Cavalier approach dovetails perfectly for Reader with roots

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

From her early work with Fairground Attraction to her enduring success as a solo musician, Eddi Reader has evolved on her musical journey to deservedly earn her place at the forefront of the Scottish folk scene.  That position is copper-fastened by her latest album, Cavalier; a body of work that is testament to both her songwriting ability and her consistency as an enormously popular artist.

Eddi will perform an intimate set in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday, February 19, as part of a ten day Irish tour.

Buoyed by the acclaim of Cavalier, there is an energy and enthusiasm to the singer-songwriter that belies the strain of a forty-year career in the music industry.

Eddi holds a deep affection for Gaelic culture and she returns to Ireland for her eleventh consecutive year of performing here.  She holds ties to Galway itself in the form of renowned piano accordionist Alan Kelly, who has been a long-time bandmate.

“I was playing around in Ireland about ten or eleven years ago and I said to Alan that it seems to me you can only go to places if you have that big number one record or you’re on Dancing With The Stars and I don’t want to do it that way,” Eddi recalls.

“In the eighties and nineties, when I was blossoming and recording, it seemed to me that that troubadour experience wasn’t particularly asked for.

“You had to go through an agent and you had to use a promoter and everybody was all a bit big and showbiz and I didn’t like that so I always hankered for the days when I could play to a smaller crowd and expand that way.”

Eddi admits to having a fondness for smaller Irish venues and the atmospheres they can generate. The current tour is very much geared towards tightly packed rooms full of passionate fans. It’s something of a return to the folk club feeling of Eddi’s youth.

“I enjoy that kind of familial atmosphere and the sort of sing-song party thing that I love and was brought up with – it seems to me you guys all had that same experience,” she suggests.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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