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BIOGRAPHY UPDATE 2009

“A decade of excellence”
(Irish Music Magazine, March 2007)

“Veni, vidi, I was conquered!” in a dozen or more different languages, could well be the catch-phrase of just about every one of the hundreds of thousands of Lúnasa concert-goers over the past 10 years.

Now, one of Ireland’s most successful recent musical exports, Lúnasa, have no intention of taking their foot off the Celtic pedal.

THE STORY SO FAR:
In October 1997, Ireland’s all-star quintet Lúnasa released their début CD Lúnasa, a searing mix of concert and studio tracks gathered from their first prolific year together. It was immediately hailed as one of the freshest recordings of Irish music in years, called “moving, pulsating, and thrilling to the very marrow” by fRoots magazine and “a true must-have disc” by The Irish Voice. From the start, Lúnasa met with instant acclaim. Their first album became an immediate best-seller in Ireland, topping Hot Press’ folk charts and nominated one of the year’s top ten by the Irish Echo in the USA.
Since that auspicious beginning, Lúnasa has become one of the most sought-after bands on the international Celtic music scene. The band’s inventive arrangements and bass-driven grooves are steering Irish acoustic music into surprising new territory. On their first American visit, word-of-mouth led to sold-out shows and rave reviews. “A standing-room only crowd in New York confirmed Lúnasa’s reputation” … wrote The New York Times. “This is the hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet.”

Like the younger generation of Nashville musicians such as Béla Fleck or Edgar Meyer, pushing the boundaries of bluegrass into jazz and beyond, Lúnasa are redefining Irish music by going right to the heart of its rhythms. With its distinctive use of the upright acoustic bass -- brought front and center by Trevor Hutchinson’s remarkable playing -- teamed with percussive guitar, the group seeks out the essential heartbeat of a tune. “There are lots of great melodies in Irish music but often people don’t hear the rhythms underneath,” says founding member Sean Smyth. “We try to relate the swing or energy out of the music, using new rhythms, letting each instrument add its own unique layer. We’ll play the same tune over and over searching for the groove, exploring it. We let the music find its pulse.” The result is a sound that, though distinctly Irish in flavour, touches on jazz and other improvisational music forms.

Named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival in honour of the Irish god Lugh, patron of the arts, Lúnasa is indeed a gathering of some of the top musical talents in Ireland. Its members have helped formed the backbone of some of the greatest Irish groups of the decade - Bassist Trevor Hutchinson was a key member of The Waterboys, and later he, with guitarist Donogh Hennessy, would form the dynamic rhythm section of The Sharon Shannon Band. Fiddler Sean Smyth is an All-Ireland champion who has played with Donal Lunny’s Coolfin; Kevin Crawford, considered to be among the finest flautists in Ireland played with the acclaimed traditional group Moving Cloud; and, piper Cillian Vallely (of the same talented musical family as brother Niall Vallely of Nomos).
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