Black Gate provides perfect stage for Ultan’s new songs

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

It’s been a busy eighteen months for Loughrea singer-songwriter Ultan Conlon. Since releasing his third full-length LP in April of last year, he has written and performed extensively both at home and abroad, culminating in a recent, fruitful trip to LA.

But it’s all back home shortly, as Ultan plays the Black Gate on Sunday, November 10, in his final Galway show of 2019.

Among some carefully chosen older songs, he will be premiering a selection of new material set for release on his upcoming album, entitled There’s a Waltz.

Recorded in LA with esteemed bluegrass musician Sean Watkins, Ultan’s fourth release was born out of connections he has held on the other side of the Atlantic for several years.

“I’ve been to LA a few times,” he notes. “About four years ago, the second or third time I’d been there, I hired a PR lady and she sent a couple of my videos to a venue there called Largo.

“I’d never heard of it because I don’t know the LA scene but the day I arrived, he had asked her if I’d do a gig that night. It was really nice – a 300 plus seated theatre.

“On the walls there were photos of massive stand-up comics and musicians… Zach Galifianakis and Aimee Mann… I was thinking ‘Maybe this is just LA and this just happens here’ but it turns out Largo is a go-to spot for a lot of them and it’s hard enough to get into but I was lucky enough to get in.”

Largo has proved to be a valuable stage for Ultan. From that initial gig four years ago, he has forged relationships with a variety of talented musicians and producers in the US.

“I met people through doing the gigs,” he recalls. “The guy who produced this album, Sean Watkins, originally played in Nickle Creek, a very big bluegrass band with Grammies and multi-million selling albums.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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