Entertainment
Chuck Prophet aiming to ‘hit where it hurts’
Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie
At a first listen, Chuck Prophet brings to mind songwriters like Beck and Bob Dylan. Delve a little deeper, though, and you’ll discover an artist whose solo career began in 1990, and who has a sound that’s very much his own. The San Francisco based singer plays the Róisín Dubh next Tuesday, July 21, as part of this year’s Galway International Arts Festival.
Given that his career goes back over 25 years, is it hard for Chuck to put a set-list together? “I tend to like my later stuff – I can’t say that about all the artists that I follow!” he laughs. “I’ve so many songs to choose from, so I try to read an audience. I try and hit people where it hurts. I try to make them laugh.”
Last year, Chuck Prophet released his 13th studio album, Night Surfer.
Was he happy with how it turned out? “Absolutely, yeah,” he says. “I’m just so surprised that it’s taken me this f**kin’ long to get the hang of it! I feel like I’m just starting to. I don’t know, there’s songwriting, performing, and then there’s the craft of making a record. You want it all to come together at the same time, and it’s a mystery what that is.”
Laughing on the Inside is a track that grabs the listener from the very first chord. How did that bittersweet tune come about?
“I was trying to write something big like [George Harrison’s] All Things Must Pass, or Phil Spector,” he says. “There are two drummers on that track. I just wanted something that was less delicate and not sweet. You hear a track like Lust for Life and it just hits you, it rolls over you like a steam engine.”
Chuck is particularly proud of Truth Will Out (Ballad of Melissa and Remy), which he describes as a ‘dense, storytelling song’.
Was it hard to get that one right? “It was a little bit tricky,” he says. “Honestly, I don’t know if we even nailed it. Songs are living and breathing and you never know where the definitive one is coming from. Except for The Beatles – I heard Revolution on the radio and it’d be hard to think of a better version of that song. But they had the ability to make definitive recordings.”
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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