Entertainment
Ari Hest planning to make his mark as he plays Campbell’s
Brooklyn-based songwriter Ari Hest plays Campbell’s Tavern this Saturday, April 20. Last year the singer, whose music spans the folk-rock genre, released his seventh album, The Fire Plays, which he feels is his best so far.
“I think any artist would say that right after they release an album that it’s their best,” he says. “I feel that for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s the newest material, so I guess it’s the truest music to the way I feel about life.
“But also I think years and years of songwriting have made me hone in on what my strengths are, and what my weaknesses are. Finding out the spots where I need to get rid of this line, or emphasise that one.”
The Fire Plays opens with the line ‘I want to do right by my mistakes’, taken from the song Untitled Part 2. Was Ari looking back when he wrote those lyrics?
“I wrote it in the first person but I was thinking about an inmate in a jail,” he says. “I had just passed this jail on the way to a gig, and I started to think about what it’s like to live in that particular space; what someone mentally has to deal with who’s just stuck there, and wishes he could get out but knows what he did was wrong. He’s come to a peaceful place with it but still is stuck there. I was thinking about that more than myself.”
In 2008, Ari, whose influences range from Bob Dylan to the Beatles, James Taylor and Pearl Jam, embarked on an undertaking known as The 52 Project. Every week, he would write, record and release a new song, which he sent to people on a subscribers list. Did he feel under pressure that year, or did he enjoy himself?
“Both!” he laughs. “There was certainly pressure, but it was self-imposed. I got into a groove with it; I really enjoyed it. After about the 20th week or so, I started to look forward to it more. Instead of ‘oh, I’ve got to write another song’. It was more so ‘I’m excited about what’s going to happen next week’
“As it went on, it got a little bit more experimental as regards instrumentation and production. I think it was good for me, and I think when I stopped it set me back some. I had to re-learn how to write a little bit.”
Surely, with such a project, there must have been some concerns about quality control?
“I came to term with the knowledge that there was no way that I was going to get through 52 weeks without writing some duds,” Ari says. “There were going to be a few in there that was not really what I was hoping for. That knowledge helped me and it took a little pressure off.”
One of the highlights from this year-long workshop was Cranberry Lake, a duet with LA based singer Amy Kuney.
“We wrote that song together,” Ari says. “I sent her the music and she wrote the bulk of the lyrics. So she came up with Cranberry Lake. In America, there’s a few different Cranberry Lakes that I’ve come across, some of them are similar to what she describes, and then some of them, not at all!”
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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