's top ten by the Irish Echo in the USA.
Like the younger generation of Nashville musicians such as Bela Fleck or Edgar Meyer, pushing the boundaries of bluegrass into jazz and beyond, Lunasa are redefining Irish music by going right to the heart of its rhythms. With its distinctive use of the upright acoustic bass - brought front and centre by Hutchinson's remarkable playing - teamed with Hennessey's percussive guitar, the group seeks out the essential heartbeat of a tune. "There are lots of great melodies in Irish music but often people don't hear the rhythms underneath," says founding member Sean Smyth."We try to relate the swing or energy out of the music, using new rhythms, letting each instrument add its own unique layer. We'll play the same tune over and over searching for the groove, exploring it. We let the music find its pulse." The result is a sound that, though distinctly Irish in flavor, touches on jazz and other improvisational music forms.
Lunasa is a gathering of some of the top musical talents in Ireland. Its members have helped formed the backbone of some of the greatest Irish groups of the decade - Bassist Trevor Hutchinson was a key member of The Waterboys, and later he, with guitarist Paul Meehan. Fiddler Sean Smyth is an All-Ireland champion who has played with Donal Lunny's Coolfin; Kevin Crawford, considered to be among the finest flutists in Ireland played with the acclaimed traditional group Moving Cloud; and, piper Cillian Vallely (of the same talented musical family as brother Niall Vallely of Nomos). They were rightly called an "Irish music dream team" in the magazine Folk Roots
The release of their album "The Merry Sisters Of Fate", led Mojo to describe them as the 'brilliant third all instrumental album by the new gods of Irish music'. They have toured as Special Guests of MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER, worked with actress HOLLY HUNTER on her theatre project 'By The Bog Of Cats' and toured Ireland with LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO. Their album The Kinnitty Sessions was released in April 2004 and was nominated for 'Best Album' for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2005.
forthcoming dates
| date | venue/website link | venue phone no |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Nov '10 | CARDIFF St David?s Hall The Hayes CF10 1SH | 02920 878444 |
| 18 Nov '10 | KETTERING The Lighthouse Theatre, Thursdon Drive, NN15 6PB | 01536 414141 |
| 19 Nov '10 | SHEFFIELD Sheffield Theatres Studio, Norfolk St S1 1DA | 0114 2496000 |
| 20 Nov '10 | HARLECH, Theatr Harlech, St David's Hill, Gwynedd, LL46 2PU | 01766 780667 |
| 24 Nov '10 | NOTTINGHAM Lakeside Arts Centre, University of Nottingham, Castle Boulevard NG7 2RD | 0115 8467777 |
| 25 Nov '10 | NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME New Vic Theatre, Etruria Rd, ST5 0JG | 01782 717962 |
| 26 Nov '10 | STAMFORD, Stamford Arts Centre, 27 St Mary?s Street, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 2DL | 01780 763203 |
| 11 Feb '11 | CHICHESTER Festival Theatre, The Celtic Footprint, Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6AP | 01243 781312 / boxoffice@cft.org.uk |