“What shines out are the vocals, beautifully resonant, accurate and eloquent, equally melodic on the low tones as on the high notes. Musicianship of the highest quality, songs with meaning and voices that are mellow and mature, a touch folk, a touch country and most of all, a touch of class”, Seán Laffey Irish Music Magazine, May 2023.
Formidable Galway-based folk duo Niall Teague and Padraic Joyce release their latest single ‘Come Away With Me’, on Friday 8th September taken from their 2023 Studio album ‘What Will We Be’.
Their latest single blends beautiful vocal harmonies with piano, acoustic guitars and fiddle with a folk, country/rock feel.
Niall and Padraic have honed their craft as songwriters and performers since their partnership began in the musical melting pot that is Galway city. With the success of their well-received 2020 release ‘Taobh le Taobh’, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, the duo were spurred on to record this new album which represents many years of their artistic development.
The album Features Niall and Padraic on commanding vocals, exquisite harmonies, and well married acoustic guitars, Maidhc O’hÉanaigh on double bass and a deft Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. Their catchy title track ‘What Will We Be’ features contributions from percussion wizard Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
There are touching themes of love and hope threaded throughout the track ‘Come Away with Me’ which features a beautiful interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies. People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on the tracks; ‘Martin and Tom’, ‘Guitar Gold ‘, ‘Memories of You’ and ‘Achill Island’.
The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel ‘Walden’ looms large on the tracks ‘Simple and Wise’ and ‘Walden’, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core. The album moves seamlessly from minimalistic folk ballads such as ‘Galway Ghost’ to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song ‘Neptune’, both influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Throughout the album each small scene, each line has been thoughtfully painted both lyrically and melodically, resulting in a rich and beautiful acoustic sound.
Much of the albums collaborative work and development was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble ‘Treo’. Recorded at Paddy Jordan Recording Studio, Labane, ‘What Will We Be’ is available from March 24th.
A tour marking the release of ‘What Will We Be’ is underway with Shows at Dodd’s bar folk club, Boyle on October 5th, Saint John’s Theatre Listowel on October 27th and Sea Church, Ballycotton, Cork October 28th.
