Ultan hits perfect groove with There’s a Waltz

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Loughrea singer-songwriter Ultan Conlon doesn’t like when he writes ‘an earworm’. Other singers might be delighted at creating a catchy jingle that will stick in people’s heads but he normally abandons such tunes. He wants his songs to be memorable, he says, just not too simple.

Ultan is playing Galway’s Town Hall Theatre this Saturday night, October 3, as he marks the launch of his latest album, There’s A Waltz, released in April. Produced in California by Grammy Award-winner Sean Watkins, it’s getting great reviews.

There’s A Waltz is a gorgeous collection of 10 songs in which this singer with a crystal clear and haunting voice muses on life’s ups and downs, backed by an array of top-quality US musicians. There’s Abe Witcher on fiddle (The Punch Brothers, Paul Simon) Don Huffington on drums (Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow) Sebastian Steinberg on bass (Eddie Vedder, Neil Diamond) Sara Watkins on vocals (Nickle Creek, I’m With Her) Rich Hinman on pedal steel (KD Lang, St Vincent) Tyler Chester on Hammond and piano (Jackson Browne, Andrew Bird).

Ultan first started going to LA for the summers about eight years ago as a result of writing the soundtrack for the 2012 indie film, Songs for Amy. He became friendly with the lead actor Sean Maguire who lives there.

Those visits led to him getting gigs in the well-known venue, Largo, playing with the likes of Jackson Brown and Shelby Lynne. It was there he met and gigged with multi-instrumentalist Sean Watkins of folk band, Nickel Creek, producer of There’s a Waltz.

“I took a chance and emailed him before I went over last year, saying I didn’t have a full album ready but if I did, would he produce it,” Ultan explains. Sean agreed and Ultan got writing. He sent Sean demos and Sean had the musicians lined up when Ultan arrived over. It took two days to record it and Ultan was blown away by the quality and professionalism of all involved.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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