River Valley Band, Hola Manana This Weekend

Fresh from an appearance at the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival (not technically part of the festival, but they managed to squeeze in a gig in Egans at the weekend), The River Valley Band combine forces with Hola Manana and the Problems At The Pancake House crew for a fundraiser gig in Ryan’s this Saturday with all proceeds going to the Burma Relief Fund.

The River Valley Band was built on the sound of deep American folk music and the materials used to finish it were the wild earth and stone tones of modern Ireland, yet they sound neither American nor Irish. They are not contracted to any style, they are children of music, ripping strips from musical fabrics that stretch from the deserts to the cellars and weaving themselves a robe of their own that just can’t be found in the common high street fashion outlets.

The sound of The River Valley Band is just as alive as the common pickpocket or the lady who runs the country and it’s impossible not to dance to it when it’s bellowing its foreign name at you.

Consisting of five Kilkenny born persons, they meet every week under a glassblower’s roof and toil away while the country sleeps to churn their creamy tunes to butter. Lead singer Danny Coady has an energy in his voice that can move from frightening the wild to touching the transparent with a tilt of his head, and at his right hand side is Conor Brett who, with stammering precision and equal aggression, hits all the right notes on his axe to hammer in anything Danny may say.

Currently being tamed in the studio, The River Valley Band are in post-production for their debut album Drunk in the Wine Cellar. Aiming for a release during the summer, they are already writing new material for a second capturing.

Hola Mañana started about two months ago and are still together.

Although most of them won’t admit it or believe it, they draw influences from the likes of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Amiina, the Album Leaf, Beirut, Sigur Rós and the Go! Team, along with copious amounts of Galician music.

Live, they battle each other to the death; melodicas and glockenspiels clashing as swords, flutes darting back and forth like deadly arrows, dagger-like timpani sticks stabbing from behind, before Tony destroys us all with his monstrous bass leaving Caitríona to level the building with her battering-ram piano.

This will be their first gig in Kilkenny and the group are duly excited. (via PATPH on the forums)