The Echo
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Juanita Stein: Taking on a Global America
After five years of writing and recording, Howling Bells frontwoman Juanita Stein’s debut album foreshadows her debut solo tour. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with her ahead of her upcoming Fred Zeppelin’s date. A long road has led Juanita Stein to where she presently stands: as frontwoman and rhythm guitarist of London-based outfit Howling Bells (and before…
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Le Galaxie: A Galaxie of Stars
Ahead of their upcoming appearance at City Hall, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Le Galaxie frontman Michael Pope about the band’s Cork connections, their last album, and wild saxophone takes. One of the sleeper success stories of Irish independent music in the past two decades, synthpop outfit Le Galaxie emerged in the late 2000s from the…
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Holy Fuck: Electronic Machine Comes to Cork
Nearly ten years removed from their debut full-length, Holy F**k continue to take electronic sounds and reconfigure them on the fly. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with keyboardist Graham Walsh ahead of next week’s Cork gig. Emerging in 2004 as part of a musicians’ collective in their home city of Toronto, Canada, four-piece Holy F**k take a…
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Ryan Kershaw: Using His Buzz to Teach the Guitar
New Zealand guitarist Ryan Kershaw has brought together music education and personal development in a unique self-directed guitar course. Ahead of a unique workshop in Cork City, he speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about the music industry, pop-psychology, and what brought him to Cork. Without wanting to dip too deep into the grab-bag of rock‘n’roll clichés,…
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Mallow Arts Festival: Bringing the Arts Home
Mallow Arts Festival is currently underway, reprising the town’s original summer arts programme for a new generation. Mike McGrath-Bryan talks with festival curator Tadhg Curtis. Established with the stated goal of establishing the arts as a part of life in the North Cork town, Mallow Arts Festival kicked off last night with a performance from…
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Hermitage Green: “We’re Very Bloody Lucky to Be Doing This”
Hermitage Green vocalist Dan Murphy speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about Townlands Carnival, following up their debut album, life on a major label, and more. The run-up to this year’s Townlands Carnival is another in a long series of winding turns for Limerick-based folk-rock outfit Hermitage Green. Formed in the earlier part of the decade, the…
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Jeru the Damaja: “It Feels Like the Nineties Again for Me”
Hip-hop survivor Jeru the Damaja arrives at Townlands Carnival this weekend with nearly thirty years of tunes at his disposal. Speaking with Mike McGrath-Bryan, he touches on hip-hop’s golden age, his own experiences, and the challenges that await him in the future. The sign of a relevant artist is one that refuses to rest on…
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Brushy One-String: “I’m An All-Purpose Person When It Comes to Music”
In the lead-up to his upcoming appearance at Townlands Carnival festival in Macroom, YouTube star Brushy One-String talks to Mike McGrath-Bryan about his life, his music, and how a chance encounter brought him his fortune. The story of Brushy One-String’s ascent to musical notoriety wouldn’t go amiss in the canon of the great musical underdogs:…
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Gavin James: No Bitter Pill
On the eve of his return to Cork after the biggest year of his career so far, Mike McGrath-Bryan talks with Marquee-bound singer-songwriter Gavin James. Gavin James cuts an excitable figure as your writer greets him at his room in the Clayton Hotel on the quays, ahead of his date at the Marquee. Part nervous…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 