Taking Trad to another level

Taking trad to another level, The Olllam play Róisín Dubh on Monday week, August 4. The band are Belfast-born uilleann piper John McSherry and Detroit natives Tyler Duncan and Michael Shimmin.

McSherry is a founding member of Lúnasa and is also well known for his ’90s stint with Donal Lunny’s Coolfin. Duncan and Shimmin have also been busy in the United States performing and recording with their award-winning Irish-jazz crossover group Millish.

In February 2012 during the calm before the summer festival season, the trio finally wrote and recorded an original album together. They rehearsed and composed live on Skype and built the tracks back and forth one part at a time between emails.

They wanted their musical ideas to mature organically, rather than produce anything contrived or over-composed. Duncan (uilleann pipes, whistles, guitar, Rhodes) and Shimmin (drums and percussion) both hold degrees in jazz performance, and the legendary McSherry (uilleann pipes and whistles) has performed and written with a wide variety of artists, from Ornette Coleman to Nanci Griffith.

The trio’s approach to composition is unique in Irish music as well, foregoing the familiar jigs and reels.

“We really wanted to investigate the melodies but focus on simplicity and memorability. Everything had a purpose with no excess,” says Duncan.

“I think we were all nicely surprised at how quickly and easily our ideas merged together and manifested into the music – everything seemed to fall into place right from the start” says John McSherry.

Doors for this gig are 8pm, admission €15.