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.

walkperson walks in

Stace regularly blesses her lucky stars regarding The Sessions. The fact of the matter is herself, myself and the Bear on the Buttons get to have some of Ireland's most exciting musicians coming in to play, and all we have to do is sit back and relax.

Last week (May 24th), the wonderful walkperson (aka Pearse McLoughlin) was in da house. Walkperson's music is solitary, multi-layered, and sparse. It's kind of like having an invisible wire of beautiful melodies and intricate guitars burrowed into your skull, in the best possible way.

It's no surprise to me that he used to live in Montreal, the North American influence is noticeable. In fact, I picture him writing tunes in a wood cabin, surrounded by bears and big trees (This may or may not be true).

He told us of his recent exploits, which include recording and getting together an album, which is due out this summer. Hence he is playing a rake of gigs all round the country, including Upstairs in Whelans on June 4th, with Aisling Quinn, which should be a cracker, as that kind of intimate setting is just what you need to listen to this bewitching chap.

He also presents An Uair Draiochta (The Magic Hour? I'm rubbish as Gaeilge, ta bron orm) on Raidio na Life every Sunday, so listen in for some magic tunes.

He may even play some of his...:)

walkperson's myspace

* Personal Holly-favourite has to be Changeling. Check. It. Out.

I'm BAAAAACCK

Due to a long hiatus that included music and art and bankruptcy in London, I'm finally back on my favourite (and only) radio programme at the lovely 103.2 Dublin City FM.

So keep checking us out on The Sessions, the best live music programme available on the whole bloody earth, and I'll keep postin'.

:)

The Long Knives

After The Long Knives forgot the time change (like the rest of the world) on Sunday, they finally made it into the studio. We at the Sessions were delighted to see them.

They snuck into our special little red room and went straight for a song. Cheap Wine is the current single, to be launched in Toner's on April 24th. On the myspace page they describe it as the most pop-friendly offering yet. I love it. The tone is summery and the harmonic riffs augment perfectly this gorgeous song.

The Long Knives are Niall, Caroline, Martin, and (the absent from the radio) Mark. This band, though they have been formed and reformed quite a many times, have the look and sound of granddaddies of musician. Wet behind the ears they are not. They sound tight and smooth and have an impressive history of recording, gigging and touring. Niall's vocals are iron-lung strong leaving the rest of the band to rock out at their discretion. They are collectively amazingly engaging to watch perform.

Personal Holly favourites are Cheap Wine and North Country Girl (absolutely gorgeous). Check them out for some freakin quality tunes:

www.myspace.com/thelongknivesireland

Star Crossed Enemies...VBFs

Star Crossed Enemies had been waiting in the studio for the past hour when I strolled in late. The North Dublin duo comprises of Brian (Malahide posh) and Gary (Donabate eh, posh). This pair has been playing a plethora of stormin' gigs in recent times. I saw them in the Globe a couple of weeks ago and had my socks well and truly blown.

Armed with two guitars and a rake of pop-rock songs, the simplicity of their work is not to be allayed with the boring pop-rock that litters the charts with startling frequency. Their lyrics are carefully written and just a wee bit on the quirky side. Check out Astronauts,

Let us go to outer space, with nothing but our guitars and a pen to take down what we've learned when we come back.

The sound is infectious, as are the guys. Their enthusiasm for the home-grown approach is a breath of fresh air. They record all their work themselves and have the confidence of the young, which is incredibly appealing.

Gary plays with the devotion of one who spent formative years in his room alone with his guitar; this comes out in beautiful riffs and an intensity that belies his nineteen years. His background oohs compliment Brian's vocals, which also come from the bedroom and according to myspace, a habit of being dumped by girls. He's got a great voice as a testament, so I for one am going to try get dumped by loads of girls from now on.

Their music is simple, honest and great to listen to in bed. I've tried it. As much as I didn't want to like it, for being all of the above and maybe falling into the emo kiddy genre (which it does not), I totally love it now. Think of Kings of Convenience on a VBF (or whatever the emokiddies say) date with Boards of Canada, drinking coffee and eating doughnuts.

Or something like that.

But don't take my word for it, check it out here:

www.myspace.com/starcrossedenemies

PS. They also hand out biccies at their gigs. Free ones. Hmmm.