Feature Length Knebworth Documentary in Cinemas Worldwide from Thursday, 23rd September

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Oasis Live at Knebworth Park

Tickets on Sale From Tuesday, 10th August

Sign-up for information at www.oasisknebworth1996.com

Oasis have today unveiled the title, release date and ticketing details for their eagerly anticipated Knebworth cinematic documentary, Oasis Knebworth 1996. After almost two years without significant live events anywhere in the world, the cinematic release of Oasis Knebworth 1996 on 23rd September will serve as a timely reminder to fans new and old of the euphoria and togetherness that only a great concert can bring. Oasis Knebworth 1996 is the story of the special relationship between Oasis and their fans that made the largest concert of the ‘90’s possible. It is told entirely in the moment through the eyes of the fans who were there, built around extensive, and never before seen archive concert and backstage footage from the event, with additional interviews with the band and concert organisers. Directed by Grammy Award-winner Jake Scott, this is a joyful and at times poignant cinematic celebration of one of the most iconic live concert events of the last 25 years, driven entirely by the music, and the fans’ own experiences of that monumental weekend. Tickets for Oasis Knebworth 1996 will go on sale on Tuesday 10th August, marking the 25 years to the day since the first night of the concerts.

Oasis’ two record breaking nights at Knebworth took place on 10th & 11th August 1996, with over a quarter of a million young music fans from all over the world converging on Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire to see the legendary sets. Tickets went on sale on 11th May 1996. Queues formed outside local record shops and ticket offices overnight, and fans around the world spent the day on their landline phones trying to get through to constantly engaged booking lines. All tickets sold out in less than 24 hours, breaking every UK box office record in the process. Organisers estimated the band could have sold two or three times as many tickets. Over 2% of the population of the UK had attempted to buy tickets.

The monumental shows were set against a backdrop of the UK slowly recovering from a decade of recession. Emerging from the ‘80s, the mood of the nation was changing. A cultural resurgence in arts and culture was giving rise to Cool Britannia and, in their meteoric rise, Oasis embodied that new found optimism and swagger. Two short years had taken the band from their council estate in Manchester to becoming one of the biggest bands in the world and for the congregated masses, seeing themselves in the five men on stage in front of them, anything felt possible. Featuring a setlist absolutely packed from beginning to end with stone cold classics, from the opening salvo of ‘Columbia’ and ‘Acquiesce’, all the way to ‘Champagne Supernova’, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, ‘Live Forever’, a triumphant, orchestra backed ‘I Am The Walrus’, and the first song from the 1990s to cross one billion streams on Spotify, ‘Wonderwall,’ the Knebworth concerts were both the pinnacle of the band’s success and the landmark gathering for a generation. 

The film will be produced by Black Dog Films. Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher will serve as executive producers. It will be financed and distributed by Sony Music Entertainment and released theatrically by Trafalgar Releasing.

Liam Gallagher says “Knebworth fo​r me was the Woodstock of the 90’s. It was all about the music and the people. I can’t remember much about it, but I’ll never forget it. It was Biblical.”

Noel Gallagher says “I can’t believe we never played Rock ‘n’ Roll Star!”

Tom Mackay, President, Premium Content, Sony Music Entertainment says, “We are thrilled to be working with RSA Films and Trafalgar Releasing to bring global audiences an incredible cinematic experience around one of Oasis’s most historic concerts.  The premiere of Oasis Knebworth 1996 invites generations of fans who weren’t able to attend this iconic show to experience the lasting energy and impact around Oasis’ performance that truly rocked Knebworth 25 years ago.”

Trafalgar Releasing’s Marc Allenby says: “The success and continuing legacy of Oasis defined a generation in a way few bands have throughout music history. We are proud to be bringing this celebratory film to cinemas in this special event release, bringing together audiences from all around the world to commemorate the 25th anniversary of these landmark gigs.”

Rock Against Homelessness

in aid of Focus Ireland

Sponsored by Cadbury and Arachas Insurance

Independent.ie’s Rock Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland will be a very special streaming event from the Olympia Theatre and Windmill Lane Recording Studios taking place on June 20th at 8pm. Directed by Dave Merriman of Savoy One Films and executive produced by the Sunday Independent’s Barry Egan, it will be a great night of music, but also a night of hope, love and support for Focus Ireland, from Dublin to London, Belfast to New York.

The incomparable Panti Bliss will serve as main MC, with Laura Whitmore on board to help out. As well as the coolest MCs, Independent.ie’s Rock Against Homelessness will feature the hottest Irish act on the planet right now, Pillow Queens, who have just made their US TV debut with James Corden on CBS’ Late Late Show. They will play their four-song set from Windmill Lane.

From the Olympia, beloved Dublin legends Christy Dignam and Aslan take the stage, and their extensive set will include a duet with the legendary Gilbert O’Sullivan, and another duet with Paul Walsh/Royseven. They will be followed by performances from Tolü Makay and Wyvern Lingo. Also in the Olympia, Panti Bliss will interview Oscar-winning director Jim Sheridan onstage about homelessness in Ireland.

Rock Against Homelessness will also feature performances from other venues and other countries. Irish icon Lesley Dowdall performs in Windmill Lane Recording Studios in Ringsend, duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela perform from Mexico, the sensational Ryan McMullan will perform from Belfast, while Ken Griffin (formerly of Rollerskate Skinny) will showcase his new band, The High Leaves, from New York. Blindboy Boatclub will also have a few words to say, filmed from his living room.

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan says, ‘Focus Ireland needs to raise nearly 40% of our annual budget through donations so we really need people to support this great event again this year. Rock Against Homelessness raised over €70K last year. These funds were vital to help Focus Ireland support the most vulnerable families and individuals and keep them safe during Covid19. We cannot thank Mediahuis Ireland enough for this incredible support. This is the sixth year of Rock Against Homelessness and it will be a different year as the concert will be streamed online due to Covid restrictions. The show looks great and it will also feature some of the people we have supported, so it is a chance for people buying tickets to the event to really hear how their kind support is helping our work challenging homelessness and changing lives. I’d also really like to say thank you to all the artists for giving their time to support our work.’

Tickets for the streamed event cost €23 and are available this Sat 29 May from 10am via Ticketmaster. The concert will be available in its entirety to view for 7 days after the event (4pm, 27 June), so attendees can watch it at a time that suits them.

www.focusireland.ie/Rock21 /

Release ‘For Real’ on 16^th June

The first single to be taken from their album Dancing or Dying? releasing Autumn 2021.

Franco-Irish supergroup The Celtic Social Club release their latest single ‘For Real’ on 16^th June. ‘For Real’ is a slice of raw optimism with a pop sound, featuring Beatles-esque backing vocals and a blistering violin solo that brings to mind Dexy’s Midnight Runners. ‘For Real’ is taken from the forthcoming release Dancing or Dying, which will be the band’s fourth album, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to warmer days and more positive times.

‘For Real’ is a song about vowing to do everything with gusto and doing it properly. It’s about re-assessing and re-affirming life when given another chance to make a go of it. It’s about vowing to yourself that you realise that life is for the living and you need to make each day count.

The Celtic Social Club made their live debut on 18^th July 2014 at the famous Vieilles Charrues Festival in Brittany, France. After some personnel changes their line-up now consists of seven musicians from diverse backgrounds: Manu Masko, Goulven Hamel, Ronan Le Bars, Richard Puaud, Pierre Stephan, Mathieu Pequerau and Dan Donnelly.

Irish audiences will be familiar with charismatic lead singer Dan Donnelly, who hails from Belfast and was previously well-known for his work with 90s indie band, Watercress.

Post Watercress, Dan found success as a solo artist, supporting the likes of Damien Dempsey, Duke Special and The Levellers, and releasing two solo albums and one EP. Dan then joined The Wonder Stuff in 2014, co-writing their top 40 album, 30 Goes Around the Sun. Dan has been with The Celtic Social Club since 2018, co-writing their album From Babylon to Avalon in 2019.

Dan says, ‘Having learned my craft travelling Ireland in a van in the 1990s, I am extremely excited at the idea of finally releasing some music in Ireland again. I keep an eye on the scene on my travels and I love a lot of the new Irish music, like Lankum who we played with in France. I really feel that as an Irish man, my bonding with these Breton musicians has rekindled my love of Celtic music and we have something fresh and unique to offer the Irish music lover.’

The Celtic Social Club’s music is a modern interpretation of Celtic music from different regions; Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia, and Asturia. They have brought this unique sound to festivals and venues all over the world, including France, Switzerland, Germany and China. With this new single and album, The Celtic Social Club are exclaiming loud and clear that, when the world gets back to action, they will be ready… ‘For Real’!

JOHN BLEK

Releases ‘Long Strand’ single

Taken from his forthcoming album ‘On Ether & Air’ releasing in early Autumn.

Forthcoming on June 11^th, ‘Long Strand’ is the first single to be taken from John Blek’s upcoming album On Ether & Air. Emblematic of Blek’s distinctive sound, the single is a wistful ballad featuring delicate guitar work and ethereal vocals, supplemented by a gorgeous piano accompaniment from BBC Jazz Award winner and Mercury Prize nominated musician Kit Downes. The song title namechecks a scenic beach in West Cork, and the lyrics reflect finding beauty in the simpler slower things in life.

The stunning video for ‘Long Strand’ was directed by Barra Vernon and stars dancer Foxy P. Cox. It plays with the industrial setting of the video versus the natural setting of the song, juxtaposing the two to great effect. The natural flowing movements of the dancer interpret the curling flames and rolling waves in the lyrics.

John lives and was raised in Cork City, but in listening to his music one can hear the impact of travel and experience on his work. Influenced by Bert Jansch, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Blek is a storyteller first and foremost. He began his solo career in 2014 and since then has created at a prolific rate, releasing an album a year. On Ether & Air will be the final part of his ‘Catharsis’ project, a four-album exploration of themes of the sea, the earth, the embers and the air. Written over a period of six weeks and recorded throughout the second half of 2019, collaboration was key to the creation of On Ether & Air.

John explains, ‘Chance encounters and some fortunate timing lead to me being able to work with some of my favourite musicians. Getting people with such unique playing styles involved went a long way in defining the sound of On Ether & Air and creating an album of which I am immensely proud.’

Blek has a dedicated fan base, and he has trodden a well-worn path returning to play at venues across Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and the UK, as well playing to sold out venues in Ireland like Triskel Arts Centre, Whelan’s and The Black Gate Cultural Centre. It won’t be long before he takes to the road again this Autumn to delight audiences with the music from his upcoming album.

10th Sept – The American Bar, Belfast. Tickets   

16th Oct – Triskel, Cork. Tickets

17th Oct – Workman’s Club, Dublin. Tickets  

Eoin Glackin

is sending a postcard to the world this summer with his new single ‘Dublin in the Sun’ 

Dublin-born singer-songwriter, Eoin Glackin, releases his new single Dublin in the Sun, an uplifting, nostalgic anthem that calls to mind those blue-skied Irish summer days, as beautiful as they are rare.  

A relentless tourer, Glackin has shared the road with legendary acts like The Darkness, Joan Armatrading and, most recently, Irish icons, Aslan.  

The new single was written, unsurprisingly, after a long afternoon of lounging in the sunshine. Glackin recalls how inspiration sparked, unbidden, during lockdown; ”We were in a heavy lockdown and I was sitting out the back of the house having a few beers. I was yearning to head into the city centre and just ramble, stop into a few favourite bars and soak up the atmosphere. I felt nostalgic for those kinds of days and started writing this song as I sat there. Hopefully we can start making up for lost time soon!”

The song was produced by Justin Adams, an acclaimed blues and world-music producer, musician and long-time collaborator of music legend Robert Plant. Dublin in the Sun is the second record that Glackin has collaborated with Adams on, a partnership that was borne out of a love of the blues: “Myself and Justin hit it off talking about Mississippi John Hurt, the great folk and blues musician whose work I’ve come to admire more and more over the past few years. This is the second track we’ve worked on together now and it’s been great going back and forth with ideas and picking his brain. He has a great wealth of knowledge on all things blues and folk music”.

The new song builds on the momentum of Glackin’s recent string of acclaimed single releases including How Quick the World Can Change, Before the Rain and El Dorado, all of which featured in heavy rotation on Irish and UK radio stations.

‘Dublin in the Sun’ is available to stream and download everywhere now

www.eoinglackin.com

MOXIE

Release single ‘Is Ainm Dom’

Alt folk band Moxie release single ‘Is Ainm Dom’ on 21st May, the first single to be taken from their upcoming album The Dawn of Motion, on the way later this summer. Moxie’s sound is a charismatic fusion of varied influences, emblematic of the multicultural society we live in. ‘Is Ainm Dom’ innovatively combines both Irish and Arabic in the lyrics, and the music reflects a traditional Irish roar with a driving African percussive sound.

‘Is Ainm Dom’ was born in an unexpected way: Julia Spanu and Darren Roche wanted to pay homage to each other’s cultures by combining intricate African rhythms with the Irish jig. The weaving of Irish and Arabic felt natural and almost inevitable due to some of the phonetic similarities. The song relates to the meaning of home and the importance of the journey that guides us through sunshine and storms. ‘Esmi Hayat’ – ‘Saol Is Ainm Dom’ meaning ‘Life is my name’. 

Moxie began its journey in 2011, when founding members Darren Roche, Jos Kelly, Cillian Doheny and Ted Kelly decided to join forces to create an innovative style of Irish music. They released their debut album Planted in 2014 which Trad Connect reviewed as ‘a thought provoking and modern album that is high on creativity’. Josh Sampson (drums) joined the band in 2017, with the last and most recent member being Julia Spanu, a vocalist and songwriter with French, Vietnamese and Italian roots.

Julia grew up in the historical city of Carthage, Tunisia, where she learned the Arabic language and immersed herself in Tunisian culture. She found her passion in music, song and dance, which led her to join Moxie when she moved to Ireland in 2016. Julia’s varied background and curiosity in folklore have opened up a new chapter in Moxie’s story.

Moxie has travelled the world, including a state visit to Vietnam, folk festivals in Scotland, the US, and Australia, and tours in Europe and Canada. At home, they have played festivals including Body and Soul, and Electric Picnic, and were invited by President Michael D. Higgins to entertain German president Joachim Gauck in Áras an Uachtaráin in 2015. The Irish Times has described the band as having ‘irresistible revolutionary energy’, and The Irish Examiner said that ‘Moxie is the music of a new era, where fluidity, cross-pollination, and innovation are the future and salvation of Irish music.’

Moxie’s sound is traditional Irish music reinvented for a new era: they take their inspiration from rural music and urbanise it, using traditional instruments and technology to create new sounds. Their passion lies in exploring how far the boundaries of traditional Irish music can be pushed, in creative and imaginative ways. The writing process within the band is a cohesive marriage of styles and influences, with colourful arrangements and subtle melodies, and the result may be unorthodox, even unprecedented, but it works.

‘Is Ainm Dom’ is taken from album, The Dawn of Motion, recorded at Camden Studios, Dublin in January 2020. Moxie chose Jake Birch to produce the record who is based in Montana, USA, (Carly Rae Jepsen, Theo Katzman). Alex Borwick (Ellie Goulding, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Jack L) was the invaluable studio engineer during the recording process, and Jean-Christophe Morel, who lives in Bordeaux, layered it with radiant string lines. 

Moxie can’t wait to introduce this album to the world, and it starts with ‘Is Ainm Dom’. 

Announce ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’ Out 11th June on Sour Mash Records

Greatest Hits Album Celebrating Ten Years of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Featuring Two Brand New Songs – View Album Trailer Here

New Single ‘We’re On Our Way Now’ Unveiled – Listen Here

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds today announce details of ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’. Released on 11th June via Sour Mash Records, ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’ is a definitive 18 track greatest hits package, and a timely reminder of the breadth and depth of classic songs from the first decade of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The album is also available on limited edition deluxe formats with a bonus disc including previously unreleased acoustic versions, remixes, instrumentals and a demo.

There will also be a limited edition numbered, hand pressed, coloured double LP with exclusive art print released for Record Store Day on the 12^th June.

Curated and compiled entirely by Noel, the tracklisting of ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’ encompasses songs from High Flying Birds’ three UK Number One albums (‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, ‘Chasing Yesterday’ and ‘Who Built The Moon?’) and the three acclaimed EPs (‘Black Star Dancing’, ‘This Is The Place’ and ‘Blue Moon Rising’). ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’ also features two brand new songs produced by Noel Gallagher & Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, ‘We’re On Our Way Now’ and ‘Flying On The Ground’.  A songwriting masterclass that sits effortlessly in one of the great songbooks, ‘We’re On Our Way Now’ is unveiled today, a taste of the future-fan-favourites to come. Listen here.

Since establishing Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds post the legendary success of Oasis, Gallagher has never sat still creatively. He’s mastered the art of embracing an instinctive sonic evolution and creative freedom whilst never neglecting the songcraft. From the New Orleans brass powered blast of debut single ‘The Death Of You And Me’ to the self produced psych-pop and space bound experimentation of ‘Chasing Yesterday’ and the disco saturated, sonic veer of ‘Who Built The Moon?’ at the hands of renowned producer David Holmes and the subsequent EP releases, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have proven time and time again to be unshackled by genre and expectation. That Gallagher has so successfully married this bold and blistering approach with huge commercial success (over 2.4 million albums sold internationally with three UK Number One albums – marking a record breaking ten UK consecutive Number One studio albums across his career), coupled with relentless touring globally, is testament to Gallagher’s unerring ability to marry lazer guided melodies and fearless creativity.

Speaking of the timings of High Flying Birds’ greatest hits, Noel says: “10 years of The High Flying Birds??  Blimey! … just think of all the things I COULD have done in that time!!”

“The title just came to me one afternoon, at the kitchen table.” He continues ”It’s a saying isn’t it: ‘back the way we came’. I actually thought it was a great title. Which is why it’s got vol 1. Because if there’s another one, I’m not coming up with another title!”

Now with the best part of thirty years as one of the country’s most respected and prolific songwriters under his belt, ‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021)’ celebrates another landmark in Noel Gallagher’s unparalleled career.

‘Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 [2011-2021]’ is available to pre order now digitally or physical formats from www.goldendiscs.ie

https://www.noelgallagher.com/

Release ‘Breathe’ EP & video on 9^th April

 Online concert from The Limelight, Belfast on Sat 17^th April

Beoga are back with a five-track instrumental EP entitled Breathe, released on 9 April. From the earthy vibes of ‘Origins’ to the invigorating joy of ‘Up’, each track in some way reflects the global upheaval over the last twelve months and the personal experiences of the band members. Produced by the band’s own Seán Óg Graham, Breathe is an EP that reflects a melting pot of emotions and influences held together by that unmistakeable Beoga sound.

The EP opens with ‘Origins’, a reflective air symbolising the hopes of a new year and new beginnings, featuring delicate piano and lush string lines amidst a pensive melody on accordion. ‘Disarray’ has darker, grungier textures with distorted electric guitars, drums and synths. ‘Up’ features a sample from the incomparable Maya Angelou, the iconic American poet – ‘Just like hopes springing high, still I’ll rise.’ This is followed by ‘Fired’ a meditation on climate change and the human role within it. ‘Breathe’ closes out the EP; vocal samples project a sense of meditative calm whilst fiddle and accordion provide a trad undertone throughout.

Beoga thrive on approaching Irish traditional music differently, whether that’s on production or by mixing genres. Breathe continues with that same adventurous spirit and along a path Beoga embarked upon with their May 2020 mini-album Carousel which introduced new audiences to Irish music.

Singer Niamh Dunne opines, ‘The record started out with fragments of ideas. In the last few years as a band musically we’ve taken a lot of twists and turns; we figured an instrumental EP would give us the opportunity to bring everything together in terms of a sound that captures where we’ve come from, as well as where we are now.’

Beoga was formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh and the line-up features Damian McKee on accordion, multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham, pianist Liam Bradley and Eamon Murray on bodhrán, with Niamh Dunne joining in 2005, on vocals and fiddle. After five albums, a shortlist for a Grammy and numerous international tours, Beoga reached a wider international audience as a result of a chance encounter with Ed Sheeran, Foy Vance and Johnny McDaid. This led to the band co-writing Ed’s massive hit ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Nancy Mulligan’ from his album Divide. They also performed as Ed Sheeran’s only special guest on his headlining Glastonbury performance and supported him on his Irish stadium tour in 2018.

Gigging opportunities have been thin on the ground in recent months, but Beoga are proud to present an exclusive online concert broadcast live from The Limelight in Belfast on Sat. 17 April. This show should have been a live show and we all know why it now isn’t, but the band didn’t want to let their fans down so it has been reimagined as an online concert. The show will feature music taken from their extensive catalogue including Carousel, as well as some brand-new music from Breathe. This concert provides a unique chance to see Beoga perform live in their hometown from anywhere in the world, along with a live aftershow hangout, the one-time opportunity to buy exclusive new merch, and the option to create private ‘houses’ to watch from with your friends. For more information go to https://www.momenthouse.com/beoga

In addition, both of Beoga’s planned April shows in Belfast & Dublin are being rescheduled till November so any ticketholders for these gigs can hang onto their tickets as they will remain valid for the November shows.

Saturday 17 April, 8pm           Online show Live from The Limelight, Belfast. Tickets

Thursday 25th November       The Academy, Dublin    Tickets

Friday 26th November            The Limelight, Belfast    Tickets  

Spotify / Apple Music / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter

Releases his ‘DIM EP’ on 16 April

Plays a global stream from St. Mark’s Cathedral at 7pm on Sun. 25 April

Grief can be messy, painful, and dark, a brutal process that rarely offers straight through its shadows for those mourning the death of a loved one. But for Brian Fennell, the writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist behind SYML, he found comfort not only by leaning into his grief, but writing through it.

DIM, his latest EP out April 16, is a “loss exploration” for him, a potent meditation that manages to make even the most personal tragedies feel intimate and universally understood. Fennell — who released SYML’s self-titled album in 2019, with his breakthrough single, “Where’s My Love” — was on the road with Dermot Kennedy in the spring of 2020 and had plans to spend most of the year on tour, but those were abruptly halted due to the merciless spread of the coronavirus pandemic. At his home in Seattle, he revisited some of the lyrical sketches and compositions he had been working through in the preceding months, all interpreting loss in different manifestations. “True,” a captivating R&B groove, ruminates on a disintegrating relationship, while the haunting title track was inspired by survivor’s guilt. His father’s health was declining after a long battle with cancer at that point, and “Stay Close,” the first track on DIM, brims with raw, desperate emotion as he literally pleads for more time while examining his own bond with his children (“One lifetime is never enough / You’re more than my heart, you’re my blood”).

“This EP is largely about losing those close to us,” he says. “Calling it DIM really applies to the light we carry during our time here. When those lights go out, it’s this sort of dimming process, but rather than living in that sadness — even though I think that’s a really healthy thing to do, to stay in that cozy, warm blanket sadness sometimes — it’s about honoring what that light was, and realizing that there’s still that same light in all of us that are still here.” 

In the following conversation about DIM, Fennell digs deeper into the inspirations that shaped these songs, the growth this EP represents and why he considers it to be one of most fulfilling projects of his career to date.

www.symlmusic.com

New album 100 Snow White Horses out now!

“well-structured, melodious folk songs that resonate with specific, acutely observed Irish storylines.” Tony Clayton Lea, Sunday Business Post

“Inspired by the bardic tradition, Spillane penned his 12^th album in gratitude to patronage found on the road…this is perhaps Spillane’s best set of songs since Will We Be brilliant or What? In 2001.” Steve Cummins, Sunday Times 

“John Spillane, startlingly alive to the breath of nature, is among the last of the great bards. 100 Snow White Horses is a balm to soothe sore souls…” 9/10 Will Russell, Hot Press.

Renowned songwriter and musician John Spillane released his album 100 Snow White Horses on 2 April. The eleven songs on the album are full of melody, poetry and mythology, featuring Pauline Scanlon’s gossamer-like backing vocals and produced in London by the legendary John Reynolds. It is a shining record with a fairy-tale feel and an atmosphere of fantasy and enchantment, allowing the listener to escape from the daily grind and into another world full of wonder.

John wrote the songs on 100 Snow White Horses in the Irish bardic tradition, in gratitude for patronage by various communities, festivals, and artistic events that he has been privileged to be part of in the last four years as a travelling songwriter and composer. A strong theme of Irish mythology runs through the album. The title track is a visualisation of a mythical event suggested by the name of a classic traditional air called ‘The March of the Kings of Laois’. ‘We Come in the Wind’ is based on the 3 Imramma or Wonder Voyages of Irish Literature; The Voyage of Bran, The Voyage of Maeldun, and The Voyage of St. Brendan. In exploring the rich world of Irish mythology John feels part of a centuries-old Irish tradition that continues to this day.

John explains, ‘These songs are my love songs to the island of Ireland. I have been inspired by her poetry and melody, history and mythology. Travelling as a bard from town to town, singing songs and talking, I have discovered an Ireland of deeper and deeper levels. These lead down underground, through ruined castles and fairy forts, through Irish music, slow airs and ancient ornaments, through Bardic schools, through the Irish language, beyond Christianity to a place where history turns into mythology, and where poetry and melody turn into truth. This is the island of my imagination.’

John Spillane is a native of Cork, a place he lovingly describes as ‘the centre of the universe’, and started his career playing with celebrated Irish trad band, Nomos. He left the band to pursue a solo career and is a two-time Meteor award winner for Best Folk/Trad act. With an extensive back catalogue, beginning with the 1997 album The Wells of the World, his songs have been covered by Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and many others. Twelve albums later, John is set to release his first independent album in 20 years, 100 Snow White Horses.

100 Snow White Horses marks the fourth collaboration between Spillane, Scanlon and Reynolds, following on from John’s albums Hey Dreamer (2005), The Gaelic Hit Factory (2006) and My Dark Rosaleen and the Island of Dreams (2008).

100 Snow White Horses is the culmination of years of adventures, research, conversations, laughter, experience and inspiration and John couldn’t be more proud to introduce the album to the world.

100 Snow White Horses is available now to pre-order on CD & Vinyl from Music Zone in Cork and Golden Discs nationwide.