The Echo
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Sillk: Time Immaterial
With their new extended-player releasing on the 27th, and a gig in the Village Hall to accompany, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks to Chris Schmidt-Martin, cellist of folk trio Sillk. Irreverent, noirish pop nestles warmly alongside familiar folk slowburners in the body of work we’ve seen thus far from Cork three-piece Sillk, comprised of singer/guitarist Orla Travers,…
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Flexure: Out of the Shadows
With new project Flexure about to release their debut extended-player, and a hectic year of solo work and promotion ahead, Jamie Behan takes time to speak with Mike McGrath-Bryan about vinyl, collaboration, and the future. As a DJ, producer, promoter and label head under the Bastardo Electrico banner, Jamie Behan had a busy 2016, not…
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Ye Vagabonds: On a Journey
Ahead of dates in Coughlan’s and DeBarra’s later this month, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Diarmuid Glynn of Ye Vagabonds about tours, a new album and online video. There’s a lot to be said for slow and steady progression. Brian and Diarmuid Glynn are Ye Vagabonds, a pair of brothers from Carlow, currently resident in Dublin,…
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Mick Flannery: Owning the Opera House
With his fifth album in the can and the touring underway, Mick Flannery is a busy man heading up to his New Year’s Eve gig in the Opera House. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with the singer-songwriter. It’s been over a decade since Mick Flannery first entered the public consciousness, lurching from attempting to write a musical…
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Rubberbandits: Horse Sense
After selling out one show and announcing a second for St. Luke’s, the Rubberbandits top off a banner year with a trip to Cork. Mike McGrath-Bryan talks with Blindboy Boatclub ahead of their Leeside engagements. It has to have been an exhausting year for Limerick comedy/performance-art duo The Rubberbandits. The duo of Blindboy Boatclub and…
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Richie Ramone: Animal Boy Comes to Cork
He’s travelled the world as part of arguably the foremost exponents of punk rock’s velocity and fury, a vital component to its longevity and a cornerstone of the band during some of its most turbulent times. Richard Reinhardt, today a percussionist and composer, his reprised the moniker of Richie Ramone for a new body of…
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Geoff Tate: Operation MusicGeneration
Ahead of his acoustic show on the 6th of December in the Crane Lane, raising funds for MusicGeneration Cork, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with prog-rock legend Geoff Tate about music education, his new album, and his Cork connections. In over thirty years of life on the road, Geoff Tate, formerly of prog legends Queensrÿche, has seen…
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Wyvern Lingo: “We Can’t Get Enough of It”
Wyvern Lingo’s whirlwind 2016 winds down with an Irish tour, stopping at Cyprus Avenue on the 27th. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with vocalist and pianist Karen Cowley. They’re one of the group of names in independent Irish music threatening to bother the mainstream in a major fashion, but having built up a solid fanbase across the…
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Cuttin’ Heads Collective: At the Cutting Edge
Ahead of their first anniversary shows, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Cuttin’ Heads Collective members and DJs JusMe, Ross Herlihy and Six-Foot Apprentice. In a little over a year, the Cuttin’ Heads Collective of rappers, beatmakers, promoters and DJs have changed Cork hip-hop utterly, unifying some of its main players under one banner for the common…
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John Blek: Cutting the Light
Ahead of his upcoming solo show at Coughlan’s on the 25th, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with John Blek about his new record. Glanmire singer-songwriter John O’Connor, better known as John Blek, has been touring and performing for years, with a knack for whip-smart indie-pop accompanied by friends and collaborators referred to as the Rats, a play…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 