Author: Breffni Banks

Colm Mac Con Iomaire returns with his second album And Now The Weather (Agus Anois An Aimsir) on 17th April. This is the follow-up to his debut solo album in 2008, The Hare’s Corner.

Tickets are on sale from today for the album launch show in Whelans, Dublin which will take place on Friday 17th April.

Following on from the solo run that was The Hare’s Corner, And Now the Weather marks a return to collaboration for Colm, featuring an impressive line-up of orchestral players and instruments.

The album was recorded by Karl Odlum, Leon O’ Neill and Colin Elliot in studios and homes across Wexford, Wicklow, Sheffield, Dublin and San Francisco.

An accomplished fiddle player and founding member of The Frames, Colm has also had successes as a composer with music featured in both film and theatre.

“The Finnish Line” taken from the album is now streaming on Soundcloud.

Tickets for Colm’s Whelan’s show are €16.50 and on sale now.

http://www.colmmacconiomaire.com

Irish composer, Dean Valentine, has had a series of successes scoring music for film trailers in the past couple of years. He recently scored trailers for “Fury” starring Brad Pitt and Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper”.

The feature documentary, “Close to Evil”, which Dean scored last year is currently showing in film festivals around the world. The documentary tells the story of Tomi Reichental, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp who now lives in Ireland, and his quest to meet one of the SS guards who kept him in captivity.

Now Dean is working on the score for a feature film, “Tiger Raid”, set in Iraq and starring Brian Gleeson and Damien Molony. The film is due to hit cinemas later this year.

For more see http://www.deanvalentine.eu/.

Elephant, the musical vehicle of Dundalk based multi-instrumentalist Shane Clarke, offers an intriguing live show of intimate acoustic guitars and subtly looped layers tied with colourful melody and enchanting harmonies.

“Celestial” is the latest single release from Femmepop, aka Margaret O’Sullivan. The track sees Femmepop collaborating with UK artist Kalax.

The single is now available for download on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. This is the first release since Femmepop’s debut album, “From a Girl Who Never Sleeps”, was released late last year.

For more see www.femmepop.com.

Vann Music are set to release their brand new EP, “Running”, along with lead single, “Boy”, on 6th March. The EP will be available on iTunes and in HMV stores nationwide.

The release co-incides with a headline tour of Ireland kicking off in the Button Factory, Dublin on 7th March, followed by gigs in Galway, Waterford, Cork, Belfast and Limerick.

‘Running’ was produced by industry veteran Stephen Hague, who has worked with the likes of New Order and The Pet Shop Boys. Lead single ‘Boy’ is available to stream on SoundCloud now: https://soundcloud.com/vannmusic/boy-runningep.

To date, Vann Music have graced the stages of Electric Picnic, Longitude, Castlepalooza and Indiependence and have been featured on Other Voices and Guinness Amplify. Their infectious collection of tracks has seen them garnering a solid fanbase and the new EP sees the band spreading their wings in a new direction.

For more see www.VANNMUSIC.com or catch the band on Facebook and Twitter.

Tour Dates

7th March  – Button Factory, Dublin

12th March – Roisin Dubh, Galway

13th March – Shortts, Waterford

20th March – McHughs, Belfast

27th March – Cyprus Avenue, Cork

10th April – Dolan’s Limerick

Award winning Wicklow singer-songwriter, Luan Parle, is back with a new single and video – “Roll the Dice”. Taken from her forthcoming EP of the same name, “Roll the Dice” is now available on iTunes.

The video was shot on location in Co. Wexford by Benpix Productions.

You can catch Luan live in the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan with Clive Barnes on 27th February.

For more see www.luanparle.com or follow Luan on Facebook