NEW FINDS: The Irish are coming.......

I recently visited Ireland for the first time and got a chance to speak at a music conference in Cork (a gorgeous city) for the European Capital of Culture 2005. At the management panel, I got to meet with dozens of young and diverse artists on the scene there and I walked away with a stack of demos, and some are worth sharing.


My favorite of the batch was a band called THE RUBY TAILIGHTS. Formed in 2003 by Martain Kelly, former frontman of Dublin band Sunbear. This is for fans of DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, SUFJAN STEVENS, and BRIGHT EYES.
Check out a song called, Switch, on their MYSPACE page > HERE.

A couple of others that show a lot of potential and with a bit of work could really turn heads everywhere:

ECHOGRAM - getting weekly airplay on 2fm (Ireland's biggest music station) - very alternative rock radio friendly, check out a song called 'Another Has Come Between Us'http://www.echogram.net
They have an Irish release, 'Faithful/Unstable EP' out on Yella Fella Records. London beware, they are working on dates in the early 2006 to give you all a look.

REVERE - young Cork band with a frontman (Jon Carroll) with a HUGE voice - often times going places you haven't heard since SPANDAU BALLET.
Their first effort is a self-released album called "Modern Science" which shows flashes of what they could become. Check out their website, http://reveremusic.net/

A couple of others that are worth mentioning on this scene are:

HYBRASIL - http://www.hybrasil.com/

RULERS OF THE PLANET - http://rulersoftheplanet.com/

Loads of young talent bubbling up, and that's just in Cork alone. The Irish are very supportive of their music scene, and places like ANGELA DORGAN's FEDERATION OF MUSIC COLLECTIVES (FMC) and IMRO go out of their way to help spread the good news to the rest of the world. Another great feature they've built that can tap you into the local scene there can be found at
http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/musicroom/ , where you can actually go in and listen to bands and artists at any time.

It won't be long before the next U2 or THE THRILLS come pouring out from the Irish.