Divide helps Beoga to conquer all before them!

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

They have been performing together since 2002 but it is only in the last couple of years that Irish folk group Beoga have seen their music make its way to a wider audience – most notably because of a chance encounter with Ed Sheeran, which saw the group feature on the singer-songwriter’s internationally acclaimed 2017 album Divide.

It was a level of exposure that Beoga hadn’t previously experienced and that initial collaboration turned out to be just the beginning.

Beoga play Galway’s Róisín Dubh this Saturday as part of a winter Irish tour, following on from the release of Make a Mark, the band’s latest single.

Launched on November 29, the track features the vocals of Ryan McMullan and shows Beoga at their contemporary best.

A long-time friend of the band, Ryan is the latest in a long line of successful collaborators – and bodhrán player Eamon Murray sees him as one of Ireland’s premier acts.

“Ryan is a wizard and he’s one to watch for sure,” he says. “He has such a positive outlook and such a positive way of creating music so it’s a pleasure to know him and to make music with him. The song came about really organically. We had been working on an idea and I sent it to Ryan and when we got together in the studio, he already had the chorus hook for it. It just went from there really.”

Without ever regarding themselves as a traditional Irish band, Beoga have certainly seen their style develop in the last couple of years.

Whether intentional or not, they have opened the Irish folk genre up to a lot of new listeners. The plan is to continue working with songwriters that can offer something to the group’s sound.

“I suppose we’re not really the first ones to do it,” Eamon admits. “We never really considered ourselves a trad band per se. We were always writing our own stuff and trying to push the envelope a bit and test the genre. I know the texture of it is an Irish feel… I suppose that’s what we’re trying to do.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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