The O’Malleys have just released their long awaited debut album, ‘Can You Hear Me’ .
The O’Malleys started
out as a three piece band playing a mix of country, blues and folk. They recorded an EP
in Germany and were a main feature in the large folk scene across Europe. They returned to
Limerick and like Dylan went electric. The full band really gelled together
with the legendary gigs
in the Savoy.
Under the
stewardship of Brendan Murray they began a comprehensive touring schedule of
Ireland, playing all the
main venues (Midnight at the Olympia, Whelan’s, Dolan’s, Lobby, Cork City Hall,
The Waterfront). They released ‘The O’Malleys, The Record’.
Then the television appearances, The Late Late, Pat Kenny Show, Sunday night at the Olympia, the Brendan Grace Show and Shay Healy’s Nighthawks weekly show.
As the band got bigger, so did the tours, Europe (in a red V.W. Van, God Bless it), the States, England and Russia. The current line-up has been together for about thirty years, with other people coming in when certain members were unavailable. The members are, Peter Donnelly, AKA Peter O’Malley, Ger Costelloe, Dave Keary, James Hanley, Ralf Lindheim and Brian Mulcahy. Their big exposure was them featuring in the massively popular Father Ted series as the backing band for Ted and Dougal’s arch rival Dick Byrne in the famous Eurosong episode!
The band has always been open to all types of music and this is reflected throughout this album, through the nine originals and the four specially chosen songs by different artists. The originals reflect these influences brilliantly, from the soulful Irishness of ‘Can You Hear Me’ to the Louisiana swing of ‘One Things For Certain’. The eclectic range of songs continues from the cinematic ‘Man On Wire’, the mesmerising instrumental ‘The Resilient Sun’ to the anger of ‘Denmark Street’.
This unique album by long travelled song writers
and seasoned musicians, is beautifully captured
and produced by Dave Keary and James Hanley in ‘The Red Door Studios’
‘Can You Hear Me’ was released on 6th June at the sold out concert at The Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick, Ireland.