Entertainment
Riptide Movement’s bigger ambitions for the next wave
The Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie
The Riptide Movement, a raucous Dublin based four piece, play Róisín Dubh on Saturday week, May 11. Last year, the band released their second album Keep On Keepin On and its success led to two sold-out show in the Olympia and an appearance on the Late Late Show.
Speaking from Grouse Lodge studios in Westmeath, where The Riptide Movement are recording their third album, lead singer Mal Tuohy says:
“We did the last album here. It’s a brilliant live room, and all the staff are great, so we said we’d come back. The owner’s here beside us, he’s got an iPhone to my neck, so I’ve to be very careful about what I say!”
The Riptide Movement’s next album will be produced by Ted Hutt, an Englishman based in California. Hutt’s impressive CV includes established American bands like The Gaslight Anthem, Old Crow Medicine Show and the Dropkick Murphy’s. How did Mal and the lads acquire his services?
“We just put the word out,” says Mal. “We were looking at producers of albums that we liked and we sent off a few emails. Then we met a few of them, and we got the best vibe off Ted. We feel that we made the right decision, because it’s going great so far.”
“He really understands it. The new tunes, they’re a lot more advanced, there’s a lot more in them than our previous stuff, which we would’ve produced ourselves.”
It might just seem like a name on the credits, but having an experienced producer like Hutt onboard really makes a difference, especially to a younger band like The Riptide Movement.
“You put your trust in him and he manages the whole project,” says Mal. “It means the rest of us are freed up to work on guitar pieces and lyrics. We don’t have to be in the main room the whole time.”
“Down here as well, it’s such a big place, you can go for a walk and have the MP3s on your earphones, listening back. All the while, Ted’s inside, keeping the show on the road, bringing people in and out, getting all the stuff recorded. I’m really looking forward to the finished project.”
Keep On Keepin On did well, and helped to establish The Riptide Movement on the live and festival circuit in Ireland. But Mal, JPR, Ger and Gar have bigger ambitions this time around.
“We’ll definitely put it out through a label this time,” says Mal. “For the likes of America and the UK, we’ll have to license it and get it out to a bigger audience, involve a bigger team in the whole thing.”
“The last one did really well for us, so this’ll be a step up. We’re doing a lot of stuff abroad now, from pretty much the end of May onwards we’re doing festivals all over Europe and the UK. The plan is to break out of Ireland now.”
This plan seems to be bearing fruit. Recently, The Riptide Movement received an offer to open for an upcoming blues/rock outfit called The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, this July. How did they land such a massive gig?
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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