The beating heart of Irish music is, as it has been for
centuries, the session. These informal music gatherings,
where any and all can gather to play traditional tunes,
have kept Irish music a social form at a time when most
other folk styles exist almost exclusively on the professional
concert stage, or in the privacy of people's homes. The
Irish even have a word for the special fun of people sharing
music together, craic.
More successfully than any band working today, Danú
has transferred the unique social energy and convivial
passion, the lively craic, of the session to the concert
stage. Their wild spontaneity and breathtaking musical
power have made them arguably the most in-demand touring
band to emerge from Ireland in the past decade. The
Boston Globe says "Danú is the Next Big Thing
in Celtic music."
With the release of their fiery and gorgeous new CD,
The Road Less Travelled, Danú welcomes back founding
guitarist Donal Clancy, and introduces stunning new vocalist
Muireen Nic Amhlaoibh, from the Irish-speaking Aran Islands.
Filling out the current ensemble are button accordionist
Brendan McCarthy and bodhrán player-piper Donnchadh
Gough, both from Waterford; flutist Tom Doorley and his
bouzouki-fiddle playing brother Eamon Doorley of Dublin;
and Donegal fiddler Oisín MacAuley.
The new line-up promises to continue a career rise that
is already the talk of the Celtic world. In 1999, Danú
was named Best Overall Traditional Act by Irish Music
Magazine. In 2002 BBC's vaunted Folk Music Awards named
them the "best band of the year," and
The Irish Herald dubbed Danú "the finest
traditional band in Ireland."
"The essence of that spontaneity you get jamming
away at a really good session," says Tom Doorley,
"that is where the heart of Danú comes from.
We want to just consolidate that more, anchor down the
sound into enough of an arrangement for a concert, and
yet still have that energy of it being a little bit loose,
so you can create more of a spark on stage, and each night
becomes a different concert from the one before."
The extent of their international success still comes
as a bit of a surprise to the musicians themselves. After
all, Danú was never intended to be a band at all.
Their story plays like some merry old folk tale, about
a few lads off on a summertime lark that turned into a
life-transforming adventure. In 1995, a few long-time
friends and session mates from County Waterford, including
McCarthy and Clancy (son of the world-famous Clancy Brother
Liam), heard they could go to the Lorient Inter-Celtic
festival in Brittany if they appeared as a band.
"The way we looked at it," McCarthy recalls
now, "we were just going for a bit of a laugh; we
weren't thinking about a band at all. But we needed to
have a Celtic or Irish name to go as a group, so we picked
Danú , after the mother of the ancient Irish gods."
Along their way, just as it would go in a folk tale,
they chanced to spend the night in Dublin, where they
immediately made their way to the nearest session. There,
they met the Doorley brothers, Tom and Eamon. They all
hit it off so well, musically and personally, that the
Waterford lads promised if they were ever asked back to
Lorient, they would bring the Doorleys along. Well, of
course, they were invited back, and they did bring the
Doorleys. That second year, everyone began to notice that
something special was happening on stage. The crowd loved
them, and they won the new band competition. McCarthy
says, "We were still just basically having a session
on stage, but we kind of said, like, we must be doing
okay with this Danú thing." Okay indeed. They
were soon touring the world, the most highly touted Celtic
band to emerge since Solas. But don't let their swashbuckling
stage energy fool you into thinking this band is not deadly
serious when it comes to the music they love.
Donal Clancy is among the most in-demand guitarists anywhere
in Celtic music. He has been a member of two of the most
sophisticated and tightly arranged ensembles in Irish
music history, the Eileen Ivers Band and Solas. He loves
that approach to the music, but is equally passionate
about the pure, improvisatory tack that Danú takes.
And if anyone assumes there is anything slapped together
about it, he begs to differ.
"Anybody who would think that would be totally off
the mark," Clancy says with a knowing chuckle. "When
I joined up again, I really experienced that. It took
me a long time to remember how much subtle arrangement
is actually in there. We sometimes put new tunes in just
to keep it fresh, and make sure nobody gets too tied down
to really strict arrangement. There's more scope for improvising
then. But I don't really mind if people think we're just
a jam band, because that's what we're aiming for - to
put caution to the wind and just play, and see where it
goes.
But there's a lot of thought that goes into doing that
on the concert stage night after night."
Just listen to the bold, bracing sound of McCarthy's
accordion and McAuley's fiddle, which Earle Hitchner of
the Irish Echo calls "one of the most potent one-two
punches in Irish traditional music today." After
feeling the raw, intense power of that, listen to the
lapping counter melodies and dark-chocolate harmony lines
the lads swirl around Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh's dusky vocals
on Richard Thompson's Fairport Convention classic "Farewell,
Farewell," and the wrenching American labourer's
lament, "Peg and Awl."
Nic Amhlaoibh replaces singer Ciaran O Gealbhain, and
is every bit as promising a find. Her whisper-pretty mezzo
may remind some of a young Dolores Keane, though her high
sustains shimmer with the soprano purity of Mary Black
or Cathie Ryan.
The first woman to perform with Danú, she grew
up on the Aran Islands and the west coast of Kerry, both
regions where Irish is still spoken. It was her first
language, as might be guessed by her hushed, naturalistic
treatment of the Irish ballad "Raitachas na Tairngreacht."
She was enchanted by the playful stage passions of Danú
when she first heard them in the late '90s. She assumed,
as so many fans do, that they were just cavorting away
up there. Now that she's worked with the band, she's singing
a slightly different tune.
"I'd never seen anything like them on stage before;
all I'd seen were older bands, not that much fun on stage.
It's a bit more difficult for me to see that now, the
way I did when I first heard them, because I've seen how
much work goes into making sure that spontaneous energy
happens every night. You can't just go up and jam away,
you know; you do have to have a certain plan."
Tom Doorley says of her, "She's been with us the
last four months, and it's as if she's always been there.
It's amazing how she's able to put up with six other fellows.
And she's an amazing singer, got great strength and control."
Then he adds, in what must surely be the supreme compliment
from one Danú member to another, "And she
gives it everything she has."
For US bookings please visit
the Fleming & Associates web site.
An Irish Christmas With Danú
In anticipation of Danú's upcoming "An Irish Christmas with Danú," here are some downloadable mp3s for your listening enjoyment - along with comments from Danú's Benny McCarthy. Click on the link at the bottom to download them all in one compressed zip file. (To download a file instead of playing it, right-click it and choose to save it as...)
Angels We Have Heard On High
This is a very popular Christmas Song and is sang all over the world
Boys Of Barr Na Sráide
This is great traditional Irish song that talks about the Wren Boy tradition on St.Stephens Day, the day after Christmas Day.
Christmas Polka Set
Here is a set of polka a twist of Christmas.
La Caoinle na N'Aingeal (Candle of Angels)
This is a song that reflects on the beautiful tradition in Ireland to light a candle in the window as a sign of welcome.
Oiche Chiun - Silent Night - Christmas Eve Reel
Here is a well know Christmas sang in both Irish and English followed by a great reel entitled "Christmas Eve."
The Wexford Carol
The Wexford Carol is great traditional Irish Carol that celebrates the Christmas Story.
All the above Danú Christmas selections in one Zip file
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