Lúnasa
Iconic Irish traditional music ensemble Lúnasa released their seventh album Lá Nua (Irish for ‘new day’) in April 2010. The album was the debut release on the band’s own label, Lúnasa Records. Lá Nua’s release followed a 4- year gap between newly recorded albums yet with the album having undergone the same creative rigours as all Lúnasa albums, it was well worth the wait. There were more new compositions than ever before, possibly encouraged/inspired by the recording location: the ancient pagan settlement of Bavan Co. Louth. The Irish Echo (USA) ranked Lá Nua #2 in its Top 10 Traditional albums of 2010. Earle Hitchner noted “Lúnasa’s capacity to keep surprising makes their sound unreplicable.”
Widely-known for their original compositions and double bass-driven rhythms, Lúnasa upholds the traditional instrumentation of pipes, fiddle and flute. Of the band, legendary Irish fiddler Kevin Burke says, “Maintaining the unique, intimate qualities of a musical tradition while at the same time meeting and fulfilling the demands of the contemporary music world is a difficult juxtaposition to achieve, yet Lúnasa have managed to accomplish exactly that.”
Lúnasa is composed of Kevin Crawford (flutes, low whistles and tin whistles), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass), Paul Meehan (guitar, bouzouki and mandolin), Seán Smyth (fiddle and low whistle) and Cillian Vallely (uilleann pipes and low whistles). The band began to take shape in 1996 and were an immediate success. The Sydney Morning Herald picked up on the excitement, calling Lúnasa, “The most exciting band to emerge from Ireland in a long, long time.”
The band is also known for their energetic live performances and have previously toured and performed with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Rosanne Cash, and Billy Bragg, among others. Three U.S. tours, a much-covered performance at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, and the Coeur Miroir award at the Quebec City Summer festival in 2003 confirmed the band’s reputation as masters of modern Irish music.
The band was one of the featured collaborators on Natalie Merchant’s 2010 album Leave Your Sleep. Lúnasa joined Natalie on stage to close her headline set at the world famous Cambridge Folk Festival (UK). The following night the band were given the honour of closing the festival. Folk & Roots caught their performance ... “the most entertaining band of the festival ... blindingly talented. The Independent named them as one of their festival highlights.
Lúnasa won another major international acknowledgement in 2010 in the LIVIES (liveireland.com) awards. They were named Performers of the Decade.
