Irish Rockers News & Articles

• Ian Whitty and the Exchange’s new album ‘The Lucky Caller N° 9’ is scheduled for Release on October 24th with the song ‘Not On your Side’ being released on September 26th on the lead up to the albums release. .

‘The Lucky Caller No.9′ is the long awaited first full length studio album from Ian Whitty And The Exchange. The record was produced by top Irish producer Ken McHugh (Dave Kitt, Autamata) and mastered by Dave Collins in Los Angeles (Bruce Springsteen, Janes Addiction). It was recorded by Ian Whitty And The Exchange in 2007 between the legendary Connelleys of leap in West Cork and Adda/My Sanctuary studio’s in the hills of Wicklow.

The singles from the album ‘Not On Your Side’ and ‘Houndstooth Shirt’ have been playlisted on national, regional and college stations nationwide. ‘Houndstooth shirt’ also appeared on this years IMRO Tour compilation. Lush strings and brass dominate the indie pop arrangements of the new recordings and the up tempo nature of the songs marks an exciting progression from Ian’s stripped back beginnings.

Since Ian’s emergence, he has been a highly active figure in the thriving Cork scene as well as being invited to perform with many of the luminaries of the Irish scene including Declan O Rourke, Bell X1, Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, The Frames and Roderigo y Gabriella.

Ian is a songwriter who firmly believes in craft and in always placing substance over style. He is most often praised for his distinctive vocal delivery and lyricism that manages to be urgent, humorous and razor sharp without ever sacrificing the storytelling that underpins his songs.

Ian Whitty and The Exchange were recent winners of the Hotpress/Tisch video competition and had a video made for ‘Not On Your Side’. The video is currently up for viewing on www.hotpress.com

Ian Whitty And The Exchange were also amongst the first acts to be selected by Alison Curtis of Today FM in her Ireland Rocks section where she gives the thumbs up to the cream of up and coming Irish Acts.

Praise for Ian Whitty And The Exchange:

‘Just when you thought the one guy and a guitar formula was done… He is so much more! ~Alison Curtis, Today FM.

‘The Lucky Caller No. 9 gets our nod for feel good album of the Autumn.’ ~Shilpa Ganatra, Irish Daily Star.

‘A set of such sterling quality you’d be forgiven for thinking he has a huge back catelogue of classics to call upon. It bodes well for his forthcoming album.’ ~Don O Mahony, The Evening Echo

‘Ian Whitty has managed to carve out a personality, a sense of identity and idiosyncrasy, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do within the Irish scene.’ ~Tanya Sweeney, Hot Press

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Artwork is going out soon for a new Voodoo Loons t-shirt, and the band thought it would be cool to have a second shirt designed by you.  Send your designs (along with name and email address) to loons@voodooloons.com by Sept. 31, and the creator of the winning design will get:

• a signed copy of Euphobia
• ltd edition numbered Rough Mixes EP
• one of the shirts you designed
• credit on the Loons website, MySpace page, and the shirt itself
  

Favorite runner-up designs will be posted on the site, too.  Hurry up now… time’s a wastin’!

http://www.voodooloons.com

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Legendary guitarist Henry McCullough will release his new album Poor Man’s Moon in Ireland on September 5, 2008 on the Crashed Music label.

In a project that Hot Press has hailed as “a record of real depth, character and emotional weight,” McCullough, who performed with Joe Cocker at Woodstock and with Paul McCartney and Wings, has returned to the Irish music scene after nearly two decades of semi-retirement.

Seven songs on the album feature lyrics from Eamon Carr, drummer of Horslips and author of The Origami Crow: A Journey into Japan, World Cup Summer 2002. Carr and McCullough met at the 2006 Ranelagh Arts Festival, where McCullough headlined. Their collaboration on Poor Man’s Moon represents a major moment in McCullough’s long and distinguished career.

McCullough emerged in the Dublin beat scene with a four-piece group The People. He moved to London in 1967 where the band, renamed Eire Apparent, was signed by Chas Chandler and Mike Jeffries, managers of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Eire Apparent toured with major groups of the time including The Move, Pink Floyd, Eric Burdon and the Animals and Jimi Hendrix, with Hendrix also producing their first album.

In 1968, McCullough left Eire Apparent and returned to Ireland to join Sweeney’s Men, introducing rock motifs into their folk repertoire.

After Sweeney’s Men, McCullough returned to London to work with Joe Cocker and the Grease Band, touring the US and performing at the iconic Woodstock festival in 1969. He became a member of Wings at McCartney’s invitation, contributing the distinctive guitar solo in ‘My Love’. McCullough also makes a spoken-word appearance in the song Money on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

Musical differences with McCartney lead to his departure from the band. In 1975, McCullough recorded Mind Your Own Business, a solo album released on George Harrison’s Dark Horse label. During the next few years, he pursued a career of gigs with Roy Harper, Marianne Faithfull, Ronnie Lane, Donovan, Frankie Miller, Eric Burdon, Viola Wills, Spooky Tooth and others.

A domestic accident severing the tendons in three of his fingers nearly ended McCullough’s musical career in 1980 and he remained in Northern Ireland to recuperate and recover the strength of his hand. During those years, he sat in with various Irish musicians including The Fleadh Cowboys and recorded the album Belfast to Boston in 2001 and Unfinished Business in 2003.

As this year’s headliner at Big River International Belfast Blues and Jazz Festival, McCullough received the 2008 Artist Appreciation Award. His work on Poor Man’s Moon demonstrates McCullough’s return to prominence as an artist and a performer.

The album single ‘Too Late to Worry’ is currently receiving airplay on BBC NI and there are plans for a tour. Gerry Anderson’s interview Failed Christian aired Saturday, August 30. ‘Failed Christian’ is a song McCullough recorded in the mid—90s in Poland and later covered by Nick Lowe, Dave Alvin and Over the Rhine.

Live dates from Henry McCullough will be announced shortly.

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Ronnie Drew passed away on 16th August at St. Vincent’s hospital in Dublin after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. He was 73. Ronnie’s distinctive deep gravelly voice was a mainstay of the Irish folk music scene for decades. Ronnie formed one of Ireland’s most successful and loved folk bands, The Dubliners, in 1962.

Ronnie’s unique voice had had great cross-generational appeal and he was a source of inspiration for the rock music scene in Ireland. Thin Lizzy’s first success, their re-working of the old folk song ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, came after Phil Lynott had gone through a phase of listening to The Dubliners’ records. The Pogues often cite The Dubliners as one of their main influences and they recorded and performed together with great results. Ronnie Drew and The Dubliners also collaborated with Rory Gallagher, The Hothouse Flowers and many other prominent artists.

Earlier this year Bono lead an all-star tribute to Ronnie, and released ‘The Ballad of Ronnie Drew’. Artists taking part in this tribute included U2, Shane McGowan, Sinead O’Connor, Christy Moore, Bob Geldof, Glen Hansard, Paul Brady, Damien Dempsey, Gavin Friday and many other well known artists.

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The Hard Working Class Heros organisation now have a new version of their website up and running for the 2008 festival and are accepting applications for bands to perform.
Read the rest of this entry »

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The 7th annual Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival gets underway today in the town of Rory’s birth - Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland. Thousands of Rory Gallagher fans from all over the world will descend on the small town of Ballyshannon for the 4 day festival to enjoy the line-up of 32 bands from Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, UK and USA that will be performing Rory’s music. The event consists of free open air concerts on various stages set up at different locations in the town and free gigs taking place in many of Ballyshannon’s pubs as well as night time ticketed gigs and a special Saturday evening concert. Additional events and activities include guitar workshops, exhibitions and film screenings. Further information can be found at the official event website, http://www.goingtomyhometown.com

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• ‘Houndstooth Shirt’ will be available for download from iTunes, eMusic and indiestore from April 18th 2008.

Ian Whitty: Houndstooth Shirt.

Houndstooth Shirt is the first single to be taken from Ian Whitty’s full length debut album. The song was written about a shirt that Ian bought in a thrift store in New York whilst doing some gigs there a couple of years ago. “I guess the song itself is about the feeling of promise and release that comes with a Friday after you have been dragged by the eye balls across your working week,” is what Ian himself says about the song.

The single features vibrant string and brass arrangements, and was recorded by Ian Whitty and his recording and touring band ‘The Exchange’ with top Irish producer Ken Mc Hugh last year.

Since Ian’s emergence, he has been a highly active figure in the thriving Cork scene as well as being invited to perform with many of the luminaries of the Irish scene including Declan O’Rourke, Bell X1, Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, The Frames and Roderigo y Gabriella, to name but a few. Most recently Ian has been invited to perform as part of the IMRO tour 2008.

Ian is a songwriter who firmly believes in craft and in always placing substance over style. He is most often praised for his distinctive vocal delivery and lyricism that manages to be urgent, humorous and razor sharp without ever sacrificing the storytelling that underpins his songs.

Some of the new Ian Whitty recordings have already been selected for use in multiple documentaries, compilations and short films.

Praise for Ian Whitty:

‘Ian Whitty holds his audience spellbound’ ~The Kingdom

‘One of the finest at his craft in the country.’ ~Cluas.com

‘Ian Whitty has managed to carve out a personality, a sense of identity and idiosyncrasy, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do within the Irish scene.’ ~Hot Press

‘Ian Whitty’s new stuff sounds bloody good!‘ ~Michael Carr, Cork’s 96fm - The Green Room

‘Not On Your Side is a great pop song, and we will be hearing a lot more from Ian Whitty‘ ~Alan Jacques, 95fm - Green and Live

‘I love it! It’s different and different works for me‘ ~Roddie Cleere, Irish Nightlife WLR FM

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Fittingly enough for St. Patrick’s Day, Irish Acts are in the top two spots of the Billboard independent and internet charts. Last Thursday the number one spot was taken by Flogging Molly’s latest album ‘Float’, bumping another Irish album - the soundtrack to Once with the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - from the top spot to number two. Flogging Molly’s album has also taken the number four spot on the Billboard top 200 album chart, the highest position for any Irish artist other than U2 since Enya’s 2000 album.

Flogging Molly, who play a brand of Celtic infected punk, are fronted by Dubliner Dave King and Bridget Regan, and consists of both Irish and American members. ‘Float’ is their fourth album and was recorded at Grouse Lodge studios in Westmeath last autumn. The band have a huge following in the US where they do most of their touring but are not nearly as well known back in Ireland. They are planning a upcoming tour of Ireland which they hope will raise their profile back home.

It’s been the opposite story with Glen Hansard and The Frames until the success of the movie ‘Once’ - they have been very successful in Ireland but have not enjoyed large scale success Stateside. This seems set to change as Hansard has recently signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell which also includes songs Hansard has written for The Frames.

Irish artists other than U2 have had mixed success in the US in recent times. Damien Rice and The Thrills enjoyed some success, with both managing to have their songs used in leading US television shows. However neither managed to get near the top of the Billboard charts despite selling large numbers of albums.

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Voodoo Loons are tickled pink to announce the release of their new album, Euphobia.  Recorded at Middleground Studios in the U.S., the album is available beginning 14 December exclusively on the Loons website (http://www.voodooloons.com), and will be distributed via iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo, etc. as well as via CD Baby in early 2008. 

To celebrate the release, the Loons are offering a special perk for fans who order the CD from their site:  a limited edition FREE bonus disc full of demos, outtakes, and various oddities.  You  can order here.

Voodoo Loons were formed in 2005 by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dennis O’Hagan.  O’Hagan, a dual citizen (Ireland & U.S.) who bounces between the two countries, had a collection of demos that were getting a lot of attention online and contacted old school friend and session drummer Bill McCarthy about putting a band together.  McCarthy suggested local workhorse Chris Hooks for bass, and a band was born.  The three immediately started preparing to record some of O’Hagan’s material, and in the process a wealth of new songs emerged.  In the Fall of 2006 the Loons took to the stage for the first time at the U.S.’ MidPoint Music Festival, where their set commenced in legendary fashion… O’Hagan’s amp caught fire during the first song.  Thanks to a backup amp the set continued and went on to earn rave reviews, and the trio knew they had a winner.  Around this time the album was delayed by a family illness, but by Spring 2007 the band was back in fighting shape and spent most of the Summer and Fall at Middleground Studios.  The result was the release of Voodoo Loons’ debut album “Euphobia” in December 2007, which immediately received critical acclaim.  The album draws deeply from O’Hagan’s American and Irish influences, and features guests mandolin virtuoso Mark Daly and pianist Michael Sokolowski (side note: O’Hagan & Hooks recently worked on a track with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds for the upcoming Soko disc) on several tracks.  The band is currently working on new songs for their follow-up, and plans to spend much of 2008 playing select music festivals and shows to their rapidly growing European and American following.

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I recently added Google Analytics to the site which provides me with a range of interesting stats about the site. One piece of interesting information that I’m going to share with you is the most artist viewed pages. Here’s the top 30 for the last month:

1. Mama’s Boys
2. Van Morrison
3. 18th Empire
4. Dropkick Murphys
5. Blood or Whiskey
6. U2
7. The Pogues
8. Horslips
9. Celtic Legacy
10. 20 Bulls Each
11. A Lazarus Soul
12. Autumn Owls
13. Rory Gallagher
14. Flogging Molly
15. No Sweat
16. A Plastic Rose
17. Arm The Elderly
18. Black 47
19. In Tua Nua
20. Band On An Island
21. Bagatelle
22. Barry McCabe
23. Chrome Horse
24. Angel Pier
25. Archie The Leper
26. Aslan
27. Cruachan
28. Frantic State
29. Young Dubliners
30. The Saw Doctors

I found it quite unexpected that Mama’s Boys is the most visited artist page on the site. It’s amazing the amount of interest still there for this 80s metal band. They’ve got quite a few comments added to their page over time as well. 18th Empire’s name is working to their advantage, being the first listed band their page get’s a lot of hits.

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