August Update

Howye! Just a quick update on our news...

Hopefully you've been tuning in to the fabulous show that is The Sessions, every Wednesday night from 8.30 to 9.30 pm on 103.2 Dublin City FM, or listening online http://www.dublincityfm.ie/.

I'll presume you have, so I won't bore you with the details; suffice to say we've had some crackin' guests coming our way which we're more than happy to endure...free, live quality music, anyone?

I love a captive audience.

Coming up we've got some great musicians...including The Brazen Lungs, who will be struggling in after their album launch on the 18th in The Twisted Pepper. Check them out from 9pm on the 19th on 103.2 Dublin City FM.

And then we'll have Wicklow All Stars...i.e. Pushkin and Enemies, who I'm rubbing my grubby hands in glee and sweaty anticipation to listen to, on the 26th August from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, so tune in and enjoy.

That's all for now, folks, I'll be droning you out soon enough.

Holly

The Mighty Stef

The Mighty Stef was fashionably late, but we were delighted to have him in the studio all the same. Tis not often you get a fella that sounds like Elvis crossing your threshold.

He played us new song, an old song, and a Michael Jackson tribute (I'll Be There). Wow. Deadly.

I think that's all I have to say on the subject, except possibly being a little starstruck :)

One Dead Flag

GO ON THE DEAD FLAGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that's how I felt after listening to, albeit, just one, Dead Flag, a couple of weeks ago. Billy from The Dead Flags, one of Ireland's hottest new bands, graced us with his car-sore arse and proceeded to rock out in the East Wall studio.

The Dead Flags hail from Sligo and have been on the go for a good few years now. They released the single "Oh my Love! Oh my God!!" last August and since then have been going from pond to lake.

I was thrilled and shocked at the energy Billy gave to his acoustic set. Not content with the limitations of a single pick up and one mic, he went happy-go-lucky mental on us. Me, Stace and Jill were fairly shaking in our boots. It was like watching a hamster on a musical wheel. Absolutely Fantastic.

They've just come back from playing in Germany (oooohh..fancy!) and have a shovelful of gigs in the Northwest in August, so check out their website and go see.

Jill Deering

Well it's been a while for The Oul Sessions Blog. Excuse me, gentlemen, but I've been away, etc. But if you've been religiously tuning into our fabulous show on 103.2 Dublin City FM, you'll have known that we've had the honour to host some excellent and entertaining musicians.

A couple of weeks ago was the gorgeous Jill Deering. Jill's been on the circuit for a considerable time, and has the experience and stage prescence to prove it. Accompanied by a Brazilian keyboardist, she rocked the Sessions on that particularly manic night.

The classic country/rock/acoustic songs uncover the complexitites of human experience through the scope of her amazing voice. She is truly able to transform a simple song into something that leaves you not quite sad, or delighted, but that you have lived.

Check her out on myspace.

Caruso

Next up last Wednesday was the fabulously-named Caruso. Just had a quick read of their myspace there, my my, they are a busy lot. In the Sessions we had the fortune to have Shane, Grainne and Silent (but not unwilling) Ger to wow us with their tunes.

Caruso have been doing to circuit for quite a while, it seems. To me, they are Dublin rock grandpappies. They are the bench mark for alt-folk-rock and they are doing fantasically and deservedly well to date.

Fabulously diverse, they bunny-hop genres and have a wide appeal. They released their debut The Watcher and the Comet in 08 and have been playing rakes and rakes of gigs since. Currently they are recording the next step and fingers crossed it will be as well received as the last one, which went down and storm.

Fronted by the charismatic Shane and vocal-gymnast Grainne, the sound is tight, professional, and keeps you on your musical toes. This is the sort of rock that makes nuns revoke their vows.

So if you want to catch these on-the-up dudes, do it soon (June 16th in Whelans), cos after that they're playing all over the world, it seems (including Greystones. Hurrah!).

After Whelans, it's Newfoundland in August. Then New Zealand in September. Obviously.

Jealous?

Me too. Check them out.

Caruso's website thingy

Aisling Quinn

Last week we had the unbelievable talents of Aisli

ng Quinn. Toting a beautiful acoustic and a mandolin, Quinn stepped into studio 3 and proceeded to wow us with her fascinating approach to music.

Hailing from Galway, but living in Dublin the past 6 years, Quinn's music is refreshing like a watermelon cooler on a breezy beach. She plays a host of instruments, including the aforementioned mandolin, along with flute, xylophone, and my personal favourite, the melodica.

I think of happy woodland animal on picnics when I listen to A Song I Wrote For You. Her voice conveys 60's singers and is feckin amazing live.

She extends the tradition of singer-songwriter in the sense that she is has a qualification in music production, which clearly shows in her range and vision for her intensely fun and well-thought out tunes.

In 2004 she released her first demo which was chosen as Jackie Hayden's "Pick of the Fortnight" in Hotpress. 2006 saw her returning to the studio to record her first EP " A Simple Arrangement" which was launched in the summer of 2007 .

She's playing in Bewley's Cafe Theatre with another Sessions favourite, walkperson, on July 23rd.

Go see this fabulous, engaging and charming musician. It'll be deadly, wha'.

:)

Aisling Quinn's website

Michele Ann Kelly and Chiara Browne, May 24th

Being a musician myself, I get excited when women musicians come in to The Sessions. Not in a Susan Faludi way (though I'm in no way mocking that), just in a curiosity sense. I want to pick their brains and see what the hell they're doing.

So it was with great hoo-hah that we welcomed in the supercool Michele Ann Kelly. Kelly describes herself on her myspace as white soul music. That's a pretty perfect term. Mixing blues, rock, soul and a dribble of country, her music is at once easy-listening (in the best sense) and arresting, most likely due to her fantastic voice. She also plays with the multi-talented Chiara Browne; listening to their harmonies would make you have faith in Irish politics, it's amazing.

She's been playing and singing for years, writing too. She's supported loads of acts such as Mary Black and Paul Brady. But what stands out most about Kelly was the air of modest confidence and assurance that lies under her big sound. She's making good freaking music and doing it freaking well, too.

How does she do it? You have to check her out to find out.

*Catch her at the Pride Mainstage on June 27th in the Dublin Civic Offices.